Imagine a chainsaw flying towards your face. A person’s first instinct is to run away screaming, right?

Not for adrenaline junkie Mad Chad Taylor, a “busker” or street performer-turned-nationally renowned-chainsaw-juggler who showed off his talents in front of an excited, yet nervous crowd at Sacramento State Thursday night.

Taylor juggled anything from 10-pound weights and swords to, well, chainsaws.

Diana Martinez, an undeclared freshman, came to see the show with friends.

“I thought he was really funny. It was entertaining,” Martinez said. “I had a lot of fun.”

Elizabeth Eickmeyer, 11, also came to see the show with her parents.

“It’s really cool when he juggles chainsaws on a skateboard on top of a rolly thing on top of a chest,” Eickmeyer said. “But I didn’t want to go because I was afraid he was going to cut his hand off.”

Taylor started his career juggling objects right here in California at the Venice Beach Boardwalk 15 years ago, juggling torches, knives and anything he could to attract attention. He was soon approached to juggle chainsaws for a commercial.

“For a beer commercial of all things, I was asked if I could juggle a chainsaw,” Taylor said. “I did learn it for (that) and then started doing it for the show at Venice Beach and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

This rare skill has created quite a career for Taylor, who now travels around the country performing his act at schools, fairs and athletic events.

“My favorite part is the rush and how much it energizes the crowd,” Taylor said. “Anything else I do doesn’t come close to when those chainsaws are running. I think it’s really exciting.”

Taylor said he did have a close call once and that one time was enough to scare him into changing up his safety precautions.

“I actually did cut myself once. I got really lucky,” Taylor said. “I threw it wrong and I thought I could catch it, but once I realized I couldn’t I tried to get out of the way and just the tip of it nicked my arm. That was a wake-up call. So now if I throw it wrong, I just let it go”.

Taylor said no matter how much he practices or does the routine, he is always a bit weary.

“To some extent, no matter how much you get used to it, once those chainsaws are going and the smoke is going and the handles are vibrating, it is definitely is a rush,” Taylor said. “Accidents are pretty rare, but they happen sometimes.” As well as touring the country, Taylor said he also has dabbled in filmmaking. He made a documentary called “Buskers,” which is now streaming on Netflix.

“I made a documentary all about street performers that I started working on 10 years ago,” Taylor said. “I’m very excited about it. We finished it in 2008 and got in film festivals and my distributor got it on Netflix two or three months ago.”

He has also started his own website called 60secondtv.com, a site where adrenaline junkies like himself can watch and upload interesting videos.

“60secondtv.com is all one-minute-long crazy clips,” Taylor said. “It’s for people who enjoy watching crazy stuff like I do, and where people can come to upload their own videos.”

Taylor is very happy with his life and where it is right now and said he owes that all to his special talent.

“I started doing this so young – it’s the only thing I know really, but I love it and it’s a great job,” Taylor said. “Go after your dream and whatever you love to do and figure out how to get paid to do that.”

Kaitlin Bruce can be reached at [email protected]