Emily Sobel, world's youngest snake charmer, dances with serpents

Emily Sobel is such a consummate performer that she didn’t stop dancing even after her partner, Rajnesh, bit her.Rajnesh is a snake — a 3-foot-long Indian Trinket snake.
Emily was only 5 years old.

“After she got bit, she didn’t cry or anything,” said proud father Heath Sobel. “She comes out and she sees me and says ‘Dad, my snake bit me,’ and then she started crying.
“I said what did you do? Did you drop the snake? She said no, ‘I put it around my neck. I didn’t want to hurt the snake. It didn’t bite me on purpose.’”
Emily explained to her visitor, “He bit me because there were rats.” The biting was two years ago, in Emily’s first show, at the annual Pet Pageant in Coney Island. “My friend had pet rats. So my snake bit me right over the vein.”

 Fortunately there were not such mishaps last weekend as 7-year-old Emily, appearing as her stage persona, Serpentini, worked 16 weekend shows — eight each on Saturday and Sunday — as the Congress of Curious People held its annual Super Freak Weekend at  the Sideshows by  Seashore in Coney Island.

“We’re so lucky and so happy to bring you this next performer,” the tattooed announcer barked from the stage. “She is the world’s youngest snake charmer and snake dancer. Please make her feel loved, make her feel welcome and make some noise for Serpentini ladies and gentleman.”

Emily takes the stage holding Baller, a 31/2- foot Ghost Corn Snake, draped across both outstretched arms.
To a driving rock beat and cheers of the 10-member audience drawn there on a rainy Sunday, Emily and Baller danced across the stage for about a minute.
Emily’s stage name Serpentini pays homage to Serpentina, the Coney Island Boardwalk’s resident snake charmer/dancer, said Emily’s mother, Stacy Sobel.
Emily has been around serpents all of her life. Heath Sobel, 39, had snakes before Emily — the couple’s only child — was born.
“Snakes are easy to keep, they don’t shed, and you feed them once a week,” he said.
“They do shed!” Emily interjects.
“They don’t shed hair,” the dad said. “You can keep them anywhere. Your landlord doesn't even need to know you have them.”
“They are very easy to take care of,” Emily said.
At the moment the Sobels keep five snakes in their Brooklyn home. Besides Ghostface, the corn snake, and Rajnesh, there is Baller, the bull python, King Venom, a Reverse California King Snake, and two Florida Amel King Snakes named Moe and Icicle.

The latter three run over 5-feet long each, making them too large for Emily to work with. She also has a hamster, fish and a snail in at home.

“We kidnapped the snail off a tree,” said Stacy Sobel, 36.
“No snails were harmed in the making of these pets,” Emily’s dad said.
As far as how to handle serpents, Emily said came up with her own technique after watching her father “20,000 times.”

“I keep them calm by just moving them around,” she said. “It’s like I take their cues and I just go the way they are. And you don’t hold them too tight.”Stacy Sobel grew up in South Brooklyn and has been coming to Coney Island since she was a kid and has been bringing Emily with her since she was 2 years old.
“After the first couple of times all the performers started grabbing her up and loving her up,” the mother said.
“They let me go backstage,” Emily said.

Stacy Sobel is a good friend of Serpentina, who knew that Emily handles her father’s snakes. Two years ago, Serpentina suggested that Emily might want to take a turn on the stage.
“My mom asked all the performers their names and I said I want to be like Serpentina,” Emily said. “So I have lots of snakes and I decided to dance with them.”

Until last week Emily performed only on special occasions: the opening weekend of the annual Coney Island summer, the Mermaid Parade, the motorcycle show, and the final weekend each year. She also takes a star turn with the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus Cavalcade of Youth, a traveling circus for performers under 21 years old, when that group is in town.

Organizers of the Congress of Curious People weekend asked her parents if Emily could perform, and, Heath Sobel said, “We asked Emily if she wanted to do it and she said yes.”
It was her first time working a day of shows. “She handled it just fine,” he said. “She went home and slept like a baby.”

“Like she should have,” said her mom.The parents said don’t think working the stage is too tough a gig for Emily.“As long as it is not going to cause any harm to her, we’re not going to hold her back.
You have to let your kid experience life,” Heath Sobel said.“You keep them shielded from everything, there is a much greater chance they’ll be doing the things they are not supposed to do.”

Besides, Stacy Sobel said, Emily is in the advanced class at her Midwood school. “Yes, I’m a bragging mom,” she said.“I love her act,” said sideshow performer Nati Amos, who does sleight of hand magic even though she has no fingers. “I have never seen a young kid adapt so well to snakes, let alone to showbiz. She’s very humble, which is very unique with young performers.”

“I love this,” Emily said. “I just love snakes, so it’s fun. It’s my favorite thing to do in my free time.”
 ---NEW YORK DAILY NEWS