Cannibal Corpse’s George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fisher Donates Toys He Wins From Claw Machines
Cannibal Corpse frontman George 'Corpsegrinder' Fisher is an absolute whiz when it comes to winning prizes from claw machines. But what does a 50-year-old death metal vocalist with kids who aren't toddlers need all those stuffed animals for? He doesn't need them at all, which is why he donates them instead.
Anyone who follows him on Instagram has likely seen photos of his never-ending claw machine and carnival game victories — arms wrapped around life-size stuffed animals with a smile that conveys an overwhelming sense of pride and accomplishment.
If you haven't seen these photos, we've rounded them all up at the bottom of the page.
In a recent interview with Metal Hammer as Cannibal Corpse prepared to released their new album, Violence Unimagined (out today, April 16), Corpsegrinder went into great detail about his knack for defying the odds at the ever-frustrating claw machine game and his code of conduct as he pushes quarters into the machine in exchange for an opportunity to score some new toys.
"I love claw machines. It could be anything in there — it could be a cartoon character that I don't like — and I’ll get ’em anyway," he said. And he's not cheating either — he saw a YouTube video of someone exploiting a loose hack to secure toys each time, but he is a man of honor and integrity and plays the honest way.
"I'm looking what's in there, and then I'm looking at how it's sitting inside of there. Is there something on top of it? Do I have to move that? As soon as I see how the claw reacts, I'll know if I'm gonna win. If the actual hands of the claw are set really loose, or maybe the machine has been used a lot, the sometimes stuff will just slip out," he said of the experience.
Divulging a bit of his approach and technique, the Cannibal Corpse vocalist explained, "If there's a humanoid figure or a creature with arms or legs, I will try to get the claw in between the legs and the shoulder. If I can't do that because it’s laying at an angle, then I’ll try to move it to a spot where it will be in the right space. But if I pick up something up and you are around watching me, you are not allowed to say anything. When it drops in the hole and it’s down in the bottom where I grab it, then you can say, ‘You got it!’ But if you say anything while it’s in the claw… that’s when you see me mad."
Corpsegrinder even yelled at a kid once for a premature celebration.
"I swear to you, I yelled at a kid once. We were in Texas at a claw machine. I picked up this car, it was a Dale Earnhardt Sr., No.3 car. My mother watched NASCAR forever, and that was her car. I wanted it for her," he detailed before relaying that he made the kid go away.
Regarding his kinder approach to children, the death metal legend revealed around Christmas he once gave a kid one of the toys he had won after seeing the child had come up empty-handed.
Of that moment, he recalled, "The parents were, like, ‘Really?’ The mom was tearing up. I was, like, ‘Don’t do that, you’re gonna make me do it, too.’ She was, like, ‘Why would you do that?’ I said, ‘Well, because I’m gonna donate them anyway.’"
Opening up more about his charitable contributions, Corpsegrinder continued, "I just like to play the claw machines. I save up quarters, and when I win we're gonna donate them for kids for Christmastime or whatever."
Reflecting on another memorable moment, he went on, "We played somewhere in Michigan once, and the club we were playing had a sign saying, 'On such and such a date, we're doing a toy drive.’ So I found out who was in charge of the club and said, ‘So you're in charge of this toy drive? I got a whole bunch of stuffed animals I won on this tour, I'll give ’em to you.’ And they’re, like, ‘Don't you want to give them to your kids?’ If there’s any they might want, I put them in a separate bag, but they have enough stuffed animals anyway."
Violence Unimagined, Cannibal Corpse's 15th studio album and first with guitarist Erik Rutan, is out now. Get your copy here.
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