Job Title: Human Cannonball Employers: Rodeos, county fairs, and concert promoters Openings: None, unless you're related to Smith Salary Cap: Low six figures Number of Jobs: About five in the U.S.

When he was 19, David Smith Jr.'s father asked him if he could work a shift for him in the family business. Without much hesitation, Smith promptly got in his car and drove to Wisconsin where, the next day, he climbed into the mouth of a 35-foot cannon and was hurled nearly 200 feet through the air. He hasn't looked back since.

Twelve years later, Smith Jr., or "The Bullet" as he's called (his father, David Smith Sr., is known as "Cannonball"), performs regularly before thousands around the world at concerts, rodeos, and county fairs, as he gets shot over stages and Ferris wheels. But the act has become less of a commodity over the years. (See video of Smith Jr. performing.)

"When I started, it was basically a circus act [in which] we would do massive amounts of cannon shots all over the place," says Smith. "We don't do as many shows now, but we do bigger shows."

Much of Smith's work is in the planning—figuring out where to place his jump for maximum visibility and effect, setting up his net at the right distance, and making last-minute adjustments based on wind speed and direction.

Once he's satisfied, Smith climbs atop his cannon, grabs a microphone, and gives a little drama-laden speech playing up the dangers of what he's about to do. (He needn't exaggerate much—his sister, Stephanie, once injured her spine doing the act when she overshot her landing airbag, and Smith himself has broken a leg in a landing.) Then he climbs in and braces for liftoff.

"You do fly, and the violence [to] your body on takeoff is significant," he says. "Coming down is like coming down from an eight-story building." (To learn more about what Smith's body goes through during his act, see our interactive graphic).

For his troubles, Smith earns anywhere from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars per jump, depending on the venue, the size of the crowd, and the difficulty of the jump. All told, he earns comfortably in the low six figures per year.

Human-cannonball acts date back to the late 19th century, supposedly being invented by well-known circus performer "The Great Farini" (a.k.a. William Hunt of Port Hope, Ontario), who shot himself and other performers into the air using rubber springs. Soon, the act became a staple of traveling circuses in both the U.S. and Europe, including those of the Ringling Brothers.

However, the act slowly became extinct over the last half of the 20th century as airline travel replaced family road trips and circuses and other traveling shows declined in popularity. Smith's father revived the act in the mid-1970s, building his own special cannons for the act and garnering world records for distances traveled.

Nowadays, Smith has little competition except from his own family. One of nine children, Smith has a sister and cousin who also perform cannon acts, and his father—who designs and builds all of the family's cannons—still performs on occasion.

But none do so as regularly, as lucratively, or in as many far-flung locales as "The Bullet."

"I may not be Elvis Presley, but I'm getting there," Smith says with a chuckle.