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Circus performances have long celebrated artists who push the boundaries of bravery, strength, and talent, all for the thrill of audience applause. Among these, the most daring acts are those where performers risk their lives to captivate spectators. Below are the tales of five of the most perilous stunts ever performed under the circus tent.
1. The Art of Knife Throwing
Knife throwers, along with related acts like bullwhip experts, archers, and sharpshooters, gained popularity in the late 19th century as staples of circuses and Wild West exhibitions. These acts typically featured classic feats such as bursting balloons, nailing playing cards, cutting flower stems, and the iconic "Profile," where the thrower places 12-inch blades around the outline of their assistant, often referred to as a "target girl."
The most renowned stunt, however, is "The Wheel of Death," where the target girl is fastened to a large wooden wheel and spun rapidly. While the exact origins of this stunt are unclear, it is widely credited to The Gibsons, a husband-and-wife duo, who introduced it to the U.S. in 1938 as part of the Ringling Brothers Circus. The Gibsons also pioneered the Veiled Wheel of Death, a more perilous version where a paper sheet conceals the wheel from the thrower. Only a few acts have mastered this feat, including The Gibsons, The Zeros in the 1940s, The Brumbachs (who performed it just once in 1978), and David "The Great Throwdini" Adamovich, the current Guinness Record Holder for Fastest Knife Throwing. The Great Throwdini has even elevated the act by incorporating a second target girl.
The Great Throwdini performs the Veiled Double Wheel of Death.
2. The Lion Tamer
In 1819, Henri Martin of Germany made history by spending four minutes inside a cage with a tiger and surviving. This feat was the result of weeks of careful preparation, where he gradually earned the tiger's trust by first touching it through the bars, then placing his head and shoulders inside, and finally entering the cage. Once a bond was established, Martin trained the tiger to perform basic tricks, like sitting and lying down on command, marking him as the first-known wild animal trainer.
While Martin's approach was gentle, not all trainers followed his example. Isaac Van Amburgh, a pioneering American trainer, became infamous for being the first to intentionally place his head inside a lion's mouth. However, he achieved this level of control through brutal methods, using a crowbar to beat the animals into submission. Van Amburgh defended his harsh tactics by referencing Genesis, which asserts human dominance over animals. Despite the controversy surrounding his methods, he gained immense popularity, performing for large audiences across Europe and America in the 1830s and 1840s.
Clyde Beatty performing with his cats.
Unfortunately, mistreatment of circus animals persists even in modern times. The renowned Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus faced a $270,000 penalty for 27 reported breaches of the Animal Welfare Act, dating back to 2007.
3. The Human Cannonball
Contrary to the dramatic explosion and smoke, human cannonballs aren't actually propelled by gunpowder. The original mechanism, invented by tightrope performer William Leonard Hunt, relied on rubber springs for thrust. The first official human cannonball act featured a 14-year-old girl named "Zazel," who made her debut launch on April 2, 1877, in London. Tragically, her career concluded a few years later, as it has for many others in this field—she missed the safety net. Fortunately, she sustained only a broken back.
The Smith family dominates the modern human cannonball scene, with patriarch David, his son David Jr., and daughter Jennifer, one of the rare female performers in this field. Over the years, the Smiths have been launched over various obstacles, including the U.S.-Mexico border and a baseball stadium wall, marking the first human home run. They also hold multiple world records. David Sr. set the first in 1995, surpassing the Zacchini family's distance record by soaring 180 feet. David Jr. outdid his father in March 2011 with a 193-foot launch. However, David Sr. still retains the highest launch record at 200 feet 4 inches, achieved in 2002 when he flew over two Ferris wheels.
David Smith, Jr., being fired out of a cannon.
4. The Flying Trapeze
While single and double somersaults are common in flying trapeze acts, the triple somersault is so perilous that Italian performers once dubbed it solto mortale, or "The Deadly Leap." The risk stems from the extreme speed required, which disorients the brain, making it hard for the flier to gauge when to reach for the catcher. Missing the catcher often results in a fall into the net, which can cause severe injuries, even to experienced performers, if they land improperly. This legendary stunt was first achieved in 1897 by Lena Jordan, an 18-year-old standing 4'10" and weighing 94 pounds. Her success inspired others, and the triple somersault soon became the ultimate benchmark for trapeze artistry.
Once the triple somersault was conquered, it seemed inevitable that someone would attempt a quadruple. Many tried and failed until July 10, 1982, when Miguel Vazquez of Ringling Brothers, spinning at over 80mph, successfully landed the first quadruple somersault in Tucson, Arizona, witnessed by 7,000 spectators. Since then, only a few have replicated this feat, with Ivo Silva, Jr., of The Flying Caceres being the most recent in January 2010.
Miguel Vazquez performing a quadruple somersault.
5. The Tightrope Walker
For centuries, acrobats and jugglers have elevated their craft by performing on a slender wire high above the ground. Walking on a 5/8" thick wire at a minimum height of 40 feet without a net is perilous enough, but these "funambulists" have pushed boundaries with routines that seem to defy logic. One of the most iconic feats is the human pyramid, where two wire walkers follow each other onto the rope, balancing a bar on their shoulders, while a third performer climbs onto the bar, and the group traverses the wire together.
However, a three-person pyramid wasn't thrilling enough for Karl Wallenda. In 1928, his Great Wallendas introduced a four-person, three-level pyramid, featuring two men on bicycles, Karl seated on a chair between them, and his wife Helen standing on his shoulders. They performed this act for years under their original name until a performance in Akron, Ohio, where they lost balance and fell. Although they caught themselves and were unharmed, a reporter described their fall as so graceful it appeared they were flying. From that day, they were known as The Flying Wallendas.
A group practicing the Wallenda 7 act for a production at the Goodman Theatre of Chicago.
The Detroit fall prompted some members to retire, but it had the opposite effect on Karl. He transformed into a solo act, undertaking increasingly daring tightrope walks at greater heights and distances. In the 1970s, he gained fame for walking 1,000 feet across Tallulah Gorge in Georgia, between stadium rooftops like the Astrodome, and between two iconic Miami Beach hotels. His final act came in 1978 during a performance in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the 73-year-old fell 120 feet to the concrete below, captured live on camera. (Yes, it is on YouTube.) For a man who lived for the thrill of the crowd, it was a fitting end to his extraordinary life.
