Public Spectacles of Death Pt. 2 (Episode 170)

The curtain rises again on humanity’s most jaw-dropping exits. In Part 2, we dive headfirst into a fresh wave of high-stakes disasters — from fiery race car crashes witnessed by millions, to deadly attempts at breaking world records that went down in history for all the wrong reasons. These are the moments where ambition, danger, and audience collide… with tragic results. Because when the spotlight hits, sometimes death takes center stage.

🔊 Listener discretion is advised. Things get wild.

Death in Entertainment is hosted every week by Kyle Ploof, Jerii Aquino and Ben Kissel.

Story by Brandon Preo

#truecrime #racecardisasters #worldrecordfails #darkhistory #publicdeath #podcast

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Live from Los Angeles. 911 What is your emergency?
They're in Hollywood now 2. Counts of murder.
Injury and death, Oh my God. Shocking new details.
That has stung the entertainmentworld.
This makes me a little nervous. The hair stood up on my arms
just like in the movies. What do?
You call this thing anyway. Death.

(00:22):
Entertainment. Greetings, Deto Universe, how
are you? My name is Kyle Plouffe.
And I'm Jerry Aquino. And I'm Ben Kissel.
Some things are best done in private, such as death.
But today we're talking about public spectacles of death.
Oh. Don't do that in part.

(00:44):
Two-part 2 Yes. We're getting this podcast in
the air. All right, let's go.

(01:16):
In our last episode, we talked about some of the worst
tragedies of public spectacle when it comes to things that
fly. Oh yeah, we had the sheep going
up in the air. They survived.
Though, right. I think it was more things that
fall, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Fall. I mean the dude that fell off of
the Eiffel Tower, he was trying to fly.
He was trying to, yeah. Whether it be fireworks,
balloons, rockets, parachutes, planes, mice, sheep are humans.

(01:40):
Jesus. Leave the mice alone that.
Was fun. Yeah.
Even in the air, someone could always hear you scream.
Not in space. Though, No, that's a vacuum.
That's what they say. That's my preferred.
Yep, that's my preferred method of suicide, by the way, is to.
Go to space. Go to space, take your helmet
off, Sure, get done. Instantly.

(02:01):
OK. Yeah, baby, you're a firework.
You're the next Katy Perry. Yeah, it's really expensive to
do that. Yeah.
Yeah, I was going to say you have to afford to be able to do
that. Or I just got my level of
celebrity up there enough to be able to get shot off like Katy
Perry. OK, wow.
That's going to happen. You're going.
To get some heavy tits though, let's.
Go. You're going to.
Start making out with the groundnow.
Yeah, lucky ground. So in today's episode, we will

(02:24):
finish the Tales of the Sky witha story about the worst air
stunt disaster in American history.
After that, we're going to hit the ground running with some
stories about how public spectacles can go unequivocally,
horribly wrong right here on Earth.
Or do they go super right I. Guess sometimes if you plan out
the proposal just right, yeah, if you put up all the signs,

(02:45):
they're like, will you go to prom with me?
Those are the public spectacles that might work sometimes.
They could. If they don't involve fire.
Often times people watch NASCAR for the crashes.
I would assume people go to air shows for the unbelievable
possible possibility of a flaming death.
Messed up. That's not why I would go to an
air show. That's why a lot of people go.
I would go to an air show so that I can see the professionals
do their professional thing in the sky and make it safely on

(03:07):
the ground. And possibly die in an
explosion. Don't like that?
So we ended our last episode with the story of how America
helped win World War 2. American aviation was now
reaching his peak at home and abroad.
The world police were displayingtheir might and influence all
around the globe. That's us.
Yeah. Cool.
The. World.
Police Team America. Oh, got it.

(03:28):
Mm. Hmm.
This was never more evident thanin the places they had recently
conquered in war, Japan and Germany ever since the early
1950's. the US Air Force Base atRammstein.
Did I say that right? Is it Rammstein?
Rammstein, Rammstein. Rammstein, Rammstein, Rammstein
du Duhas Duhasht Mesh. It's pretty good, yeah.

(03:49):
That was very, it was really nice.
Yeah, and you knew it was the USplanes flying overhead because
they kept on dropping mayonnaiseon everybody.
Yeah. Yeah.
You want. You got to win the culture war
first. Yeah.
And you got to start with the sandwiches.
So this is in West Germany and this Air Force Base, they would
host the Fluke tag air show well.
That sounds fun. So fluke tags I originally

(04:10):
thought. I thought Red Bull invented it.
OK, so because they always had the fluke tag thing.
Well, it's a flu talk. This is the most I've ever heard
the word I've never. Heard that word ever in my life.
Sounds like an excuse to stay home from school.
I get the fluke dog. So from the start, the annual
event was a chance for American military personnel and family,
as well as German civilians, to socialize, interact and enjoy
public spectacle. They were meant to heal their

(04:32):
war wounds of the past. For aviation enthusiasts, the
event allowed them to experienceup and close the next generation
of fighter aircraft really seen by civilians.
What a day to love aviation. Yeah, it.
Is so during Fluke Talk 1988, more than 300,000 visitors came
to see aircraft like the American B1 bomber and the F16
fighter jet. I love that.

(04:54):
And the halftime show was SteelyDan.
Oh my God, we're going back. Check.
Nice. But the biggest draw by far was
the air show, where the international aerobatic teams
from all over Europe and the USAshowcase their skills.
Isn't this a little bit triggering because we were just

(05:15):
at war? I mean, I guess what, this is
88. You said it's been a minute, All
right. We're about to get into another
one, apparently 91. Oh sweet.
Yeah, that's Desert Storm, right?
Another. One.
Well, yeah. So it's the first Iraq war?
So would it be the 3.5? Something like that.
Yeah, something like that. And Desert Storm.
It was real fast and we got trading cards.

(05:35):
Yeah, it was kind of fun. Cool.
I. Made it fun, yeah.
The highlight of the afternoon was an aerial performance by the
iconic Italian Air Force aerobatic display team.
Just. Don't see Italians flying?
The aerobatic Italian display team here we.
Go Dressed in their distinctive flight suits, the pilots, Freche

(05:58):
Tricolori Reche Tricolori sharedfinal instructions and made
preparations for their aerial maneuvers.
Their mission was to Florida State execute the Pierced Heart
formation. What is the pierced heart
formation? Well, it is an impressive
display that demanded impeccabletiming and synchronization.
That is 1 spicy meatball. It's got to look like the so you

(06:23):
guys are the arrows and we're the heart of the Cupid and it's
got to look like the arrows justgoing straight.
In Oh yeah. Of course.
Aliens incorporate romance into everything, right?
The highly skilled aerial display unfolds as 10 aircraft,
designated as Pony One through Pony 10, take flight and ascend.
What is it? Are the outsiders?

(06:44):
What's happening? They then split apart in a
synchronized maneuver. 5 planes go to the left while four roll
over to the right, all trailing smoke behind them.
That love, that good for the world.
Yeah, absolutely. Very Italian.
Yeah, and the smoke ultimately forms a giant heart shape in the
sky as the two groups intersect just 100 feet above the ground,

(07:06):
parallel to the ground. Damn that is pretty close to the
ground. That's crazy.
Why are they going that close? You can almost smell the
perfume. Yeah, could definitely smell the
gasoline. Flying Pony 10 was Evo
Nudarelli, an experienced solo pilot faced with the most
challenging task of the formation.
His mission was to Pierce the heart-shaped formation, soaring
through the intersecting groups at a perpendicular angle,

(07:29):
thrilling the crowd below. OK, I like it so far.
His I think nothing could go wrong.
Yeah, nothing. Oh man.
Well, his aircraft roared into the sky, leaving behind red,
white and green smoke trails funthe the Italian flag.
Oh, I like that. The audience's anticipation
reached a crescendo. Despite having performed this
maneuver more than 70 times. This time, Nudarelli's attempt

(07:52):
went horribly wrong. As the plane soared, it climbed
higher than anticipated and rapidly dove downward.
I mean, he did it right. The plane wasn't like I'm going
to take care of this now. Could be.
But once it like gets too high up, you can't control it and
then it falls and then things breakdown.
And then it could stall. Recognizing the dangerous

(08:13):
situation, Nudarelli swiftly deployed the belly mounted air
brake to slow his descent. I want one of those.
Sally mounted air break. Yeah, that just means give me
another slice of pizza. Yeah, stops you from going to
the buffet. Ohh no.
It it sounds like like you're just like falling face, like
stomach flat to like a slip and slide.

(08:34):
Oh yeah, yeah. Apparently a lot of people got
injured on slip and slides. I was watching this fantastic
YouTube video about dangerous toys.
Oh yeah, people would break their necks.
Well, yeah, people would have like rocks underneath it.
You'd be getting fucked up and all bruised and everything.
It's not on the slip and slide. Yeah, no, it's not.
It's your fault. Slipping slide.
Oh, it's not on the slipping slide.
Yeah, I get what you're saying. But it was like, it wasn't even

(08:55):
like a super comfortable thing to like, fully slide on.
But then they were like, yeah, this like, flat piece of vinyl.
Just fucking throw yourself on the floor and slide down.
Well, you gotta get it wet. Got it.
And they and they said adults, they were too fat.
They would go and then they would stop halfway through and
they would break their freaking chunky necks.
Oh, God, That's, that's a spectacle of death right there.

(09:15):
Yeah. Fun for the whole family below
him, the five planes on the right of the heart-shaped
formation and the four jets coming in from the left, we're
hurtling towards each other at 350 miles an hour, performing
their meticulously rehearsed routine, the two formations
masterfully weaved through each other just 130 feet off the
ground. That's insane.
Yeah, that is. That's way too.

(09:35):
Close, which was much to the delight of the thrilled crowd
below. I'm sure.
A delight. Meanwhile, Evo Nudarelli's
desperate attempt to decelerate his plane proved futile.
Despite his best efforts, he flew too fast and too low,
tragically intersecting the formation just a few seconds too
early. Yeah, that's a lot of seconds
though. Like that's a lot.
Like in that era, in that time. I'm sorry that seconds are a

(09:58):
lot. Nudarelli's Pony 10 clipped the
cockpit of Pony 2, flown by Giorgio Alessio.
The collision then sent Nudarelli's jet hurtling into
Pony 1, piloted by Mario Naldini.
Oh no, I feel like all their grandmothers can just They're
looking up to the heavens in Italy, knowing something is
wrong. No, no, no.

(10:19):
The force of the impact shattered the tail section of
Pony One, while Noudarelli's aircraft suffered A catastrophic
blow to its front. Pony One and Two crashed on the
northern runway, instantly killing both pilots.
A blaze and spinning out of control, Noudarelli's solo plane
kept its trajectory towards the audience.
With its left wing tip striking the grassy field just 160 feet
short of the front row of spectators, 300 gallons of jet

(10:43):
fuel within its tanks exploded into a relentless wave of fire.
And that's what took down Building 7, yeah.
Oh my God, did it and did the fire reach the audience?
The blazing wreck cartwheeled forward, obliterating a police
car and tearing through a barbedwired fence before slamming into
the densely packed crowd of spectators.
You're gonna want to get out of there.
Yeah, out of. There.

(11:03):
I mean, the second it looks likeone plane is falling from the
sky, it's like, yeah, I think this show's done.
It's time to leave. Yeah, but they make it look like
that all the time. It air shows like Oh my God it's
hurdling towards the ground. Then they go.
This is why the. Person what?
Yeah. This is why the person who goes
and gets more concessions alwayslives.
Yes, exactly you got. To be in line, waiting for your
Burr, waiting for your dog, you're going to be fine.

(11:26):
The area of the crash, right next to the airstrip, had been
considered the best seats in thehouse.
Now spectators were covered in acloud of burning fuel and
glowing metal from the aircraft and fence.
Glowing metal. This is not what we paid for.
This is not what we paid for. It's literally turning into
magma and lava like on their fucking bodies.
Like RoboCop when he gets hit bythe car.

(11:47):
Oh wow, this is creating a lot of villains.
It really is. The entire sequence of events
from initial collision to the crashed into the spectators
unfolded in just 7 seconds. Damn.
Oh my God that must have happened so fast.
Like so beyond comprehension. Like what?
I was looking at the sky at one point and now I'm on fire.
Yeah, but does time stand still at those moments in life?

(12:08):
Yeah, it's, it's longer in that time.
It might be, it might. Be. 7 seconds is usually good.
You get 7 seconds in heaven withsomeone in a closet at a party
and they go yeah make out, make out, fuck.
Yeah, I'm, I'm thinking I don't want to go to heaven if that's
what it is. 7 seconds. We did 7 minutes in heaven.
Oh wow, that's a long time Dominican.
That's enough to keep. Yeah, you get.
I have a whole family by the time you're out of.

(12:28):
There, that's usually and that then that's why everyone is so
populated. This comes on the grandmother,
yeah. With no time to escape, 31
people died instantly. Oh my God.
Wow. Within the next 45 minutes, two
dozen emergency vehicles and eight rescue helicopters were on
the scene, picking up hundreds of gravely injured people.
The regulations of the US military dictated that injured

(12:51):
individuals should be transported to a hospital as
quickly as possible, a protocol known as load and go.
Well, isn't. Yeah.
What else would they do? Yeah, I mean, take these injured
people and get the fuck out of here.
That's what I hoped for. Put them back in the crowd.
We want to make. We want to make it look like
it's full for the cameras. Yeah, not this one.
This approach contrasted with the local German practice of

(13:11):
assessing injuries on site and administering initial emergency
treatment before transportation.Do you want?
That what do you do first? Yeah, I don't know if you want
the Germans to be assessing yourinjuries.
What is it? Yeah, you're just on fire.
Yeah. I I can't figure it out.
A German paramedic in the midst of the disaster was recorded on
radio saying, quote, we are constantly searching for burn

(13:33):
victims who are being snatched away from us by the Americans
and transported without receiving any treatment at all.
People with burnt clothes and sagging burnt skin were swarming
with pain and shock in the back of a pickup truck that were not
even using the emergency exit road.
Oh my. God, that is very That is the
most American form of EMT. Load and go.

(13:57):
Load and go. Put them in the back of the
truck. Let's go.
Let's take the scenic route though.
Oh, of course. Well, it's beautiful even if
you're slopping your skin off your body.
Like, oh, this Amalfi Coast is nice.
It is nice. My.
God. Beautiful.
The disaster would ultimately claim the lives of 67
spectators. Wow.
Plus 3 pilots. And they count, They count.
That's 70 people. It is.

(14:18):
And the planes, right, Which if they're sentient, you got to add
them too. More than 500 other civilians
had to undergo hospital treatment for the incident.
And then just one person was like, I demand to see your
manager. I would like a refund.
I was promised to see the heart,and I don't think they finished
it. Yeah.
What started as a public spectacle of the skies ended as
an unimaginable disaster on land, which is where we pivot to

(14:41):
next. Land deaths.
The Land I. Don't like that?
That's where we are, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
I don't want to find out ways that I could die on land.
I'm already constantly worried about it.
Oh, my God. I had a trip and fall a couple
of years ago. I thought that was it.
Yeah, yeah. That's how I'm gonna.
That's how all of us are gonna go.
Tripping. And falling, tripping, falling.
You know something real stupid. Everyone dies from something

(15:01):
real stupid. Yeah, I had whooping cough and I
freaking fell in the middle the road and the car had to like
stop and screech right in front of like running my head over and
people. Judged him.
They thought he was a drug addict.
Yes, almost like I thought you were on drugs.
Another one was like, I thought you were drunk.
And then one girl was crying. That's hilarious.
She thought she was witnessing me fucking dying.
That is really funny. I had to be like, sorry to her,

(15:21):
I was consoling her. Like the full cast of an
intervention? Seriously.
So after what happened in the skies above West Germany in
1988, you wouldn't think that Americans on solid ground could
do any worse, right? Now give us a chance.
But you would be wrong, OK? In fact, almost 100 years
earlier, a publicity stunt in Texas ended with an equal amount

(15:42):
of explosions and carnage. Oh, this is when publicity
stunts were really fun and dangerous and scary.
And what was that like? There was no rules, no
restrictions. Yeah, it's not like just like
some celebrity dating another celebrity.
Yeah. Well, that whoa, that happens,
and they all pretend like they're lesbian or straight,
depending on the week. Yeah.
Or gay gay gay. The crash at Crush was a one day

(16:06):
publicity stunt in the US state of Texas that took place on
September 15th, 1896. Oh, man, you never think about
them having any fun ever. No.
Yeah. Like, they must have seen the
Flyers in the whole, like, month.
They were getting ready for this.
I know you always think of them working and struggling.
Yes. And then just like building.
Yep, and then just coughing to death, right?

(16:27):
Right, This is insane. So this stunt, the whole thing
was to have two locomotives thatwere let loose.
What? Full steam ahead and they were
meant to crash head on into eachother at a high speed.
We've always been stupid, that. Does sound pretty funny.
USAUSA this is. What they needed trained.
Yeah, like, let's just fucking destroy them.

(16:48):
Well. Let's just So what?
Would happen if one of them likehits another one like.
I don't know you want to try. It that's a great idea for a
fast That's great, yeah. I think we can sell tickets to
that A. Lot of people would want to see
that. Yeah.
Like, I second that, yeah. I love that great idea.
Great idea. So this guy, William George
Crush, good old Billy Crush. I love that name.
He was an agent of the Missouri,Kansas, Texas Railroad.

(17:09):
He conceived the idea in order to demonstrate a stage train
wreck as a public spectacle. Love that no admission was
charged as long as you could afford a rail ticket to the
event at three $3.50. OK.
So it was $3.50. Cents it was, $3.50 it was.
Free, but that's $132.00 in 2025.
Well, yeah, yeah, we got to go back in time.

(17:31):
Well, not for nothing, but for watching trains crash into each
other, that's still pretty fair.Yeah, I yeah, All right.
Sure. Yeah.
So as a result, an estimated 40,000 people attended this
event. Wow.
They really want people, really wanted to see those trains crash
into each other. Yeah, were they like super bored
or? There wasn't a lot of of
entertainment happening back. Then I yeah, you either go to

(17:52):
church or stare at a wall. Yeah, you could probably see
livestock doing funny stuff to one another and shit like that.
Yeah, or you could do the funny stuff.
Yeah, Oh yeah, that happens every year in Wisconsin.
Couple people, couple of cow fuckers out there.
Really. Every year in Wisconsin.
Oh no, the cows don't even know.I don't think.
Maybe they do. I don't.

(18:12):
They have to. I'm sure they do.
And it's sad. Yeah.
And you know, as the consumer when your when your beef Patty
is just all salty and gross. Wow.
They do it to completion. Yeah, I.
Wow. Oh my God, I think I just became
vegetarian. That's what did.
It you should see what they do to the tomatoes.

(18:33):
Each train reached a speed of about 45 miles an hour by the
time they met near the anticipated collision spot.
I could see that on the 101 right now.
Yeah, every day. Come on man.
Unexpectedly, yet understandably, the impact
caused both engine boilers to explode, resulting in a shower
of flying debris that caused numerous injuries among the
spectators. What?

(18:54):
No, this crazy. Something went wrong.
But did it? What did they expect?
Yeah, right. Right, not bad.
I thought that they, but they thought they wanted the
accident. Yeah.
So then things go flying 'cause it's a whole car crash.
Yeah, I would. I would have thought that they
had everyone like at a solid distance away.
At least give them a little umbrellas.
Yeah, yeah. An eyewitness described the

(19:15):
scene. There was a large explosion, a
crash, a sound of Timbers rent and torn, and then a shower of
splinters. The locomotives and their box,
yeah, the locomotives and their box Cars were reduced to scraps
of wood and steel. The air was filled with flying
missiles of iron and steel. Yeah, I mean, makes sense.
Yeah, debris varying in size from a postage stamp to half the

(19:40):
size of a steering wheel was blown hundreds of feet into the
air. Oh my God.
I'll take the potion stamp one. Yeah.
Steering wheel. That's going to hurt.
It's going to go right through you.
Panic quickly broke out as the crowd turned and ran.
Some of the debris came down amongst the spectators, killing
two and seriously injuring at least six others.
Dude. Fucking ow it's all.
And it's hot too, because it just exploded.

(20:00):
Yeah. Oh yeah.
Sharp, heavy and coming out you fast and it's hot.
This is kind of the Astro world of train collisions.
Yeah, it's like always whenever someone comes up with some crazy
idea and they're like, wouldn't it be funny if it's always funny
to like, think about it, but it's never funny when it
actually happens. Yeah.
Yeah, for the most part. Yeah.
Yeah, for the most part. My buddy was like, wouldn't it

(20:21):
be? It was the first time 9/11 was
on a Saturday and we were doing a comedy show in Boston.
And my buddy before was like, would it be funny if I did like
a bunch of 911 jokes to open? And I was like, yeah, that would
be funny. And then he went up and was just
like doing 911 jokes. How'd it go?
Not good. Oh, it didn't go well.
Yeah, I remember he was just like, and, you know, all the
people that were doing coverage on 9/11, they're on TV all day

(20:41):
today. They're not getting any
residuals. That's well, that's kind of
good. And that does that brings us to
our next point about actor pay, because weren't there a lot of
crisis actors during 9/11 if it happened?
Wow. Yeah, OK.
The point of it is just to not forget.
And you know what? We're still, we still are
remembering. We're talking about it.
So Yep. We are, although there's a whole

(21:03):
generation that never lived through it.
Us millennials, we've really seen a lot.
We haven't. Seen so much?
But you know what we haven't seen what this next story.
Oh, that's it. So everyone's dead.
Everyone's dead and that's it. Oh damn, yeah.
Dead or burned? And they never tried to crash
locomotives into one another again.
They were like, maybe this wasn't the most well thought

(21:26):
idea. I mean, did it go perfectly or
did it go horribly wrong? I mean, I hope they at least got
some good country songs out of it.
Yeah, maybe. Everyone knows either dead or
burned in Texas. Well.
That's a good one. Oh wow, yeah, I guess so.
That's. When they got divorced and
that's where all your exes live there.
Yeah, Yeah. Which you're not allowed to do
if you are married. You have to.
If there's someone gets burned alive, you got to stay with

(21:46):
them. Yeah.
Yeah. That's the rules you made-up.
That is the rules you make up and if you do have exes in
Texas, you tell them that you know that she got back with her
ex-boyfriend. Don't think I didn't see it.
No, absolutely. Or you just avoid them at all
costs because they're very dangerous.
Yeah. So what if you don't believe in
the sky? Wait, I'm sorry, what?

(22:07):
What if you don't think the Sky's real?
Like the Truman Show thing? Yeah, it would.
It's just like you're just gonnafind the end of it.
The paper. You know, the more they put them
satellites up there, I'm starting to think this guy ain't
real. Just a bunch of God damn TV
cameras. It's pretty real.
It is. I think it's real.
I think so. Well, there was a a famous

(22:27):
American flat earther named Mad Mike Hughes and he believed that
the planet Earth is flat. Yeah, that makes sense.
And in order to prove that, he built a steam powered rocket
ship that would send him high enough to prove it.
See, I like this guy, though. He's using science to prove his
point. Yeah.
He's like, there's got to be a way I can get up there and see
it. There's probably some sky I can
hold on to. But then he's just gonna doink

(22:49):
he's gonna hit it and come back down.
Yeah, that's not fun. Yeah.
On Saturday, February 22nd, 2020, Mad Mike climbed inside of
his homemade rocket and aimed itat the flat sky of San
Bernardino, CA. 2020, yeah. This is so we did see this I I
do remember this, yeah. I will say if this if there is a
Dome over us, I know people who tag for a living, the whole

(23:12):
fucking thing will be tagged out.
That's very true. Say those digits.
Yes, exactly. Rose Battle.
Rose battle Lost digits. Check him out.
Tigers get up on everything. They do.
So I think that disproves Flat Earth right there.
That's a very good point. Thank you.
So true. The entire series of events was
being filmed for a new TV seriesabout amateur rocket makers and
to be aired on the US Science Channel.

(23:36):
Nothing could go wrong once again, not when television's
involved. Time dead.
With the help of a steam poweredrocket, Hughes was trying to
reach an altitude of 5000 feet. OK.
That's very high. Yeah, with steam powered, yeah
sure seems like a lot. In a video of the launch, a
parachute can be seen trailing behind the rocket, apparently
deployed too early seconds aftertakeoff.

(23:57):
So it wasn't really well put together.
San Bernardino Aeronautics fails.
Yeah, well, I've huffed a lot ofgas, so I'm pretty sure I know
how to do this. The San Bernardino County
Sheriff's Department said it's officers were called to a rocket
launch at about 12:00 local time, so 12 noon.
A what now? A rocket launch.

(24:18):
Yeah, let's go eat our lunch. Oh yeah.
According to the Sheriff's Office, a man was pronounced
deceased after the rocket crashed into the open desert.
Oh, OK. Yeah, that'll do it.
That'll take him right out. Point proven or.
Not I wonder, yeah, I wonder if there was any point when he was
falling where he was like, oh, wow, the horizon is kind of
rounding out of it. I just don't get the Flat Earth

(24:42):
thing in the person. From the person, what do they
think the entire the shape is? They think disk, they think it's
flat and then there's ice walls that stop us from going off of
it and then it's domed as well. So they don't believe in the
universe in many ways. That's insane.
It's it's well, it is interesting.
It's very stupid and there's a full.
Of themselves. Yeah, there's a Flat Earth

(25:04):
documentary where they prove that the earth is round on
ironic. Well, ironically, because they
were trying to prove it was flat, right?
But then they just made-up another reason as to why it's
not round. So it's honestly what I learned
from that documentary was it's all, it's very interesting.
It's all about community. Yeah.
These people don't have anything.
And they finally found people that are like, oh, you're a flat
earther. And they bond, they get married

(25:25):
and they have conventions. Yeah.
That's what it's all. About It's always about
community. It really is.
That's it. But it's also important to
remember as people, we need to have our opinions, not let our
opinions have us. Oh, absolutely.
The truth. That's good.
Moving on. So he's dead.
Yeah, he's, he's gone. He's.
Dead. So he but who watched it?

(25:46):
Anyone watch? It Oh yeah, the the video's out
there. Oh great, the.
Truth is out there. It is.
So he was, he had a publicist and.
Oh man, that. Lady, if he can get one.
I gotta call our PR team and make sure actually.
Yeah. You know, it's a marble, right?
That's just marble ish. Yeah.
So his publicist confirmed to the US media outlets that it was
Mad Mike himself who had been killed.

(26:08):
He was the guy in his own rocket, his rocket actually
never making it off the ground. So it was just like.
And dead never made it off the. Ground.
It just kind of fell over and hecracked his head and died.
No bad Mike, that's not that badat all.
Poor bastard. Had like a concussion from this.
I know. Yeah.

(26:30):
That he died. Yeah, such.
A fucking. Blow.
That really does suck for him. Yeah, it was 64 years old.
Well, that's a good run. Yeah, so that was definitely
his. What a blow.
That was his Eiffel Tower moment.
That was it. There it is.
That's perfect. Good for him.
He he made an scientific experiment.
He was brave enough to put himself in that experiment and
he failed miserably. But did he?

(26:51):
We don't know. We don't.
In 2019, just one year earlier, in the little known vast
emptiness of Eastern Oregon, a celebrity of a different ilk had
arrived to set some records of her own.
Oh, not the Sasquatch, No. OK, because they say he might be
an organ. Oh.
He's not. He might be.
He looks. He might.
Be in this room right now. That's just Ben you there?

(27:13):
You there? Well, no.
He could be. He might be an invisible, he
might go in between dimensions, might have a bloking device.
That's right, he's in between dimensions.
It's possible. So by this logic, unicorns are
also real. Why not, baby?
Let's go unicorns. I mean, yeah.
I mean, they're just fucked up horses with stupid things in
their head. Whoa, whoa, whoa.
They're it's a bone protrusion. It's a bone protrusion, but

(27:35):
that's all the Unicorn is, right?
Does it have any special powers?The.
Power to fuck with its head. Exactly.
Oh, wow. Jesus.
Don't tell. It's tough enough for a man to
find a lady. All of a sudden they got
unicorns that we're going to fight with.
Yeah. I mean, I still I've caught up
with the whole thing that Sasquatch doesn't have clothes,
but he can like Quantum Leap. I don't.
He doesn't quantum leap. He's he's.

(27:58):
Calling Ziggy on the phone. Doesn't end up a boxer in the
1940s. He's not quantum leaping
Quantum. Leap.
Oh boy, whatever. Well, there's this woman, Jesse
Combs, OK, And she was a race car driver, which I thought
Jerry's car driver. The ha, ha, ha, ha.
No, no. Yeah, no, no, no, no.

(28:18):
That was perfect. We're gonna get copy written
stroke for that. That was really good.
So Jesse Combs, she was a television personality, race
driver, stunt performer, all that stuff.
She was reaching mainstream celebrity status in American pop
culture. She had hosted her own TV show
for five years in 90 episodes onSpike TV.
Oh. Nice Jesse had appeared on
dozens of reality TV shows, including Mythbusters,

(28:39):
Overhauling Jay Leno's Garage and 100 or 1001 Things 1001 Car
Things to Do Before You Die. That's a lot of car things to
do. I'm running out of the car stuff
quick. I thought it was just like a
cross country trip. I don't recognize her but I
guess she was everywhere. Damn, she's.

(29:00):
Nice packs. Yeah, she's all jacked up, Yeah.
As an avid race car driver with the need for speed, Jesse Combs
set the world's land speed record for a four wheel vehicle.
No shit. 440 miles an hour in 2013.
Dang, All right, Jesse, let's go.
Very. Nice.
In 2016, she broke her own record with a top speed of

(29:20):
477.59 miles an hour. Well, that's a lot, yeah.
I mean, I guess you go, you're going really fast.
Yeah, she did that. She.
Went fast. She going real fast.
She liked going fast, yeah. In 2019, Jesse was set on
breaking her own land speed record.
Again, one more time. Oh come on, let.
There would be the final time. I mean, at some point aren't you

(29:42):
losing? Yeah, to yourself.
Yeah, yeah. Why just just you're already the
victor. Yeah, yeah, I would let it be.
I'm gonna be myself now. But yeah, then you're 2nd place
to yourself. No one's gonna top me but me.
Yeah, I feel like maybe if anyone's gonna stand in my way,
it's probably me. That's.
So that is very true, relatable and more things to talk to your

(30:05):
psychiatrist about. Very true.
What's this you say? Self destruction?
What is this you say? Sabotage.
Self sabotage. Am I the?
Am I the only consistent in all of my problems?
No. No.
On August 27th, 2019, she arrived at the Alvert Desert.

(30:28):
The Alvert Desert, a 12 mile by 7 mile flat stretch of dry lake
bed in southeastern Oregon. That's exciting.
Yeah. That's my ex-wife.
Dry. Yeah, that's a big woman.
Yeah, the big woman. Dry lake bed.
Old dry lake bed. Tammy.
Yeah. She said she's really, really
happy with her new girlfriend and soon to be wife.

(30:50):
She said she's all wet. Wet again.
Oh, that's good. Turns out it was me.
Yeah. Kept land nice and dry, yeah.
She sat in the seat of her car. It was built using the fuselage
of a Lockheed F104A10 Starfighter.
This is not. She's not Batman.
This is not going to be good. Yeah.
Yeah, not at all. That's yeah, that's bad.
It does seem bad because it's the wrong kind of engine for a

(31:12):
car. You know that.
No, but I would assume it's a jet one, yeah.
Yeah, that makes sense. It was powered by a General
Electric LM 1500 turbojet engine.
Means nothing to me, but I it's,it's a lot.
Yeah. I'm going to say that's a lot of
an engine. It's Yeah, she broke her own
record, a world land speed record attempt of 522.78 miles

(31:35):
an hour. All right, It's BeenVerified by
Guinness World Records. OK, so.
Congratulations. You're fat.
You've gone fast again. Yes, yes.
So she went the the the speed didn't kill her, it was the
crash that followed. Oh, I see.
She didn't slow down. Yeah, yeah, why not slow down?
It was caused by a mechanical failure of the front wheel,

(31:56):
likely due to striking an objecton the.
Track. Who was supposed to sweep the
track? Come on.
Damn it, it caused the front wheel assembly to collapse.
If not for the accident, it was believed that she would have hit
speeds during 620 miles an hour.Wow, she was 39 years old.
That's. So.
Sad, that ain't fun at all but you.

(32:17):
Know. She she she died doing what she
loved. I don't want to, like, I'm not
trying to be that kind of guy, but she, she, she didn't, it's
not the record. She died.
You're about to be that. Guy No, because she didn't
complete it. She she did.
No, she didn't. Her body went that fast.
Yeah, but she didn't stop. You have to the land speed

(32:37):
record. At some point you have to stop
and get out. Oh.
She stopped. Yeah, no, she died, stopped.
Yeah, I don't think that that counts.
I think that Guinness. Is fucked up.
That's no, that's no, that's she.
I don't think it counts because she died.
She failed at. It no, she achieved the speed.
The though I think that the assessment of achievement is

(32:59):
based upon if you live, if you. Survive it.
Yes. No, not when it comes to speed,
but. It was the speed.
She definitely, she reached thatheight and that's in her and
that's in the record of her legacy.
Then anyone can set a record doing anything if you can die.
Yeah. I'll fucking set a record right
now for getting, I don't know, eaten by the most fucking
answer. Put them up my fucking asshole.

(33:21):
Eating, Drinking the most recovery monster drinks.
I'm in recovery. You're in recovery.
You're going to recover yourselfto death.
I've been peeing a lot. Yeah.
Is it like green yet? No, it's really, really dark and
it's. That's fucked.
You should drink water. Oh, I know it's bad.
No, it's bad. Yeah.
Yeah, I know. That's OK.

(33:41):
I'm working on it. Yeah.
My next step is kidney stones. No, don't do that.
I don't want that. I've had that.
It's for the birds. Oh God, they hurt.
Well, sticking with race cars, yeah, while also remembering the
daredevils of France's past, let's briefly talk about the
worst motor race accident of alltime.
Oh. No, Oh, I don't like it.
It's going to be head someone. I know it.
Oh, it has. To these motor accidents are

(34:03):
insane. Final Destination part deal, I
believe. Or was it part three-part 4?
I don't know. You fucking know.
There was a motor. One of them.
Whatever. Also Earnhardt.
Dale Earnhardt, He's dead from motorcycle, from a car crash.
That was very basic. Yeah, future.
Episode. Oh, interesting.
Yeah. The 1955 Le Mans disaster
occurred on June 11th, 1955 during the 24 Hours of Le Mans

(34:25):
motor race, Circuit de la Sard in Le Mans.
France, I'm just very, very happy it actually took place in
1955 and they didn't just call it that.
Yeah, During lap 35, Jaguar driver Mike Hawthorne moved to
the right side of the track, breaking sharply in preparation
for a pit stop. This maneuver forced Lance
Macklin, driving for Austin Healey, to swerve left to avoid

(34:45):
a collision. Now hear me out, Little
Starbucks to the pit stops. Give the guys little Starbucks.
They they got backpacks with like hoses in their mouth.
Yeah, but I feel like a a pit stops fun.
You get out, you go to the bathroom, you get a slushy, you
have a good time. Lose the race.
Well, their pit stop I'm I'm saying they should incorporate
more of a fun atmosphere to. It like it's a break.
Like a break, Yeah. Like a pit stop, Yeah.

(35:07):
In doing so, Macklin moved directly to the path of Pierre
Lavey, who was rapidly approaching in his Mercedes-Benz
300 SLR. Yeah, that curly mustache
motherfucker. Yeah, yeah, Pierre.
Lavey collided with Macklin at ahigh speed, launching Lavey and
his Mercedes into the air. Oh.
Oh. That's not good.
Traveling at approximately 125 miles an hour, Lavey's car

(35:27):
vaulted over the earthen embankment designed to shield
spectators. Instead, it became a launch
ramp. Oh my God.
Hey honey, you think that car isgetting a little bit close to us
or no? No, they know what?
They're doing oh wait, maybe though.
If I ever told you I love. I'll leave these seats when cars
fly. Whoa, whoa.

(35:49):
The vehicle bounced multiple times amongst the crowd before
slamming into the concrete structure and disintegrating.
Disintegrating. Yeah, good.
Like it wasn't even there to begin with.
It was all of an illusion. Levay was ejected from the car
and died instantly upon impact with the ground.
Pieces of the Mercedes, including the engine block,
front suspension and radiator, were hurled back into the crowd,

(36:10):
flattening everyone within a 330foot path.
Flattening. Flattening what?
What is with these? This story is filled with a lot
of cartoon like dying. It really is.
I'm not going to. I mean, I kind of want to go to
NASCAR, in which case if I'm drinking beers or not, at that
point I will be no matter what. Yeah.

(36:30):
It's like if you go to a NASCAR event sober, then you really
have a problem. There's.
There's an issue, yeah. But I don't know what what are
the what seats do you sit in where you're guaranteed not to
get hit by a fucking wheel or. AI would I would rather sit in
the nosebleeds for that yeah because once you're up close to
it you're. It's already extremely loud even
all the way up anyway, the entire thing is just exploding

(36:52):
in your ears. Yeah, right.
True. Yeah, up in the nosebleeds where
our people are, that's what's go, yeah.
The hood of the vehicle flew through the air like a French
guillotine of old Guillotine guillotine.
Guillotine. Whatever the guillotine.
Guillotine literally decapitating every spectator in
its way. Oh, so people are flattened and
then the rest of them got their heads cut off?
And look what happened to that asshole.
Oh shit, it seems to be coming for me.

(37:15):
I guess the beheading is probably better than being
flattened because you can live for a little while with all your
bones crushed and shit. Yeah, that is horrifying.
Sounds a pretty painful couple of seconds.
Kind of cool. Kind of a cool way to difficult
thing. Am I flat?
Am I flat? Yeah.
Me, me, me, me, me, me. She.
Went black, Yeah, yeah, I'd go with guillotine.

(37:35):
I'd take that. Yeah, driver Duncan Hamilton
recalled the moments just after the crash, saying, quote, the
scene on the other side of the road was indescribable.
The dead and dying were everywhere.
Wow. The cries of pain, anguish and
despair screamed catastrophe. I don't like that part.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That sounds dark.
I stood as if in a dream, too horrified to even think.

(37:56):
Yeah, that sounds like a, that sounds like a freaking a
purgatory level in Dante's Inferno.
Yeah, just like somewhere where everyone's flat ended in pain
and screaming. Yeah, it's horrible.
Someone's head is cut off, but you can still see the nachos in
their hands that they were holding.
Yeah, yeah, they start shoving it into someone's pants.
We cover that story in OK Bud. Yeah, the hood of a Marlboro car

(38:18):
fucking takes your head off. Oh well, while you're smoking a
cigarette. If the cigarettes don't kill
you, the car will, yeah. That's how they get you.
Every time. What was left of Lavey's car
when it finally came to arrest the rear mounted fuel tank
suddenly exploded, triggering a fire.
Oh my God. So we're getting people
flattened, heads cut off, and now the intense heat from the
fire raised the temperature of the car's magnesium alloy body

(38:40):
work to the point of spontaneousignition, erupting into intense
white hot flames, showering the track and crowd with magnesium
embers. So again, this is just another
volcano lava situation. Yeah, I hate it.
Yeah. No, I don't like it.
Must look kind of cool from the outside.
So much there's probably people melted into each other.
Oh my God. Twinsies.

(39:00):
That's amazing. Yeah.
Good. Well, we did kind of wear the
same thing today. Isn't that cute?
Yeah. Yeah, it's better.
It's stronger than marriage. It's literally fusing us
together. Fusing together?
Has anyone loved anyone enough to fuse together with them?
I don't think so. Exactly.
Squidward and SpongeBob did it once.
Did they? Yeah.
He was like, we're closer than you think.

(39:20):
And then he lifted up his shirt and their stomachs were fused.
That's. Just so crazy.
The situation worsened when emergency responders, unaware of
how magnesium reacts to water, attempted to extinguish the
flames using conventional methods.
Oh my God, that's what I did with my candle wax situation,
which is why my kitchen is stillfull of candle wax and I can't
use my oven. Oops.
It is, yeah. So they're trying to throw water

(39:42):
on it, and instead of putting out the fire, the water
intensified the combustion. Magnesium burns more fiercely in
water's presence. See, this is the craziest thing.
Yeah. What?
I mean, how are they supposed toknow?
I mean, they probably should know.
Well, they found out. Should.
Probably know. Yeah, he's in 1955.
We had like a bunch of science and stuff.
We're like 10 years away from going to the moon.
Yeah. Well, not.

(40:02):
Not going to the moon. Not, not, not going to the moon.
Not, not, not going to the moon.Oh, we can do this.
All day. We can do it all day, baby.
So as a result, these fires continued to burn for several
more hours. Dang Lavey's lifeless body,
severely burned, lay in full view on the pavement until a

(40:22):
policeman hauled down a banner to recover it.
Yeah, you're gonna wanna wave the white flag there.
You wanna slow down the cars? Yeah, the race is gonna pause.
We have to pause you. Wanna cover up the roasted
pilot? Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. They should call him pilots, not
drivers. I like that.
Yeah, yeah, they're, they're. Piloting he's a.
Pilot race car pilots. Race car pilots.

(40:43):
It's fucking cool. He's a pilot.
It's a good band name. The race car pilots.
Yeah, 1 is they don't cry all the time.
They. Probably.
Would I just? Can't with It's a white thing.
It's a white man thing where they cry all the time.
I. Love emo music I can't I do I
love a nice man crying some music I.
Love a cry. Why I love a good cry.
Because it's how I feel inside. Because no one understands me.

(41:07):
But it's not how you, it's not how you feel inside.
It's because you're fucking screaming at.
It's how you should feel inside.Yeah, and not out, not outside.
Nobody understands what I'm going through, not even in this
arena full of 100,000 other people in this one city.
Like that van stained? Yeah.
Like it's just whatever. It's fine outside.
Yeah, OK. It's because you were 86 from
the bar because you took a piss on top of it.

(41:28):
Yeah, well, you can't do that. Not legally, I don't want to
leave. I pissed on a DJ boost once.
It was pretty funny. The guy sucked.
Oh my God, you did it like on the turntables.
No, I was. I was.
Probably. Going food, I pissed on the
base, like the base of the thingand I was talking to him.

(41:50):
That is. Even weird.
And then and then I continued mypiss walking out the front door.
And then two cops were like, hey, here's your citation for
urinating in public. And I was like, I urinate in
public. And then they showed me the
trail and then I was like, ah, you got me.
And then I paid a $25 fine and. Thought I felt the wind on my.
Dick Yeah, it was different times.
Wow, it was 2021 maybe? Good.

(42:10):
Shit head behavior. Yeah, I would like to apologize,
especially that DJ. He sucked.
I'm telling you, he sucked. What sucked worse the the the
music going into your ears are the fucking piss that everyone
had to walk through. Well, that's.
Funny. No, it is not.
Yeah, it is. Because they don't even know
they're walking through my piss.That's true.

(42:32):
Then you what? Look at them and you're like,
you know, piss. She is.
Wow. My piss.
Although the exact number is notknown, there were at least 81
spectator deaths, plus Pierre Lavey and over 120 other
injuries. God.
Dang, so. It's a final destination ass
moment. Exactly this must don't want to
live, you want to just get it done with.

(42:52):
Despite the enormous tragedy andloss of life, the race
continued. It did.
Yeah. Wait.
Why? Why would it?
Just gotta figure out who was the best guy, OK?
Else was there to watch it. There's only one guy.
He's like, I'm finishing this fucking race.
Yeah, like. Was the race that fucking
important? Yeah.
Yeah, the Mercedes-Benz team andthe Ferrari team both dropped

(43:12):
out, understandably. Yeah, But the Jaguar team,
including driver Mike Hawthorne,who initiated the disastrous
series of events, decided I'm gonna keep going.
I'm finishing this race. Wow, the show must go on,
people. Yeah, it's like when Walter was
screaming about the Vietnam War and Big Lebowski, like, I'm
finishing my coffee. I'm finishing.

(43:33):
Oh my God. Well, good for this.
So they won in a race where no one else did.
Wanted a race? Well, there was one other team
that died. What was the other team like?
Kia. So in the end, Hawthorne won the
race for Jaguar, beating the Aston Martin team by 5.
Lines Does he really think that win counts?
Does he feel good about this winon this day?
Does it count more or less? Well, yeah.
It's kind of like the bubble championship with the NBA.

(43:55):
It's is it more difficult or less difficult?
Everyone's dead. Like he's he's literally racing
in front of a bunch of burning corpses.
Yeah, it's got to be distracting.
There's, yeah, there's like ambulances, like EMTs everywhere
trying to treat injured people. Just like half of the concession
stands closed, but then the other person is like, no, we're
staying open. Our section isn't bad.
And the guy was like, I was really hoping I could go hang

(44:16):
out with my friends after this. Like, no, we're staying open
till the end of the race. Sorry.
Sorry, Tommy. Sit the fuck down.
Sit the fuck down. Serve goddamn nachos.
There was a French magazine, La Otto Journal, that published a
photo of Mike Hawthorne smiling and drinking from the victor's
bottle of champagne. What an asshole.
With the sarcastic caption to your health, Mr. Hawthorne.

(44:36):
What? This guy.
Holy shit the nuts on this guy. Mike Hawthorne is a real fucking
Sky I. Kind of like him, he's filthy.
So he caused the accident and hefucking won, yeah.
Asshole. He saw Aston Martin and he's
just flew by them. Was like, we're still racing.
Oh my God, that's hilarious. I win.

(44:57):
Everyone would have been dead anyway if they didn't die on
this day 'cause it's 1955, so it's not so bad, right?
Well, that takes us to Daredevils, an escape artist to
round out the episode. Oh, let's round it out, baby.
That's what my grandmother used to say when she would give me a
cake or a piece of pie. She'd be like, you want to round
out the meal? Always want to round it out.
That's what I say to myself whenI'm at the gym with my, with my

(45:19):
glutes. I'm like, you want to round them
out, girl? Squat.
You're like a gym, a gym rat. I try to be.
You're in shape, Yeah. Well, the final type of public
spectacle we're going to talk about, like I said, is it's,
it's it's very own specific niche, niche in the
entertainment world, The Oxford Dictionary, they describe being

(45:39):
a daredevil simply as a recklessperson who enjoys doing
dangerous things. See, I would disagree with the
reckless part because they're all about the math.
Well, if they're smart, yeah. If they're smart then they're
really. But they're they're purpose.
I would say they're purposeful, not reckless.
I would say very intentional, just even the the Jackass guys,
they're they were they're. Maybe not, maybe not.

(46:00):
Like, maybe not. Movie one, Movie 4, you know,
they kind of got a little soft. Yeah.
A lot of drama with that group too.
You. Want a party?
The other side of the coin is the escape artist, and they
describe an escape artist as an entertainer, usually adept at
escaping from confinement. I hate that I would never ever
do. Why do you even want to put

(46:21):
yourself through that? Seriously.
Just be grounded a bunch. Oh, that's true.
Yeah, Rapunzel, she had to grow out of her hair.
Daredevils and escape artists are similar in that both types
of performers put themselves into a dangerous situation and
then thrills the audience by finding some way out of.
It you know there's a feud though daredevils and escape

(46:41):
artists. Oh, you got out of a box.
That's pretty cool, Is there? Yeah.
I butt fucked this horse in midair, Went 500 yards.
What you do on my motorcycle, Right?
I'm a daredevil. My mom.
My mom yells at me and texts andthen I screenshot it and share
it with everyone on Instagram. That is Daredevil.
That's flying, yeah. Too close to the sun, that.
Is dangerous territory. Yeah, this.

(47:02):
Is how I live on the edge. I got to be Privy to one of
their interactions today and it is cute from the outside.
Yeah. That's adorable.
Two of the most famous examples of this type of entertainer
would be Harry Houdini. Oh yes.
On that side and then Evel Knievel on the daredevil side,
Yeah. Great documentary on him as
well. You learn a lot, yeah.

(47:22):
While both deserve an entire episode of their own, we'll
first briefly dispel the myth and mystery surrounding the
death of Houdini. OK, so OK, 'cause.
Are gonna go over him. But for a second because people
have differing opinions on how he died.
Can I say what I thought? Wait till we get to it.
OK, wait till we get to it, OK? It's a question that's been
asked countless times over the last 100 years.
How did? Houdini die?

(47:43):
Did he die? From being punched in the
stomach. That's what I heard.
Yeah, what? During the autumn of 1926, Harry
Houdini, then 52, was on tour. But the tour was plagued from
the start. His wife Bess suffered from food
poisoning and Houdini himself fractured his ankle, performing
a difficult escape. But he still was like fuck it,
I'm going. He's got to go.

(48:04):
On Friday, October 22nd, while backstage at the Princess
Theatre in Montreal, Canada, a student from McGill University
named named J Jordan Whitehead. Oh, that's that's one of those
last names. You can't get a zit if you're
that. Guy no, you're really it's up,
Whitehead. Yeah.
He's a nasty ass Whitehead. Has the clearest.
Skin. Yeah, he's got to.

(48:24):
He was eager to test the popularclaim that Houdini could
withstand any blow to the abdomen.
Whitehead struck him so hard that in less than two weeks,
Houdini would be dead. Oh, OK, so he didn't die right
then. No, no, he.
Like probably like caused some like internal bleeding.
Yeah, well, here's the thing. OK, the punch did happen, but
what was the cause? The truth is that Houdini had

(48:46):
already been feeling ill before the punch.
His condition worsened the following day, yet he didn't
stop performing. After his Saturday night show,
he could barely get dressed. Still, he boarded a night train
to Detroit to keep a schedule, to keep a scheduled appearance.
Wow. On Sunday, a physician examined
him and diagnosed him with what appeared to be acute
appendicitis. Yo, take a break.

(49:08):
That is terrible. Take a break, Houdini.
Yeah, he had a high fever and significant abdominal pain.
Despite being told to go to the hospital, Houdini refused.
The show was sold out and he wasdetermined to perform.
These Michiganders need to be entertained.
Yeah, they already got their babysitters.
They're there. Well, they didn't have
babysitters back then. Kids were forced to survive.

(49:30):
My kids in my window balcony. Yeah.
Exactly afterward, he was barelyable to stand and again declined
decline treatment from doctors. It wasn't until hours later that
a hotel doctor summoned a surgeon to examine him.
And that, of course, is the hotel chef.
Yeah. Finally, on Monday afternoon,
October 25th, he underwent surgery.
The doctors discovered that his appendix had burst, causing

(49:53):
widespread peritonitis. Wow, A deadly infection of the
abdominal. Cavity.
It is insane that he went days with appendicitis without having
it go treated without having anything to like relieve his
pain. It'll fuck you up.
And then it literally burst and he'd still like barely was in
the hospital. He's they They were tougher back
then. They literally yeah.

(50:14):
They but Dumber too, because he died but right.
Yeah, in an era before antibiotics, such an infection
was usually fatal. Houdini held on for six more
days before passing away on Halloween, October 31st, 1926.
Whoa. Good day to die though.
Kind of a cool day to die. Daredevil for doing that, yeah.
The official cause of death was generalized peritonitis brought

(50:36):
on by a ruptured appendix. Yeah, the guy broke his
appendix. That's what happened, yeah.
So the punch did break his appendix.
It's. Possible.
Or it was already. Busted open, I believe Brandon's
making the case that the punch was not responsible, he says.
The evidence says no. OK, but it didn't help no it.
Definitely. Didn't help the punch didn't
help. Yeah, Houdini's condition had

(50:57):
begun before he was struck. But yes, you can get
appendicitis without it bursting.
I think the punch actually probably burst it.
It could have. Probably.
I punch you bro, bro let me punch you.
Did he let him punch him or was it a shock attack?
No he let him punch him. He did OK because I was.
I was under the impression a guyjust randomly walloped the.
Sucker punched him in the stomach.

(51:18):
Exactly. That would suck.
Oh yeah, it doesn't feel good. So yeah, bacterial infection,
infection, when it came down to it, it wasn't trauma, it was the
infection with that's how he died.
But yeah, I'm going to go ahead and say didn't help.
Out of all the ways that Houdini, out of all the ways he
could have died, it's interesting that he kind of died
like a like a normal man. Yeah, like.

(51:40):
A normal man. Like a normal man like us.
With a birth with. A burst appendix.
The birth appendix. The birth Appendix A.
Birth Appendix. That's why you can't go to a
doctor with a if you have a birth appendix like I.
Have what? You gotta get the fuck out of
here. What's the name?
Birth. While Houdini is remembered
today as the ultimate escape artist, others that have

(52:00):
followed in his path are too easily forgotten.
Inspired by his personal hero. Inspired by his personal hero
Harry Houdini and dedicated to him, the amazing Joe Burress
arranged for a Halloween Night 1990 spectacle at Blackbeard's
Family Fun Center in Fresno, CA.No idea who this is.
Either poor guy. The Amazing Joe at Blackbeard's

(52:24):
Family Fun Center in Fresno. Burroughs had worked for years
as a tree trimmer in Salem, OR. And then, of course, you become
the The Amazing Joe. Of course, yeah.
Yeah, I like that for him. I believe it.
When at the age of 32 he decidedhe was getting too old for this
shit, his true calling in life was magic.
So he quit drinking and he started learning card tricks.

(52:46):
Very wholesome. Yeah, it's horrible.
He quickly graduated to stunts and escapes.
In his own words. He exclaimed.
I consider myself a master of illusion and escape.
I believe I'm the next Houdini and greater I.
Don't know 'cause. We didn't hear of.
Him so it didn't hurt no it. Didn't he was also kind of dumb?

(53:07):
It might be. His greater and final act was to
be buried alive. Oh, no, no, no.
Oh my God, no. But it was more complicated than
that. You're more complicated than
that. I hate it.
It's not not complicated. Not only would he be handcuffed,
chained and placed inside of a glass coffin, fucking why?

(53:28):
Why? The coffin would then be lowered
into a 7 foot deep grave coveredin dirt and then have concrete
poured on top of that. What the?
Hell's wrong with him. There's some safety concerns
here, yeah. If going according to plan, the
Amazing Joe would have escaped his chains and cuffs and
secretly exited the coffin within one minute.
This is literally how they triedto kill Jason Voorhees, Yeah.

(53:54):
That one minute would have been way before the concrete began
pouring. He had performed a He had
performed a trial run beforehandwhich took him 5 minutes to
escape the coffin, but he still thought the trick would work.
He is. He's like, no, it's Showtime.
I'll do it. Yeah.
Oh my. God, yeah, get ready.
Oh no, buddy. Sean Henderson was one of the
workers tasked with shoveling the dirt on top of Joe, he said.

(54:15):
When we started burying him, he knocked and wanted us to stop,
Henderson recalled. So we stopped and uncovered the
edges of the coffin and UN keyedthe locks and open the coffin
enough so that he could talk. Burris told Henderson that the
chain around his neck was, too. Tight.
Oh my God. Dude, Oh my God.
Claustrophobic in here. Can anyone can anyone even see
it? Was there a camera in there or

(54:35):
something? I don't.
Think so? I don't think.
So Oh my Lord, OK. This is this is 1990 so.
Yeah, the cameras weren't tiny enough yet.
Yeah, exactly. After Burris slipped off the
chain, his assistants put the locks back on and started
burying him again. Cheat, cheat.
Yeah, the assistant shovelled 3 feet of dirt into the hole, and
then that truck poured another 3feet of wet cement.

(54:58):
But if you're the audience, all you see is cement being poured
into a hole. You don't see any of this.
Right as soon as we so, Henderson then is recalling.
As soon as we finished and the truck pulled away, the whole
thing dropped about two feet. That's not good.
Oh shit. So the grave and the coffin
collapse. Oh my God, something with that
concrete maybe? Yeah, Oh.

(55:20):
You think that weighs something?No.
The cement busted the coffin. Oh my God.
Workers quickly pulled burrs outof the hole, but paramedics
could not revive him, it was pronounced.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, his chest crushed by the
cement. Oh my God.
Yep, that's what Big Boy did to his enemies and Dick Tracy
drowned him in cement. Later, it was determined that

(55:42):
the glass coffin had previously been damaged.
Oh my God dude, you didn't get anew glass coffin?
Joe himself repaired it with glue.
Ohh my, you know. OK, he's a regular Stockton
rush. Yes, some.
At least he didn't bring anyone else with him.
Seriously, as he porridge people, I'm like, let's go
underground. We can totally make it out of
this. The amount of concrete poured on

(56:03):
top of him weighed over 7 tons. Yeah, there's no way.
He was making that. No, don't worry, I got some
epoxy on there. Yeah, it's pretty good.
This is even before Gorilla Gluecame out.
The last attempt we will discussis a more recent one.
In fact, it was recorded for thetelevision series America's Got
Talent. Oh no.

(56:24):
In October 2021, what I didn't. Know there was a death from
that. Jonathan Goodwin had previously
appeared on Britain's Got Talentand was carving out a name for
himself as one of the best escape artists and stunt
performers in the world. Britain's Got Talent.
What do you do? Brush his teeth.
Kind of an older joke there. Kind of an older joke that's
pretty good. Pretty good joke there.
During a stunt rehearsal for America's Got Talent, Goodwin

(56:45):
was encased in a straight jacketwhile suspended 30 feet in the
air. Two vehicles were also suspended
on wires on either side of him. Why?
Ohh my. God to prove he's Got Talent,
He's Got Talent. To America Before the trick,
Goodwin would escape from the jacket and drop onto the padding
below. It's really sad though too
because he was probably in between like someone who could

(57:06):
play like a ukulele with his taint and like his Wow.
Because some of the talents aren't that talented, no.
No, they're just like weird things that they do.
Right. And this guy?
'S like this seems like a copingmechanism for your terrible
upbringing and as a. Child, that's what most of it
is, yeah, Yeah. The two cars would be released
and swing head on into each other, exploding in a controlled

(57:28):
pyrotechnic flame in the space that Goodwin had been just
dangling from a split second before.
Oh, wow. I mean, this sounds kind of
cool, yeah. Just we're trying to one up each
other all the time, right? Oh, he got out of a straight
jacket. Well, I'm going to do it in the
sky. Oh, yeah.
Well, I'm going to do it in the sky while two cars are crashing
into me at the same time and they're going to explode.

(57:49):
Mm Hmm. Yeah.
During the rehearsal, however, Goodwin could not escape in
time. He was crushed between the two
cars before they were set ablaze.
It was the rehearsal. Yeah.
So this isn't even. This is just a test run.
They're like. Oops.
Why they do it for real in the rehearsal, I don't know.
All right. He was crushed between the two
cars and before they were set ablaze, he then fell to the

(58:11):
floor. The daredevil suffered third
degree burns, fractured legs andbroke his spine, which caused
him to be paralyzed from the waist down.
Wow, poor guy. Yeah.
Did he move on to the next roundor well?
He made his mobility disappear, Yeah.
And that's a talent. That's a talent.
He survived to tell his story inhis own words.
It was pretty gnarly. You know, it sounds very

(58:33):
dramatic sitting here, but I didnearly die.
Yeah, I fucking believe. That hilarious.
I know you're going to think I'ma drama queen for saying this,
but I did almost die. So thank you guys for coming to
Thanksgiving right? Oh, this really learned how?
I think we're missing a chair. And then he just rolls up.
Never mind. Handicap spot Another daredevil

(58:55):
inspired by his hero was Gary Wells, following in the skid
marks of Evel Knievel. Skid marks.
That implies poopy poops. Yeah, that's poopy.
Poopy underwear. Yeah, yeah.
Gary decided to jump from the infamous Gary decided to jump
from the famous fountains at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas,
NV. Those aren't that high, are
they? They seem.
Pretty high though, they probably kill me.

(59:16):
Yeah, yeah, I guess so. Sure, the.
Bellagio's higher. Right, OK.
The state the same stunt had been infamously attempted by the
great daredevil Evel Knievel 13 years prior.
On December 31st, 1967, Knievel's Knievel would attempt
his longest motorcycle jump yet.It was 141 feet from the launch
to landing, soaring through the sky and through the majestic

(59:38):
fountains. I see.
Being filmed for AB CS Wide World of Sports, Knievel fell
short of the landing ramp and wiped out.
Oh my, 2 wide world of sports. His body came to a stop in the
Dunes Hotel parking lot. Just a fat family from Ohio
getting out of their cars and like, welcome to Las Vegas.

(01:00:01):
We're really here, Peggy. Knievel suffer Knievel suffered
a crushed pelvis, crushed femur,fractures to his hip, wrist,
both ankles in a concussion thatkept him in the hospital for 29
days. Sort of.
Like everything he heard everything, Yeah. 28 days later.
Right. 13 years later, on September 15th, 1980, Gary Wells

(01:00:23):
was going to succeed where Knievel failed.
I don't know if you are. Even saying to the press before
the jump, Knievel is it Knievel is the past tense now.
Whoa, he said. I'm the new.
Evil I'm. Present tense I'm the new
Knievel here now. Everything he has done, I've
bettered, he said. What he said that.

(01:00:44):
Who the fuck are you? Gary Wells.
My previously is that. Also, your name is Gary Wells
and the other guy is Evel Knievel.
Get a fucking name bro. And give it up for Gary.
I just saw that guy playing baccarat.
Gary, your wife wants you to call her.
She's she thinks she says you took the wrong car again.
Right after this jump, right? Come home to your kids.

(01:01:07):
She's pissed. Now the kids are probably happy
he's gone. Yeah.
They're like she's shot. Don't, don't make him come home,
mom. The similarities between the two
events are hard to ignore. This time, the stunt was being
filmed for ABC's. That's incredible.
Not quite the world wide world of sports, right?
Like Knievel Wells in his motorcycle cleared the fountain.
But where Knievel fell short of the landing at 141 feet, Wills

(01:01:31):
Wells missed the ramp completely.
Bro, you got to hit the ramp. After soaring over 170 feet
through the air, he. Crashed like I'm going a little
to the left. Well, the wind is carrying what
He went 170 feet through the airand he crashed at 80 miles an
hour. His body's getting to a stop

(01:01:52):
after striking a concrete wall. Yikes.
Ouch. Spectator standing on Spectator
standing on top of the wall leaned in for a better view of
the carnage. Oh my God.
Where is he? This is what we paid good money
for. Yeah, look at the body.
We paid good baby $50 a ticket. Look at his body.
The weight of the Oh my God thisis insane.

(01:02:14):
So they're all looking over the wall, right?
And their weight caused the wallto collapse.
Oh my. God it's the people who are
rubber necking. Fat fucks end up becoming part
of the action themselves. Wow 6 people along with parts of
the wall fell 15 feet on top of Gary.
Oh wow, all these fat fucking Las Vegas cows.

(01:02:35):
There you fucking go. Mind your business.
You keep fucking walking. Concrete fat people crushing
Gary after he just experienced Atremendous fucking injury.
Ohh God. Nice thing is, I think I lived
ohh. Here comes the buffet.

(01:02:55):
But Gary, in a weird twist, survived.
Oh, good for him. Like Knievel, Wells suffered a
concussion of fractured pelvis, as well as 2 broken legs and a
tear in the artery of his heart.Yeah.
And also humiliation. Totally, Yeah.
Especially after he was like oh I'm the new evil Knievel gonna.
Then he was like way further off.
Braggadocious. Yeah, he needed emergency

(01:03:17):
surgery for his heart artery. Sure.
And he later claimed he was upset someone must have moved
his ramp. He he was sabotaged.
Somebody moved the ramp. Somebody moved my fucking ramp.
OK, so someone moved the ramp oryou fucked?
Up or you didn't like it at all?Yeah, he's like, no, someone
definitely moved it. I think you would have noticed,
wouldn't he have noticed, Yeah. In 1989, Robbie Knievel, son of

(01:03:39):
Evil, Oh yes, became the first person to successfully jump the
fountain at Caesar's Palace. And Robbie is legit.
He's good. Really.
Yeah. He's cool.
I didn't know. MM Metzger also did it in 2006
and Travis Pastrana did it in 2018.
Well, you. Don't have to do it anymore.
It's been done. Yeah, it's.
Been done. Stop doing it old hat.

(01:03:59):
Now come on. Evil Knievel died in 2007 at the
age of 69, and Gary Wells. AO60. 9 and Gary Wells died in
2020 at the age of 63. I think you said Evil Knievel
died. He did.
Oh wait, 69 yes. Oh I'm sorry I did that bad
then. Yeah, Evil Knievel died in 2007
at the age of 69. Yeah.

(01:04:20):
Evil Knievel evil, not his son. No, no, Robbie's still alive,
isn't he? OK, never mind.
Yeah, yeah, I'm so stupid. Go on.
Yes, Sorry. No, he died in 2023.
Fuck. Wow.
Robbie Knievel's dead, so I'll just add that at the end too.
And sadly, Robbie Knievel is also dead.
He died January 13th, 2023 in Reno, NV.

(01:04:41):
Oh wow. The whole Knievel family is
gone. Yeah, he died at age 60 of
pancreatic cancer. Oh, that sucks.
Jesus. Out of all the shit he got
fucking cancer. I know God, this is crazy, but
that will bring us too. Final thoughts.
I'm just gonna straight up, I'm taking it TLC, don't go chasing

(01:05:05):
waterfalls. Let's go.
Yeah, stick to the oceans or whatever the floor that.
Rivers and lakes that you're using, Yeah.
Stick to those, although you candrown in those too.
That's why you get a dry lake bed.
Yep, but old like your old wife.Yep, Yep.
You know, gotta know about math and science.
That's why I don't do this stuff.
I don't know math and science. Yeah, but even if you do know
math and science, you still can't.
The risk is still there. It's there, it's there.

(01:05:26):
But I think Ben's very much on to something.
If you're gonna do it, you can'tbe just some brave lunatic.
You gotta actually plan it out and figure it the fuck out.
Right. Yeah, actually.
Because then then you're just a Jackass.
Yeah, literally, yeah. Then you're just buried under 7
tons of fucking concrete for no reason.
But in a way, they all died doing what they loved, so who's
to say let's hope they loved it?Well, I think you you do it

(01:05:47):
'cause you love it well. People do things all the time
they don't love. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, but usually. It's not like they were
moonlighting this fucking hobby.I.
Mean they might have been well, who knows, I don't know all.
Right. Well, I am not.
I'm, I am also a creature of land.
My final thought is, is if you're going to have, if you're
going to test rocket ships out, please be a scientist.
Yeah, just be a scientist. Yeah, you need to do.

(01:06:10):
You don't. You don't got to prove nothing
to nobody. There you go.
You don't got to be that guy. What a pep talk for your future
son, Kyle. You don't got to prove nothing
to nobody, kid. You don't have to be that guy.
Yeah, yeah. He's like, Dad, I'm trying to go
to college. Yeah, you failed like every
plouf has failed. OK, that's right.
Well, hopefully he can fail upwards.
Yeah, let's go. All of us, Yeah.

(01:06:31):
You. Will do you guys hear that?
Yes. Wait, no, Yeah.
Oh, no. Yeah, you've got mail.
Oh my goodness, we have a mailbag.
Mailbag. Yes, delivery.
Delivery here. What have we we got?
Last choice invoice. Wait, no last choice, no voice.

(01:06:53):
That's different than an invoicelast.
Choice. No voice.
They said as a kid they would goover the Bong Bridge all the
time. They lived in upper Michigan,
just over the border from Wisconsin and they travel a lot.
They used to giggle about how itsounds like.
They used to giggle about the the name of the bridge.
Oh, of course. Bong Bridge.
Yeah, you got to get stoned there.
They got to change the name or just assume kids are going to

(01:07:14):
get stoned there. Pretty nice.
And as seen by by Dave said, I think you guys found your third.
That's you, Jerry. That's you Jerry.
That's Yeah, you're the fucking third.
Aw, thanks. But you're always number one in
my book. Be here.
I don't know how to write, but if my number I am, you're number
one. Yeah, I'm probably #2 whoa.
So thank you so much for listening to another episode of

(01:07:36):
Death and Entertainment. If there's a story you would
like to hear specifically, why don't you go send us an e-mail
at [e-mail].
Thank you so much. And again, go to patreon.com/die
Bud, the studios here at Die BudStudios are Dang near finished,
OK, Bud And Ben Kissel politics,we got three fantastic shows for
you every single week. I think there's seven episodes

(01:07:57):
total. And yeah, we're going to keep on
growing. We got some merch coming very
very soon and hail yourself. And until next week.
Don't go dying on us. Bye, bye, bye.
You have just heard. A true Hollywood.
Murder mystery. I have never seen anything like
this before. The movies, Broadway, music,

(01:08:18):
television, all of it. A place that manufacturers
nightmares. OK, everybody, that's a wrap.
Good night, please drive home carefully and come back again
soon.