The Walk Page #4

He said he could tell

when cable was at correct tension

through his ass and through his ear. Ah!

Underneath,

through the ring,

lock it off.

Tighten.

And pay.

Philippe, you give me broken money.

- No, it works.

- It's broke.

So, Papa

Rudy let me travel with his troupe.

Of course, I never did any performance.

But any time the big top was empty,

I would practice on the wire.

Most wire walkers, they

die when they arrive.

They think they have arrived,

but they're still on the wire.

If you have three steps to do,

and you take those steps arrogantly,

if you think you are invincible,

you're going to die.

This one, I give to you for free.

Merci.

A few weeks later,

I did my first official public walk

in this tiny little village.

It's so small, it's not even on a map.

But the mayor of this village,

every spring he puts on a festival.

And Papa Rudy convinced him to hire me

to do a walk over this little lake,

which was more like a swamp.

Is it okay?

No. Through your ass

and your feet, you tell me.

Annie came,

she set up a turntable for music.

And Jean-Louis came to take pictures.

So, I begin my performance,

and everything's going very well.

But then I start to hear this murmur of

some laughing and giggling,

and it turns out, there is also a

fishing contest that afternoon

on this lake, more like a swamp.

And the fishermen, they're drinking wine.

They're yelling insults at me.

They're laughing at me

while I'm trying to work.

Now, walking on the wire

is as much mental as it is physical.

If you lose your concentration,

you lose your balance.

Philippe!

So here I am,

in the mud to my knees

doing the Papa Rudy compliment.

This was my first performance.

A failure.

And after this, I didn't feel so good.

Then one day,

I was walking along the Seine,

feeling sorry for myself.

When I look up,

and I saw the towers of Notre-Dame.

And I said,

"This is where I must put my wire."

"This is how I will redeem myself."

And so, under the cover of darkness,

and with a false key,

Jean-Louis and I sneak into the cathedral.

I attach some fishing line to

one of my juggling balls,

and I throw it across to the other side

where Jean-Louis is waiting.

Then, we attach this fishing line

to a small rope,

and we pass that between the towers.

Then we pass a larger rope.

Then, we attach this larger rope

to the steel walk cable.

So, Jean-Louis and I stay up all night

installing a wire between

these two ancient towers.

And when the first tourists

start to arrive in the morning,

I begin.

And I succeed.

I perform my first surprise,

illegal high wire walk.

This is also the first time

I get the taste of this sensation.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote