The journey across the high wire Philippe Petit

this sound this smell this sight all

remind me of the campfires of my

childhood when anyone could become a

storyteller in front of the dancing

flames

there was this wondrous ending when

people and fire will fall asleep almost

in unison it was dreaming time now my

story has a lot to do with dreaming

although unknown to make my dreams come

true

last year I created a one-man show for

an hour and a half I shared with the

audience a lifetime of creativity how I

pursue perfection how I cheat the

impossible and then Ted challenged me

Philippe can you swing this lifetime to

18 minutes 18 minutes clearly impossible

but here I am one solution was to

rehearse a machine gun delivery in which

every syllable of a second will have its

importance and hope the audience will be

able to follow me what I no no no no now

the best way for me to start is to pay

my respects to the gods of creativity so

please join me for a minute of silence

okay I cheated it was a mayor 20 seconds

but hey we on Ted time when I was six

years old I fell in love with magic for

Christmas I got a magic box and a very

old book on card manipulation somehow I

was more interested in pure manipulation

that in all the silly little tricks in a

box so I look in the book for the most

difficult move and it was this now I’m

not supposed to share that with you but

I have to show you the card is hidden in

the back of the hand now that

manipulation was broken down into seven

moves described over seven pages one two

three four five six and seven and let me

show you something else the cards were

bigger than my hands two months later

six years old I am able to do one two

three four five six seven and I go to

see if famous magicians and proudly at

but what do you think six years old

the magician looks at me and said this

is a disaster I mean you cannot do that

in two seconds and have a minuscule part

of the card showing for the move to be

professional it has to be less than one

second and it has to be perfect

two years later one loop and I’m not

cheating it’s in the back it’s perfect

passion

is the motto of all my actions as as I’m

studying magic juggling is mentioned

repeatedly as a great way to acquire

dexterity and coordination now I had

long admire how fast and fluidly

jugglers makes objects fly so that’s it

I’m 14 I’m becoming a juggler i befriend

a young Joe Blow in a juggling troupe

and he agrees to sell me three clubs but

in America you have to explain your what

are clubs nothing to do with golf there

are those beautiful oblong objects but

quite difficult to make they have to be

precisely lathe Oh when I was buying the

clubs somehow the young juggler was

hiding from the others but I didn’t

think much of it at the time anyway here

I was progressing with my new clubs but

I could not understand I mean I was

pretty fast but I was not fluid at all

the clubs were escaping me at each throw

and I was trying constantly to bring

them back to me until one day I practice

in front of Francis burned grave the

world’s greatest juggler and he was

frowning and he finally asked can I see

those

so I proudly show him my clubs is that

Philippe you’ve been had these are

widgets they are completely out of

alignment

they are impossible to juggle tenacity

is how I kept at it against all odds so

I went to the circus to see more

magicians more jugglers and I saw oh no

no no I didn’t see it was more

interesting I heard I heard about those

amazing men and women who walk on thin

air the high wire walkers now I have

been playing with ropes and climbing all

my childhood so that’s it I’m 16 and

becoming a wire Walker I found two trees

but not any kind of trees trees with

character and then a very long rope and

I put the rope around and around and

around and around until have no more

work now I have all those ropes Mahalo

like this I get a pair of pliers and

some code anger and I gather them

together in some kind of ropey bath so I

just created the widest tightrope in the

world what did I need what I needed the

wider shoes in the world so I found some

enormous ridiculous giant ski boots and

then wobbly wobbly I get on the ropes

well within a few days I’m able to do

one crossing so I cut one rope off and

the next day one whoop up and a few days

later I was practicing on a single

tightrope now you can imagine at that

time I had to switch the ridiculous

boots with for some slippers right so

that is how in case there are people

here in the audience who would love to

try this is how not to learn why are

working intuition is it tool essential

in my life in the meantime I am being

thrown out of five different school

because instead of listening to the

teachers I am my own teacher progressing

in my new art and becoming a street

juggler on the high wire within months I

am able to master all the tricks they do

in the circus except I am not satisfied

I am starting I was starting to invent

my own move and bring them to perfection

but nobody wanted to hire me so I

started putting wire in secret and

performing without permission not Adama

the Sydney Harbour Bridge the World

Trade Center and I developed a certitude

a faith that convinced me that I will

get safely to the other side if not I

will never do that first step well

nonetheless on the top of the World

Trade Center my first step was

terrifying all of a sudden the density

of the air is no longer the same

Manhattan no longer spreads its infinity

the murmur of the city dissolve into a

squall whose chill and power I no longer

feel I lift a balancing pole I approach

the edge I step over the beam I put my

left foot on the cable the weight of my

body waist on my right leg

anchored to the flank of the building

shall I ever so slightly shift my weight

to the left my right leg will be on

burden my right foot will freely meet

the wire on one side the mass of a

mountain a life I know on the other the

universe of the cloud so full of unknown

we think it’s empty at my feet the path

to the North Tower

60-yard of wire rope it’s a straight

line which sucks which sways which

vibrate which walls on itself which is

ice which is sweetens tight ready to

explode ready to swallow me in inner

howl as sells me the wild longing to

flee but it is too late

the wire is ready decisively my other

foot sets itself onto the cable

faith is what replaces doubt in my

dictionary so after the war people ask

me well how can you top that

well I didn’t have that problem I mean I

was not interested in collecting the

gigantic in a breaking records in fact I

put my World Trade Center crossing at

the same artistic level as some of my

smaller walks or some completely

different type of performance let’s see

such as well my street juggling for

example so each time I draw my circle of

chalk on the pavement and enter the

improvising comic silent character I

created 45 years ago I am as happy as

when I am in the clouds but this here

this is not the street so I cannot

street your goal here you understand so

you don’t want me to Street joggle here

right you you you you know that right

you don’t want me to juggle right

thank you thank you

it’s time I street juggle I use

improvisation improvisation is

empowering because it welcomes the

unknown and since what’s impossible is

always unknown it allows me to believe I

can cheat the impossible now I have done

the impossible not once but many times

so what should I share though I know

Israel some years ago I was invited to

open the Israel festival by a high wire

walk and I choose to put my wire between

the Arab quarter’s and the Jewish

quarter of Jerusalem over the band

Hinnom Valley and I thought it would be

incredible if in the middle of the wire

I stopped and I’d like a magician I

produce I make appear a dog and send her

in the sky as a living symbol of peace

well now I must say it was a little bit

hard to find a dove in Israel but I got

one and in my hotel room

each time I practice making it appear

and then throwing her in the air she

will graze the walls and hand upon the

bed so I thought no it’s ok I mean the

room is too small I mean a bird needs

space to fly it will go perfectly on the

day of the walk now comes the day of the

walk 80,000 people spread over the

entire Valley the mayor of Jerusalem

Teddy Kollek comes to wish me the best

but he seemed nervous I mean there was

tension in my wire but also could feel

tension on the ground because actually

all those people where

made of people who were for the most

part considered each other enemies so I

start the walk everything is fine I stop

in the middle I make the Dove appear

people applaud in delight and then in

the most magnificent gesture I send the

bird of peace into the azure but the

bird instead of flying ago because flop

flop flop and and on my head and people

scream so I grab his dove and for the

second time I send her in the air but

the Dove who obviously didn’t go to

Flying School does flip flip flop and

ends up at the end of my balancing pole

so now it’s you love you love but hey I

sit down immediately it’s a reflex of

wire walkers now in the meantime the

audience they go crazy I mean the

messing this guy with his double spent

years working and what ingenious for a

professional so I take a bow you know I

sell it with my hand and at the end I

banged my head against the pole to these

slots the world now the Dove who now you

know obviously cannot fly goes for the

third time a little flip flop flop and

ends up on the wire behind me and the

entire valley goes crazy now but hold on

have not finished so now I’m like what

50 yards for my rival and I’m exhausted

so my steps are slow and something

happened somebody somewhere a group of

people start clapping in rhythm with my

step and within seconds the entire

valley is applauding in unison with each

of my step but not an approach of

delight that before in a close of

encouragement for a moment the entire

crowd had forgotten their differences

they had become one pushing me to

triumph you know what I want you just

for a second to experience this amazing

human Symphony so let’s say I am here

and the chair is my arrival okay so I

woke you Club everybody in unison

so after the walk today and I become

friends and he tells me he has on his

desk a picture of me in the middle of

the why over the door on my head he

didn’t know the full story and whenever

is down to it by an impossible situation

to solve in his you know hard to manage

city instead of giving up he looks at

the picture and he said if Philip can do

that I can do this and he goes back to

work inspiration by inspiring ourselves

we inspire others I mean I will never

forget this music and I hope now neither

will you please take this music with you

home and start gluing feathers to your

arms and take off and fly and look at

the world from a different perspective

and when you see mountains

remember mountains can be moved

thank you thank you

oh okay

you