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