Press Release: MARIO WALLENDA OF THE “FLYING WALLENDA’S” TO PERFORM HIGH-WIRE ACT ACROSS CHICAGO RIVER

WLUP-FM (The Loop 97.9) morning air personality Jonathon Brandmeier invites Mario Wallenda to travel across a high-wire above the Chicago River on a motorized “Skycycle”, live on the air in front of the world-famous Merchandise Mart!

Paralyzed from the waist down in a high-wire accident in 1962, Mario Wallenda of The Flying Wallendas now uses a specially constructed “Skycycle”, allowing him to personally continue his famous family’s high-wire act. The death-defying feat will be conducted September 19th from The Merchandise Mart in Chicago where The Loop Studios are located. The man who convinced Wallenda to come here and perform, Jonathon Brandmeier, will broadcast live from the site in front of the building where Wallenda will perform his tightrope act, crossing the Chicago River.

The stunt will take place approximately 9:00am this Tuesday when Mario will travel roundtrip from the Merchandise Mart river front to Wacker Drive atop a 5/8 inch steel cable hoisted nearly 100 feet above the river between two cranes from Imperial Crane Services of Bridgeview.

The Wallenda’s began in 1780 as a traveling circus family known for their expertise on the flying trapeze. They toured the world, headlining with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus during much of the 1930s and `40s. In 1947, The Flying Wallendas created the seven-person chair pyramid consisting of four men on a wire 35 feet in the air, a second level of two more men, and at the top, a woman sitting, then standing on a chair. Successfully executed from 1947 through 1962, the seven-person pyramid collapsed on January 30, 1962 and the Wallenda’s experienced tragedy. Two men from the pyramid fatally fell to the ground while Mario survived as a paraplegic. 16 years later in 1978, Mario witnessed his 73 year old father, Karl Wallenda, die after a high-wire fall in Puerto Rico.

Still, the now 64 year-old Wallenda told Brandmeier why he wants to perform again, “I want to feel alive and productive. I just can’t sit around the house and not do anything. I’d rather be a live hero than a dead martyr”. He first performed with the Skycycle in 2001 and set a Guinness World Record for the feat. This stunt will be just his 3rd attempt, and his first in more than 2 years.

Media are invited to attend the event with special access areas designated on an advance RSVP basis by 9/18 at 5pm. Television vehicles will be granted access from the Wells St. entrance on the river front of The Merchandise Mart and will be able to park at the east end of the drive. There are two camera stations established for covering the event: 1. The northeast corner of Wacker Dr. and Franklin St. (no parking); 2. Merchandise Mart roof-level access. These areas are available on an RSVP basis only. Please contact Tommy King, [email protected] to RSVP for special media access. Interviews with Mario Wallenda will be available at The Loop broadcast area located outside The Merchandise Mart main south entrance beginning at 7am on Tuesday 9/19.