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Stupid Deaths: Franz Reichelt
SKETCH-O-VISION
A VERY GOOD USE OF YOUR TIME.
The setup
Watch on YouTube
Watch onYouTube
The premise
Here’s the bit.
At the Series 1 Death Check In desk, Death calls the next soul forward and runs through his questions. Franz Reichelt, an Austrian tailor and inventor, proudly models the garment that killed him: a coat that doubles as a parachute. He admits he promised the authorities a test with a dummy, then leapt from the Eiffel Tower himself because he trusted the design. Death guesses the result, acts out the plunge and dissolves into laughter before declaring it a stupid death and calling the next person in line.
The funny people
Meet the cast. 2
Say it with us
Highly quotable.
Half coat, half parachute.
I told the authorities I'd use a dummy, but I was so confident it would work, I actually tested it on myself.
Well, at least the coat bit worked.
A little extra
Notes from the archive.
The real Franz Reichelt jumped from the first platform of the Eiffel Tower on 4 February 1912. The police had approved what was expected to be a test with a dummy, but he insisted on jumping himself, and the fatal fall was recorded by newsreel cameras.
The rabbit hole continues
One more couldn’t hurt.
More from Horrible Histories.
