Giant Rube Goldberg machine mixes in human daredevils

Part of the reason we love seeing Rube Goldberg setups in action is that they offer a simple metaphor for the genius of chain reactions within everyday gadgets. But what happens when you add the human body to the equation? A German acrobat has provided the answer.

Parkour master Jason Paul recruited a group of friends and created one of the largest, most dangerous Rube Goldberg mechanisms ever, relying on a combination of wheels, pulleys, harnesses, human bodies, zip lines, massive storage containers and even a tub of water. Although incorporating human acrobatics into the chain could be considered cheating on the normal rules of such setups, the moves are actually so precisely timed that they serve as just another piece of the precarious object puzzle driving the machine.

The fact that the ultimate payoff is all in the service of turning on an old school television is the punch line that keeps the performance true to the spirit of Goldberg's cartoon gadgetry. You can check out the Parkour-powered mechanism in the video below.

Via DailyMail

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