
Advertisement
Advertisement
Then Tony, who claimed to be a “theatrical rigger,” took out the bungee cord and secured it to something. To what? To a piece of bridge, I guess. Tony asked who wanted to go first and some guy volunteered. Before he let the test subject jump, Tony thrust a tape recorder in the guy’s face.“WHAT IS YOUR NAME?”“[NAME!]”“WHAT ARE YOU ABOUT TO DO?”“JUMP OFF THE MANHATTAN BRIDGE!”“ARE YOU DOING THIS OF YOUR OWN VOLITION?”“YES!”“JUMP!”He jumped, screaming. It was loud for a fraction of a second, then immediately much quieter, as though someone had very quickly turned a volume knob down. The reason his screaming got quieter, to us, is that he had just jumped off a bridge. I looked over the edge and he had disappeared into the black. Disabling the bridge’s lights had effectively shrouded us in inky darkness. I very sincerely believed the rope had broken and he had gone into the river. I was certain I’d helped facilitate the death of someone. Someone stupid, like me.
Advertisement
