Thrills, Spills and Leaps of Death

Here's a lurid local TV spot for the 1982 Thrill Show and Destruction Derby at the Astrodome in Houston.

I was in attendance the night Gary Wells did his five-story freefall and 100-foot fire jump on a motorcycle. Wells previously achieved a moderate amount of fame for eating a serious ass taco on That's Incredible! while trying to jump the Caesar's Palace fountain in Las Vegas.

For the 1982 Thrill Show stunt, Wells rode his motorcycle off a ramp at the lip of the Dome's upper-level yellow seats and landed on a ramp below that led onto the field, where the 100-foot fire jump awaited. Unfortunately, someone forgot to light the fire for the fire jump, so Wells wound up jumping over a bunch of nothing.