‘I’m gonna prove you wrong’: Fearless daredevil Nik Wallenda is taking on another impossible act

The legendary daredevil has walked over the Grand Canyon and an active volcano. Now he’s set his sights on another near-impossible feat: leading a once-bankrupt circus to success in the 21st Century

Nik Wallenda, the first person to tightrope-walk across Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon, has devoted his life to conquering fear (Courtesy of Big Apple Circus)

Don’t tell Nik Wallenda he can’t do something. The legendary acrobat – dubbed the King of the High Wire – has walked tightropes across the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls, and has hung from a helicopter by his teeth.

So when it comes to turning around a once-bankrupt circus, the word “impossible” doesn’t daunt him.

“If you say ‘No, can’t be done,’ or ‘No, we won’t allow it,’ there’s something inside of me that flares up,” Mr Wallenda told The Independent. “I’m gonna respectfully prove you wrong.”

In 2017, Mr Wallenda became the headline act of the Big Apple Circus, which had declared bankruptcy the year before. But he didn’t just perform in it – he bought it, becoming one of the circus’ co-owners in 2021.

Most people might have second thoughts about buying an enterprise that had just re-emerged from bankruptcy. But for Mr Wallenda, it was a matter of duty.

“It’s way beyond Big Apple,” he said. “It’s important because the circus industry as a whole has struggled for the last several decades. And the circus industry is what has given me everything I have.”

His approach to improving Big Apple is holistic. From the greeters to the audio to the carpet and curtains, Mr Wallenda is determined to upgrade every detail of the customer’s experience.

“Everything matters,” he said more than once.

And if he can make his circus successful, he’s hoping that can help revive the industry as a whole.

“I don’t in any way arrogantly think that I can single-handedly save the circus,” he said, “but if I can be a part of that movement, then at least I’m giving back to the industry that’s given me so much.”

Nik Wallenda has been walking high wires since he was a child (Courtesy of Big Apple Circus)

Mr Wallenda’s connection to the circus goes back centuries. His family, nicknamed the Flying Wallendas, has been performing in circuses since the 1780s. In the 1920s, Karl Wallenda – Nik’s great-grandfather – gained fame in the United States after he and other members of the family performed a high wire and human pyramid act without a safety net.

In his own career, Nik Wallenda has taken that act to new heights – literally. In 2012, he became the first person in history to walk a tightrope across Niagara Falls. The following year, he became the first to walk a high wire over the Grand Canyon. And in 2020, he performed his longest walk so far, over the enormous – and still active – Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua.

And yet these are not the things that scare him. When asked to name the most frightening thing he’s ever done, the legendary daredevil responded, “raising three kids.”

“You’re bringing a life into the world, and you’re responsible for that life until they’re adults, and sometimes after that too,” he said. “That’s a scary thing.”

Other things daunt him as well – public speaking, for example, gives him “nerves.” But when it comes to stepping onto a wire thousands of feet above the ground, Mr Wallenda relies on his motto: “Fear is a liar.”

That’s not to say he thinks all fear is wrong – much of it, he says, is appropriate “respect” for the danger of a situation. It’s that respect that compels his extensive, grueling training – practicing in 90mph winds for 50mph ones, for example. But anything beyond that, he says, can be self-defeating.

“Fear is good and it’s bad, but it’s often telling you, ‘Don’t pursue your dream. Give up on that challenge,’” Mr Wallenda said. “That’s the kind of fear that we have to learn how to control. And that’s the kind of fear that’s a liar.”

Nik Wallenda walks over Niagara Falls in 2012 (AP)

This may be what gives Mr Wallenda’s stunts such wide appeal. Few of us will ever walk over a volcano, but everyone – especially in the era of Covid – must grapple with their own fears. The King of the High Wire offers spectacular demonstrations of how to do that.

Mr Wallenda understands this connection with his audience, and it’s one of the reasons he loves what he does.

“There’s no greater feeling than using your own passion to drive others to greatness,” he said – whether that means opening a business, running a marathon, or conquering an addiction. Whatever the challenge, fear can protect you or just get your way. Mr Wallenda’s advice is to interpret it carefully.

“Fear is telling you not to move forward,” he said, “and I tell people, ‘You need to move forward cautiously.’”