Wall of death
The wall of death, motordrome, velodrome[3] or well of death is a carnival sideshow featuring a silo- or barrel-shaped wooden cylinder, typically ranging from 20 to 36 feet (6.1 to 11.0 m) in diameter and made of wooden planks, inside which motorcyclists, or the drivers of miniature automobiles and tractors travel along the vertical wall and perform stunts, held in place by friction[4] and centrifugal force.
[5] Although not a silo-drome, the large combination motordrome at the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition included a perfectly vertical section at the top that was used by both car and motorcycle riders.
This carnival attraction became a staple in the United States outdoor entertainment industry with the phenomenon reaching its zenith in the 1930s, with more than 100 motordromes on traveling shows and in amusement parks.
In the United States the American Motor Drome Company uses several vintages Indian Scout Motorcycles from the 1920s to give the audience a view of how these shows were done in their heyday.
The American Motor Drome Company is the only wall of death to have two riders Inducted into the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame; Jay Lightnin' (2014) and Samantha Morgan (2006).
This form of motorcycle entertainment had a separate and distinct evolution from carnival motordromes and derived from bicycle acts or "cycle whirls" in the early 1900s.
On 28 March 2016, Guy Martin (successful Isle of Man TT Racer) set the world record for the wall of death.
"[20] The title song of Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris's 2006 album All the Roadrunning uses the wall of death in a traveling carnival as a metaphor for the life of a musician out on tour.
[21] The video for Yelawolf's 2015 song "Outer Space" has a live performance set in Wall of Death at the Sturgis Bike Rally.
The protagonist's daring act serves as a crucial turning point in the movie and another character's performance which ended in a tragic way, leads to the climax events.
