• There have been 89 “Stupid Human Trick” segments on David Letterman’s two late-night TV shows: 30 on “Late Night” and 59 on “The Late Show.”
David Letterman was sure that Brittany Walsh was going to fire an arrow right into his crotch.
After all, isn’t that the worst-case scenario for any late-night TV stunt involving weapons?
To be fair, as Letterman held a clear plastic target in front of his face, he might have had cause for concern. The 2005 Prairie High grad was taking aim while doing a handstand, gripping the bow with the toes of her left foot and drawing back the arrow with the toes of her right foot.
Fortunately for all involved, Walsh’s suction-cup-tipped arrow smacked into the plastic target.
Walsh was among the performers who have done “Stupid Human Tricks” for Letterman over the years. It’s a part of television that is fading into broadcast history. Letterman is retiring and today will be his final appearance as host of “The Late Show.”
The Letterman show could only accommodate the condensed version of Walsh’s archery act. Her usual performances have some dramatic buildup, starting with acrobatic poses and hand balances that are impressive on their own. When a stagehand brings out a bow and arrow, there might be some chuckling from the audience: What’s she going to with that?
When she starts to do a handstand, “the wheels start spinning,” Walsh said. “Is she going to do a handstand with that in her feet? I hear gasps and disbelief when I start drawing the arrow. Someone comes out and holds the target and people do their ooohs and aaahs and you feel the excitement build.”
Then the smack of the arrow hitting the target is followed by enthusiastic applause.
Inspired by old photo
Walsh’s appearance on Feb. 27, 2014, definitely was a career highlight, she said. But Walsh has performed in other high-profile showcases, including a celebrity’s party following the recent Coachella music festival in California and events in Dubai and Hong Kong. She has performed at events during the NFL’s Super Bowl week and in Dallas during a stop on the NASCAR racing schedule.
She also performs with regional circuses and acrobatic troupes. (Learn more by searching for “acrobritt” online.) And, Walsh teaches tumbling and acrobatics at Dance Fusion in Salmon Creek. That’s where she recently demonstrated that trick and provided some background on it.
A friend and fellow performer, Curtis Carlyle, came across the handstand archery trick and urged her to, well, give it a shot.
“He saw a photo of a woman in an old circus book,” Walsh said. “He knew I was getting into circus training. He said, ‘You should do that.’ I thought he was kidding. He said, ‘No, really.’ “
So they went to a local Big 5 sporting goods store and got a kid’s bow-and-arrow set. After spending several weeks practicing in her parents’ backyard, “I was thinking that maybe this was not within my range of skills,” Walsh said.
‘Ain’t gonna happen’
Eventually, Walsh was confident enough to send in an audition video and was invited to perform. When Walsh walked onto the stage with her bow, Letterman didn’t know much more than her name and where she was from.
“I was impressed with his professionalism and ability to think on the spot. He and I didn’t talk at all” before Letterman introduced her, Walsh said.
A video of her appearance includes their conversation.
Letterman: “Good lord: I see you have a weapon!”
Walsh: “I’m going to do some acrobatic archery.”
Letterman: “That doesn’t exist. There is no such thing as acrobatic archery!”
Walsh: “I would love for you to hold the target.”
Letterman: “Sure you would. That ain’t gonna happen.”
After Letterman finally took his position with the target, he said: “I know it’s going to be one of those whacky bloopers where I get hit in the (crotch).”
It echoes an iconic moment in TV history, when actor-singer Ed Ames was on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” in 1964.
Ames, who played an Indian on “Daniel Boone,” was showing Carson how to throw a tomahawk. The target was a life-size cardboard cutout of Carson. The tomahawk nailed the cardboard Carson in the crotch. It generated what a TV critic called “the biggest laugh of the year (and) perhaps the biggest one in the history of ‘The Tonight Show.'”
Walsh, who said she’s never seen that clip, wasn’t too worried about winding up in a blooper reel.
“I trust myself. I’ve practiced enough,” Walsh said.
Jump! at opportunity
Practice has been a big part of her life, after all. Walsh started at Vancouver’s Naydenov Gymnastics when she was 6 years old and competed until she was 18. That’s when she took an unexpected detour into acrobatic performance.
“It’s a path I never planned,” she said. “The plan was to go to the University of Washington for pre-med and become some sort of doctor down the line. But a Portland theater company — Do Jump! — was looking for tumblers. It was a unique opportunity, and college was always going to be there. That introduced me to circus performing.”
But Walsh didn’t turn her back on college. She started at Washington State University Vancouver, then shifted to a distance-learning program through WSU’s Pullman campus. She graduated in 2011 with a social sciences degree. Walsh was a president’s list scholar, even though college work and her career occasionally overlapped.
She recalled performing in New York City. After the show, “people would want to go out and have fun. I had to finish my school work.”
The week just before a show opens, when all the technical elements are introduced, is particularly stressful for performers, said Walsh, who now is a Portland resident. ” ‘Tech week’ and college finals always seemed to happen at the same time.”
She plans to be back in college in five years or so, attending grad school as she prepares for a career that likely will involve psychology.
And as Walsh has shown, she’s pretty good at hitting her targets.
