Sphere of Fear - History

The original Globe Of Death was started after the war by the late Herb "Daredevil" Durkin, a pre-war   speedway star who thought that people would pay good money to see  "the thrilling double loop of death act".  His thoughts paid off!

He and his wife Kath, who became the first woman to ride the globe, travelled the thrill-show circuit for nearly 30 years. The Globe of Death, was an extension of the wall-of-death act that Elvis (the King) rode in the movie "Roustabout."  The wall of death was more like riding around the inside of a big barrel rather than a sphere.  Durkin worked hard on his attraction, adding a sidecar and passenger and even a couple of midget cars (driven by regular-sized people) to attract an audience. He made the globe rotate and, at one stage, it was lifted above the ground with the bottom removed to increase the danger factor.  The highlight was always the double loop, with one rider riding vertically and one horizontally, missing each other by centimeters. While no-one actually died inside the globe, bone-breaking accidents were frequent enough to keep the audiences' attention.  The Durkins retired in the early '70s and the globe was left to rust in pieces.  New entertainers have created similar spheres and continue to impress audiences with this fearsome display of guts and good physics.

Riding inside the sphere takes understanding and practice.   It takes about three months practice to perform the vertical loops in relative safety.