Build a Handstand Unicycle from Ovo Circ Du Soliel

How do I build a unicycle that I can handstand (shoulderstand) on?

Does anyone know of people who build these things or better yet sell them?

http://kai-rowan-jasmine.blogspot.com/2006/08/reblog-july-31st-unicycle.html

For some reason this post was moderated. Hopefully you’ll get some replies now people can see it :slight_smile:

I am sure Jakob Flansberry could build this if you wanted it. He is a beast.

Looks to me like you could take a 16" giraffe and cut it above the pedal sprocket and just weld U shaped tube with a crossbar, pad it enough and shape it so that you can balance on your chest or shoulders.

Jim

In my opinion, Tom Miller at the Unicycle Factory would be the best guy to call for this.
(http://sillycycle.com/unicycle_factory/)

Good luck!

I almost wonder if the “saddle” part might be adaptable from existing apparatus intended for the person supporting the base end of a perch pole.

Probably the challenge is figuring out exactly what would work; with that knowledge anyone who can bend and weld or braze frame tubing to flat stock could probably build the rest.

What I want to know is how this act starts - with that much slack, the “downhill” from an end platform would seem impossibly extreme? Or is the line length increased during the act?

What I want to know is how I’m only just hearing about this act now. Got to go see that show!

For the handstand unicycles I’ve seen (no, ever tried one), they had what looks like a pair of narrow unicycle saddles , one on each side, with enough room for your head to extend down in between them. That part you might want to work on yourself before hiring a builder, unless it’s someone who has made one of these before. That’s to get the dimensions right. Yes, it’s something Tommi Miller has probably done before, but he’s a bit of a wildcard in terms of when you will get a finished unicycle.

I think Sem Abrahams had a non-giraffe inverted uni made for him; I seem to remember some photos or video clips of him attempting it. Maybe it wasn’t his? But he has quite a collection of really interesting cycles and things.

It looks like the guy from this video (which I’m sure I first found through this forum, but lazy searching didn’t find the post) - they hand the unicycle up to him at around 2:55

That guy was un-real!

I can’t add anything that hasn’t already been said, but I will add this video clip of the guy who might have done it first - Mel Hall. The upside down part starts at 3:05.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ycs2Un8Qyg

DAAAAAAAAAAMN! That was an incredible amount of wire-walking skills! That guy did so many tricks that could have been finishing (end of act) tricks! Very cool. And he looks like a teenager! At least he seems to be in the early part of his career. He’s all skill, and no personality yet. Like a young Anthony Gatto (juggler).

I also liked that clip with Mel Hall. Too bad his inverted giraffe riding was practically an afterthought, with almost no attention paid to it. Hey camera! Follow the upside-down unicycle guy!

Then, not sure if it’s always the same, but the “auto-play” video that followed Mel Hall was called “World’s Best Unicyclist” and it was Jamey Mossengren doing a street show! Also looks like toward the earlier part of his street performing career; he’s gotten a lot better since then, I think. Wonder if he still reads the forums here? Right now I think he’s still riding the Arizona Trail…

French TV, I discover this amaizing show !

It’s incorrect to credit Cirque du Soleil for this unicycle.
Although neither do I know the name of the unicyclist.

In 2012 I made a better picture of another in Rotterdam:

I think if you’re truly seriously about learning this, you also could try and ask Semcycle.
Appearently everybody forgot that Sem has a direct driven one, however; he rides it for real (without the ease of slackwire).

Rumor has it that some of the things Sem claims to have built are partly built by Tom Miller and others, but I have no first-hand knowledge either way, and don’t think that it is even a very important question, merely a point of interest.

In any case, as a unicyclist who just recently learned to walk on his hands, I am grateful to Leo for posting the photo of the handstand unicycle. Whoever built that thing had to be pretty sure of the necessary “seat” height, as it appears not to be adjustable.

talent

In awe, as amazing as the unicycle part was, I feel surprised to think the whole show might have been just as good! Most impressive act I’ve ever seen!