Adam West NOT Shot Out Of A Cannon???

[The Boss]

The infamous old story of Adam's biggest regret and/or low point was described by Adam himself as the time he was shot out of a cannon at a carnival in Evansville, Indiana in the late 70s. I have searched far and wide for tangible information confirming this incident but have come up empty handed. I've looked for articles from the day written aboit it. I've looked for flyers on the event, I've looked for pictures and/or video of the event but... nothing.

I have found however some information that seems to indicate that the event did NOT happen. At least not the way Adam remebered it.

First is a poster for the Shrine Circus in Evansville, IN featuring Adam West as Batman. According to the poster the shows ran from November 24-27, (1977) which places it in the correct setting and date.

So far so good. The problem comes via an issue of the Evansville Press dated November 25, 1977 that covered the event. According to the newspaper article Adam West only talked, "there is no act as such" the article read.
http://local.evpl.org/views/viewimage.asp?ID=918048

Could Adam have embelished the story a bit? Purhaps they wanted him to be shot from the cannon but he declined? Does anyone have any further evidence to this event?

[John Mack]

Here's an old thread from our old board:

http://www.66batman.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Y ... 1230526337

[The Boss]

Interesting. Unfortunately it only quotes Adam's recount of the incident which has been stated many times. I was looking for tangible evidence of the event. The deleted picture might have been just what I was looking for. Sadly it was deleted so I'll never know. Thanks for trying though.

[John Mack]

Yeah, I knew it wasn't conclusive evidence of the event, but thought I'd share with you that this has come into question for years, nothing new.

[Therin of Andor]

There is also a parlor trick where they make it look like someone has been shot from a cannon. I could definitely see them doing a sleight of hand so that Batman stayed unscathed, but Mr West would still start off in the cannon.


"Which way to the cannon?" by Ian McLean, on Flickr

[Clavier Ankh]

I have no way to prove it, no photo's etc. However I was there when West was shot out of the cannon. I was 11 years old at the time and remember how bizarre I thought it was. He also did a short skit chasing a couple of bad guys, (maybe the Riddler and a goon, that didn't stick with me like the cannon shot) and pulled a lucky kid out of the crowd to be his sidekick, and snapped a Robin cape on him. I have a friend that went to a different performance than did (i went to one of the first, if not the first) and he said West was not shot out of the cannon at the one he went to. I can't imagine that SOMEONE in the Evansville audience didn't snap a photo.

I do have super 8 film when West and ward came to Evansville for a mid 80s World of Wheels show and the interviews recorded on VHS off the local news. I must get that super 8 film transferred to DVD before something happens to it.

I no longer live in the Evansville area, but might be worth running a classified ad in the Evansville Courier (if it's still around) asking if anyone has photo's, It's a long shot, but might offer proof.

[The Boss]

An eye witness. That's better than nothing. The skit and especially bringing a child from the audience to play Robin coincides with the report in the newspaper. If your friend went to another show whete Adam was not shot out of a cannon perhaps this reporter was also at a differant show.

Do you remember what day of the week it was? I know that's a tough one being so long ago but, the report did say that the first nigh was Thanksgiving.

Also I would love to see that video.

[The Boss]

Here's a picture I just found of Adam supposedly backstage at that circus. It still doesn't confirm the human cannonball stunt but if legit it gives us a look at his outfit.

[Clavier Ankh]

I may or may not have been able to convince my parents to go to the Thanksgiving show. If it wasn't that one, it would have been the first performance on the 25th, I remember being excited about going, and bugging them to go to the first one possible for us. Somewhere I still have the page I ripped out of the Shrine Circus souvenir book of West as Batman. It was just a B&W publicity photo from the series. I actually had two friends who went to a different show than me. However, I can't remember if the 2nd friend saw him shot out of the cannon. I haven't seen or talked that guy since we graduated high school in 1984. If I could get in contact with him, I would ask, and I'm pretty sure he didn't have any photo's. I DO remember discussing with him the disappointment over neither one of us being chosen to be "Robin"...LOL

Nice find with the behind the scenes photo! I'll have to dug that Super 8 film out, but I will try later today to get those news bits I have recorded on VHS captured and uploaded for you to see.

[AndyFish]

That's some nice detective work, Boss. I love the Poster- I'm going to track one down.
I think it's much more likely that it was a trick to make it look like it happened than they'd actually shoot someone who is not trained at falling or stunt work-- it's never been a story that's really easy to swallow.

I AM certain that he was in the situation though, not only in his book but once during a conversation at dinner after he'd had a few Bat-Cocktails did he recant to me the lowest time of his life which was several years out of the show when he could only find work at auto shows and market openings where he was hired to appear in costume.

The article sums up, a bit harshly however, that Adam did not enjoy doing these things. He also wasn't a writer and coming up with his own material was at times painful to watch. How often did he use the "let me stand here so you can admire my crime fighting physique" line-- I think it's a standard and it was sad and humiliating for him. He knew people were laughing at him. Wally's recent writings about Adam back up the crowd's reaction at the time to seeing him in the suit again.

The Canon incident to him was a moment of clarity, of realizing how low he'd gone. Even this many years later and this was probably around 1999-2000 he still felt the pain of it.

So whether it's embellished or not the point of it is still there.

[SprangFan]

Here's a neat article with a behind-the-scenes look at a "human cannonball" act and it's stressed repeatedly that it's not something for novices. A person is more than just a "payload" here; they need lots of training to pull it off, and even then they're at risk every time.

http://io9.gizmodo.com/a-glimpse-inside ... 1692521305

I remember reading that Richard Graydon, who played the "human cannonball" in the James Bond film, "Octopussy," wasn't crazy enough to let himself actually be shot out of the cannon and so they faked it. And he was an experienced stuntman who risked his life regularly, at one point hanging by one hand from a cable car over Rio in "Moonraker," with no safety harness.

All of which is not to say Adam didn't do it, but if he did, it truly was the lowest moment of his life, and could have been the last. It also amounted to reckless endangerment on the part of the promoter, who must have been absolute scum. I can't imagine his show would have survived if he'd managed to kill Adam in this pointless stunt in front of a crowd of kids, but what a horrible end it would have been for Adam, to punch out in that silly cape and cowl.

The real question here is why do it at all? Batman is not associated with cannons. I can only think the promoter figured, "Superhero = Flying," which would have made it another order of magnitude more awful, dying in the employ of an utter moron.

[SprangFan]

At the risk of reversing myself here, I just noticed the "lifts" on Adam's boots in that photo. Since he was not at all a short man, I doubt he needed those to look more "heroic," so is it possible they were specially designed to withstand the force of the "launch"?

They're almost as high as Herman Munster's.

[AndyFish]

At the risk of reversing myself here, I just noticed the "lifts" on Adam's boots in that photo. Since he was not at all a short man, I doubt he needed those to look more "heroic," so is it possible they were specially designed to withstand the force of the "launch"?

They're almost as high as Herman Munster's.

They certainly look like some kind of stunt boot. Adam was easily 6'2" so he didn't need the heightening. It's been a long time since I've read Adam's book and my memory of him recounting it in person is faulty with time, did he actually state that he WAS shot out of the canon or did he say he was asked to do it?

Those boots and the eyewitness testimony certainly add to the possibility-- but as Sprang points out in the post above his notice of the boots you can't do it without a lot of training-- just the landing in the net part without getting hurt, which looks easy when you see someone who knows what they're doing, certainly is dangerous in itself.

Someday I'll write about the book I was going to do with Adam, it would have covered a lot of this period.

[Clavier Ankh]

I wish I could remember the whole cannon set up better. Those boots do make me think that they were a special rig for the cannon shot. As stated, he didn't need to be taller. I've discussed it with one friend who went after I did. Now that we are older and have talked about it after reading West's book, we always thought after doing it a couple of times he said no more for the rest of the shows. I always thought the Shrine circus kicked off their year starting in Evansville. He should have been traveling to multiple cities with the circus. If no one from other cities saw him shot out of the cannon, it leads me to believe he did decide during the Evansville shows that he wasn't doing it anymore.

In my earlier post this morning, I mentioned have recorded off of TV clips of West and Ward in Evansville years later. So not to hijack this discussion I've started a thread about that and included a link to the video.

[TP-6597]

Here's a picture I just found of Adam supposedly backstage at that circus. It still doesn't confirm the human cannonball stunt but if legit it gives us a look at his outfit.

It looks to me like those boots have been modified from the regular uniform. That's about an inch or more of some sort of cushioning. To withstand or help absorb a sudden shock, perhaps? Also, look how thick the neck portion of the cowl & cape are. Looks more substantial than the show version.

*edit*
I see SprangFan already pointed out the boots. I'm going to have to give that whole reading the entire thread before posting thing a try.