Mary Wolfe-Nielsen and Tyce Nielsen, aka Duo Transcend, performed a death-defying trapeze act on the July 17th episode of  America’s Got Talent. During their final trick, a blindfolded Tyce was unable to grab Mary’s legs as she slid down his body and plummeted head-first toward the stage. Fortunately, she was able to flip onto her back before landing on a crash mat positioned beneath the trapeze. She stood up moments later, unhurt, and asked the judges to let them try the trick again. Had they not performed with the crash mat, Mary would have most likely been seriously injured. You can see the crash mat at 1:00 into the video below.

The point I want to make is that professional aerialists do perform with crash mats beneath them, and for a very good reason.  AGT guest judge Kim Jeong summed it up well when he said, “This is not  America’s Got Perfection, it’s  America’s Got Talent!” Accidents happen, even with professional performers, and crash mats are a proven and reasonable safety measure for performers on most aerial apparatus. A fall onto a hard surface, even a short distance, can result in a concussion or a...