Before Johnny Knoxville and Tom Green and backyard wrestling, before YouTube and idiot-proof editing software, there was Ralph Zavadil.
Over twenty years ago, the young millright passed out drunk at the GM plant in St. Catherine’s, Ontario. They put him on medical leave. He never went back.
Instead, Zavadil got hold of a camera and an editing bay, and gave himself a new name: Cap’n Video.
Every Friday, he donned a bizarre helmet and welding goggles, put on a French-Canadian accent, and single-handedly filmed improvised stunts in his backyard, inspired by whatever everyday objects happened to be laying around.
No assistants. No planning.
One take.
Not since Buster Keaton had such dangerous, original stunts been captured on film — clothesline skiing, roof tobogganing, egg snorting.
Looking for an alternative to the daily tedium of shaving? Cap’n Video helpfully demonstrates how to set your face on fire…
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