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  • 7 months ago
The Cyclone, The Freakshow, The Mermaid Parade: all Coney Island icons. But Chris “Wonder” Schoeck has always preferred the Coney Island Strongman. Bending Steel follows the sweet, unassuming Schoeck as he parlays his extraordinary strength into the pursuit of his lifelong dream. Training with an elite group of men whose hands bend, drag, twist and shred metal, he tackles an enormous physical and mental challenge, taking a surprisingly emotional journey as a result.
Transcript
00:12I've lived in New York for all my life, but I don't feel like I belong here.
00:19There has always been a part of me that has felt extraterrestrial.
00:26The way he handles himself, he's a very personal person.
00:31He is himself, and he doesn't share it too much.
00:37I don't have a whole lot of relationships with other people.
00:42Minimal.
00:46This is perhaps the largest struggle of my life.
00:53Right now, there's a hook in me, and I don't know if it's real or if it's psychological,
01:00that is not giving me enough leeway to get out there, and I can't chop through the chain
01:06to get away from it.
01:08Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Chris Sheck.
01:11I'm a strong man.
01:12I want to assure you that what I'm doing is not magic.
01:33Have you ever failed in front of a group of people?
01:35No.
01:36I've got one of my students with me.
01:37Let's hear it for Chris.
01:40Come on, Chris.
01:42I see a fence.
01:44I wonder if I'll be able to bend one of the bars.
01:46I see gorillas in a cage.
01:48I wonder if I could bend it.
01:50I see handcuffs.
01:50I wonder if I could break them.
01:52Got me all excited.
01:52We got it.
01:53We got to see something.
01:53We got to see something.
01:55It's bent.
01:55It's done.
01:55You got to see it to believe it, folks.
01:57If a weight was on something that you love more than anything, how much strength could
02:04you develop in that life-and-death situation to lift that object?
02:09It's incredible.
02:10The limiting factor is the mind.
02:18Wow.
02:28You

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