He is David. The Bullets Smith
joining us live this morning
on this Monday Presidents day.
Thank you so much for
getting up early with us.
OK, you are known for having me.
Yeah, you're known as the human cannonball.
How does a kid from South Salem
High School wind up making a
living being shot out of a cannon?
Well, when I was a kid we we I
grew up on the road, my parents,
my dad did the same thing so I'm following
him his flight path, so to speak.
But when we weren't on tour we go
home to the house that my dad built.
My grandpa and my uncle lived next
door and the Pinkertons and all my
friends and stuff and and so when we
were on the road we go out and my
dad gets shot out of a cannon and I'd
watch him since a little age and then
I one day I came home from school.
I was I was in the Brush College
Elementary Walker Middle School.
And South Salem High School Saxton.
So I came home from high school one day
with my gym bag and my saxophone and, uh?
My dad had the cannon and the net
set up out front and he said OK,
I'm calling your bluff Hopkin and
that was my first shot out of a
cannon with a tiny little cannon
shot in Salem OR in our front yard
and since then I've traveled.
Yeah since then I've traveled for
I think it's 26 years as a human
cannonball as a professional and yeah.
And so I got this opportunity to
be on Americas Got Talent and.
My team and and myself we prepared
so hard and when they asked me
where I'm from and who I wanted to
talk to when it came time,
I said you know what I wanna
say hi to all my friends back
in Oregon so I love you guys.
It's been so long please reconnect I I
have the greatest fondest memories of
everybody back in high school and stuff.
So so were you training for this when
you were a student at South Salem High?
Well, you know, uh, in South Salem I
learned some very valuable things.
I mean, my athletics growing up.
I was a wrestler and and on the football
team and I had the great fortune
of learning how to train my body,
not only from my father who was a
collegiate athlete, but like coaches.
You know my coaches who were
huge assets later on my life.
Later on in my career,
learning how to be, you know, stronger,
maintain my body and all the athleticism
that goes into that short little stunt.
There, but you know, being shot of a case,
she's a height behind the
ankle were pointing the cannon.
We went steeper than we've ever done before
by far going into America's Got Talent,
pointing that thing straight up,
and so like the pressure on my body.
Really increased and in order to handle that,
I literally six months earlier,
I could not physically have
handled that cannon shot,
and I learned how to build my body by,
you know, Coach Hagen,
Coach Tafo and coach Soren Sorenson.
Man,
you guys you taught me how to how
to build the muscle and protect your body.
So I love that really yeah
logistics question David.
What is propelling you out of there?
And have you ever been hurt doing this?
Oh, I've been heard plenty
of time varying degrees.
You know, it's kind of a yeah,
I mean little little
wipeouts to major injuries.
You know, I've I've cracked a vertebrae.
I've broken both shoulders
in the same season.
You know, broken leg and things like that,
but that one right there.
That was a that was a world record
for the farthest and the highest
that that's Xbox Sea of Thieves.
We premiered it,
and they rented me the
whole Raymond James Stadium.
Put on one cannon shot them live well.
The official Guinness measurements
that can take shot right there
is about we broke 195 feet in a
straight line and then fell down
another 40 feet 218 to that airbag.
Now airbag was something that was new to me.
That was actually only the second time
I've ever shot and landed in an airbag.
Oh wow, but yeah,
it's usually in as a surprise.
Yeah, that was a surprise.
You know the whole thing.
It felt like I landed on a.
Forward from that high, but I,
you know the adrenaline I jumped up,
walked away and Yahoo we
made it new world record.
Now what is highest one?
We didn't go ahead.
I'm sorry the highest one
we did in Saudi Arabia,
the highest Guinness measured and that
was 89 feet high in me into 2019.
Now with some I think of a cannon I
think of like Saturday morning cartoons.
Practically David,
I'm sure it's not this way,
but is there like a lighting of a fuse?
Is it electric like what is propelling
you out of there 'cause you do see a
little explosion after you shoot out?
It's all secret sauce.
I can't tell you how it works,
but I will tell you there is
an awful lot of math involved.
I bet those are the baseball games
that we do on a daily basis.
I called the three of those in a week.
And you know, sometimes four or five,
even if we have the staff to move it.
So there's an awful lot of of maintenance
to make sure that you have the faith
and accuracy and the the numbers
behind it to my margin of error.
I the last 44 shows I did were within
a four foot grouping and I did every
different angle every different distance.
Preparing for this America's Got Talent.
We really, really,
I don't think I've ever prepared for
a show as much as I did that one.
You know, and and I had training
partners through the whole thing
that I that inspired me.
My daughter Chloe was with me
for for the whole six months,
basically prepping.
We hiked every mountain,
went to the gym every day
in between shows I was,
and then I moved on it with Eric Bautista,
who was with me on tour and
got me in the gym all the time.
And then Alexis blonde during my my,
you know my Co manager we she really
really pushes me and so we were.
We were hiking.
Mountains in between in between three
shows conditioning yeah performances,
so this was one of those where I
have one shot at the biggest crowd
in the world and if you look at
that like no cannons ever been
pointed out that Steve before and
so I really trained for it and
and I was so confident going.
Well it shows we are so
excited to root you on David.
Thank you so much for coming
on and getting up early.
Yeah, we're so excited to see the show
so everybody can watch tonight America's
Got Talent Extreme premieres at.
8:00 o'clock right here on KGW
David the bullet Smith gonna be
taking on all those other acts.
We cannot wait.
Thank you so much.
Really thank.