It starts with All I know It's so unreal Watch you go I tried so hard and got so far But in the end, it doesn't even matter I had to fall to lose it all But in the end, it doesn't even matter One thing, I don't know why It doesn't even matter how hard you try Keep that in mind, I designed this rhyme To remind myself of a time when I tried so hard In spite of the way you were mockin' me Actin' like I was part of your property Remembering all the times you fought with me I'm surprised it got so far Things aren't the way they were before You wouldn't even recognize me anymore Not that you knew me back then But it all comes back to me in the end You kept everything inside And even though I tried, it all fell apart What it meant to me will eventually Be a memory of a time when I I tried so hard and got so far But in the end, it doesn't even matter I had to fall to lose it all But in the end, it doesn't even matter One thing, I don't know why It doesn't even matter how hard you try Keep that in mind I designed this rhyme to explain in due time All I know Time is a valuable thing Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings Watch it count down to the end of the day The clock ticks life away It's so unreal You didn't look out below Watch the time go right out the window Tryin' to hold on, they didn't even know I wasted it all just to watch you go I kept everything inside And even though I tried, it all fell apart What it meant to me will eventually be a memory Of a time when I tried so hard
The engineer saying that most people, including the fire brigade, just hold his hand to get across the mesh, and then JUMPING on the mesh to prove its safety is awesome.
this was my job when I did stage work, I was on rail and spot. the catwalks were my domain and it was hilarious to see people so scared when you jump in place and everything shakes slightly xD
I was a ski lift mechanic for a decade and trained several other mechanics. I would bounce the tower or work chair on them early on to test their reaction. You don't want overly nervous or overly confident people working at deadly heights with you.
@UC5aWUNV-yRy1BV94MOnIJrA You seem to be trying much harder, and not doing aswell. Kinda sad. Remeber you're choosing to act out in this way, so you can break the cycle.
I feel your "this completely illogical" statement Tom. I am a civil engineer. I know how over built bridges are. I still can't walk on anything like glass where I can see down.
I'm quite happy to walk across a mesh floor and look down. What I am not happy to do is be in a position where I can fall a long way down. Falling down hurts.
@@engineeringvision9507 I think it was Douglas Adams who said that it wasn't how far you fell towards a planet, it was how hard you hit it that was the problem.
I'm an event production rigger and I can confidently say that that I still experience vertigo above about 50ft. It's completely normal and something that gets easier the more you work at height. No shame in seeking hand holds at those heights.
My dad's got a 50 ft yacht. I'm the one who has to get hoisted up the 70-80ft mast. While I've gotten used to it, I still move slowly and deliberately when handling tools and stuff. It's actually worse halfway up the mast than it is up the top because the wake of other boats can get you swinging more in the middle than at the top.
I wonder if vertigo is an evolutionary adaptation to keep us safely in the trees. We don't mind distance above or out laterally, but we get pensive about distance below us. I believe there was a study in the 50s or the 60s about putting babies on glass tables and there was a critical age in months where once the infant developed a sense of spacial orientation and abstraction, they became frightened when placed on a transparent surface too high off the floor.
@@derektaylor2941 I can't climb the mast, as it doesn't have handholds. So instead I get hoisted up on a rope. In the end, I act like a pendulum. At the top, it's a very short pendulum, so when a boat comes by, the wake only makes the top of the mast sway with me there with it. However, halfway up, the pendulum is longer. So, if I'm not holding on and the wake hits the boat, the top of the mast sways, and I get swung out even further. So I have to put in a lot more effort halfway up to stop myself swinging all over the place than I do at the top.
Hello Theatre Lighting Technician here, Wire tension grids are a god send! I always feel so much safer and more confident when rigging and focusing from a wire tension grid as opposed to ladders or harness work or more traditional common place grids that are just iron beams with gaps big enough for your foot to slip through. Wire tension grids I’ve worked on in the past have had huge signs up that say “THIS IS NOT A TRAMPOLINE!” however… Fantastic video! Thank you for making it and thanks Royal Albert Hall for the backstage tour!
So what you're saying, is that every director that has made a scene of London being destroyed by some natural disaster has missed a golden opportunity to show the roof of the Royal Albert Hall being lifted off and cartwheeling through the city? Or maybe they have and now I know to look for it.
I wonder it will be lifted if filled with helium or hydrogen. Please don't do it, but if someone have desire to vandalise monument with tremendous amount of all light gas, that might be a way
He said this long ago before it is his brand to be truthful, real and authentic; and these instances for human weaknesses help sell that brand - and makes us love him for it.
I used to be a theatre tech, the best part of it was seeing how the new techies reacted to the grid. Some would avoid it like the plague, others would use it like a trampoline. It was amazing bouncy
There are all sorts of people. I am not particularly afraid of heights, but sometimes I can feel a bit uneasy about certain structures. Once, we climbed a telecommunication mast, together with my friend, about 30 meters high. The whole structure was gently moving from side to side, swinging in the wind - just a few centimetres to each side, but one could definitely feel it. I assured myself that it was completely normal, given the properties of the structure, but I certainly had no desire to make it move more. However, my friend, as soon as he had reached the top platform a few moments later than me and had also noticed the swinging, started moving his weight in sync with the mast, trying to make it move more to see the limits of the movement. :) I wasn´t too pleased by that experiment, to say the least... :)
There's nothing quite like the joy of bringing a bunch of bouncy rubber balls up to a grid. Obviously on an off-day, obviously with the venue empty and secure. But bouncing bouncy balls from >3 stories high is a right laugh!
I love how Tom isn't afraid to, well, be afraid on camera. I think it's one of the reasons he has such a great following. He feels more like a friend than a celebrity.
Victorian engineering is just so wild. Some stuff is incredibly overengineered, whilst at the same time some stuff is incredibly underengineered. Its like that awkward point in the industrial revolution where they became confident enough with the new industrial capabilities to start doing some really crazy stuff, but there wasn't enough precedent to really know what was or wasn't enough. The Forth Bridge and the Tay Bridge (the one that collapsed) are a great example of this juxtaposition.
The Victorians knew that they needed to engineer stuff to work right. So they just engineered whatever they could and didn't bother about the things they couldn't.
its not surprising to see such amazing works because if you are not good at it - off with your head! ironically most durable engineering is built under oppression of some kind
I love how Tom both fully admits his fears when confronted with something that terrifies him, and does his best to face them and experience something cool. It’s really admirable.
@@elainejohnson796 Most people would have the exact same reaction as him walking over that mesh... not hiding it makes Tom extremely relatable to his audience.
About interesting roofs. If Tom goes back to Germany eventually, he should get into the roofs of the Cologne Cathedral. It is an interesting story. The Cathedral, while construction started in I think the 14th century, had a several century long construction stop and was only finished in the 19th century. The roof, while made look from the outside old, was made with back then modern technology, meaning a massive steel roof construction. This construction was responsible for the Cathedral surviving WWII, as the bomb that did land in the roof did not burn it down like Notre Dame.
France already knows the dangers of burning medieval roofs: Chatres Cathedral's "forest" framework in the roof burned down in 1836 and has since been replaced with metal frame
@GTOger: There are now 542 replies to you asking your community, what might be the reason for you to no longer post any videos - I wonder if that is not yet enough to provide us with an answer?
It cracks me up that Tom has such a rough time looking down, and then two seconds later it shows these historical images with workers just chilling at the top of the metal frame 😂
@@Blaqjaqshellaq I have read somewhere that your info is actually an urban myth. They in fact were afraid but in their culture admitting this was not acceptable so they pretend to not be afraid.
@@neumdeneuer1890 well, if someone hides their fear of heights and carries on working at that height, wouldn't you call that overcoming the fear? Wouldn't you call that brave? It would be stupid not to feel some fear within at those heights, but the difference is whether you keep functioning. I know I'd probably freeze up like Tom did, unlike those workers who didn't only have to stand there but move around steel beams without safety gear.
I wonder whether the lack of attachment actually has design benefits, e.g. reducing stresses due to different expansion rates due to temperature of the iron roof and the brick walls.
@@Jehty_ I can hear it every morning when I take a shower. The heat from the shower causes the wood construction behind the wall to expand and creak. One of the oddities of using wood to build many buildings here in the USA.
It seems counterintuitive to learn as I did before I got into construction that all buildings should expand and contract by design, and that the engineers problem is knowing how and at what points within the fabric of the building to implement movement joints to best achieve these characteristics. I know that as a youngster these ideas were alien to me as I would look at buildings being immovable solid masses.
I always love how Tom is more than willing to put in those moments that show how uncomfortable/scared he is in a given situation and not just edit it out, it makes the videos so much more realistic and raw
its so charming watching tom wig out about the tension grid. you get so used to scary heights so fast when you work show tech -- its always interesting to see a new person approach them with, like, normal and appropriate self-preservation instincts
I work with rigging productions (concerts, awardshows, television etc.) and I've seen how many people are required to get small simple structures made out of trusses up and standing. So the fact that people managed to construct this 600 tonne iron roof 150 years ago likely without the help of 1 ton motors and the likes is absolutely astounding to me.
You could tell me that mesh is strong enough to stop a freight train and it still wouldn't make me feel more comfortable walking on it when it's that high. Props to Tom for going out there.
There's a solid metal mesh on the floor of the observation deck of the Toronto CN Tower. Feels the same way. They now let you strap into a harness and lean your full weight over the edge.
I'm so grateful that Tom doesn't try to hide his emotions in videos like this. Fear is a natural, healthy response in that situation (at least, until you're desensitized to the height). Showing us his genuine reaction does a lot to destigmatize that fear!
@@elainejohnson796 I think he's becoming more and more ambitious, battling his fear of heights well.... Note he has some earlier videos like the one about Pulpit Rock where he hardly even approached the edge.
I thought Tom had a head for heights, this earlier video (Why Aren't There More Helicopter Crashes In London?) shows him standing on a wall at risk of falling into the River Thames, without much fear. About the fear of heights: it comes from our balance system using the ground as a visual reference so we don't fall over - but when it is a long way down, it doesn't work because there is almost no sideways movement of the ground to feedback. Hence focusing on near objects around instead, or even closing your eyes, helps.
The fact that Tom is so incredibly smart and interesting and yet also openly afraid to walk on the mesh shows how human he is. We appreciate you, my guy.
A fear of heights is very common, not universal, but maybe more common than not being particularly scared of heights. I did a tiny bit of urban climbing in my youth and had the "I don't know if I can move" moment. I managed to push past it, but can totally sympathize with folks who can't. Oh, and there's also the thing where construction companies doing tension structures prefer hiring climbers and training them in the construction instead of the other way around. There were several stories about that when the Millennium Dome was being built
you can be an engineer and know exactly the weight tolerances involved of every cubic centimeter of every single bit of material in that structure. But when you're up there, seeing the rest of the building bellow you, and seeing the _mesh_ that you're standing on. AND feeling it flex with your movement. Your brain will tell you it isn't safe. Health and Safety Guy has probably been up there thousands upon thousands and thousands of times. His brain is used to seeing the distance bellow, and used to feeling the mesh flex. Knowledge can't make up for trained natural responses, or lack thereof.
Love it. Saw the thumbnail of a tension grid and said "oh, Tom's visiting a theatre". Tension grids are fantastic and yes they do take a little getting used too, but once you realize that there is a crazy amount of safety and engineering that have gone into the design the fear just goes away.
@@Alex-cw3rz I'd argue "some famous blokes played music here once" is far less interesting than "this gigantic piece of construction isn't actually attached to anything". Like, even if we care about star power as much as we do about inherent properties, it's the Beatles that are interesting, not the roof.
@@Poldovico I mean the fact is that one is an entire documentary of intrigue of a band falling apart. Whereas one is did you know this isn't attached which is very cool, but then that's it, it's not even unique dry stone structures and walling isn't that unusual in the UK.
I'm an entertainment technician and my reaction to the grid was "oh an easy one to work on" -- wire tension grids are great, you need no additional safety gear to avoid falling. You just gotta not drop anything.
I’ve been up to the Corona in 2015, when I was assisting a photographer who wanted a photo from the top. I was petrified and not much help at all! Everything, keys, phones, jewellery and even the camera lens had to be left outside in case it fell through the iron mesh. This video took me straight back to that day and the way everything wobbled…
@@thegrandnil764 the issue isn’t about losing something - it’s about it hitting someone working below at very high speed. That’s why we weren’t allowed anything at all in our pockets whilst on the wire mesh.
Tom: The roof of the Royal Albert Hall isn’t actually attached. *sound of whirring helicopters in the distance* *grappling hooks attach to the roof and start to lift it off* Tom: *leaps aboard rising roof, pulls off disguise to reveal red fedora and trench coat* “Better luck catching me next time, Player..” *Carmen Sandiego theme plays, roll credits*
@@LeifNelandDk According to Wikipedia, 1 Chinook can lift ~10.8 tonnes, so you'd need at least 56 of them. I have a feeling you'd struggle to fit that many in the airspace above the dome. Lets see... A Chinook is ~645.6 sq. ft, apparently the dome covers 20,000 sq. ft so we can fit at most 30. I didn't include the rotors in that calculation so it probably doesn't matter how you try and arrange them vertically, a cable can't go through a fuselage, so I don't think you can do it.
2:20 - I used to do sound setups for various functions as part of a team and at one of them in 2008 I wasn't on active duty but decided to assist in tear down. Some speakers had been suspended above the stage in a conference center and I was directed to the place I could turn a crank and lower them. The moment I stepped out to the area and felt the bounce, I noticed that I was on a mesh and I could see all the way down to the stage where people down there looked so small. My legs just stopped moving. Regardless of my mind telling me it's safe because other people were walking on it I just couldn't move. My legs didn't respond to anything I wanted. No one helped me and I ended up having to lie down and roll to the edge which was only half a meter away. I didn't take down those speakers. But I discovered a fear I didn't know I had.
As an orchestral musician I've played in many amazing spaces, including the Royal Albert Hall, but I always zone out in the rests and end up gazing at the roofs of many places, wondering what goes on. Now I have one of the many concert halls ticked off!
I like how Tom's confidence quickly drops from 100 to 0 as soon as he looked down. I would definitely feel the same because I have fear of Heights as well.
I have an alternative (musical) solution to the echo problem: The echo from the ceiling was ~200 ms, which is equivalent to a crotchet (1/4 note) at 75 bpm. Therefore *if all the music played at the Royal Albert Hall* was performed at 75 bpm, the delay produced by the ceiling echo would blend in nicely! BONUS FACT: If U2 (who are fond of using a dotted 1/8 note delay) they'd need to play every song at 100 bpm. The Edge would have no need for his delay pedal, just let the building do the echo automatically!
In some circumstances yes, but not if you're playing chromatic scales that clash with the echoes and make a discordant mess - I'd be out of there like a shot! Slapback echoes completely change the original performance into something else, and music is generally composed specifically to take advantage of it, such as JMJ, Pink Floyd etc.
Bonus Bonus: Here are some well-known U2 songs with a tempo of 100 bpm, give or take: Bad I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For Running to Stand Still Angel of Harlem All I Want Is You Until the End of the World Walk On Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
@@charleslambert3368 About 375 ms. It's a dotted quarter note setting at around 120 bpm - wouldn't quite fly for that echo but it's incredibly cool nonetheless.
At the 4:00 minute mark, when Tom started walking, I was watching him place one foot immediately before the other with his arms spread, and I wondered whether this had been filmed after his tightrope walking episode.
I think its related to the amount of control. On the plane Tom couldn't do anything to affect whether or not he was safe really once they were up, but the mesh is innately determining on his mind if its a safe or unsafe action with clear things that determined it as unsafe right in front of him.
In Düsseldorf, Germany, there is an art installation that gives you the feeling of this place. It is called "in Orbit" and consists of a steel net placed at a height of 25 meters. It can be found in the official art exhibition "K21" of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Have fun, it‘s great…
Had a dream about Tom last night. I was being interviewed by him about a giant telescope that could move around a giant glass warehouse and tourists could come in, move it themselves and look through it. Then we watched a weird parade. Then Tom took me on a journey jumping over walls into people gardens. Then we broke into someone's house because Tom was secretly investigating someone and I was caught then pretended it was my house and acted hysterical to escape without raising alarm. Weird dream.
Do you work at a place with a giant telescope that could move around a giant glass warehouse and tourists could come in, move it themselves and look through it?
@@bbgun061 In real life no. In the dream I was vaguely aware I was in a dream and had to ask Tom where we were. He kept replying with British place names that I'd never heard of till he showed me on a map and I was like "oh, we're in England". I guess my brain just thought the giant mobile telescope was something Tom would make a video about.
Apparently there are only two fears we are born with; a fear of falling and a fear of loud noises. Good job nobody popped a balloon behind you. Great video, as always!
Tom, your courage knows no bounds. Climbed a grain silo once. Coolest thing I had done in my life up to then. Looked over the edge before climbing down. There seemed infinite space between me and a hard stop. “Look at the ladder, look at the ladder…” Took me a while to latch on and swing over. Well done, You!
Climbed down a cliff on a 200m volcanic plug once and had to encourage the others that theyll be fine once where back at the top because we were like 30m above anything else on a rocky ledge Should add that im the one thats scared of heights, i jist love the vertigo rush lmfaoooo
This feels like one of the most genuine reactions we've ever seen from Tom. Don't get me wrong, he's always seemed honest and nice, but that fear reaction dropped the mask completely.
@@whublah No he doesn't, and having zero social skills (something Tom clearly does not suffer from) doesn't indicate being on the spectrum anyway. Stop pathologizing ordinary human behaviour.
I feel for Tom, its not easy having to face a phobia. Its hard to understand how irrational the fear is, you can consciously be 110% certain the situation is safe, but your mind just goes "nope!". Mine is wasps, if any of those come at me I'm 10m away before the thinking parts of my brain kick in.
I had a second-hand anxiety looking at that footage, but the explanation of the roof and its weight capacity in comparison to how much its currently supporting was actually pretty calming. Made me wanna jump on it too, despite the fact I'd never do such a thing ever
I demand an entire series of Tom being put in terrifying Situations!! Fighter jets, roller coasters, glass bridges! That's the funniest thing I've seen all day!
Check out his other channel "Tom Scott Plus", he does just that, the time coaster one was actually really cool, seeing him come around from deathly afraid to almost loving it
@@elainejohnson796 Agreed. I've noticed it a lot more in recent videos. I suppose because he's doing stuff out of his comfort zone, but the overreacting/surprise (when he knew full well what he was getting into) is quite annoying.
@@WS12658 I mean, it’s one thing to know you’re going up high and it’s a whole different thing to be up there and suddenly realise that it’s terrifying.
I used to be a freelance lighting technician in London where I worked at this very venue and others such as the Royal Opera House and the O2. I can tell you this: I used to get the serious sweats and nerves climbing lighting truss that is hung from roofs such as this. Now I work in aerospace - phew!
Amazing video as always. Props to the engineer for being awesome, and to you Tom, for going out of your comfort zone and sharing so much interesting knowledge with us!
I laughed a lot when Tom stepped out. As a stagehand who's worked at a ton of venues, I'm always curious of places I haven't been to. I thought it would much much further down but it wasn't an unusual height, and much safer with the mesh than just walking out on iron beams or steel/aluminum truss.
These grid systems are fairly common in theaters to help with changing lights, speakers, and such. Real fun to walk around on once you get over how terrifying it is.
Totally understand your fear of heights Tom. Its been the bane of my life and in one case cost me a job. I tried to conquer my fear once by climbing a tree that had a death slide at the top. I had to be winched down half way up because I froze.
Same - weird thing for me though is if it's natural (e.g. a cliff edge) I'm completely fine even if the drop is hundreds of metres, but if it's been manufactured or grown (e.g. a tree, ladder or glass walkway) then it messes with me big time. LIke i've sideways climbed across a boulder with no safety equipment - nothing but small handholds between me and a 200m+ drop straight down while it was raining and barely even paused but I've also been paralysed by fear on a treebranch only 2m from the ground or a suspended staircase that's a little wobbly.
The Royal Albert Hall is an example of extremely bad engineering. Sure, it hasn't killed anyone (yet), but it utterly failed at accomplishing the single task it was built to accomplish because the engineers neglected to even check whether their fancy design did the thing it was meant to. All the retrofitting they had to do afterward was a concession that they built a bad building.
The moment Guy started bouncing was the moment I said “Oh, I like him” It's not quite the same thing, but once when I got too fast on a high-ropes course, and had to wait for the person in front of me, I spent the next 5-ish minutes halfway along that section of tightrope, leaning on the rope that was designed to be a terrible hand-rail, and enjoying the view from 2-3 stories up, so I'd like to think I'd be more like Guy than Tom, but I've got no idea how I'd actually go.
@sourand jaded ...that actually might make sense - if you go over the edge of the steel roof, there's nothing for you to catch onto, but dancing around exposed rafters, you've always got something further over for you to catch (assuming you're not on the end one, but then you've got experience clambering around on individual rafters, which might improve your confidence there anyway) As for ropes and ladders, if a ladder moves over a foot or two, you're toppling, but you can swing on a rope to horizontal if the attachment point is strong enough.
many years ago, patrons eating at one of our local restaurants during a windstorm found out the roof wasn't attached. then once they recovered from the shock of the roof leaving in the middle of the meal, they went out into the car park and found out where it landed.
For all the modern skyscrapers we see reaching insane heights, it's these decades and centuries old buildings that really amaze me. It boggles my mind how they did it without modern day technology.
@@pavelow235 I said technology, not maths. You know, things like modern day construction technology, cranes, transport vehicles, computers for simulating and testing ideas in the design stage, etc…
@@pavelow235 I'm more impressed with the Roman technology. They achieved similar results with the Colessium and The Pantheon almost 2000 years earlier. It is the strongest shape geometricly possible in architecture.
HA! I love seeing Tom this way. He's usually so clinical in his descriptions and explanations, such a technical command of his speech. To see him get emotional (scared) is a nice change of pace.
I feel like your rope-walking training came into play there the moment you looked down and saw the beam. There definitely looked to be a part of your brain going "oh yes, this part, I know how to do this" as you carefully placed your feet on it just like you were taught. Well done, Tom.
That reminds me of the roof of the B & O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. The trusses of the roof rest on teflon sliders (originally metal rollers when the building was built) that allow the roof to flex a bit. This was critically important when the roof collapsed due to snow loading, as the trusses merely pulled out of the wall rather than pulling the wall in and destroying the entire building. Two of the locomotives damaged in the collapse had previously been damaged by a roof-collapse in the museum they were in previously.
My heart stopps by the thought that I should ever walk on that mesh. I admire the technician and the cameraperson! Thank you for your courage in making this video.🍒
This is far and away one of my favorite of your videos. My absolute favorite is the one about microwaves where you located the scientist and he gleefully told the story of thawing frozen hamsters. This one made me sick from heights. I had butterflies in my stomach, I was literally pushing against the back of my chair to get away from the edge. Very nice, good on you for walking out there. I'm now remembering your trip to the top of the wind turbine, so that's another one that made me sick. Love it. 💚
Tom ,as someone with a major phobia for heights, I can imagine what you were feeling standing on that mesh. The Royal Albert Hall is a fantastic example of british engineering at its best
With all the negativity and crap happening around us, can we all take a moment to acknowledge the world needs more Tom Scotts. You sir are a gentleman and a scholar - love your work.
The Royal Albert Hall is my favourite space in the world. I love it so much. Thanks for this video. It was really cool and something, I'd likely never seen or known otherwise. Now when I next go, I can stare up in amazement for entirely new reasons
i remember climbing around this thing in assassins creed syndicate! so cool to see it in the modern day, and to learn about what the building does! (in the game the interior was still under construction)
Always amazes me how Industrial Age structures were so over engineered that not only do they still stand but modern equipment and additional structures can still be supported from it with ease. Naturally these wrought iron structures do have a shelf life but they will always remain a testament to the ingenuity of age old practitioners who dared to push the limits.
To be fair, part of that is survival bias. A large amount of industrial age structures were not that well/over engineered, but those collapsed or got torn down long ago. But yes, it is always nice. Plus i llve the fact that, especialy with the help of modern equipment, they are really reperable. An iron beam corrodes to much? No problem, it's bolted in and acessible. Get a crane, some scaffolding, and replace that beam with a new one. Fsr harder to do on modern structures that are mostly reinforced concrete.
@@reappermen a great point Jeff! And you're right that wasn't part of my consideration! Yup so often we just reflect on the triumphs and dismiss or simply forget the failures (ironic as they are usually more abundant!). Fickle minds I guess!
Air grids are amazing! 99% of rigging is SO much easier on them, and the 1% that isn't just takes a little ingenuity to change! You get used to the bounciness after about 3 minutes, but I've found that after 30 - 45 minutes on it, you need to take a break on solid ground because your knees start to hurt. Because the work is so quick on it though, you can be on and off in 10.
You missed the most interesting fact - When they designed the roof, the engineer's weren't sure that it would be able to support itself as it was the biggest of its kind. That's why they built it in Manchester and left it for a year before dismantling it and moving it to London. When they dropped the roof onto the walls, the walls of the hall shifted circularly by roughly 1/2". It's caused cracks and stress marks in the brickwork that you can still see.
@@QuixoticDucky let's say it takes 4000 holes to fill blackburn lanchashire, then you could prob do the math to figure out how many holes it takes to fill the albert hall hope that helps
Brings back memories. In college, I was helping rig sound and lighting equipment in the upper cat walks of an arena. Floors of the walks were metal grates and I accidentally dropped a screwdriver. Damn thing bounced 20ft up off the concrete that was 100ft below. Immediately had to get down to stave off panic attack.
@@sinthariasinestra9777 - I guess that staying still is your overwhelmed system saying “I am currently not falling, so if I stay still, hopefully that should remain the same”. If you wait there for a while, eventually you’ll be able to move. I once had to climb a pylon during training and the guy said “when you get too high up, just come down one step and then wait until you feel comfortable then carry on”. I still hate heights but I was able to get to the top.
Just seeing that and seeing you react is making my anxiety spike. My palms are sweaty. I can only imagine what you must have been feeling. I used to help change lighting gels in the roof of my high schools theater and that used to scare me. This is waaaaaaay higher.
I wish I'd had a bit more time up on the mesh, to get used to it - but we had to be finished by the time rehearsals for the day started!
Sick
Hi Scott
drip
Scott i live in that attic i plant weed there shhh.. dont tell the cops.
It starts with
All I know
It's so unreal
Watch you go
I tried so hard and got so far
But in the end, it doesn't even matter
I had to fall to lose it all
But in the end, it doesn't even matter
One thing, I don't know why
It doesn't even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind, I designed this rhyme
To remind myself of a time when I tried so hard
In spite of the way you were mockin' me
Actin' like I was part of your property
Remembering all the times you fought with me
I'm surprised it got so far
Things aren't the way they were before
You wouldn't even recognize me anymore
Not that you knew me back then
But it all comes back to me in the end
You kept everything inside
And even though I tried, it all fell apart
What it meant to me will eventually
Be a memory of a time when I
I tried so hard and got so far
But in the end, it doesn't even matter
I had to fall to lose it all
But in the end, it doesn't even matter
One thing, I don't know why
It doesn't even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind
I designed this rhyme to explain in due time
All I know
Time is a valuable thing
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch it count down to the end of the day
The clock ticks life away
It's so unreal
You didn't look out below
Watch the time go right out the window
Tryin' to hold on, they didn't even know
I wasted it all just to watch you go
I kept everything inside
And even though I tried, it all fell apart
What it meant to me will eventually be a memory
Of a time when I tried so hard
The engineer saying that most people, including the fire brigade, just hold his hand to get across the mesh, and then JUMPING on the mesh to prove its safety is awesome.
this was my job when I did stage work, I was on rail and spot. the catwalks were my domain and it was hilarious to see people so scared when you jump in place and everything shakes slightly xD
I was a ski lift mechanic for a decade and trained several other mechanics. I would bounce the tower or work chair on them early on to test their reaction. You don't want overly nervous or overly confident people working at deadly heights with you.
and then you remember his video abaut riding rollercoasters
@UC5aWUNV-yRy1BV94MOnIJrA You seem to be trying much harder, and not doing aswell. Kinda sad. Remeber you're choosing to act out in this way, so you can break the cycle.
thousandth like
Kudos to the camera guy who was walking on the mesh too. With no free hands.
This. I came here to say this.
They are the unsung heroes of these videos.
the camera man is immune to fall damage by default
He didn't look down...
Edit : my bad, he did. Man's a natural.
Tom making it looks more difficult than it really is
I love how Tom gets terrified of walking in the mesh and then the cameraman is just chilling there, already standing on it
Well, the cameraman never looked down!
cameramen never die, you know
@@NoNameAtAll2 We just expire and get replaced.
@@aolson5795 He did look down or at least pointed the camera down quite convincingly.
@@aolson5795 he did tho
I feel your "this completely illogical" statement Tom. I am a civil engineer. I know how over built bridges are. I still can't walk on anything like glass where I can see down.
I'm quite happy to walk across a mesh floor and look down. What I am not happy to do is be in a position where I can fall a long way down. Falling down hurts.
@@engineeringvision9507 I think it was Douglas Adams who said that it wasn't how far you fell towards a planet, it was how hard you hit it that was the problem.
@@MrDavil43 Heating up several thousand degrees as you break the speed of sound must be decidedly unpleasant too.
Its not completely illogical if you consider MI5 blowdarting the Queen through the mesh roof haha.
@@buddyclem7328 worded it like it was nothing but a mild annoyance lmao
I'm an event production rigger and I can confidently say that that I still experience vertigo above about 50ft. It's completely normal and something that gets easier the more you work at height. No shame in seeking hand holds at those heights.
My worst was having to replace confetty up a 7 meter ladder it was so wobbly that if someone walked in the room I felt it
My dad's got a 50 ft yacht. I'm the one who has to get hoisted up the 70-80ft mast. While I've gotten used to it, I still move slowly and deliberately when handling tools and stuff.
It's actually worse halfway up the mast than it is up the top because the wake of other boats can get you swinging more in the middle than at the top.
You experience the sensation of the room moving or you moving ? That's a strange reaction I've never had that to heights
I wonder if vertigo is an evolutionary adaptation to keep us safely in the trees.
We don't mind distance above or out laterally, but we get pensive about distance below us.
I believe there was a study in the 50s or the 60s about putting babies on glass tables and there was a critical age in months where once the infant developed a sense of spacial orientation and abstraction, they became frightened when placed on a transparent surface too high off the floor.
@@derektaylor2941 I can't climb the mast, as it doesn't have handholds. So instead I get hoisted up on a rope. In the end, I act like a pendulum. At the top, it's a very short pendulum, so when a boat comes by, the wake only makes the top of the mast sway with me there with it.
However, halfway up, the pendulum is longer. So, if I'm not holding on and the wake hits the boat, the top of the mast sways, and I get swung out even further. So I have to put in a lot more effort halfway up to stop myself swinging all over the place than I do at the top.
The reaction “oh my god don’t bounce on it!” Was so genuine 😂
I would be terrified as well
As soon as he started talking about how safe it was, I knew he was gonna bounce to make his point eventually 😂
My heart rate spiked just watching it!
Hello Theatre Lighting Technician here,
Wire tension grids are a god send! I always feel so much safer and more confident when rigging and focusing from a wire tension grid as opposed to ladders or harness work or more traditional common place grids that are just iron beams with gaps big enough for your foot to slip through. Wire tension grids I’ve worked on in the past have had huge signs up that say “THIS IS NOT A TRAMPOLINE!” however…
Fantastic video! Thank you for making it and thanks Royal Albert Hall for the backstage tour!
Completely agree. I always feel safer on a tension grid than a catwalk.
+
@@davidjmcgraw I'm not scared of heights, I'm only scared of realistic prospects of falling down.
@@engineeringvision9507 Falling is easy; it is the landing part that is hard.
dare you to add a sign to every grid that says ' This is 'probably' not a trampoline''
So what you're saying, is that every director that has made a scene of London being destroyed by some natural disaster has missed a golden opportunity to show the roof of the Royal Albert Hall being lifted off and cartwheeling through the city? Or maybe they have and now I know to look for it.
saving the idea
I was thinking of a Gru style villain stealing it with a giant magnet on a helicopter 😂
Write it down, write it down!
Now I want to see that in a movie!! 🤣
I'm just glad I wasn't the only one to think that!
If it’s not permanently attached, does that make it technically a lid?
Perhaps the biggest lid in London -- or the world?
I think it does.
I wonder it will be lifted if filled with helium or hydrogen.
Please don't do it, but if someone have desire to vandalise monument with tremendous amount of all light gas, that might be a way
It’s pretty common in domed stadiums to have the roof unattached.. I’m pretty sure the USA and Japan both have much bigger ones.
I can remove your roof. >:)
Tension grids are great once you get used to the idea of walking on air. Actually really practical for gaining easy access to lights.
I loved them when working in theatre world so practical and is much easier than a taliscope
I kinda expected to see you here, good sir.
How common are they and where do you generally come across them? I wasn't aware of their existance and now i want to bounce until Tom Scott screams.
Until you drop your screwdriver, I imagine.
@@sauercrowder generally you would tie off your tools so they don't fall like that.
I really love how Tom isnt shying away from showing his fear of heights and holding the inspectors arm for safety.
Something you arent seeing often.
He said this long ago before it is his brand to be truthful, real and authentic; and these instances for human weaknesses help sell that brand - and makes us love him for it.
I used to be a theatre tech, the best part of it was seeing how the new techies reacted to the grid. Some would avoid it like the plague, others would use it like a trampoline. It was amazing bouncy
There are all sorts of people. I am not particularly afraid of heights, but sometimes I can feel a bit uneasy about certain structures. Once, we climbed a telecommunication mast, together with my friend, about 30 meters high. The whole structure was gently moving from side to side, swinging in the wind - just a few centimetres to each side, but one could definitely feel it. I assured myself that it was completely normal, given the properties of the structure, but I certainly had no desire to make it move more. However, my friend, as soon as he had reached the top platform a few moments later than me and had also noticed the swinging, started moving his weight in sync with the mast, trying to make it move more to see the limits of the movement. :) I wasn´t too pleased by that experiment, to say the least... :)
@@TheBirchCreek where do you work? what the profession?
There's nothing quite like the joy of bringing a bunch of bouncy rubber balls up to a grid. Obviously on an off-day, obviously with the venue empty and secure. But bouncing bouncy balls from >3 stories high is a right laugh!
@@thedarkroomlondon well that’s not an image I ever thought I’d have in my head 😂👌🏻
@@thedarkroomlondon i love that omg
I love how Tom isn't afraid to, well, be afraid on camera. I think it's one of the reasons he has such a great following. He feels more like a friend than a celebrity.
I was thinking the same
So you think Tom Cruise couldn’t do this?
@@Egilhelmson acting scared and being scared on camera are 2 different things.
@@s70driver2005 Exactly. And I think most of us believe Tom Cruise is completely insane to begin with.
I did find his response hilarious TBH, but not in mean-spirited way, and indeed fair play for being willing to share this.
"Terrifying Technicians' Trampoline" is a deeply glorious phrase. Well stated, Tom.
it is also grammatically iffy- oh god i just turned into _that_ guy, didn't i
Im stealing “deeply glorious phrase”
Victorian engineering is just so wild. Some stuff is incredibly overengineered, whilst at the same time some stuff is incredibly underengineered. Its like that awkward point in the industrial revolution where they became confident enough with the new industrial capabilities to start doing some really crazy stuff, but there wasn't enough precedent to really know what was or wasn't enough. The Forth Bridge and the Tay Bridge (the one that collapsed) are a great example of this juxtaposition.
i think you're refering to being a qualified engineer,
The Victorians knew that they needed to engineer stuff to work right. So they just engineered whatever they could and didn't bother about the things they couldn't.
"Architecture begins where Engineering ends" - Walter Gropius
I think we’re at that point now in Software Engineering.
its not surprising to see such amazing works because if you are not good at it - off with your head!
ironically most durable engineering is built under oppression of some kind
I love how Tom both fully admits his fears when confronted with something that terrifies him, and does his best to face them and experience something cool. It’s really admirable.
you should watch Tom Scott Plus then
@@elainejohnson796 having fears is cringy? Literally what? Horrible take
@@elainejohnson796 Then stop watching him? Nobody is going to miss your view and it won't change your life.
@@elainejohnson796 Most people would have the exact same reaction as him walking over that mesh... not hiding it makes Tom extremely relatable to his audience.
Tom: I'm scared of heights
The cameraman: I don't have such weaknesses
We all know the cameraman cannot die.
I do.
About interesting roofs. If Tom goes back to Germany eventually, he should get into the roofs of the Cologne Cathedral. It is an interesting story. The Cathedral, while construction started in I think the 14th century, had a several century long construction stop and was only finished in the 19th century. The roof, while made look from the outside old, was made with back then modern technology, meaning a massive steel roof construction. This construction was responsible for the Cathedral surviving WWII, as the bomb that did land in the roof did not burn it down like Notre Dame.
Nortredam?
Holy moses my friend. It's Notre Dame.
Also, its crooked, which you can easily see when you are up there.
France already knows the dangers of burning medieval roofs: Chatres Cathedral's "forest" framework in the roof burned down in 1836 and has since been replaced with metal frame
that’s really cool
Was just there, was blown away by how absolutely huge it is
This is beautiful. I love that the engineering has "just worked" for all these years, and the hall is still regularly used for modern productions.
It's absolutely stunning
@GTOger: There are now 542 replies to you asking your community, what might be the reason for you to no longer post any videos - I wonder if that is not yet enough to provide us with an answer?
a lot of stuff in england is like that
@@ennocramer4703 who are you talking to?
Well, it didn't "just work" acusticly
Victorian engineering at its pinnacle. I wish more people would acknowledge the workers that constructed these amazing buildings.
And how many people died either building it or handling and mining and manufacturing the steel.
I learned about it in my World History class (In America). Absolutism stunning architecture that I hope I get to see in person one day.
People did just as amazing things with less. Medieval cathedrals, ancient castles, tombs, and palaces. Amazing in every way in any time period.
@@chrisanderson2368 and a lot of sacrifice of human lives
@@chrisanderson2368don't be so bitter and miserable. Other people find it amazing - let them!
It cracks me up that Tom has such a rough time looking down, and then two seconds later it shows these historical images with workers just chilling at the top of the metal frame 😂
4:53 you can see the pic of the workers.
True fact: Many of the construction workers who build New York skyscrapers are Mohawk Indians, who have a gift for overcoming fear of heights!
@@Blaqjaqshellaq I have read somewhere that your info is actually an urban myth. They in fact were afraid but in their culture admitting this was not acceptable so they pretend to not be afraid.
@@neumdeneuer1890 well, if someone hides their fear of heights and carries on working at that height, wouldn't you call that overcoming the fear? Wouldn't you call that brave? It would be stupid not to feel some fear within at those heights, but the difference is whether you keep functioning. I know I'd probably freeze up like Tom did, unlike those workers who didn't only have to stand there but move around steel beams without safety gear.
bin chillin
I wonder whether the lack of attachment actually has design benefits, e.g. reducing stresses due to different expansion rates due to temperature of the iron roof and the brick walls.
It really explains the creaking too. Literally sliding. Wonder about friction?
It does reduce the stresses due to the different expation rates. That makes this a great design.
@@polerin I don't think so.
That creaking sound just sounded like the metal roof expanding. You can hear the same sound by metal carports or sheds.
@@Jehty_ I can hear it every morning when I take a shower. The heat from the shower causes the wood construction behind the wall to expand and creak. One of the oddities of using wood to build many buildings here in the USA.
It seems counterintuitive to learn as I did before I got into construction that all buildings should expand and contract by design, and that the engineers problem is knowing how and at what points within the fabric of the building to implement movement joints to best achieve these characteristics. I know that as a youngster these ideas were alien to me as I would look at buildings being immovable solid masses.
I'm terrified just watching this video. I can't imagine how Tom felt. And the calmness of the safety officer is just inconceivable.
The safety of the cameraman:
Job interview for safety officer position: Walk across that mesh.
If you can do it without flinching, you're hired.
"You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means"
Can we just applaud Scott’s cameraman for filming him while walking on the mesh
Camera operators... The silent superheroes.
The cameraman always lives. That's why he wasn't scared.
@@bagnome someone has to remain to tell the tale
And for being in position in case Tom goes splat.
+
I always love how Tom is more than willing to put in those moments that show how uncomfortable/scared he is in a given situation and not just edit it out, it makes the videos so much more realistic and raw
And much more relatable to the audience because most of us would feel absolutely the same if high up there.
@@soundscape26 without doubt! I don't know if I'd even make it onto the mesh
Him being terrified of everything is what makes his videos so interesting. (OK everything isn't fair, lots of things)
+
I'd prefer not to see his over dramatics
its so charming watching tom wig out about the tension grid. you get so used to scary heights so fast when you work show tech -- its always interesting to see a new person approach them with, like, normal and appropriate self-preservation instincts
I was afraid of heights before I started working show tech. Now, well lets just say I've climbed lots of things without any kind of harness...
I work with rigging productions (concerts, awardshows, television etc.) and I've seen how many people are required to get small simple structures made out of trusses up and standing. So the fact that people managed to construct this 600 tonne iron roof 150 years ago likely without the help of 1 ton motors and the likes is absolutely astounding to me.
You could tell me that mesh is strong enough to stop a freight train and it still wouldn't make me feel more comfortable walking on it when it's that high. Props to Tom for going out there.
There's a solid metal mesh on the floor of the observation deck of the Toronto CN Tower. Feels the same way. They now let you strap into a harness and lean your full weight over the edge.
To be fair, Tom does scare easily. Very easily 😆
@@Monkey80llx very easily
My anxiety skyrocketted the moment you stepped on the mesh and the panic set in.
Why? It's a video
Mine sky rocketed when the camera looked down...
fr tho i'm not even there and i felt like i was gonna cry 😭
I'm so grateful that Tom doesn't try to hide his emotions in videos like this. Fear is a natural, healthy response in that situation (at least, until you're desensitized to the height). Showing us his genuine reaction does a lot to destigmatize that fear!
@@elainejohnson796 I think he's becoming more and more ambitious, battling his fear of heights well.... Note he has some earlier videos like the one about Pulpit Rock where he hardly even approached the edge.
I thought Tom had a head for heights, this earlier video (Why Aren't There More Helicopter Crashes In London?) shows him standing on a wall at risk of falling into the River Thames, without much fear.
About the fear of heights: it comes from our balance system using the ground as a visual reference so we don't fall over - but when it is a long way down, it doesn't work because there is almost no sideways movement of the ground to feedback. Hence focusing on near objects around instead, or even closing your eyes, helps.
The fact that Tom is so incredibly smart and interesting and yet also openly afraid to walk on the mesh shows how human he is. We appreciate you, my guy.
What are you talking about? I remember that he was replaced by an android a couple months ago.
A fear of heights is very common, not universal, but maybe more common than not being particularly scared of heights.
I did a tiny bit of urban climbing in my youth and had the "I don't know if I can move" moment. I managed to push past it, but can totally sympathize with folks who can't.
Oh, and there's also the thing where construction companies doing tension structures prefer hiring climbers and training them in the construction instead of the other way around. There were several stories about that when the Millennium Dome was being built
Mark Zuckerberg should try it to prove himself
Just imagine it's a tightrope, which he did successfully.
you can be an engineer and know exactly the weight tolerances involved of every cubic centimeter of every single bit of material in that structure.
But when you're up there, seeing the rest of the building bellow you, and seeing the _mesh_ that you're standing on. AND feeling it flex with your movement. Your brain will tell you it isn't safe. Health and Safety Guy has probably been up there thousands upon thousands and thousands of times. His brain is used to seeing the distance bellow, and used to feeling the mesh flex. Knowledge can't make up for trained natural responses, or lack thereof.
Love it. Saw the thumbnail of a tension grid and said "oh, Tom's visiting a theatre". Tension grids are fantastic and yes they do take a little getting used too, but once you realize that there is a crazy amount of safety and engineering that have gone into the design the fear just goes away.
The fact that he hedged his bets so much to not even call this the most interesting roof in the UK makes me wonder what else there is
with all the places he knows, wouldn't surprise me
Might not even be the most interesting in London as the Beatles famous performance on the roof was in London
@@Alex-cw3rz I'd argue "some famous blokes played music here once" is far less interesting than "this gigantic piece of construction isn't actually attached to anything".
Like, even if we care about star power as much as we do about inherent properties, it's the Beatles that are interesting, not the roof.
@@Poldovico I mean the fact is that one is an entire documentary of intrigue of a band falling apart. Whereas one is did you know this isn't attached which is very cool, but then that's it, it's not even unique dry stone structures and walling isn't that unusual in the UK.
@@Alex-cw3rz But none of that stuff is actually about the roof.
That ending drone shot was AMAZING! The pull-out was sooo expertly done! You have an excellent camera crew, Tom.
Mad Cap'n Tom's pullout game has always been strong
@@thelastcube. Hahahaha
Reminds me of GTA when you get wasted.
I'm an entertainment technician and my reaction to the grid was "oh an easy one to work on" -- wire tension grids are great, you need no additional safety gear to avoid falling. You just gotta not drop anything.
I’ve been up to the Corona in 2015, when I was assisting a photographer who wanted a photo from the top. I was petrified and not much help at all! Everything, keys, phones, jewellery and even the camera lens had to be left outside in case it fell through the iron mesh. This video took me straight back to that day and the way everything wobbled…
I carry my DSLR + camping gear up cliffs daily. It's more of an irrational worry than anything.
@@thegrandnil764 the issue isn’t about losing something - it’s about it hitting someone working below at very high speed. That’s why we weren’t allowed anything at all in our pockets whilst on the wire mesh.
@@thegrandnil764 It's for the safety of anyone below
Tom: The roof of the Royal Albert Hall isn’t actually attached.
*sound of whirring helicopters in the distance*
*grappling hooks attach to the roof and start to lift it off*
Tom: *leaps aboard rising roof, pulls off disguise to reveal red fedora and trench coat*
“Better luck catching me next time, Player..”
*Carmen Sandiego theme plays, roll credits*
How many helicopters would that require?
@@LeifNelandDk a lot
@@LeifNelandDk at least 2
@@LeifNelandDk According to Wikipedia, 1 Chinook can lift ~10.8 tonnes, so you'd need at least 56 of them. I have a feeling you'd struggle to fit that many in the airspace above the dome. Lets see... A Chinook is ~645.6 sq. ft, apparently the dome covers 20,000 sq. ft so we can fit at most 30. I didn't include the rotors in that calculation so it probably doesn't matter how you try and arrange them vertically, a cable can't go through a fuselage, so I don't think you can do it.
Tom was Carmen Sandiego all along. I knew it...
2:20 - I used to do sound setups for various functions as part of a team and at one of them in 2008 I wasn't on active duty but decided to assist in tear down. Some speakers had been suspended above the stage in a conference center and I was directed to the place I could turn a crank and lower them. The moment I stepped out to the area and felt the bounce, I noticed that I was on a mesh and I could see all the way down to the stage where people down there looked so small. My legs just stopped moving. Regardless of my mind telling me it's safe because other people were walking on it I just couldn't move. My legs didn't respond to anything I wanted. No one helped me and I ended up having to lie down and roll to the edge which was only half a meter away. I didn't take down those speakers. But I discovered a fear I didn't know I had.
I’m an electrician in NC, USA, and several schools have similar grid work I have to work in, and I completely understand Tom’s reaction…
NC?
@@Thurgosh_OG North Carolina prob
@@marofan47 thanks, I was confused as well
New Caledonia?
@@saoirsedeltufo7436 Why would it be that..
As an orchestral musician I've played in many amazing spaces, including the Royal Albert Hall, but I always zone out in the rests and end up gazing at the roofs of many places, wondering what goes on. Now I have one of the many concert halls ticked off!
What is your opinion on the acoustics there?
I like how Tom's confidence quickly drops from 100 to 0 as soon as he looked down.
I would definitely feel the same because I have fear of Heights as well.
It is somewhat pathetic
@@pyropulseIXXI ok edgelord
I have an alternative (musical) solution to the echo problem:
The echo from the ceiling was ~200 ms, which is equivalent to a crotchet (1/4 note) at 75 bpm.
Therefore *if all the music played at the Royal Albert Hall* was performed at 75 bpm, the delay produced by the ceiling echo would blend in nicely!
BONUS FACT: If U2 (who are fond of using a dotted 1/8 note delay) they'd need to play every song at 100 bpm. The Edge would have no need for his delay pedal, just let the building do the echo automatically!
I love you
In some circumstances yes, but not if you're playing chromatic scales that clash with the echoes and make a discordant mess - I'd be out of there like a shot!
Slapback echoes completely change the original performance into something else, and music is generally composed specifically to take advantage of it, such as JMJ, Pink Floyd etc.
Bonus Bonus: Here are some well-known U2 songs with a tempo of 100 bpm, give or take:
Bad
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Running to Stand Still
Angel of Harlem
All I Want Is You
Until the End of the World
Walk On
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
How long is the delay in Rob Scallon's Rain?
@@charleslambert3368 About 375 ms. It's a dotted quarter note setting at around 120 bpm - wouldn't quite fly for that echo but it's incredibly cool nonetheless.
This is one of those videos that takes your breath away but you cant stop looking!!
At the 4:00 minute mark, when Tom started walking, I was watching him place one foot immediately before the other with his arms spread, and I wondered whether this had been filmed after his tightrope walking episode.
I love how Tom showed more fear walking on this mesh than he did when he was strapped to the top of a flying biplane.
Or going down a wind turbine backwards!!
I'm terrified of heights, but I love to fly. I think it's a normal thing, but I don't know why it happens that way.
Our caveman ancestors knew, fall from height, bad. Our caveman ancestors never had the need to develop a fear of biplanes.
I think its related to the amount of control. On the plane Tom couldn't do anything to affect whether or not he was safe really once they were up, but the mesh is innately determining on his mind if its a safe or unsafe action with clear things that determined it as unsafe right in front of him.
or going into that place without laws (yellow stone)
2:33 The moment when you understand all the math and it is telling you that it is completely safe but your body still just couldn't trust it
In Düsseldorf, Germany, there is an art installation that gives you the feeling of this place. It is called "in Orbit" and consists of a steel net placed at a height of 25 meters. It can be found in the official art exhibition "K21" of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Have fun, it‘s great…
I will have to see it next time I go, the last time I was in Düsseldorf it was closed because of the virus :(
i live there
it was absolutely terrifying! Great tip
is it still there? found some articles that said it was only until end of 2015
Damn dude you should have told us while we had 9€ tickets!
Had a dream about Tom last night. I was being interviewed by him about a giant telescope that could move around a giant glass warehouse and tourists could come in, move it themselves and look through it. Then we watched a weird parade. Then Tom took me on a journey jumping over walls into people gardens. Then we broke into someone's house because Tom was secretly investigating someone and I was caught then pretended it was my house and acted hysterical to escape without raising alarm. Weird dream.
Do you work at a place with a giant telescope that could move around a giant glass warehouse and tourists could come in, move it themselves and look through it?
Hehe, good dream
@@bbgun061 In real life no. In the dream I was vaguely aware I was in a dream and had to ask Tom where we were. He kept replying with British place names that I'd never heard of till he showed me on a map and I was like "oh, we're in England". I guess my brain just thought the giant mobile telescope was something Tom would make a video about.
It wasn’t a dream, Tom just erased your memory to get rid of the witnesses.
Tom Scott plus Limerence. Can't wait for that video!
Apparently there are only two fears we are born with; a fear of falling and a fear of loud noises. Good job nobody popped a balloon behind you. Great video, as always!
I love how Tom keeps in the bits where is frightened when on the mesh. I would be too. It’s respectable to show that I think.
Agreed
To be fair that mesh looks quite sketchy
The ability for Tom Scott to get me to care about things I’ve never thought twice about is unprecedented
I fuckin love this guy. He’s probably the most genuine person I’ve ever seen on the internet. Keep ‘em coming, Tom.
2:49 As somebody who is scared of heights I felt your fear through the screen.
Me to
Tom, your courage knows no bounds. Climbed a grain silo once. Coolest thing I had done in my life up to then. Looked over the edge before climbing down. There seemed infinite space between me and a hard stop. “Look at the ladder, look at the ladder…” Took me a while to latch on and swing over. Well done, You!
Climbed down a cliff on a 200m volcanic plug once and had to encourage the others that theyll be fine once where back at the top because we were like 30m above anything else on a rocky ledge
Should add that im the one thats scared of heights, i jist love the vertigo rush lmfaoooo
Look ahead & look up, not down. That was my experience servicing communications towers.
Tom Scott is amazing he is scared to death of heights yet he still puts himself in high places for our viewing pleasure!
I shared every moment of his panic. And when the engineer started BOUNCING, I reacted the same way at the same time as Tom. 😱 I also startled my cat.
I felt my stomach drop a little bit!
I got a flashback to when I went up the stairs to the main floor of the Eiffel tower (57m), you can see all the way down and it was terrifying
This feels like one of the most genuine reactions we've ever seen from Tom. Don't get me wrong, he's always seemed honest and nice, but that fear reaction dropped the mask completely.
You clearly haven't been watching Tom Scott plus
Ahh he kinda acts like hes on the spectrum. Seems like he has zero social skills
@@whublah I'm sorry, but how? His interactions with people always seem fine, he was just scared, and rightly so.
Timestamp?
@@whublah No he doesn't, and having zero social skills (something Tom clearly does not suffer from) doesn't indicate being on the spectrum anyway. Stop pathologizing ordinary human behaviour.
I feel for Tom, its not easy having to face a phobia.
Its hard to understand how irrational the fear is, you can consciously be 110% certain the situation is safe, but your mind just goes "nope!".
Mine is wasps, if any of those come at me I'm 10m away before the thinking parts of my brain kick in.
A phobia? I think that's common sense.
I had a second-hand anxiety looking at that footage, but the explanation of the roof and its weight capacity in comparison to how much its currently supporting was actually pretty calming. Made me wanna jump on it too, despite the fact I'd never do such a thing ever
I demand an entire series of Tom being put in terrifying Situations!! Fighter jets, roller coasters, glass bridges!
That's the funniest thing I've seen all day!
his second channel has videos of him flying and riding rollercoasters and such! it's awesome!
He's flown with the red arrows, and on plus, he's done roller coasters and tight ropes.
Check out Tom Scott Plus! It's literally that XD, wish granted.
Tom Scott plus is what your looking for
Check out his other channel "Tom Scott Plus", he does just that, the time coaster one was actually really cool, seeing him come around from deathly afraid to almost loving it
Love the way Tom describes his fear responses as he goes in his more harrowing videos. Great presence of mind.
@@elainejohnson796 Agreed. I've noticed it a lot more in recent videos. I suppose because he's doing stuff out of his comfort zone, but the overreacting/surprise (when he knew full well what he was getting into) is quite annoying.
@@WS12658 I mean, it’s one thing to know you’re going up high and it’s a whole different thing to be up there and suddenly realise that it’s terrifying.
I used to be a freelance lighting technician in London where I worked at this very venue and others such as the Royal Opera House and the O2. I can tell you this: I used to get the serious sweats and nerves climbing lighting truss that is hung from roofs such as this. Now I work in aerospace - phew!
This made my hands prespire, and I was only watching the video. courageous show, and great video!
Amazing video as always. Props to the engineer for being awesome, and to you Tom, for going out of your comfort zone and sharing so much interesting knowledge with us!
My palms started sweating when you walked on the mesh. Kudos to you for being brave and getting out there!
I laughed a lot when Tom stepped out. As a stagehand who's worked at a ton of venues, I'm always curious of places I haven't been to. I thought it would much much further down but it wasn't an unusual height, and much safer with the mesh than just walking out on iron beams or steel/aluminum truss.
These grid systems are fairly common in theaters to help with changing lights, speakers, and such. Real fun to walk around on once you get over how terrifying it is.
I dont' see what is terrifying. You can't fall. It's like being scared of walking along a concrete floor.
@@engineeringvision9507 Strictly speaking the mesh could separate from whatever is holding it in place.
@@hb1338 The mesh is on top so it would make no difference
Totally understand your fear of heights Tom. Its been the bane of my life and in one case cost me a job. I tried to conquer my fear once by climbing a tree that had a death slide at the top. I had to be winched down half way up because I froze.
A death slide? That doesn’t sound like something one should climb towards…
The process is called flooding. But in my case I nearly drowned in fear, though does work for a lot of people, just not for me sadly.
Same - weird thing for me though is if it's natural (e.g. a cliff edge) I'm completely fine even if the drop is hundreds of metres, but if it's been manufactured or grown (e.g. a tree, ladder or glass walkway) then it messes with me big time. LIke i've sideways climbed across a boulder with no safety equipment - nothing but small handholds between me and a 200m+ drop straight down while it was raining and barely even paused but I've also been paralysed by fear on a treebranch only 2m from the ground or a suspended staircase that's a little wobbly.
I am totally so with you...! Five rungs of a ladder and I'm outta here.
2:52 “Ohhh my god, don’t bounce”
Human ingenuity when it comes to engineering just keeps evolving and blowing my mind. This is pretty amazing.
The Royal Albert Hall is an example of extremely bad engineering. Sure, it hasn't killed anyone (yet), but it utterly failed at accomplishing the single task it was built to accomplish because the engineers neglected to even check whether their fancy design did the thing it was meant to. All the retrofitting they had to do afterward was a concession that they built a bad building.
Watch this blow up for no reason :/
@@agentnull5242 What are you talking about?
The moment Guy started bouncing was the moment I said “Oh, I like him”
It's not quite the same thing, but once when I got too fast on a high-ropes course, and had to wait for the person in front of me, I spent the next 5-ish minutes halfway along that section of tightrope, leaning on the rope that was designed to be a terrible hand-rail, and enjoying the view from 2-3 stories up, so I'd like to think I'd be more like Guy than Tom, but I've got no idea how I'd actually go.
@sourand jaded ...that actually might make sense - if you go over the edge of the steel roof, there's nothing for you to catch onto, but dancing around exposed rafters, you've always got something further over for you to catch (assuming you're not on the end one, but then you've got experience clambering around on individual rafters, which might improve your confidence there anyway)
As for ropes and ladders, if a ladder moves over a foot or two, you're toppling, but you can swing on a rope to horizontal if the attachment point is strong enough.
“Most people just hold my hand”
Wholesome
many years ago, patrons eating at one of our local restaurants during a windstorm found out the roof wasn't attached. then once they recovered from the shock of the roof leaving in the middle of the meal, they went out into the car park and found out where it landed.
Should have claimed salvage/abandoned property on it and taken it home.
For all the modern skyscrapers we see reaching insane heights, it's these decades and centuries old buildings that really amaze me. It boggles my mind how they did it without modern day technology.
Did they not have math back then?
@@pavelow235 I said technology, not maths. You know, things like modern day construction technology, cranes, transport vehicles, computers for simulating and testing ideas in the design stage, etc…
@@pavelow235 I'm more impressed with the Roman technology. They achieved similar results with the Colessium and The Pantheon almost 2000 years earlier. It is the strongest shape geometricly possible in architecture.
What I love about Tom's videos is that he takes topics that I would normally never care about or give the time of day and he makes them fascinating
What I love about Tom is if he is scared, you know. Makes you feel more like you are there with him!
“The roof isn’t actually attached”
Boys who wants to help me steal a roof
I carry all my groceries in one trip, so I'm down.
Can I watch from distance
We just need a VERY big helicopter
@@owenkegg5608maybe 10 regular helicopters or 1000 drones?
If it was even remotely possible, then a certain group of people with a liking for caravans, would've had it down the scrap metal dealers years ago 😂👍
Thanks for sharing and scaring Tom! Hanging out on the grid is one of my favorite things. I've never seen anything like that one though. Incredible.
HA! I love seeing Tom this way. He's usually so clinical in his descriptions and explanations, such a technical command of his speech. To see him get emotional (scared) is a nice change of pace.
I feel like your rope-walking training came into play there the moment you looked down and saw the beam. There definitely looked to be a part of your brain going "oh yes, this part, I know how to do this" as you carefully placed your feet on it just like you were taught. Well done, Tom.
Sorry for your loss Tom
That reminds me of the roof of the B & O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. The trusses of the roof rest on teflon sliders (originally metal rollers when the building was built) that allow the roof to flex a bit. This was critically important when the roof collapsed due to snow loading, as the trusses merely pulled out of the wall rather than pulling the wall in and destroying the entire building.
Two of the locomotives damaged in the collapse had previously been damaged by a roof-collapse in the museum they were in previously.
I think those two locomotives are bad luck
My heart stopps by the thought that I should ever walk on that mesh. I admire the technician and the cameraperson!
Thank you for your courage in making this video.🍒
This is far and away one of my favorite of your videos. My absolute favorite is the one about microwaves where you located the scientist and he gleefully told the story of thawing frozen hamsters.
This one made me sick from heights. I had butterflies in my stomach, I was literally pushing against the back of my chair to get away from the edge. Very nice, good on you for walking out there. I'm now remembering your trip to the top of the wind turbine, so that's another one that made me sick. Love it. 💚
Tom ,as someone with a major phobia for heights, I can imagine what you were feeling standing on that mesh. The Royal Albert Hall is a fantastic example of british engineering at its best
With all the negativity and crap happening around us, can we all take a moment to acknowledge the world needs more Tom Scotts. You sir are a gentleman and a scholar - love your work.
The Royal Albert Hall is my favourite space in the world. I love it so much.
Thanks for this video. It was really cool and something, I'd likely never seen or known otherwise. Now when I next go, I can stare up in amazement for entirely new reasons
i remember climbing around this thing in assassins creed syndicate! so cool to see it in the modern day, and to learn about what the building does! (in the game the interior was still under construction)
Well done Tom, you dealt with your fear of heights really well. It takes a lot to face your fear like that.
Always amazes me how Industrial Age structures were so over engineered that not only do they still stand but modern equipment and additional structures can still be supported from it with ease. Naturally these wrought iron structures do have a shelf life but they will always remain a testament to the ingenuity of age old practitioners who dared to push the limits.
To be fair, part of that is survival bias. A large amount of industrial age structures were not that well/over engineered, but those collapsed or got torn down long ago.
But yes, it is always nice. Plus i llve the fact that, especialy with the help of modern equipment, they are really reperable. An iron beam corrodes to much? No problem, it's bolted in and acessible. Get a crane, some scaffolding, and replace that beam with a new one.
Fsr harder to do on modern structures that are mostly reinforced concrete.
@@reappermen a great point Jeff! And you're right that wasn't part of my consideration! Yup so often we just reflect on the triumphs and dismiss or simply forget the failures (ironic as they are usually more abundant!). Fickle minds I guess!
Tom's reactions are viewing gold
Air grids are amazing! 99% of rigging is SO much easier on them, and the 1% that isn't just takes a little ingenuity to change! You get used to the bounciness after about 3 minutes, but I've found that after 30 - 45 minutes on it, you need to take a break on solid ground because your knees start to hurt. Because the work is so quick on it though, you can be on and off in 10.
You missed the most interesting fact - When they designed the roof, the engineer's weren't sure that it would be able to support itself as it was the biggest of its kind. That's why they built it in Manchester and left it for a year before dismantling it and moving it to London. When they dropped the roof onto the walls, the walls of the hall shifted circularly by roughly 1/2". It's caused cracks and stress marks in the brickwork that you can still see.
Another fun fact: They know how many holes it takes to fill the hall.
"It kinda broke the building, just not a whole lot."
@@FakeMoonRocks How many holes?
@@QuixoticDucky 455 holes, probably.
@@QuixoticDucky let's say it takes 4000 holes to fill blackburn lanchashire, then you could prob do the math to figure out how many holes it takes to fill the albert hall
hope that helps
Brings back memories. In college, I was helping rig sound and lighting equipment in the upper cat walks of an arena. Floors of the walks were metal grates and I accidentally dropped a screwdriver. Damn thing bounced 20ft up off the concrete that was 100ft below. Immediately had to get down to stave off panic attack.
This place is absolutely GEORGEOUS and I would LOVE to visit one day.
So, if a performer at the Royal Albert Hall says to "raise the roof", this is technically possible?
To be fair to you Tom, I’ve worked at heights and I’d have been terrified on that grid too. Fear of heights isn’t always about rational thought.
@@sinthariasinestra9777 - I guess that staying still is your overwhelmed system saying “I am currently not falling, so if I stay still, hopefully that should remain the same”. If you wait there for a while, eventually you’ll be able to move. I once had to climb a pylon during training and the guy said “when you get too high up, just come down one step and then wait until you feel comfortable then carry on”. I still hate heights but I was able to get to the top.
Just seeing that and seeing you react is making my anxiety spike. My palms are sweaty. I can only imagine what you must have been feeling.
I used to help change lighting gels in the roof of my high schools theater and that used to scare me. This is waaaaaaay higher.
I love how Tom faces universal fears for our informative amusement. Thanks Tom! Go for it!