Three live Guinness World Records attempts | David Rush | TEDxBoise

David Rush breaks his 98th, 99th, and 100th Guinness World Records live on the TEDxBoise stage while delivering a powerful and positive message to the audience.

Rush is one of the most prolific Guinness World Records participants on the planet. He has an electrical engineering degree from MIT, an MBA from Boise State, and is a senior product manager at Boise-based Cradlepoint - the industry leader in cloud-delivered 4G LTE network solutions. At MIT, he won best undergraduate lab of the year in electrical engineering for a juggling simulator. He’s a two-time winner of the MIT-wide Talent show, a two-time finalist at Idaho’s Got Talent, and has been a guest on the TODAY show. He’s broken over 90 Guinness World Records titles promoting science, technology, engineering and math through talks and his website. He is the world’s fastest juggler, the world’s slowest juggler, and has the record for most bowling balls juggled, most consecutive axe juggling catches, and longest duration balancing a bicycle on the chin.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Alright, folks. My name is David Rush.

Who's ready for some entertainment?

It's the entertainment
section of the show.

My life took a slight detour
three and half years ago

when I juggled
for six minutes, 34 seconds,

wearing a blindfold,

breaking my very first
Guinness World Records title.

I did it to promote STEM Education -

science, technology, engineering, math.

I'm passionate about it,

and you can see it's a tangible example,

that you've set your mind to a goal,

believe in yourself,
and pursue it with a passion,

you can accomplish virtually anything.

You see, too many students,
they grow up and fail a math test,

struggle at science,

and are told by somebody,

"Hey, you should focus on something else
because you're not very good at this."

Well,

I've read a fair amount of research

that suggests that
this is simply not true.

When I was in second grade,
I tried out for the Gifted Program.

I took a test, and I failed.
I didn't get in

I wasn't smart enough.

I tried out again in fifth grade,

and I did get in but only for math.

Does that mean I couldn't be good

at science, history, art or literature?

I kept working hard,
and by the time I finished high school

I was offered admission into MIT,

where I got my electrical
engineering degree,

and I tell you it kicked my butt.

But every time I was challenged,

every time I failed,

I used it as an opportunity
to improve and learn.

And who here has ever said,
"I don't remember names well."

"I've got to left feet, can't dance."

"I'm not a great leader."
"I'm not a good speaker."

"I get angry easily."

Something's holding you back.

Well, I'm here to tell you

that if you approach life
with a growth mindset,

this idea that
you can get better at anything,

you really can.

All of these things can be learned,

and developed,

and improved upon,

and I break a Guinness World Records
as an example of that.

So what happens when you approach life
with a growth mindset and grit?

Well, today I am going to attempt to break
my 100th Guiness World Record.

In fact, more accurately, it is my 98th,
99th and 100th Guiness World Record today.

Now, many of them are silly or esoteric,

like I have the fastest mile run,
balancing a raw egg

on a spoon in my mouth.

Eight minutes and two seconds.

(Laughter)

(Applause)

Sure. It was difficult,
but not very many people try.

But there are some records

I'm really, really excited
about and proud of,

I have the record for
most consecutive axe juggling catches.

Three three-pound axes juggled 839 times
before I finally fatigued and dropped one.

I have the record for longest duration
balancing a ladder on my chin.

The most bowling balls juggled.

It's three.

(Laughter)

I've now juggled blindfolded,
for more than 22 minutes.

And then there was that holy grail record,

that one I didn't think
I'd ever be able to break,

which was the most
juggling catches in one minute.

If I broke that one,

I could become the fastest
juggler in the world.

But I didn't think I could break it.

And I'd been juggling for a long time,
so I practiced and I got my baseline.

It was like, "OK, this is how fast I am,"

and I practiced over the weeks,
and I didn't get much better.

So I said, "You know,
that's not going to happen.

There's no way I could do that."

When I was in recess in grade school,

I was the one that was picked last
for two-hand touch football

because I couldn't catch the ball!

Who might've think
I can catch more balls in a minute

than anyone has ever
caught before while juggling?

There are also thousands
of professional jugglers.

They do this as their full-time job.

I work at Cradlepoint,
a technology company here in Boise.

I've been there nine years.

I have my lunches, evenings and weekends.

I also have two kids under three years old

and a very supportive wife.

(Laughter)

But after I broke
a few Guiness World Records,

I bought in.

I developed a growth mindset
about anything in life.

You can improve on anything
with no hard upper limit.

So I started practicing
for this Guiness World Record,

not with the hope
that maybe I might break it,

but with the belief
I was going to break it;

I knew I was.

It was just a matter of
when was it going to be?

Because I practiced every day for a year,

and after a year of practice,
I got 428 catches in one minute,

becoming the fastest
juggler in the world.

(Applause)

Thank you.

But it didn't end there.

Somebody else broke my record.

So I had to go back
with a renewed passion and vigor,

and now I hold the record
for the world's fastest juggling,

with 556 catches in one minute.

That's over nine and a quarter
catches per second.

And I thought seven was impossible.

3.5 years ago,

if you'd have asked me when I broke
my first Guinness World Record

if I could possibly break 10 by today,

I would have told you
that is a far stretch.

But if you ask me today if I think I can
break one Guinness World Record per week,

I would tell you yes, with confidence

because I did it last year.

So today, I'm going to attempt to break
three Guinness World Records live

in the next 10 minutes on stage.

And so I'm going to welcome up
the witnesses and timekeepers

who are going to validate this attempt
along with my friend here Chris Knight,

and we are going to attempt
to break three world records.

The first one is
a partner record, Chris and I.

The record is most ping pong balls
caught in one minute

with chopsticks.

(Laughter)

When I first practiced
this record, I caught two.

The current record is 31;

31 ping pong balls caught
with chopsticks in a minute.

Now, the rules simply state -
and Guinness has some very strict rules -

they state that you must throw
the ping pong ball,

catch it cleanly with the chopsticks,

and then deposit -
it has to bounce once and only once -

catch cleanly, and then
deposit it in a container.

We're going to use
an upturned frisbee as our container.

Chris and I have one world record
together already:

most frisbee passes in one minute, at 110.

I've got folks - to validate for Guinness,
I've got two people acting as timers,

two as witnesses, I've got all these
videos running, photographic evidence,

we'll submit it for approval later.

The current record is 31; remember
the first time we practiced, I got two.

(Laughter)

Alright.

So timers are going say "Ready, set, go,"
and we'll begin the attempt.

I'm going to count out loud
to give you approximate where I am.

If it hits a finger,
I'm going to recount that number,

so if I say a number twice, you know
I'm just discounting one of the catches.

Alright.

(Laughter)

Witnesses ready.

Timers ready.

Get closer.

Okay.

Witness: Ready, set, go.

David Rush: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,

6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,

14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23,

24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33,

34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42,

43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52,

53, 54, 55, 56,

57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66,

67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76,

77, 78, 79, 80

81, 82

(Laughter)

82!

Come on!
(Applause)

Whoo!

82 on that one,

83 on that one but we discounted one.
Alright, so that's good.

So one record down.

(Cheers)

How we feeling?

(Applause) (Cheers)

This next record combines a couple of
different skills I've worked on.

One is a lot of weight-lifting
activities I need to do

to juggle bowling balls and axes
and balance heavy objects on my chin.

So it combines strength training
with the fast touch,

the fast-twitch muscles I use
for speed juggling.

And so for this record

I'm going to attempt

the fastest time

to pass a 20-pound weight
from hand to hand 100 times.

So I have a 20-pound
kettlebell right there.

I'll start with my right hand,
and I need it to pass into my left hand,

back to right hand, left, right 100 times.

The time to beat is 18 seconds.

If you do the math,
that is over five passes per second

times 20 pounds, so 100 pounds
of passed weight per second,

until I get to do 2000 pounds
of passed weight.

I'm going to be doing this very fast.

It's going to be very difficult to count,
so I am going to count every other pass.

I'll start with my right hand
and go to my left hand,

and when it goes back to my right
I'll say 1, 2, 3, 4 and so forth.

I do a little warm-up here.

This'll give you an idea
of what it looks like.

Now, I get asked what I'm doing
in the gym all the time.

(Laughter)

"What are you training for?
Are you like a mountain climber?"

I say, "Well, I'm training
to pass a kettlebell

back and forth between my hands."

Alright.

So, for this to work I've got to weigh it
right before and right after the attempt.

I've got a scale here. We'll put it down.

Twenty-pound kettlebell
reads 20 pounds, 9.9 ounces.

Walmart, you sold me
a 9.9-ounce heavy kettlebell.

Alright.

It stopped recording.

Alright. I'm going to reweigh it
just to make [sure].

Here we go.

Kettlebell, 20 pounds,
9.8 ounces, on film.

(Exhales)

Is anybody in the audience feeling
irrationally nervous right now?

(Laughter)

And you're not even trying
to break the record.

(Laughter)

Alright. Timers ready. Witnesses ready.

Okay.

Witness: Ready, set, go.

DR: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,

14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23,

24, 25, 26, 27 -

Oh, I touched it with both hands
at the same time.

I bet she saw it.

(Laughter)

If two hands touch it at the same time,
it disqualifies the attempt.

You can't see it in fast-motion video,
but in slow-motion video, we would.

So I'm going to have to start
back over here, reweighing it -

20 pounds, 9.7 ounces.

Timers and witnesses ready.

(Exhales)

Let's go.

Witness: Ready, set, go.

DR: 1, oop, let's start.

Reset.

Okay.

Witness: Ready, set, go.

DR: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,

14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23,

24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33,

34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42,

43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50.

Come on!

(Cheers) (Applause)

Whoo!

Let me look at the stopwatches here.

Oh yes, weigh it on film
right before and right after.

There, you're seeing the weight 20.9.

It looks like we are at 14.9 seconds.

Come on!

(Applause)

Two down, one to go.

Alright, so for this last one,

I'm like, "What can I do

to make this 100th Guiness
World Record feel special?"

Like TEDx, TED talks -
it's like a birthday.

It's a milestone and a mark, so the record
I'm going to attempt to break -

it's for the most candles
lit in the mouth.

(Laughter)

They've got to be full-sized,
taper candles.

The current record is 41.

But it's my 100th Guiness World Record,

and so I decided I have to
put 100 candles in my mouth.

And so what I'm going to attempt to do now
is put 100 candles in my mouth,

light them on fire, and then
they have to stay there for 30 seconds.

(Exhales)

Held up by nothing but my hands.

Alright, so here we go.

These are what the taper candles
look like right here.

Get them on film so we can
count them individually.

We counted them all very carefully before.

(Exhales)

Eye protection.

Mike out of the way and at this point
I won't be able to talk anymore,

but when we light all the candles,

I'll release my hand,
time is going to start.

When I hit 30 seconds,

I'm at Guiness World Record number 100.

This is not my core competency,
but I decided I was going to do it anyway.

(Laughter)

(Aargh)

(Makes sound)

(Cheers) (Applause)

Witness: Start!

(Cheers)

(Applause) (Cheers)

20

(Applause) (Cheers)

25

30

DR: Aaargh!

(Applause) (Cheers)

(Whisling)

Come on!

Whoo!

Yes!

Come on!

High fives in the front row!

High fives in the front row!

Come on! Come on!

Whoo! Whoo!

(Cheers) (Applause)

Whoo!

That feels good.

100 world records.

But remember this.

Breaking 100 Guiness World Records
was not the end goal.

This is simply a tangible example
of what you can accomplish

if you set your mind to a goal.

Believe in yourself
and purse it with a passion.

And there are some of you
out there that have doubts.

You've told yourself
there's something you can't do,

but you want to do it anyway.

And you wish you could,
but you have these doubts.

What is that thing?

Now go do it.

My name's David Rush.
Enjoy TEDxBoise!

(Applause) (Cheers)