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State Street Bridge stars in Conan flying bratwurst stunt

Turner Broadcasting System

12-Jun-12 – (Above) A ten-foot bratwurst makes the jump from one raised end of the State Street Bridge to the other in a video that was shown to an audience Monday at the Chicago Theater. Conan O’Brien is taping his nightly show there through Thursday.

“Gorgeous,” O’Brien called the State Street Bridge. “There’s one thing I notice is that when they raise the drawbridge up, it almost looks like a ramp. A ramp that when you think about it just a little bit, is perfect for jumping insane Chicago-related things off of.”

Six objects were launched on Sunday morning – the bratwurst, a fake cow, tiny car, and replicas of “The Bean” and the Picasso sculpture at Daley Plaza, and a dummy on a scooter. Each object was on wheels that appeared to be connected to a long rope that pulled the object up the ramp and then released it as it reached the gap.

Clearly, the bratwurst had the best landing – crashing onto the other side but coming to rest upright.

O’Brien told the audience, “Why are we doing this? To prove that America is still the greatest nation on earth.” After the video was shown, the audience briefly chanted, “USA! USA!”

(Click on image to view larger version.)