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EAGLE MOUNTAIN — A modern-day knight, from Eagle Mountain of all places, is getting his own reality show.
The show, scheduled to debut on the National Geographic Channel next week, follows a full-contact, heavy armor jousting troop "The Knights of Mayhem" as they try to turn their hobby into a legitimate sport.
Donning 130 pounds of steel armor, 'Knights' mount 2,000-pound horses and charge at each other with solid hemlock lances at speeds up to 30-mph, while peering through a quarter- inch eye slot in their helmets.
–National Geographic
"You got the action, you got the hard hitting, you got guys getting knocked off their horse; it's awesome, and it appeals to everybody," said Charlie Andrews, the group's founder.
Andrews, a world champion jouster, started the troop with a dream of turning jousting into the next extreme sport.
"I've sacrificed everything: my personal life, my financial future. I've spent all my money to keep this going and make the investment in it," Andrews said.
He even has his own full-time armorer. "I'm still in la-la land just making it work for me, and it's unbelievable," said William Brunson.
Brunson builds armor for the whole troop. One set can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $12,000 to make. They weigh close to 150 pounds each.
For Brunson, a metallurgist from Idaho, it's more or less a dream job. "(It's) the same thing with people who make the actual cars for NASCAR, or people who make motorcycles: They know they're gonna get the crap kicked out of them, but it's just the simple pride of going, ‘That's right. I made that.' It's just cool," he said.
The 11-foot lances are made from pure hardwood hemlock. When they hit, It makes a pretty big impact. Andrews says he's seen his own fair share of injuries.
"I broke ribs, got a pulmonary embolism. I've snapped my collarbone, broke my hand, dislocated my hip, broke my back," he said, listing off his injuries.
With the help of his armorer, Andrews says safety has improved over the years, but "it's like everything else: Everybody's a tough guy until they get hit in the mouth."
The show that carries the troop's name will debut Nov. 15, and Charlie says it will have plenty of built-in drama. Still, between all the hard hits and smack talk, Andrews says his biggest hope is that this taste of reality TV will bring full-contact jousting one step closer to becoming as common as Monday Night Football.
"It's been worth the sacrifice. It's been worth everything I've put into it," Andrews said.
Email: manderson@ksl.com
(Picture courtesy J.J. Kelley and NGT)
