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Letter to the editor

He'll flip over car for 'Late Show'

A YouTube stunt earns a Riverview man a trip to NYC.

By RICK GERSHMAN
Published June 11, 2007

BRANDON - David Letterman has been showing average Americans doing strange stunts longer than Neil Seaver has been alive.

At 22, Seaver is more of the generation where one's "fame" can be better judged by hits on YouTube, a popular video sharing Web site.

The generations collide tonight, when the Riverview resident plans to perform his particular talent on the Late Show with David Letterman.

After a running start, Seaver leaps and flips his body over the width of a car, landing on his feet on the other side.

Letterman's producers contacted Seaver on Wednesday through YouTube, where a video showing him flipping over a Mitsubishi Eclipse has been posted about a year.

He flew to New York City on Sunday and planned to tape the stunt today. The show airs on CBS tonight at 11:35.

The YouTube video, which has more than 5, 000 views, was shot in Akron, Ohio, where Seaver grew up. He played sports in high school, but he never did any gymnastics until about three years ago.

"One day I just thought it would be cool to do flips, " he said. He worked his way up to the car stunt, which he's done numerous times, always successfully: "I've never hit the car."

For a clean jump, he needs to clear about 4 1/2 feet vertically, about 9 horizontally. Despite his perfect record, "I'm a little bit nervous, " he said.

"I'm always a little anxious, because with this stunt, I have to jump as hard as I can."

And while there are plenty of videos on the Internet of people doing amazing stunts, Seaver said he's pretty sure he's got this particular market cornered - at least for now: "That's mine, right there."

- Watch him tonight on David Letterman at 11:35 on CBS.

[Last modified June 10, 2007, 23:21:01]