Crazy Bones
Wall of Death
Step right up. A piece that refuses to behave quietly on a wall — hand sign-written in the grand tradition of the travelling fairground and absolutely not sorry about it.
Chills and Spills.
No refunds.
The Wall of Death was exactly what it claimed to be. A circular wooden drum, perhaps thirty feet across, and a motorcycle rider — usually someone with a nickname that suggested they had made their peace with mortality — circling the inside walls at speed, held up by nothing but centrifugal force and an apparent indifference to self-preservation. Crowds paid to watch. They were rarely disappointed.
Crazy Bones was one of those riders. Or rather, he is the kind of rider who absolutely would have existed — fearsome nickname, grinning skull painted on the fuel tank, “13” worn as a badge of honour rather than a warning. Leigh Kelsey invented him, in the way that all the best fairground characters were invented: with bravado, a sense of theatre and complete commitment to the bit.
The backboard is Leigh’s own work — multiple planks jointed and crafted by hand, because a single piece of wood this size is a rarity and this sign deserved something better than a sheet of plywood. It is, in fact, exactly how the original Wall of Death boards were constructed: solid, built to travel, built to last. One might almost imagine that when a Wall of Death finally came to the end of its days — the crowds gone, the riders moved on, the drum dismantled — Leigh was there to salvage the timber. The bones of one wall, reborn as another.
Every letter has been applied by hand using traditional sign-writing techniques, the kind that take forty years to acquire. The skeleton leaning over the handlebars, the bone borders, the “Chills and Spills!” in yellow script below — all of it painted. None of it printed. This is the real craft, done properly.
It is brutally heavy, unapologetically loud and guaranteed to start a conversation. Quite a lot like the Wall of Death itself, in fact.
All angles
Every piece is unique. These photographs show the exact item for sale.
The Details
- ConstructionSolid wood backboard, hand-crafted by the artist from jointed planks — fully varnished
- Size78 × 115 cm / 31″ × 45″
- Thickness3 cm / 1½”
- Weight13.5 kg / 30 lbs
- LetteringTraditional hand sign-writing throughout — no vinyl, no shortcuts
- FixingWall-mount brackets fitted top and bottom
On the Craft
The backboard is Leigh’s own construction — multiple solid wood planks jointed by hand, because a single piece this size simply doesn’t exist. The result is exactly how the great fairground signs were always built: in sections, solid, made to endure. The whole thing has been varnished to a finish that will last decades.
Every element of the painted surface has been applied by hand — the skeleton, the bone borders, the bold block lettering, the “Chills and Spills!” script. Leigh has forty years of sign-writing experience and it shows in every line. This is not a reproduction of a fairground sign. It is a fairground sign, made the way fairground signs were always made.
On Delivery
At 13.5 kg this is a serious piece of wood and deserves to be treated accordingly. Courier delivery is available for a fee — though watching a delivery driver wrestle thirty pounds of skeleton-themed carnival history up your driveway would be entertainment in itself. Alternatively, personal delivery by the artist may be possible depending on location. A road trip with a grinning skull riding shotgun is, it turns out, exactly the kind of thing Leigh is prepared to do.
More Fairground & Racing
More of a funny signs person? Try Paintshop & Bodyshop or Dusty Bodgers.
One piece. No replicas.
Courier delivery available for a fee, or personal delivery by the artist may be possible. Just ask — we don’t bite. Crazy Bones might, but we don’t.