The Flying Wallendas started out with Karl Wallenda (Nik’s great-grandfather), who was born in 1905 to an old circus family. In 1922, Karl put together a balancing act with his brother Herman, a man named Joseph Geiger, and a teenage girl named Helen Kreis (whom Karl eventually married). They joined the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus and took their act all over the world. As the family grew, so did the act.