The Anti-Gravity Shoe Patent

THE FACT

Michael is one of three named inventors on a US patent for a special shoe that allowed him to perform the impossible 45° forward lean in the Smooth Criminal music video — without strings, without effects, and live on stage.

WHAT MOST DON'T KNOW

In the 1988 music video, the lean was a wire effect. But when fans asked him to do it live, Michael — along with engineers Michael Bush and Dennis Tompkins — designed a shoe with a slotted heel that hooked onto a retractable peg that rose from the stage at the precise moment. The patent abstract describes 'a system for engaging shoes with a hitch member to permit a person standing on the stage surface to lean forwardly beyond his centre of gravity.' The peg disengaged when he stepped back. The patent is genuine and is held jointly in Michael's name. He performed the lean live for the first time during the 1992 Dangerous World Tour and continued doing it for years. The original shoes are now in the Patent Office's collection of unusual inventions.

▶

THE MOMENT

Michael Jackson — Smooth Criminal LIVE (Bucharest, 1992) — Watch the lean at the 4:30 mark — done live in front of 90,000 people.