A daredevil parkour performer has carved out a career leaping off cliffs, cranes and rooftops — turning his passion into a full-time job.
Simon Brunner, 27, makes a living by filming his extreme stunts and sharing them online.
Brunner has built a loyal fanbase who can’t get enough of his death-defying flips and gravity-defying jumps.
He now earns most of his income through brand deals with his biggest single payday netting over 16,000 dollars for one viral video that racked up 60 million views.
Brunner, a content creator from Traunstein, Germany said: “I realized early that I had a good feeling for what could go viral.
“I’ve taken that and pushed it as far as I could.”
Having worked construction jobs in the past, Brunner says he feels “privileged” to earn a living doing something he loves.
Brunner said: “I feel privileged to make a living through my passion.
“People say social media is hard work but it’s not really.
“It’s easy money.
“The hardest part is the pressure to always perform.
“But between that and sweating on a building site, I’ll take the pressure.”
Brunner usually uploads up to three videos a day when not training.
While he shares content across all the social media platforms, Instagram brings in the bulk of his income, followed by ad revenue from YouTube.
Brunner said: “I shoot multiple videos at one location so it’s not a hassle every single day.
“Instagram brings in the most for me.
“I’d say it’s 75% brand deals and 25% ad revenue but I’m still focused more on growth right now than monetising everything.”
Brunner discovered parkour at 16 after becoming bored with gymnastics.
He said: “I saw parkour videos on YouTube and found out there was a local club.
“I turned up and I never stopped.”
He soon began filming his stunts and one clip of him flipping off a bridge while an FPV drone looped around him mid-air went viral and changed his life.
Brunner said: “That one moment changed everything.
“We had this guy filming with a drone doing loops around me mid-air – the angle, the splash, the sound – it was cinematic.
“That’s when I knew I could scale this.”
Brunner added cliff diving to his repertoire three years ago and has since raised the stakes, flipping off cranes, abandoned buildings and remote mountain ledges.
One of his most dramatic jumps happened in Oman, where he unintentionally broke his own record by diving 34 meters into water.
Brunner said: “I didn’t know how high it was.
“My friend later said ‘The next cliff is 36 metres — so yours was about 34.’
“It felt amazing.”
Despite the extreme nature of his stunts, Brunner insists he is methodical and cautious behind the scene.
He said: “We’re not reckless.
“We check the depth of the water and I never jump alone.
“We often have professional divers or friends trained in first aid waiting in the water.”
Still, the lifestyle comes with risks.
Brunner has suffered several injuries, including a broken foot from doing a backflip in high heels and a torn medial collateral ligament from a bad landing.
He said: “Every time I’ve been injured, I was afraid beforehand.
“Fear means you’re not well prepared.
“When your knees are shaking, that’s when accidents happen.
“If I can do a move 100 times on mats or lower platforms, I know I’ve got it ingrained in my system.”
