The Suicide Club was a secret society in San Francisco, which lasted from 1977–82. It is credited as the first modern extreme urban exploration society, and also known for anarchic group pranks. Despite its name, the club was not actually about suicide. Rather the club focused on people facing their fears and engaging in daring experiences. History The club was founded by Gary Warne and three friends: Adrienne Burk, David Warren, and Nancy Prussia. The first Suicide Club event occurred on January 2, 1977 during a winter rainstorm in San Francisco, when the four founders met at Fort Point under the Golden Gate Bridge at the top of a wall facing the Pacific Ocean. Waves from the storm were crashing on the rocks below the wall, going up the wall and then crashing on to the top of the wall, soaking the chain. The four founders took turns facing certain death by running up and holding on to the chain while the waves crashed down on them. If a person let go of the chain or was knocked unconscious, then they would likely be swept out to sea. After surviving the ordeal, the founders started the Suicide Club. The club became public in Spring 1977 as a course that Warne taught at the Communiversity in San Francisco (part of the Free School Movement and formerly a part of San Francisco State University) and it lasted until shortly before Warne's death in 1983. Events generally started and ended in Warne's used paperback bookstore, Circus of the Soul. The name of the Suicide Club was inspired by three stories written by Robert Louis Stevenson, where men who want to die belong to a club, where each evening one of them is randomly selected for death. The name belied the gentle albeit zany nature of its members, who had a predilection towards light-hearted practical jokes. Warne was influenced by dadaism and surrealism. He introduced members of the group to the concept of synesthesia, and he aimed to create experiences that were fantastical and boundary-pushing. As explained by John Law, "The Suicide Club could create an other-worldly, surreal environment. Getting naked on the cable cars was a surreal experience. He wanted a disconnect with ‘reality’ and a connection with ‘super-reality.’ ‘Cuz knowing you could fall off the bridge and die is a super-real feeling." Membership The concept of membership was entirely a fiction that