component steps

Mark Perez's life-size Mousetrap rig is a 10-year labor of love. This Rube Goldbergian contraption sends a bowling ball through a bevy of component steps, all resulting in a two-ton bank safe dropping on the poor mouse's cheese. Or at least that's what supposed to happen—but if it ran perfectly every time, it wouldn't be quite as exciting, right? The semi-unsuccessful run in the video above was offset by Perez's very successful marriage proposal to his girlfriend before the action began (she plays the mouse in the show). Highly adorable.

Perez readies a trigger. He's a married man now!