Circus Performers
SUPERHUMANS
World Circus Day is celebrated on the third Saturday of April each year.
It was established in 2010 by HSH Princess Stéphanie of Monaco.Most swords
swallowed...
...by a male: 24
(The Space Cowboy, AUS)...by a female: 13
(Natasha Veruschka, USA)...and twisted: 13
(Franz Huber, DEU)...while hanging upside
down: 5 (Franz Huber)...while juggling: 18
(The Space Cowboy)DeWALT D25980
demolition
hammer
weighing 38 kg
(83 lb 12.4 oz)- including the
bit – by Thomas
Blackthorne (UK)
4 , for bar stool “swallowed” by
Thomas Blackthorne, Space
Cowboy, Captain Frodo (NOR)
and Gordo Gamsby (AUS)2002 Audi A4 weighing
1,696.44 kg (3,740 lb), by
Ryan Stock (CAN)Heaviest object
sword-swallowed:Most people swallowing
the same object:Heaviest vehicle pulled
with a swallowed sword:Highest annual earnings
for a magician (current year)
According to Forbes’ annual list of the highest-
earning celebrities, magician and illusionist
David Copperfield (USA) earned an estimated
$64 m (£43.8 m) between 1 Jun 2015 and 1 Jun- Most of this income comes from his long-
running show based in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Longest duration juggling
with three basketballs
Morimori (aka Shun Ishimori, JPN) juggled a trio
of basketballs for 1 hr 37 sec in Sendai, Miyagi,
Japan, on 7 Oct 2016.Farthest distance travelled on a unicycle
while juggling three objects
On 9 Aug 2015, Ole-Jacob Hovengen (NOR)
unicycled 6,400 m (20,997 ft 4 in) while
juggling in Drammen, Norway.FASTEST...
150 m blindfold tightrope walk
Maurizio Zavatta (ITA) crossed a 150-m (492-ft)
tightrope while blindfolded in 4 min 55.12 sec
for CCTV – Guinness World Records Special in
Wulong, Chongqing, China, on 15 Nov 2016. GWR
guidelines stipulate that the tightrope must be
at least 10 m (32 ft 9.7 in) above the ground.
He performed the perilous walk at a height
of 212.8 m (698 ft 1.9 in), thereby securing the
record for the highest blindfold tightrope
walk too.Time to travel 20 m in a contortion roll
On 11 Mar 2013, contortionist Leilani Franco
(UK/PHL) propelled herself 20 m (65 ft) in
a chest-down roll in 17.47 sec at the Royal
Festival Hall in London, UK.MOST...
Blow torches extinguished
with the tongue in one minute
The Space Cowboy put out 48 blow
torches with his tongue in Byron
Bay, New South Wales, Australia,
on 13 May 2016.Bullwhip cracks
in one minute
In just 60 sec, Jack Lepiarz
(USA) produced 278 cracks of
a whip in Carver, Massachusetts,
USA, on 16 Oct 2016.Hula hoops spun simultaneously
on multiple body parts
On 16 Apr 2016, Germany’s Dunja Kuhn kept
43 hula hoops spinning using various parts of
her body on The Saturday Show in London, UK.
The most hula hoops spun simultaneously
is 200, by Marawa Ibrahim (AUS) in Los Angeles,
California, USA, on 25 Nov 2015.
Long-time GWR record-breaker Ashrita
Furman (USA) performed the most revolutions
with a 2-kg hula hoop in one minute. He
completed 142 revolutions on the show ¡Despierta
América! in New York City, USA, on 22 Jul 2016.Rat traps released on the tongue
in one minute
Casey Severn (USA) set off 13 rat traps on his
tongue in 60 sec at the Baltimore Tattoo Arts
Convention in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, on
16 Apr 2016.Juggling catches of five balls
in one minute
Michael Ferreri (ESP) made 388 catches of five
balls in 60 sec at the Festival du Cirque de Namur
in Belgium, on 10 Nov 2016.Juggling head rolls in one minute
using three balls
On 27 Feb 2016, David Rush (USA) executed
194 juggling head rolls in 60 sec in Garden City,
Idaho, USA. For the purposes of this record, GWR
defines a “head roll” as rolling a single ball across
the front of the head and catching it again while
continuing to juggle in-between catches.
On 2 Apr 2016, David performed the most
juggling catches in one minute blindfolded
using three balls, with 364, at the Taco Bell
Arena in Boise, Idaho, USA.
Then, on 4 Jun, David managed the most
juggling catches in one minute using three
balls, with a total of 428 in Meridian, Idaho, USA.Juggling catches on a unicycle
(blindfolded)
The Space Cowboy completed 10 consecutive
juggling catches while riding a unicycle
blindfolded in Byron Bay, New South Wales,
Australia, on 13 May 2016.MOST SOMERSAULTS ON
A WHEEL OF DEATH IN ONE MINUTE
On 12 Feb 2016, Annaliese Nock (USA) completed four
somersaults on a wheel of death in 60 sec at Circus Sarasota
in Sarasota, Florida, USA. She is an eighth-generation circus
performer and executed the feat with her father, Bello Nock
(USA, also pictured left). Bello is himself a GWR record holder:
on 10 Nov 2010, he achieved the greatest distance for an
unsupported tightrope walk (130 m; 429 ft). Bello’s cousin
Freddy Nock (CHE) is another high achiever, whose records
include the longest walk on a cable-car cable (995 m;
3,624 ft) on 30 Aug 2009 and longest tightrope crossed
by bicycle (85 m; 278 ft 10 in), on 7 Sep 2015.Q: “Circus” is a Latin word.
What does it mean?
A: “Circle” or “ring”The
Nock family
has a long history
as performers. They
formed Switzerland’s
first circus in 1840. In
1954, they performed
for Queen Elizabeth II,
who dubbed them
the “Nerveless
Nocks”....underwater: 4
(The Space Cowboy)...on a unicycle: 3
(The Space Cowboy)MOST JUGGLING
CATCHES
(CHAINSAW AND
TWO BALLS)
The Space Cowboy
(aka Chayne Hultgren,
AUS) completed
162 catches of a
running chainsaw
and two balls that
he juggled in Byron
Bay, New South
Wales, Australia,
on 13 May 2016.
Hultgren achieved
his record using
a petrol chainsaw
and a pair of standard
juggling balls.