A Dartford daredevil has been featured in the latest Guinness Book of Records with a series of bizarre stunts.
The well-known book has labelled Johnny Strange “the man with ears of steel” after he managed to pull an aeroplane using nothing more than the piercings in his ears.
He set the record for “the heaviest weight lifted by pierced ears” in the 2013 edition when he managed to pull a Cessna 172-p aircraft weighing a staggering 677.8kg for 20.4 metres.
Mr Strange said: “I enjoy pushing boundaries and wanted to know how far I could take this. The thing I love most is entertaining people.
“I wouldn’t say my acts are crazy, different maybe. People only see the stunt, or the 20 minutes of me on stage but what they don’t see is all the hard work and practice.”
Mr Strange is not new to performing bizarre stunts after becoming a professional sword swallower in 2009.
He flirted with death when he set his 9th Guinness World Record for “the longest sword ever swallowed to the hilt” in February.
The Lancashire-born trickster gulped down a 61-centimetre sword blade, over two feet long, which worked its way into his stomach.
He now tours the world performing live shows and making guest TV appearances, performing stunts such as fire eating, target whip cracking, precision crossbow shooting, chainsaw juggling and more.
Another one of Mr Strange’s stunts that features in this year’s book is “the most apples held in the mouth and cut in half by a chainsaw”.
He carefully chainsawed 12 apples out of his assistant’s mouth in one minute.
The Guinness Book of Records 2017 edition is set to be released on Thursday.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here