British escape artist tackles death-defying trick Houdini failed

Dynamo Is Dead, but the escape artist will live on after conquering a death-defying stunt even Houdini couldn’t complete.

The 40-year-old magician, whose real name is Steven Frayne, had spoken of his desire to lay his alter ego rest as he tackled his most dangerous act yet by burying himself alive – including digging his own grave and covering himself in dirt so he ended up six feet under – without a coffin.

Iconic escapologist Harry Houdini attempted the stunt in 1915, but panicked while digging his way out and fell unconscious, with his assistants having to pull him free by the time his hand reached the surface.

For Dynamo’s attempt, he had five tonnes of dirt thrown over him and knew he could hold his breath for a maximum of three minutes, and the clock was ticking down in dramatic scenes.

A helper grabbed a shovel after two minutes and 47 seconds, but the magician escaped just in time, achieving the feat Houdini and several others have failed to do.

In a creepy but powerful moment, the credits started to roll as he got his breath back in pure silence, seemingly bringing an end to Dynamo with the star appearing to be reborn under his real name.

Dynamo Is Dead saw the escapologist pull off his most daring stunt to date (Picture: Sky UK Limited)

The British magician was buried alive without using a coffin (Picture: SkyTV/Instagram)

The special was a full circle moment for the magician himself, who has had an extremely tough four years, including intense battles with Crohn’s disease and arthritis, as well as dealing with depression and grief.

‘My nana and my dogs died in the same weekend just over a year ago. It crushed me,’ he told metro.co.uk before the latest special aired.

‘My mum had me really young, and my nana was my second mum. When she died, I felt like the magic in me died with her. I felt like I didn’t have a reason to live.’

Famed escape artist Harry Houdini had failed at the same stunt (Picture: SkyTV/Instagram)

Dynamo also used the special to highlight mental health issues (Picture: SkyTV/Instagram)

He has ‘put Dynamo to rest’ (Picture: SkyTV/Instagram

In the programme, he revealed he wanted to ‘bury his past’ and be ‘reborn’, and did just that at the burial site underneath the Angel of the North statue.

In the show, he explained the decision not to use a coffin, pointing out: ‘If a magician’s in a box, people assume it’s a trick box.’

In the build-up to the burial, there was plenty if pre-recorded footage of Dynamo meeting various celebrities to chat about mental health while he left them gobsmacked with close-up illusions.

From Tyson Fury, Pete Davidson, Demi Lovato and Coldplay to Cara Delevingne, Kate Beckinsale, Tony Hawk and Bugzy Malone, they were all stunned by his skills while opening up on very a very serious topic.

His experiences mean the Dynamo fans saw on the show was different, as he felt that a rebrand was necessary to reflect who he is today.

‘I didn’t feel like continuing as I was before because I’m not that same person anymore,’ he explained to Metro.co.uk. ‘Maybe it’s time to put Dynamo to rest with nana and move forward to something new.’

Dynamo is Dead is available to stream on NOW in the UK.

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The feat had never been done.