Safety equipment not included! Lots of world records have an element of danger. For example, imagine if you collected thousands of chocolate bars and then they all fell on you! But the records in this section are some of the scariest, craziest, and just plain most dangerous stunts Guinness World Records has ever seen!
Don’t even think about trying any of these at home . . . but aren’t you glad these folks did?
The most consecutive rope skips on a bed of nails over another person is 117. Ouch! This cringe-inducing record was achieved by skipper Amy Bruney on a bed of nails balanced over her husband, Jon. They set the record on Guinness World Records Unleashed in Los Angeles, California, on June 25, 2013.
Breaking a concrete block is pretty impressive already. But breaking a concrete block on someone else with a sledgehammer is something else! Add a ticking clock to all that, and you’ve got a Guinness World Records feat: the fastest time to break 16 concrete blocks on the body of a female. Record holders Daniella D’Ville (aka Danielle Martin) and Johnny Strange (both from the UK) managed it in 30.4 seconds on October 12, 2013!
Smashing a coconut with your elbow isn’t most people’s idea of a good time. But Tae Kwon Do expert Edin Kajevic of Bosnia and Herzegovina demolished 40 to set the record for most coconuts smashed by elbows in one minute on November 30, 2014.
On February 29, 2012 (leap day!), martial arts specialist Keshab Swain of India smashed 85 green coconuts with his elbow in one minute. That’s the most green coconuts smashed by elbows in one minute!
On November 16, 2013, at the age of 83, strongman Abdurakhman Abdulazizov of Russia wasn’t ready for retirement. Instead he was setting a hair-raising record: the greatest weight lifted with the hair. Using just his locks, he picked up a scalp-stretching 179 pounds, 10.82 ounces, surpassing the previous mark by more than 36 pounds!
Here’s a wacky record for you: the most apples held in one’s own mouth and cut by a chain saw in one minute! Well, the number is eight, held by Johnny Strange, who achieved this terrifying feat on October 12, 2013.
IT’S A DOWNWARD SPIRAL!
The longest metal coil passed through the nose and out of the mouth measured 11 feet, 10.91 inches in length. It was achieved by Andrew Stanton on the set of Lo Show dei Record in Rome, Italy, on March 31, 2012.
“Fire torch teething” is a fire-eating act where you use your teeth to hold a flaming torch with no hands. It’s not for amateurs! The longest duration of fire torch teething is 2 minutes, 1.51 seconds. The record is held by Carisa Hendrix of Canada, and she performed this amazing stunt on the set of Lo Show dei Record in Rome, Italy, on April 12, 2012.
How many swords can you swallow? How about while you’re riding a unicycle? Well, Australian daredevil Chayne Hultgren managed to swallow three while atop the precarious ride, achieving the most swords swallowed on a unicycle. Nobody has bettered his record since 2012.
Chayne is better known as the Space Cowboy. That’s a pretty good name for a guy who holds the world record for the most chain saw–juggling catches on a unicycle—eight catches! Juggling chain saws is scary enough already . . . kudos to the brave Space Cowboy for adding the unicycle to this terrifying mix!
The most apples held in someone else’s mouth and cut in half by chain saw in one minute is 12. The record is held by Johnny Strange, who chain-sawed apples from the mouth of Daniella D’Ville at the Doncaster Tattoo Jam in South Yorkshire, UK, on October 12, 2013. Sometimes two heads are better than one!
The human jaw is incredibly strong! That’s why Georges Christen of Luxembourg was able to carry a table more than 32 feet in 6.57 seconds . . . in his mouth. That’s right: the record for fastest 10 meters carrying a table and weight in the mouth is held by Georges. He set this record on June 18, 2009.
The Great Gordo Gamsby from Australia juggled three fire clubs while swallowing a sword on September 14, 2012. He kept the three clubs aloft for the requisite minimum of 10 seconds, making him the record holder for most fire clubs juggled while sword-swallowing!
You have one minute. How many wooden toilet seats can you break using your head in that time? Probably not as many as Kevin Shelley, who broke 46 toilet seats with his head on September 1, 2007, achieving the most toilet seats broken by the head in one minute.
The most torches extinguished with the mouth in 30 seconds is . . . 39! This painful and impressive record was achieved by pyrotechnician Hubertus Wawra of Germany on the set of Guinness World Records—Ab India Todega in Mumbai, India, on February 21, 2011.
The most swords swallowed at the same time by a female is 13, as achieved by Natasha Veruschka on September 3, 2004. Each of the swords was at least 15 inches long. Here she is pictured swallowing a neon sword—a 24-inch glass tube filled with neon gas!
The most baking trays buckled over the head by a team of two in one minute is 55 and was achieved by Canadian daredevil duo Burnaby Q. Orbax and Sweet Pepper Klopek (aka Monsters of Schlock). They achieved this record in Niagara, Ontario, Canada, on August 31, 2012. Bet they had sore heads the morning after!
Meet Pippa “The Ripper” Coram of Australia! She holds the record for most fire hoops spun while in the splits position! Coram managed to spin three burning Hula-Hoops at once while doing the splits on September 14, 2012. She kept the hot hoops spinning around her arms and neck for the required 10 seconds in order to set this record.
The most knives thrown backward around a human target in one minute is 63! That’s just over one knife thrown per second! This astonishing record was achieved by Patrick Brumbach of Germany on August 17, 2011, who was throwing the knives around his very trusting wife.
Feeling dizzy? You will be in a second. The most rotations hanging from a power drill in one minute is 148, set by The Huy Giang of Germany on December 2008. This bettered his own record by seven rotations!
The fastest time to extract five nails from wood using teeth is 7.44 seconds and was achieved by Steve Schmidt in Columbia, Missouri, on November 8, 2014. Steve is a fifth-generation farmer and world champion weightlifter. He used eastern white pine wood for the attempt, which has a Janka hardness rating of 380.
Casey Severn had to be pretty snappy to achieve the record for the most mousetraps released on the tongue in one minute—ouch! He managed to get through 53 traps on October 12, 2014, at the Maryland Renaissance Festival held in Crownsville, Maryland.
Let’s get straight to the point with this one. On December 26, 2007, Target Girl Tiny Nagy had 102 14-inch throwing knives hurled at her in one minute by Dr. David R. Adamovich. David, better known as The Great Throwdini, broke the world record for most knives thrown around a human target in one minute.
The fastest time to husk a coconut using the teeth is 28.06 seconds! This record was achieved by Sidaraju S. Raju of India, who husked a coconut measuring 30.7 inches in circumference on March 30, 2003.
Matt Dopson really put his back into this record—in more ways than one. On the set of Guinness World Records Unleashed in 2013, he snapped 19 baseball bats—the most baseball bats broken with the back in one minute.
No bottle opener? No problem! Not if Murali K. C. of India is around. He set the record for most bottle caps removed by the teeth in one minute, yanking 68 lids off their bottles on September 17, 2011.
Some earrings get pretty heavy, but most folks wouldn’t even contemplate swinging something like this from their ears! Johnny Strange isn’t most folks, though. He set the record for heaviest weight lifted by pierced ears when he heaved a 32-pound, 13.5-ounce weight on October 12, 2013. Those are some strong ears, Johnny!
The most yardsticks broken with the head in one minute is 42 and was achieved by Ashrita Furman at the Sri Chinmoy Centre, New York City, on September 18, 2013.
The heaviest house pulled by a man weighed 79,145 pounds. The mighty Kevin Fast of Canada pulled this house a distance of 39 feet on September 18, 2010.
Most people blow out candles with their breath, but the most candles extinguished with a braided pigtail in one minute is 26! This record was achieved by Anuradha I. Mandal of India, on the set of Guinness World Records—Ab India Todega in Mumbai, India, on February 11, 2011.
According to the Sword Swallowers Association International (SSAI), the youngest male sword-swallower is Erik Kloeker. Kloeker swallowed a solid steel sword up to the hilt at the age of 16 years, 267 days, on July 21, 2006.
Escapologist Zdeněk Bradáč of the Czech Republic knows how to get himself out of a sticky situation. In fact, on September 9, 2009, he managed to remove multiple handcuffs while at the bottom of a swimming pool to set the record for fastest time to escape from three pairs of handcuffs underwater: a lightning-quick 38.69 seconds!
On October 12, 2013, Johnny Strange quickly cut through 10 melons on the body of his stage partner Daniella D’Ville to earn them the title of most melons chopped on the stomach on a bed of nails in one minute. The same record without the bed of nails belongs to Ashrita Furman, who had 48 watermelons chopped by Bipin Larkin in a minute.
The most watermelons crushed with the head in one minute is 43 and was achieved by Tafzi Ahmed of Germany at the Rose Festival on May 27, 2011.
As you’ve probably noticed, Daniella D’Ville often takes part in some pretty scary records, along with her partner Johnny Strange, including everything from chain saws to sledgehammers! But she is also a solo daredevil act. On October 12, 2013, she achieved the most rotations of a sword balanced on a dagger in one minute: nine!
John Evans of the UK held up a gutted Mini car weighing 352 pounds for 33 seconds on May 24, 1999. That’s a record for heaviest car balanced on the head!
The longest duration for a continuous fire blow is 9.968 seconds! The feat, sometimes known as Dragon’s Breath, was achieved by Swedish performer Fredrik Karlsson on November 19, 2011.
Ashrita Furman gained another world record on September 15, 2013, when he balanced a chain saw on his chin for 1 minute, 42.47 seconds. This beat his previous time by more than 17 seconds, ensuring that he still held the record for longest time balancing a chain saw on the chin.
The fastest straitjacket escape underwater is 22.86 seconds and was achieved by Lucas Wilson of Canada on the set of Lo Show dei Record in Milan, Italy, on July 7, 2014.
FOCUS ON: ASHRITA FURMAN!
You may have noticed some repeat offenders in this book so far—folks who hold more than one Guinness World Records title. Johnny Strange and Daniella D’Ville turn up a lot. So does Chayne Hultgren.
But the guy who has them all beat for sheer number of outrageous and wacky records is Ashrita Furman. He has set, at last count in May 2014, 521 Guinness World Records! Although many of those have been broken since he set them, Furman still holds the Guinness World Records title for most Guinness World Records titles held!
Ashrita was born in 1954 in Brooklyn, New York. He changed his name from Keith to Ashrita in 1974. In 1979, he achieved his first Guinness World Records title by doing 27,000 jumping jacks! Since then he has set hundreds more new records. When he isn’t eating Smarties blindfolded, playing hopscotch for 24 hours, or catching tennis balls in a bucket on his head, Ashrita manages a health-food store in Queens, New York.
Chair race, fastest 100 meters: 38.44 seconds
Farthest champagne cork spitting: 28 feet, 0.61 inches
Farthest distance blowing a Malteser with a straw: 46 feet, 1 inch
Farthest distance carrying a 9-pound brick nonstop (male): 85.05 miles
Farthest distance cycling underwater: 1.87 miles
Farthest distance jumped underwater on pogo stick: 1,680 feet
Farthest distance on unicycle underwater: 1.3 miles
Farthest distance to blow a coin: 16 feet, 2.76 inches
Farthest distance to blow a pea: 22 feet, 2.93 inches
Farthest distance traveled controlling a golf ball: 1.8 miles
Farthest distance traveled controlling a golf ball between two clubs: 1,382 feet, 8.88 inches
Farthest distance walked balancing a baseball bat on finger: 9 miles
Farthest distance walked balancing a lawn mower on the chin (not powered): 328 feet, 2.88 inches
Farthest distance walked balancing a lawn mower on the chin (powered): 65 feet, 62 inches
Farthest water balloon throw: 127 feet, 4.32 inches
Fastest one-mile run wearing swim fins (individual, male): 7 minutes, 47.25 seconds
Fastest 10 meters balancing pool cue on chin: 3.02 seconds
Fastest 10 meters frog jumping: 8.22 seconds
Fastest 100 meters carrying an egg on a spoon in the mouth: 21.94 seconds
Fastest 100 meters frog jumping: 7 minutes, 18 seconds
Fastest 100 meters on a space hopper (male): 30.2 seconds
Fastest 400 meters on springloaded stilts: 1 minute, 32.78 seconds
Fastest 5 kilometers joggling in swim fins: 32 minutes, 3 seconds
Fastest 5 kilometers skipping without a rope: 30 minutes
Fastest game of hopscotch: 1 minute, 1.97 seconds
Fastest half marathon balancing a milk bottle on the head: 2 hours, 33 minutes, 28 seconds
Fastest half marathon skipping without a rope: 2 hours, 27 minutes, 1 second
Fastest marathon skipping without a rope: 5 hours, 55 minutes, 13 seconds
Fastest mile balancing a baseball bat on a finger: 7 minutes, 5 seconds
Fastest mile balancing a book on head: 8 minutes, 27 seconds
Fastest mile bounce juggling three objects (male): 7 minutes, 27 seconds
Fastest mile carrying an egg on a spoon in the mouth: 9 minutes, 29 seconds
Fastest mile Hula-Hooping (male): 11 minutes, 21.06 seconds
Fastest mile Hula-Hooping while balancing a milk bottle on the head: 13 minutes, 37.35 seconds
Fastest mile in a fireman’s uniform: 7 minutes, 58.02 seconds
Fastest mile jumping on a pogo ball: 43 minutes, 9 seconds
Fastest mile on a pogo stick while dribbling a basketball: 23 minutes, 2.9 seconds
Fastest mile on a space hopper: 13 minutes
Fastest mile on pogo stick while juggling three balls: 23 minutes, 28 seconds
Fastest mile on spring-loaded stilts: 7 minutes, 13 seconds
Fastest mile skipping with a rope while wearing swim fins: 14 minutes, 14.65 seconds
Fastest mile spinning a whip top: 25 minutes, 13 seconds
Fastest mile traveled balancing a pool cue on finger: 6 minutes, 55 seconds
Fastest mile walking on shovels: 24 minutes, 0.25 seconds
Fastest sack race one mile: 16 minutes, 41 seconds
Fastest stilt-walker 8 kilometers: 39 minutes, 56 seconds
Fastest stilt-walker one mile: 12 minutes, 23 seconds
Fastest string can stilt-walking one mile: 11 minutes, 55 seconds
Fastest time to balance a dozen eggs: 1 minute, 15.72 seconds
Fastest time to cross 10 meters on lightbulbs: 6.89 seconds
Fastest time to drink 200 milliliters of mustard: 20.80 seconds
Fastest time to dry-bob six marshmallows: 27.50 seconds
Fastest time to duct-tape a person to a wall: 32.85 seconds
Fastest time to duct-tape yourself to a wall: 2 minutes, 12.63 seconds
Fastest time to Hula-Hoop 10 kilometers (male): 1 hour, 25 minutes, 9 seconds
Fastest time to peel and eat a kiwi fruit: 5.35 seconds
Fastest time to peel and eat a lemon: 8.25 seconds
Fastest time to peel and eat three kiwi fruits: 21.1 seconds
Fastest time to peel and eat three oranges: 1 minute, 9.72 seconds
Fastest time to pogo-stick-jump up the CN Tower: 57 minutes, 51 seconds
Fastest time to run a mile while balancing a milk bottle on the head: 7 minutes, 47 seconds
Fastest time to walk 10 meters backward in iron shoes: 32.97 seconds
Forward rolls, one mile (gym): 19 minutes, 11 seconds
Giant Hula-Hoop—most rotations in one minute: 64 (record shared with Georgos “Spilly” Spiliadis)
Golf ball control, one club—duration: 1 hour, 20 minutes, 42 seconds
Greatest distance juggling on a pogo stick: 4 miles, 30 feet
Greatest distance to spit a table tennis ball: 42 feet, 1.2 inches
Greatest distance traveled with a pool cue balanced on chin: 5,472 feet, 9 inches
Greatest distance traveled with pool cue balanced on a finger: 8.95 miles
Greatest distance walked balancing a book on head: 20 miles
Greatest distance walked with a milk bottle balanced on the head: 80.96 miles
Heaviest milkcrate stack balanced on chin: 93 pounds, 7 ounces
Heaviest shoes walked in: 323 pounds
Heaviest weight transferred hand to hand 100 times: 44.09 pounds
Highest mountain climbed on stilts: 9,398 feet, 11 inches
Highest vertical height walked on stilts: 4,018 feet
Largest Hula-Hoop spun: 16 feet, 6.7 inches
Largest incense stick: 31 feet, 7.53 inches (length)
Largest pencil: 76 feet, 2.75 inches (length)
Largest tennis racket: 50 feet, 3.07 inches (length)
Longest duration balancing a chain saw on a chin: 1 minute, 42.47 seconds
Longest duration balancing a ladder on the chin: 4 minutes, 9.22 seconds
Longest duration balancing a lawn mower on the chin (not powered): 5 minutes, 1 second
Longest duration balancing a lawn mower on the chin (powered): 3 minutes, 1.34 seconds
Longest duration balancing a pool cue on one finger: 4 hours, 7 minutes
Longest duration balancing an object on the nose: 31 minutes, 0.01 second
Longest egg-table-tennis rally: 14 touches
Longest seesaw/teeter-totter: 79 feet, 2 inches
Longest time standing on a globe: 43 minutes, 56 seconds
Longest time to Hula-Hoop underwater: 2 minutes, 38 seconds
Longest time to pogo-stick-jump underwater: 3 hours, 40 minutes
Longest time to stand on a Swiss ball: 5 hours, 7 minutes, 6 seconds
Most apples cut in the air by sword in one minute: 29
Most apples sliced on a pogo stick in one minute: 39 (record shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most apples snapped in one minute: 44
Most baked beans eaten in three minutes: 152
Most balloons blown up in one hour (individual): 671
Most balloons burst by sitting in 30 seconds: 37
Most balloons burst by sitting in one minute: 58
Most balloons burst using a fork in one minute: 197
Most balloons inflated by the nose in one hour: 380
Most balloons inflated by the nose in three minutes: 28
Most bananas sliced with a sword on a slack line in one minute: 36
Most bananas snapped in one minute: 99
Most baseballs held in a baseball glove: 26
Most basketball neck catches in one minute: 27
Most beer mats flipped and caught in 30 seconds: 40
Most beer mats flipped and caught in one minute: 74
Most blowtorches extinguished with the tongue in one minute: 31
Most boiled eggs peeled and eaten in one minute: 6
Most boiled eggs thrown and caught in the mouth in one minute: 58
Most candles on a cake: 48,523
Most CDs balanced on one finger: 50
Most CDs flipped and caught in one minute: 80
Most champagne bottles sabered in one minute: 40
Most champagne corks popped in one minute: 10
Most chopsticks broken with the fist in one minute: 106
Most chopsticks snapped in 30 seconds: 60
Most chopsticks snapped in one minute: 118
Most chopsticks thrown at a target in one minute: 14
Most Christmas crackers pulled in one minute by a team of two: 52 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most cigar boxes balanced on chin: 223
Most consecutive forward rolls: 8,341
Most consecutive passes of a giant inflatable ball: 1,300 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most cucumbers chopped blindfolded on the hand in one minute: 65 (shared with Homagni Baptista)
Most cucumbers sliced from a person’s mouth with a sword in one minute: 27
Most cucumbers snapped in one minute: 118
Most darts caught by hand in one minute: 20 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most drink cans crushed by hand while holding an egg in 30 seconds: 23
Most drinks with a ring pull opened in 30 seconds: 41
Most drinks with a ring pull opened in one minute: 66
Most eggs balanced by an individual: 888
Most eggs crushed with the toes in 30 seconds: 39
Most eggs crushed with the toes in one minute: 55
Most eggs thrown and caught in one minute (team of two): 87 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most eggs thrown and then caught with the mouth in one minute: 12 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most forward rolls in one hour (individual): 1,330
Most games of hopscotch played in one hour: 33
Most garland exchanges by a team of two in one minute: 37 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most grapes caught by mouth in one minute: 86
Most grapes eaten in three minutes: 190
Most hagoita hits between two people in one minute: 89 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most hits of a person with water balloons in one minute: 32 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most hopscotch games in 24 hours: 434
Most ice-cream scoops balanced on a cone: 100
Most jelly eaten with chopsticks in one minute: 1 pound, 5 ounces
Most knives caught in one minute: 54 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most lemons caught blindfolded in 30 seconds (team of two): 15 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most lemons caught blindfolded in one minute (team of two): 29 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most Maltesers thrown and then caught with the mouth in one minute: 76 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most Marmite eaten in one minute: 7.6 ounces
Most marshmallows caught with chopsticks in one minute: 31 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most marshmallows dry-bobbed in one minute: 20
Most mashed potatoes eaten in one minute: 1 pound, 11.2 ounces
Most mustard (tube) drunk in 30 seconds: 13.55 ounces
Most olives eaten in one minute: 60
Most oranges peeled and eaten in three minutes: 6
Most pancakes thrown and caught in one minute (team of two): 46 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most paper aircrafts caught by mouth in one minute: 17 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most party-poppers popped in 30 seconds: 38
Most party-poppers popped in one minute: 64
Most Ping-Pong balls caught with chopsticks in one minute: 32
Most pint glasses balanced on the chin: 81
Most pogo-stick peg taps in 30 seconds: 62
Most popping popcorn caught with both hands in one minute: 34
Most potatoes cut by jumping on a shovel in one minute: 38
Most shaving-cream pies thrown in one minute by a team of two: 71 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most single garland passes in one minute: 77 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most skips of a rope wearing clogs in one minute: 127
Most skips of a rope wearing swim fins in one minute: 113
Most skips on a pogo stick in one minute (male): 178
Most skips on springloaded stilts in one minute: 145
Most Smarties eaten in one minute blindfolded using chopsticks: 20
Most spears caught from a speargun above water in one minute: 13
Most spoons twisted in one minute: 14
Most stairs climbed while balancing books on the head in one minute: 122
Most surgical gloves inflated in two minutes: 4
Most tennis balls caught in a basket on the back in one minute: 66 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most T-shirts torn in one minute: 24
Most T-shirts worn and torn in one minute: 25
Most underwater rope-jumps in one hour: 900
Most underwater rope-jumps in one hour (scuba): 1,608
Most vinyl records smashed in 30 seconds (individual): 38
Most walnuts crushed by the hand in one minute: 131
Most watermelons chopped on the stomach in one minute: 48 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Most wet sponges thrown in one minute (two people): 43 (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Orange nose-push—fastest mile: 22 minutes, 41 seconds
Pogo-stick jumping—fastest mile: 12 minutes, 16 seconds
Sack race—fastest 10 kilometers: 1 hour, 22 minutes, 2 seconds
Shortest usable pogo stick: 18.16 inches
Space hopper—greatest distance in 24 hours: 5 miles
Spinning top—duration: 7 hours, 1 minute, 14 seconds
Tallest object balanced on chin: 68 feet, 11.36 inches
Tiddlywinks—farthest distance traveled in 24 hours: 4.04 miles (shared with Bipin Larkin)
Tiddlywinks—fastest mile (individual): 23 minutes, 22 seconds
Tinned-pea-eating—three minutes: 222
