Showzam! Thousands witness 'death-defying' Houdini water tank stunt on Blackpool Promenade

Crowds gathered on the Comedy Carpet outside Blackpool Tower and watched with suspense as the Italian escapologist performed “the Greatest Escape” live on the seafront.

Mr Basso, 39, who has appeared in countless TV shows including Britain’s Got Talent in 2022, spoke to the Gazette about performing the ‘Escape’ on the first night of the resort’s Showzam! festival.

He said: “I am very excited to be here because first, the connection with Houdini from when he performed in Blackpool, I know my hero, my legend was actually here. So performing an escape is exciting as an escapologist.

“My act is an escape attempt. I will be handcuffed by a pair of police handcuffs by the Head of Security of the Blackpool Tower, and then my ankles are going to be locked into the torture stocks using an outside padlock, and then I will be lifted up in the air, and then I will be lowered into a tank of a thousand litres of water and locked inside of it.

“I will only have my skills to escape and just one paper clip, which I will use as a lock pick.”

Mr Basso said he prepared for the death-defying feat by practicing the stunt on his sofa at home.

He said: “I start from skill number one, which is learning how to pick handcuffs and a lock and I do that on the sofa in my living room and then I learned it upside down in my living room. Then I tried to do it with my eyes closed, then hold my breath while I am doing it.”

The crowd collectively held their breath as Mr Basso began his escape before erupting into cheers as he emerged safe from the tank.

Before Mr Basso’s death defying feat, there were also exciting magic performances from Elizabeth and the Evolution of Magic.

The act featured an audience member having to break a glass bottle with a hammer inside a bag before putting the jagged neck of the bottle in another bag and mixing them up.

Elizabeth then invited the audience to choose which bag she should slam her hand down on, risking hurting herself on the broken glass bottle.

After this tense performance, the audience was treated to a performance of some of the songs from the Greatest Showman musical.