Death Wish Live

Deathwish Live was a ground-breaking week of live shows from Channel 4 showcasing some of the world's leading exponents of death-defying stunts in the name of entertainment. The five nights each featured a particular artiste; Jonathan Goodwin, The Pain Men, Zamora The Torture King, Pyro Boy & The Cirque de Flambe. ^{[1] [2]}

Jonathan Goodwin opened the series with a hangman stunt where he was to escape cuffs before a water filled barrel pulled the noose upwards, lifting him smoothly off his feet rather than the traditional trapdoor method, in a stunt called Cheating the Gallows. Famously the stunt went wrong when he failed to pick the lock and was seen kicking his legs before passing out and being dropped, unconscious, into cardboard boxes at which point the show went to intermission. Producers later admitted that the hanging was a pre-choreographed stunt, one of which involved no risk to the participant. ^[3]

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