Antony Britton is an

escapologist Escapology is the practice of escaping from restraints or other traps. Escapologists (also classified as escape artists) escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, cages, coffins, steel boxes, barrels, bags, burning buildings, fish-tanks, and oth ...

and stunt performer. He has performed a series of large scale spectacular stunts done for television and charity. Britton first attracted notice in

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

, England in a 2012 stunt. He went on to perform a series of stunts for charity, and in 2014 thousands turned out in Bradford city centre to watch him attempt the inverted straitjacket escape. In 2015 he attempted the

Buried Alive Premature burial, also known as live burial, burial alive, or vivisepulture, means to be buried while still alive. Animals or humans may be buried alive accidentally on the mistaken assumption that they are dead, or intentionally as a form of t ...

escape challenge, making him the third person to have attempted the routine in 100 years. He was unsuccessful and had to be rescued.

Early life

Britton was born in Saltaire, Bradford, England, and has one brother and an older sister. He went to Wycliffe Middle School in Saltaire and

Beckfoot School Beckfoot School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, in Bingley, West Yorkshire, England. The school has previously gained Technology College status, specialist school status in the Arts, Artsmark Gold and ...

in Bingley. At a young age he was diagnosed with dyslexia. Britton trained as a welder whilst performing escapes, he would be seen by the public been chained, padlocked and handcuffed before jumping in the canals of Saltaire and Bingley. Britton performed his escapes in private at meetings in old mills around the Yorkshire area until 2012 when he joined forces with a team of friends, where he wanted to bring hard hitting entertainment to the public for free due to the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

as well as raising money for national charities.

Media

In 2015, Britton attempted to escape from a grave in the Buried Alive challenge, made famous by

Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician R ...

in 1915. At the time, he was thought to be only the third person to have attempted this escape. Britton failed to escape and lost consciousness, requiring him to be dug out by assistants and resuscitated. He described a

near-death experience A near-death experience (NDE) is a profound personal experience associated with death or impending death which researchers claim share similar characteristics. When positive, such experiences may encompass a variety of sensations including detac ...

to reporters.

Guinness World Record

In October 2016 Antony attempted to break a Guinness World Record at Wandle Park,

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

by running the "Longest Distance Full-Body Burn without Oxygen". He succeeded in breaking the record, however Guinness did not accept that attempt due to a technicality. However, he tried again on Friday 13 October 2017 at Huddersfield Rugby Union Club where he broke not one record, but two: * Fastest 100 m sprint (full body burn, without oxygen) * Longest distance run (full-body burn, without oxygen)

Known escapes

* Buried Alive * Inverted straitjacket escape * Lucifer’s Chamber * Exploding Crate * Chinese Water Torture Cell

References

External links

* https://www.antonybritton.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Britton, Antony Living people Escapologists Year of birth missing (living people)