Las Vegas Weekly

July 3, 2009 · 6:36 AM

Steve Wyrick to attempt death-defying stunt 80 feet above Strip tomorrow

By Robin Leach

A leather-clad Steve Wyrick atop a motorcycle.

Photo: Preferred PR

No magician has ever attempted the death-defying stunt that Steve Wyrick will face tomorrow night. He’ll perform it live right on the Strip outside the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood.

Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington will select one of his new band’s equipment cases for the frightening exploit (his side project group is appropriately called Dead by Sunrise!). Steve, who appears nightly in his own theater at Miracle Mile, will be handcuffed and shackled inside the box, which will then be hoisted on a crane 80 feet above the Strip. Ropes that wrap around the box and dangle to the ground will then be set on fire.

As the ropes reach the last part of burning, the box will tumble free! Steve will then have just 20 feet remaining in the 10-second fall when he clambers out, grabs a rappelling rope and avoids falling on top of 500 blazing spikes set out on the sidewalk below.

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

Salesman, painter, tile layer and Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington talks with customers at Club Tattoo in Planet Hollywood.

“It’s an incredible piece of insanity,” one of Steve’s crew told me. “It’s never been attempted before. Nobody ever dared. Steve has to do this live in front of a jam-packed Strip. He has nowhere to hide. He has less than 10 seconds to leap to safety in the last 20 feet of the fall before the box crashes on top of the burning spikes. It will be a miracle if he pulls this off because this is not magic. This is real-life action.”

Be forewarned that because of the dangers associated with this stunt, our heroic Police Department has ordered a section of the Strip on Las Vegas Boulevard closed down during the terrifying escape.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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