Las Vegas Weekly

July 5, 2009 · 9:36 AM

Steve Wyrick’s death-drop stunt on the Strip goes up in flames

By Robin Leach

Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington watches the equipment case with magician Steve Wyrick inside go up in flames.

Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

A rapidly spreading fire nearly ended magician Steve Wyrick’s death-drop stunt in chaos. The illusionist was locked into a music equipment case by Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington on the Strip outside Planet Hollywood’s Miracle Mile shops last night.

Plans called for ropes to be tied around the case with the shackled magician trapped inside. It was then to be hoisted 80 feet in the air by a crane, and as the last rope burned, the case would plunge in a harrowing and terrifying fall and crash onto 500 burning spikes. At the last 20 feet, Steve was to jump clear onto a rappelling rope and escape to safety.

Instead, the burning ropes around the case engulfed it, even when it was just a few feet in the air. Chester and crew ran to extinguish the flames, but miraculously Steve had vanished.

Seconds later, Steve reappeared flying in on a helicopter, and everybody breathed a sigh of relief. Steve and Chester had engineered the stunt to promote the grand opening of Chester’s new Club Tattoo store at the retail center. Click HERE for our interview with Chester about Club Tattoo in March.

Steve was unavailable for interview last night to explain how the stunt went literally up in flames and yet he pulled off the miracle 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.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter HERE.

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