Blast

The marvellous Jonny Marx is one hot circus act not to be missed.

The 19-year-old escapologist is the main attraction during eXcape - this year's summer spectacular at the Hippodrome Circus, Great Yarmouth.

I caught up with Jonny on level ground - rather than dangling metres in the air above a pool of water - to have a chat about his escapades and how he got into such a bizarre line of work.

Jonny Marx hangs above circus ring

Luckily I got longer than 60 seconds to ask my questions, all the time Jonny gets when performing his tribute to the world-famous illusionist Harry Houdini.

Harry Houdini

Born in 1874, Houdini's rise to fame took several years, and during the course of it he changed his style of magic from traditional illusions to escapology, with ever more daring and dangerous escapes.

The work of the legendary escapologist has given Jonny inspiration for his own daring straight-jacket escape. It seems fitting therefore that Houdini himself also performed at the Hippodrome back in the 1920s.

"You can't get any better than Harry Houdini. I don't try and compare myself to him but I try to find a way to celebrate what he did," said Jonny.

"In this I try and escape from the straight-jacket in one minute instead of [when Houdini performed the act] 15 or 20 minutes, " he added.

Family ties

Coming from a circus family, stepping into the ring is definitely in Jonny's blood.

The boy from Blackpool started out in the circus when he was 10 years old, working as a member of the ring crew in his dad's travelling circus.

The magical Johnny Marx

Starting out with magic tricks and illusion acts, Jonny's circus skills developed to where he's now one of the headline acts in Great Yarmouth in 2007.

The family bond remains as strong as ever. Also in the show is his brother, top clown Danny Adams and his father, ringmaster Clive Webb.

A proper job

Jonny, known to his family and friends as Daniel Potts, has always regarded his occupation as a 'proper job', despite what his careers advisor said to him at school.

"I sat down and they said 'What do you want to do?'

"I said 'I want to be in the entertainment business' and they said 'Do you not want a proper job'.

"For me this is a proper job. I'd do anything to be in the show when I was younger."

Future with the circus

Jonny's work at the circus is the perfect prequel to his drama degree which he starts in London once the summer season is over.

Will's all tied up, but can he escape?

But he hopes to continue working with the circus when given time off from his studies as this is where his true passion lies.

Just for the record - escaping from a straight-jacket isn't as easy as Jonny makes it look.

Watch my video report to see Jonny in action and find out how I got on in trying to make a (not so) great escape.

If Jonny has inspired you to get your own jaw-dropping headline act, the Hippodrome regularly hosts one-off taster workshops in circus skills. To find out more about the workshops call 01493 780223.

The Hippodrome Circus show runs until 9 September, 2007. For more details call 01493 844172.