Strongman Santa balances 8-foot chimney on his head

Dec. 14 (UPI) -- A British strongman with multiple Guinness World Records for balancing heavy objects on his head got into the Christmas spirit by balancing a chimney pot -- complete with smoke.

John Evans, 74, of Ilkeston, England, donned a Santa suit and balanced the chimney on his head for a Tuesday morning appearance on ITV's This Morning.

Evans said he used discarded pieces from demolished buildings to build the chimney for his balancing act.

"I've always been a builder so I understand about flues and things like that, I wanted to do something really special in the run-up to Christmas, I've done Christmas trees for a few years and that's very good," Evans told Derbyshire Live.

"I got the idea of doing the funnel from seeing the rubbish chutes on building sites."

Evans tossed a pair of smoke grenades into the 8-foot chute to give the effect of a functioning chimney during his balancing act.

Evans holds dozens of Guinness World Records for balancing objects on his head, including 13 kegs of beer, two girls on bikes and 300 loaves of bread.

The strongman said he plans to set his 100th Guinness record on his 75th birthday in March.

"I'm having a big 5-foot crown, 5-foot-across and 5-foot-tall, and for my 75th birthday and my 100th World Record. I'm going to balance this 5-foot crown on my head. I know I can do it and I'll bring it alive with a few smoke grenades, as well," he said.