WARMINGTON: Escape artist Danny Zzzz risks it all in tribute to son Mason

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ST. CATHARINES — This is a column about local daredevil performer Danny Zzzz hitting the big time on the giant America’s Got Talent stage in front of legendary mean judge Simon Cowell.

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But it’s also a story about Mason, and for Mason — and the great heights a dad went to help make his son a household name.

Mason died Sept. 18, 2020, on his 22nd birthday. The family has decided to keep private details of this tragic end to the life of a much-loved and successful young man. In honor of mental health initiatives and to help other families cope, Daniel Paulin, known on stage as Danny Zzzz, dedicated his Monday appearance on America’s Got Talent: Extreme to his son.

He’s performed many stunts before, but this one would result in his own death if it went wrong. In this case, the magician, hypnotist and escape artist — many have seen him perform live in Niagara Falls, or at a corporate event — found himself locked up inside a sealed mailbag inside a nailed-shut wooden box hanging on a crane more than 40 meters up. He had mere seconds to escape and avoid falling to sure death in front of millions on NBC.

“I’m just worried,” Cowell said as he was being winched up.

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His co-judges — Nikki Bella of WWE fame, motorcycle racer and stuntman Travis Pastrana and host Terry Crews — also seemed worried.

It was a nail-biter.

“The clock is ticking,” the banner read. With the music added in, it was the pure drama of Harry Houdini meets Evel Knievel.

When the count reached zero, the box holding Danny was released and came crashing to the ground. The crowd and judges gasped. The sound of terror was in the air. A look of horror was on faces and shattered debris was everywhere.

But there was no sign of Danny.

“He’s up there,” someone yelled.

Sure enough, Danny got out of lockup and on to the safety of the crane’s hook.

“Unbelievable,” Cowell said.

Then it could be heard:

“Mason, Mason, Mason,” they chanted.

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Danny had done it. Mason’s name was being shouted on TV’s biggest stage. The emotion got the better of the proud dad as his wife Jess came running out to hug him as he fought off tears. After losing Mason, most of his pictures and writings of him were lost in a storage facility fire.

So this was an important moment.

“My heart is in my hand,” Danny said.

People watching had their hearts in their mouths. Making it an unanimous yes to move on in the competition, Cowell told his peers: “When it crashed it was, honestly, one of the scariest things I have ever seen.”

He was not alone.

“I was scared myself,” said the 51-year-old entertainer, also a DJ on Niagara-based radio station Giant FM 91.7. “I didn’t know what was going to happen.”

He almost died doing this stunt in Italy, so he was relieved. Danny was actually in Los Angeles ready to do a different trick on America’s Got Talent in 2020 when COVID hit and production stopped. The producers didn’t forget him and invited him on the new show.

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“I wanted to push the envelope,” he said.

Defying death is one of the things he does for a living. In fact, in an industrial unit this week not far from where he was raised, he and his woodwork craftsman uncle Bruce and cousins ​​Jeremy, Mike, Andy, close friend Marc Gouin and safety co-ordinator Bill Lindsay are already building a contraption for his next stunt.

“This one involves a chainsaw in which I have to unlock my hands before they and my head get cut off,” he said.

Yikes. A guy has to make a living.

Danny said he wants to entertain people in his son’s memory while helping audiences “find the best version” of their own lives.

While death-defying stunts had him trending on social media, and have inspired bookings from around the world, St. Catharines will always be his home.

“This is where I am from and where my family and friends live,” he said.

It’s also where his “22 years of memories” of beloved Mason are.

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