N.B. man pogo jumps into the bigtime on Britain's Got Talent show

Duncan Murray of Burton, near Oromocto, has jumped onto screens on two different continents now.

The 23-year-old recently appeared on Britain's Got Talent,after appearing on the Canadian version of the popular show, performing eye-poppingtricks on a pogo stick.

Murray launched himself nearly 10 feet in the air, doing back flips and leg kicks on the stage in front of a live audience.

He then askedthe show's two hosts,Ant and Dec, to come on stage.

Murray hadthem stand side by side and proceededto pogo-jump high over top ofthem an astonishing feat.

"As much as I'd like to say, 'Oh I thought of this for months and practised, I trained,' it was totally impromptu," Murray told Shift of his performance.

He said he hadn't been on a stickfor two months prior to his performancebecause of the Canadianwinter.

"I kind of just planned it out in the hotel room the night before," Murraysaid.

He earned a standing ovation and a "Yes"from all four judges and is now waiting to hear whetherhe has qualified for the semi-finals.

He was first featured on Canada's Got Talentas part of a trio in April 2023,withextreme pogo athletes Micheal Mena and Harry White.

WATCH | Local pogo performer gets a 'yes' from Simon Cowell:

N.B. pogo master bounces for the stars on Britain's Got Talent

4 months ago

Duration 1:44

Duncan Murrays first pogo performance was at a school talent show. Several years later, and with an upgraded pogo stick, the young man from Burton performed at Britain's Got Talent.

This time around, Murray was asked by Britain's Got Talent producers to do a solo act.

"They kind of found me," he said."They messaged my guy at Xpogo for some pogo talent to go overseas and it just so happened that I fit the bill."

Murray said performing as a solo act is "totally different" and a much bigger challenge.

"When you have multiple people, you can kind of take breaks ...but I did the whole thing solo and that is super exhausting," he said, "When you get tired, the risk just goes up and up."

In his five-year career as an extreme pogo-stick athlete, he has earned two Guinness World Records.

Murray achieved the record for the highest single jump on a pogo stick at 6.57 meters, or 21.55 feet,and for the fewest pogo-stick jumps in one minute, at 37 jumps.

How itstarted

Murray said hegot his first pogo stick as a child and performed tricks with it at his Grade 5 talent show.

He eventually outgrew that stickand lost interest in the sport for a couple of years, but regained his passion in 2019.

"I graduated high school and spent all the money I got from graduation on this super air-powered pogo stick and I've been doing it ever since," he said.

Unlike the pogo sticks you might remember from childhood, this one does not have a spring.

Instead, the sticks required for doing extreme sports are pneumatic, meaning they are hollow inside.

"I fill it up with a valve, just like you would a car tire, so it's a giant air shock, essentially," said Murray.

Shift - NB10:33Passion Projects: Extreme Pogo

Burton's Duncan Murray has wowed all four judges at Britain's Got Talent with his pogo stick tricks. We'll hear about that experience.

The sport is still not very well-known, with just a small community of about 30 pogo-stick athletes around the world.

His long-term goal is to be a pogo-stick performer in Las Vegas, but he's also still in school.

According to his website, duncanpgo.com,Murray isalso a student at the University of New Brunswick studying "Sport & Recreation, and Business Administration."