Meet David “The Bullet” Smith — a 49-year-old human cannonball making his heart-stopping debut at the 2026 Perth Royal Show.

The gravity-defying stunt will see the American shot out of a cannon at 120km/h, reaching a height of 25m, before landing in a net some 60m away on the far side of Claremont Showground’s main arena.

“My best shot of survival is to be super focused and make no mistakes on the way out,” the father-of-two told The West Australian.

“I’m trying to come out of the cannon without being crushed or moving sideways . . . so that I come flying out straight and true.

“By the time I reach the top of the cannon shot, I want to be 100 per cent in control of my flight because that’s when I really need to spot my target and begin a controlled somersault so that I land on my back.”

Mr Smith has been entertaining as a human cannonball for the last 30 years carrying on a family legacy from his father, David Smith Snr.

He has since broken his own World Record four times and has been blasted over ferris wheels, concert stages and even parts of the Grand Canyon.

But despite performing more than 10,000 cannon shots around the world, Mr Smith says he still gets nervous.

“There are so many things that need to go right for the show and presentation to be perfect, it’s such a victory when it’s over,” he said.

“I would not want to do it without adrenaline; I think adrenaline is the key to survival as a human cannonball, so that’s why I’ll just keep pushing myself so I don’t get complacent.”

Strength is the key factor to being the perfect human cannonball, and Mr Smith likened himself to a power-lifter.

“I travel the length of the barrel from zero . . . and it’s about 12 times the force of gravity when I do that, it’s a lot of pressure and it’s a very intense environment,” he said.

“I spent the entire year of 2025 rehabbing my body, my injuries and getting as healthy as I could . . . in the last six months I was just hardcore in the gym so I felt bulletproof.

“I said, ‘OK I feel confident and strong enough that I can come over and push myself in Australia.’”

Mr Smith said he was proud to have “survived” his past feats to make it out to Perth, and promised showgoers his shows were just getting better and better.

“I don’t want to walk away from it, I don’t want to be put on a shipping container, I want to stay here in Australia forever and I just want to put on great shows for Perth,” he said.