At the last count, stunt cyclist Danny MacAskill has broken more than 30 bones, but fear won't stop him from performing his trademark daredevil tricks at his Edinburgh Fringe debut this summer.
The Skye-born street trails rider will bring his Drop and Roll Tour to The Meadows for 22 days in August, where he and his display team, including fellow Scot and tour co-founder Duncan Shaw, will wow the crowds at Udderbelly's Circus Hub.
He said: "I’m often pushing my limits, trying things that I've never done before and fear is a natural instinct but it's fairly useless for myself -fear only gets in the way for me.
"You just keep trying until you get over that fear and even if you land in a heap at the bottom you can still pick yourself back up and try it again and again until you eventually land it."
Danny, 33, is friendly, ushering over four little boys when their dad asks if they can grab a picture with him in Bristo Square. He's gotten used to the attention that his tricks have earned after his videos garnered more than 350 million views on YouTube.
He said: "When people stop you in the street they're really positive. Usually there's some families, it's fun and I can picture being the little kids. Me being their hero is kind of weird but I know how it is being that kid, it doesn't seem like that long ago I was meeting my heroes."
But the fame he's found since filming his 2009 breakthrough video on the streets of Edinburgh hasn't inflated his ego. Playing down the phenomenal response, he said: "Yeah, but then you get cat videos that have had way more [views].
"Never in a million years would I have imagined I would have the response I had. We made it purely for fun with no expectations, only [that it might be watched] by the bike scene.
"I never even considered the mainstream viewership it would get or where that would lead. It's certainly been a fun decade since then."
Danny spent his formative years in Dunvegan, a village on the Isle of Skye, honing his riding skills there and in "the big smoke", also known as Portree, before moving to Aviemore and then to Edinburgh in 2006.
He said: "I've been riding trials for about 25 years and starting on the small walls in Dunvegan was important because you end up with a really solid base. It's the same with anything; music or other sports. It's about starting off with the basics and you can take it to the extreme later in life.
"I bounced well when I was younger though, I don't bounce as well these days. It was insane, I was made of elastic when I was young."
Danny's parents were "hands-off" with their son, who enjoyed the outdoor pursuits that island life afforded him.
He said: "My parents were the kind of people who really gave me freedom. A lot of my energy went into the bicycle but it also went into climbing trees and having bonfires, the usual kind of stuff.
"I feel lucky to have been able to follow my passion and luckily I've been able to turn it into a job."
Touring for the last five years means that for Danny, a month in his adopted city for the Festival is an exciting prospect.
He said: "It's going to be amazing to be back in Edinburgh for the summer. It's a bit of a homecoming for myself and Duncan. It's going to be a really cool to be back, not only to watch but to be taking part is going to be awesome."
Bringing the Drop and Roll Tour home this year comes as Danny celebrates ten years since the video that started it all, and it was a long time in the making.
READ MORE: Danny MacAskill to launch his own Edinburgh Fringe show
He said: "We had talked about taking the tour to the Festival for years but it takes a lot of organisation and the right things to come together.
"Luckily that happened this year and it happens to be the 10th anniversary of the Inspired Bicycles video so the whole thing ties in really well - we can't wait."
The indoor show will feature Danny and his crew's dare-devil stunts, some of them familiar to fans.
He said: "It's definitely going to be dangerous for sure. The idea is to bring in some of the tricks that you've seen from some of my videos but because we're in one place for a length of time we can build in some unique features that we couldn't take on the road with us."
Despite everything Danny has achieved, he's got more up his sleeve but he's staying tight-lipped. He said: "My aspirations are way up there. I want to really push my riding and creativity in the videos as far as I can."
Life is good for the pro rider. He said: "What can I complain about? I'm literally getting to muck about on my bike for a living. Skids and wheelies. If you'd told me this is what I'd be doing at school, I wouldn't have believed it."
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