MN Woman Completes 500th Cannonball Shot

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Twenty-five-year-old Gemma Kirby is marking a milestone of sorts in her dare devilish career.

For the 500th time, she turned herself into a human cannonball to the thrill of about 5,000 spectators Saturday night at a Circus XTREME show in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

A show spokeswoman says the petite Minnesota woman, dressed in a sparkly silver outfit, shot out of the cannon, moved through the air at up to 66 miles per hour and landed safely in an air bag about 104-feet away. Spokeswoman Chelsey Scalese says Kirby's act took only about 3 seconds.

Kirby is traveling with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey show. She was one of several acts designed to take the audience's breath away. A BMX troupe and parkour performers on trampoline also awed the crowd.