Guinness World Records 2023: The loudest purr and world’s highest stand-up gig

From a cat with the loudest purr to the world’s highest stand-up gig, there have been some quirky records broken in 2023.

Here, the PA news agency looks back at some of the most striking Guinness World Records (GWRs) achieved this year.

– Catsuit-clad comedy duo hold highest altitude stand up on Everest

Comedy duo Ellie Gibson and Helen Thorn – better known as the Scummy Mummies – achieved the GWR title for the highest altitude stand-up comedy gig when they donned gold catsuits on Mount Everest in March.

They performed at 17,417ft (5,309m) at Sagarmatha, Solukhumbu, Mount Everest in Nepal to a “chilly audience” of fellow climbers, mountaineers and “bemused” Sherpas.

The duo performing their 30-minute set (Ellie Gibson/Guinness World Records)

“It was a tough gig. We were freezing cold in our gold catsuits, and the audience looked pretty chilly too,” Ms Gibson said.

“But they were brilliant, cheering us on, and it was an amazing experience.

“It wasn’t our easiest gig ever, but it was definitely the most memorable.”

– Cambridge University student becomes juggling record holder

Cambridge University student James Cozens became a juggling world record holder on May 7 after honing his skills with performance analysis software that he developed himself.

The engineering PhD student achieved a GWR for “most objects juggled while riding a unicycle” – juggling seven balls for 16.77 seconds at Cambridge’s Selwyn College.

Cambridge University PhD student James Cozens juggling seven balls whilst unicycling around King’s College in Cambridge, having honed his skills with performance analysis software that he developed himself (Joe Giddens/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Joe Giddens

Mr Cozens, from Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, said that drawing on his academic background helped him to improve his technique by developing his own performance analysis software to help jugglers.

“The whole purpose of the software is to provide a juggling analysis… so for me anyway it helped a lot trying to understand my efficiency as a juggler,” said Mr Cozens.

– Woman with Down’s syndrome ‘very proud’ after achieving world record

Heidi Crowter set a world record in June for identifying the most celebrity birthdays in three minutes and said she was “very proud” to be challenging perceptions about what people with Down’s syndrome can achieve.

Ms Crowter, from Coventry, recalled 70 celebrity birth dates in under 180 seconds, ranging from Queen Victoria and Margaret Thatcher to Brad Pitt and Shakira.

“I am feeling very proud of myself for achieving a Guinness World Record,” she said.

“I love sharing my joy of birthdays with people, and I have been writing a birthday list and practising a lot. Everyone knows that practice makes perfect.”

– British cat’s loudest purr

Bella, a cat from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, broke the Guinness World Record for the loudest purr in October.

Measuring 54.6 decibels, the purr was equivalent to the volume of a boiling kettle.

Nicole Spink, Bella’s owner, with Guinness World Records adjudicator Dave Wilson (Guinness World Records/Whiskas/PA)

Nicole Spink, Bella’s proud owner, said: “I couldn’t be more thrilled that Bella has broken the world record.

“She has been our family’s companion for many years – we love her to bits and are so proud of her achievement.”

– A spook-tacular Tim Burton-inspired pumpkin and squash mosaic

Sunnyfields Farm in Southampton became a GWR holder for a “spook-tacular” Tim Burton-inspired mosaic, made from more than 10,000 pumpkins and squashes.

It received a completely new record for the largest Cucurbita mosaic on October 18, which depicts Jack Skellington’s famous moonlight stance from Burton’s stop-motion animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The mosaic is made up of different pumpkin and squash varieties (Guinness World Records)

Tom Nelson, farm director, told PA he was “very surprised and very pleased” when he and his family found out they had become record holders.”

– Stunt driver breaks record driving pick-up truck on two wheels through tight gap

Stunt driver, Paul Swift, 44, from Northallerton, North Yorkshire, claimed his fourth GWR by completing the tightest gap driven through by a pick-up truck on two wheels in November.

Paul Swift achieves the Guinness World Record for ‘The tightest gap driven through on two wheels in a pick-up truck (Guinness World Records Day 2023)

Mr Swift was “absolutely delighted” after he drove a Ford Raptor between two poles with an average clearance either side of just 44cm at Silverstone.

“We weren’t sure whether the vehicle was capable of doing it… but we just drove an absolutely standard Raptor on two wheels – I was absolutely delighted with that, straight out of the box we could do something cool with it,” Mr Swift told PA.