The illusionist Derren Brown has described as "terrifying" an incident in which a man plunged over a theatre balcony at one of his live shows.

The incident happened during Brown's Infamous show at the Palace theatre in the West End of London on Saturday.

The man was reportedly in the highest tier, 15 metres (45ft) up, when he was pushed by his wife as a joke.

Brown, 42, said the guest fell over the balcony and was left hanging from the upper circle.

After his show, he said on Twitter: "Tonight a woman pushed her hubby as a joke from the front of the balcony. He fell and caught the upper circle on the way down, and was hanging from it. He's fine, but what a finale. Sending best thoughts to him & wife, terrifying."

One audience member, Rob Millwood, told the Sun: "He hit the lights and grabbed the bar with one arm. Three or four guys ran down the steps and pulled him back.

"A few inches to one side and there would have been nothing to break the fall."

The man fell four and a half metres before he managed to hold on to the lighting rig, the Sun reported.

The Palace theatre warns guests on its website not to sit in the highest tier if they are scared of heights or have limited mobility.