The Return of the Escape Artist

I really thought by now I'd be out of the escape business. A health issue that started about 10 years ago really put a damper on it so I pretty much dropped all escapes. But the recent request by AtlasObscura.com to participate in their Houdini Escapes DC event, changed all that.

I decided to do a 30 minute escape act with chains, locks, handcuffs, ropes and more. And I jumped in full force, which was a mistake. After the first couple days of rehearsing a serious problem crept up. My wrists and arms were turning black and blue. It was my own fault. I was trying to put on cuffs that were just too tight. This then caused them to swell and I continued to put them on and then they bruised. All the vintage cuffs got dropped because they were too tight. I was really upset about this, but it was unavoidable. However....

I remembered a ploy that Houdini used on cuffs he wasn't sure about. He would have them put onto other cuffs and not on his own wrists. They were still among the mix of cuffs and looked really dramatic, but were not a problem when it came to escaping. So I used a pair of darbies in the middle of several pair of Smith and Wesson and Peerless cuffs. I finished it off with a pair of thumbscrews which can be held in place with a padlock. It made an impressive looking escape.

Houdini used his 'ghost house' to escape from. This was a small black curtained cabinet that he would

kneel into to escape from his cuffs. I used a hooped curtain from a sub-trunk routine. The cuffs came off one at a time and were thrown from the curtain enclosure. The last thing to come off were the thumbscrews which I did in the open.

OH, I almost forgot, the OPENING number! This involved several escapes back to back to back. A chain/lock escape, an escape from a pair of Hamburg 8s, and then a reverse escape. I tossed a 2 foot length of rope into a sack, reached in and came out a moment later with my hands securely tied. It got a good laugh from the audience!

The final escape in the show was the 100 foot rope tie escape which I have not done in ages. I found two people in the audience to tie me up. It took them about 3 minutes to do the tying. The escape took  about 2 minutes. The 100 foot rope tie escape is fun because it's never the same no matter how many times it's done. Everyone takes a different approach to the tying. Some people are very serious about it and do a very firm job. Others don't quite have the knack and I'll need to give them suggestions along the way, like KEEP IT TIGHT and tie it around the wrists, or don't forget this or that. The two people who tied me during the Houdini event did a pretty good job.

So is that it? Have I put the escape stuff back in the closet for good? Actually no. I decided to keep it out and put it back into my show. It's going to be a regular feature. I'll be adding several other escapes as well with the addition of something dangerous to escape from. I already have a couple dangers escapes I can add, so we'll see if I use one of those or get something different. Keep watching!!!!!

Tour is Wrapped Up for Underground Magic Theatre

Yesterday, August 27th, I presented the final Traveling Underground Magic Theatre Show of the Summer. This whole thing was a bit of an experiment. Basically, I'm doing sophisticated and very strong magic for kids, teens and adults at Summer Camps. Usually, they are exposed to what are called 'kid show magic'. The basic difference between the two is that kid show magic tends to be a bit sillier and the emphasis is more on the overall entertainment rather than the actual magic. Kid show magic is GREAT fun and I am in no way trying to speak less of it or put it down. It's just a different style from the magic presented in the Underground Magic Theatre.

For starters, I opened with my Hula Hoop Effect. It's a big trick compared to what an audience would normally see. It takes a great deal of skill to do well and putting it into confined conditions with low ceilings is a huge problem. But I worked out a routine that made all of these issues non-existant. The reaction to the opening trick was overwhelmingly strong. I have many wonderful pieces of magic in my kid shows, but nothing has ever gotten the reaction that the Hula Hoop effect gets. The audience goes nuts for it.

Then it's followed by an old standard, the Misers Dream. Again, my Misers Dream is different from the normal fair because I use a clear bucket and some over the top sleight of hand. Sometimes though I coast, lol, and simplify the methods but the reaction from the audience is the same, they go crazy for it.

Both of these routines are done to music. The first talking routine is a clever twist on the Cups & Balls where spectators hands act as the table and the cups are placed in their hands. The reactions again are over the top because they are experiencing magic under conditions they don't expect.

The three opening routines are all historical in nature, or have some basis in magic history. I explain to the audience a little bit about the history of magic and how I have altered things to make them contemporary. Then I go into a very modern trick, a card trick using a cell phone. This is the routine that I usually bring up an adult. I found that their level of astonishment helped to sell the trick even more than I could. Basically, a signed playing card ends up INSIDE the phone.

Next I talk about HOUDINI and share some stories of his life and finish the talk with a story about Houdini which incorporates a wonderful piece of magic. It's a story of his first encounter with a young Charlie Chaplin. The routine is fun, mysterious and has an unexpected ending.

STEAMPUNK trick is next. This is a lesson in imagination. I get the audience to imagine what it would have been like if advanced technology had existed 100 years ago. I bring out a device that is essentially a small transporting device. This is right out of Star Trek, and we don't even have this technology today! But a borrowed object is caused to transport (vanish) and reappear in an impossible location. This routine also has a surprise ending.

The final piece in the show is my signature Goldfish Trick where a drawing of a goldfish comes to life. It's a smaller trick compared to everything else in the show, but the production of a live creature makes the effect BIGGER in their eyes.

There were other routines that were in the show and out of the show as the summer went along, and my favorite of those was the World's First Mobile Phone from the Year 1600. It was such a ridiculous concept that I wasn't sure if it would play and it went over great.

I will have to say the UMT was a hit. The comments after the show were just like the comments we used to receive when the UMT was an actual location. The kids, teachers, staff, everyone were completely blown away by the magic. Many people who had seen me before were stunned by the difference in what they usually see me do. The reason is because I'm really doing this as a different character. There is nothing silly or goofy in this show. That isn't to say the show is not fun, because it's filled with fun and laughter, but just a different kind of comedy.
 

I'll put some quotes below from people who saw the show and let you judge by their comments.

"Dean Alan, I always thought you were a good magician but now I know you are a great magician!"
Audience member

"I have seen  you perform many shows in the past 6 years and always enjoy them. But the changes you've made to the show are just incredible!"
Summer Camp Teacher

"This was the best magic show I have ever seen!"
A comment I heard at almost every performance

"You never age! I saw you ten years ago and you look exactly the same"
Comment by an adult, not about my show but I kind liked this comment!

Houdini Painting For Sale

Here is a chance of a lifetime. I never let my paintings go this quickly, but this painting of Houdini, which is painted in acrylics on canvas, 24x30 in size is available. I will ship it in a special box made for artwork, foam fitted, plastic covering the back and front to prevent punctures while in transit.

Though I painted a view of Houdini basically from the waist up, my intention was to put all the emphasis on the face. Notice the texture on the image below. I used a ton of paint on the face to give it a very thick appearance, but kept the remainder of the painting simpler, with the exception of the background. By the way, pay no attention to the color in the photo below, the actual color is closer to the top image.

I've not alerted anyone on my art mailing list about the availability of this painting, mainly because I'm hoping it stays in the magic community. However, today I received my first email from a non-magic person who had an interest in the artwork. So, it may be going into the 'world' rather than stay inside the confines of the magic world. I'm frankly ok with that, I just wanted to make the offer to my magic friends first.
If you are interested in potentially purchasing this piece of artwork, you may contact me via email. Serious inquires only, contact me at carnegiemagic@me.com

ART - The Magic Profiles

These have been posted here before, but it was back in 2010. So I thought I'd share them all again, in one place. They are all acrylic and I think they are all the same size.

Houdini w Chain

Chung Ling Soo w Lantern

Blackstone and Dancing Hank

Back to ART Magic Hats

This was a series of paintings I did, with a specific theme (outside of magic that is). The idea was to paint magicians wearing different hats. Because it was fashionable for the late 19th century and early 20th century magicians to wear hats, I had an interesting mix to choose from.

I realized after I had done several of the paintings that all but one person that I had painted was named "HARRY". I will list them in the order they were painted.

Houdini

Kellar

Blackstone

Herrmann The Great

Dante

Harry Anderson