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PRINCE Vinay Building a Show and Becoming a Heckler

2010-02-26T03:50:00.000-08:00

The first thing I want to deal with is Building Your Own Show. An idea for this came from a video I saw of Eugene Burger, where he said, and I quote: "Many magicians are very busy just trying to imitate other magicians. Trying to imitate the DVD they saw. The question I would like you to take home with you is, 'What do I want my magic to be?'"

And hearing that, I thought about all the magicians imitating other ones, even processionals. Then, I think about all the completely original magicians, that actually care enough about their work to do their best to continue making magic, in a word, 'real'. You need to find the deeper message in your magic.

Like the linking rings. Yes, it might mean two (or more) solid rings link together, and come apart. But deeper than that. It can mean two separate objects or beings can come together and join as one. Or you can have your linking ring routine resemble perseverance - anything to make it your own.

Thousands of magicians perform the linking rings in their routines, but every magicians routine is different. If Pen and Teller do linking rings, it will be a comedy act (most likely). But if Eugene Burger, or if Vernon were to do linking rings, it would most likely resemble two forces joining as one, or two beings finding each other in 'perfect harmony' so to speak.

So when you create your show, you need to find your deeper meaning. Magic is the art of transformation, and you need to find your original way of transforming something ordinary to something out of this world.

One last example I would like to use is something most of you are aware of, it is Jeff McBride's '

I am fascinated with masks. The expressions of all different masks, actually seems as if it is real. And they are so unique in magic, Jeff has made them his own, but of course there is the 'deeper meaning' that the masks really represent. And what Jeff once said was that his Mask routine comes from his early years when he used to be a Mime, and he always had his white makeup on. He tried to get rid of it, but everyone told him not to because that was his 'thing' or his 'brand', but he didn't like the white face. So the routine comes from him trying to break free, and get rid of the masks, but he can never get rid of it, because that is him.

So one last point on making things your own, when making a show. Remember, it is not just magic, it is timing music and dance. Pick your favorite routine to perform (preferably a stage routine), and do it with the music playing that you would normally use. Then, use a different style of music, that still sort of applies to the routine, even though it is much different. You will notice that it is a completely different mood, so find the mood that best suits you and your magic. Then with the dance, as a magician, you know you have to move around and 'flow' with your magic, make yourself believable.

A lot of you are probably confused at this title. When I say becoming a heckler, I do not mean heckling other magicians, I mean heckling yourself! Yes, before you start performing a routine, or during a performance, you need to have some thoughts to improve your performance.

So, get yourself in the mind of a heckler and criticise your moves (either when practicing or watching a video of yourself). Say "Hey, why does my hand have to look awkward like that, or why is my position so uncomfortable and unnatural, why are my hands in that position. Hey, why does it look weird when I turn over the top card." It could be simple stuff or complicated.

People on the forums often ask "How do I deal with Hecklers?....What are good tricks to fool hecklers....and so on. People think they have all these heckler-proof magic tricks. Which yes, might fool hecklers, because it is so unreal. But any trick, of any difficulty can fool hecklers, just practice, and heckle yourself, that way you will know how to perform the trick properly in front of a heckler, so he won't catch anything, because you already heckled yourself to making it natural, and believable.

So how to fool hecklers? Simple - practice!

To finish, I would like to quote Guy Forsyth: "The trick is to combine your waking, rational abilities, with the infinite possibilities of your dreams. Because if you can do that, you can do anything."

PRINCE VInay

bhagirath dev ki jay

How To Master Professional Magic Tricks In 4 Easy Steps

2010-02-12T10:43:00.000-08:00

Anyone can perform professional magic tricks; all it takes is courage and commitment. Most magicians can truthfully say that the majority of tricks in their bag are relatively easy to perform, yet the real work is done offstage with hours of practice. Many professional magic tricks are based on scientific principles, and learning what makes them work goes a long way in making a better performance.

Whether you want to make a lasting name for yourself, or if you just want to be the life of the next party, here are a few keys tips to developing a set of professional magic tricks.

1) Learn Each Trick Completely

If you are a beginner, learn simple tricks first. The procedures for doing magic tricks can be found online or even in books from your local library. Even though tricks may be classified as easy, study and memorize every step. This will be good training for you when you advance to more difficult tricks. Get into the habit of learning each trick completely; this is a good first step to performing professional quality magic tricks.

2) Practice Makes Perfect

Sometimes, practicing is the hardest part. We all want to immediately work in front of an audience to hear their applause and gasps of wonder. But to get the accolades, you must first do the time. Practice your magic tricks before a mirror, or videotape yourself for a play by play account. Practicing is never a waste of time.

Each minute brings you closer to your goal of performing professional magic tricks. When you watch your performance, either in a mirror or on videotape, you can spot any mistakes or actions that should be corrected. Practicing is the best way to progress.

3) Zero in on Details

Once you get the hang of a few tricks and understand the basics of magic, you may think you can relax a bit. Not so. Magic tricks, even the simple ones, have details that can't be overlooked.

Every magician knows that their entire performance may hinge on the smallest of details. Never look for a shortcut; there are none in magic. Professional magic tricks succeed because the magician considers every step and detail to be equally important.

4) Simplicity Equals Success

Here is an amazing and totally true thought: Most magic tricks are incredibly simple. Of course, professionals want their magic tricks to confound and astound, but the reality is that these illusions are based on easy to learn principles. Sometimes, most of the magic is in the magician's performance, rather than the trick itself. Many tricks that are currently seen in shows today are actually hundreds of years old. This testifies to the magician's everlasting ability to entertain and to the audience's never ceasing wonder.

To perform professional magic tricks, first develop a professional attitude and then practice until your skills are of professional quality. Remember that a professional is merely someone who has studied and mastered his subject. In the case of magic, anyone can reach this level with a determined commitment and a desire to be the best they can be. Before going onstage, repeatedly practice your act offstage. And then listen to the applause that you will conjure up!

Learn Magic In A Snap

2010-02-12T10:42:00.000-08:00

A child's life is not complete without magic. The supernatural act has been known to humans since early 1400's and has been used as a ploy for thieves to make victims out of the magician's audience. Nowadays, magic has been extraordinarily brought to streets with the likes of Criss Angel and David Blaine. What better to way to enjoy this performance, than to learn magic yourself!

Lay Your Cards on the Table

It is best to know where to go and who to ask for help. The first step in order to learn magic is getting your resources straight. A great way to start is to find your local magic shop that sells props or equipments that would aid your performance. More often than not, each tool would come with a handy instruction guide on how to use it more effectively with your chosen audience. You may also opt to seek advice from storeowners as they best know the tricks each product holds.

There are also books that hold collections of simple magic tricks that can be done at home or out on the streets. And as always, classes are also available in the World Wide Web that can suit lessons for a toddler to a senior citizen. In your quest to purchase the right prop to use and how to use it, you will surely learn magic in different places.

Performance is the Key

To learn magic quickly and easily, one must also have the basic knowledge of entertaining an audience. An essential part of this mystical feat is not to hold your viewer's attention to whatever is in your hand. You have to look at them straight in the eye and divert their attention to the questions you ask. This would then allow your hand to move more freely and create that seemingly impossible illusion that would make their jaws drop.

Another way to entertain your audience is by making them laugh. When we laugh, we do not pay much attention to what is happening and there are greater chances for you to do unnoticeable gestures. This misdirection would lead to your observers thinking that the ball did disappear or the rabbit did materialize out of the hat.

'Kid'ding Around

As a child, we easily get upset by things we couldn't do. When the sandcastle's roof falls apart, we end up destroying everything out of frustration. When we learn magic, there would be times that we would fail. At this time, you may choose to give up or to learn from your mistake. The latter would always be more fulfilling.

The fruit of performing magic is not in the knowledge that you are powerful and that you hold your spectator's trust, but it is in finding the joy in little things. You have to take your viewers to a place that they've never been before, and this can only be achieved by practice and perseverance. Without the two, there are more chances that the trick will not work.

Lastly, remember to involve your audience. What makes a great magician is not how big his audience is, but how in tune they are to him.

Easy Magic Should Be Secret!

2010-02-12T10:37:00.000-08:00

When you watch a magician perform a trick, live or on TV, you know (or suspect) that it is not really magic. You know it is some kind of trick, but you can?t for the life of you figure it out.
Often a simple and easy magic trick, performed on the street, can be more amazing that a slick show on TV.
You can check the set-up, there is no chance of anything hidden happen where the camera is not looking.
This makes it possible to impress and astound your friend!. When a street magician makes the impossible seem real, you are close to him. Since you can look at everything, and walk around him, you think you can see there's no hidden trap doors or cabinets, for example.
It seems impossible not to have his magic tricks revealed simply by looking!
You can do the same. The hidden secret to a magical trick is this - it is the magician himself!
The absolute majority of magic tricks have been practised for a very long time, sometimes they are so old no-one knows when they first were done. And when a trick - a card trick, for example, or a coin trick, is analyzed in detail - the trick itself is usually not complicated at all.
The secret lies in how the performer - you! - do it! The presentation of the trick is what makes it baffling.
For example, you can ask the audience to name a number, and you pull out a card from the bottom of the deck, one at a time, until you come to the number that has been said, and then you pull out an ace! And that happens no matter what number is named.
The secret is ever so simple - the ace should be at the bottom of the cards, held by your little finger. You will naturally need to practise this. To have your magic tricks revealed by mistake, because you are clumsy and drop the card, is not very magical ...
Equally important is to distract the attention of the audience slightly -just by talking you can keep their attention off the pack and stop them from trying to analyze your movements.
It appears to work in the same way as when you drive a car and use a mobile phone at the same time. It has been proven that people react slower.
It seems that your brain focuses effectively on one thing at a time, and this is what you can utilise to amaze your friends.
But remember - magic tricks revealed lose their magic! Keep them secret and only ever discuss them with other magicians!

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Upendra magician

2010-01-03T02:11:00.000-08:00

Upendra has been moving his magic-wind when he was ten years old. He would perform for his family, neighbours and friends. He started performing professionally in his early twenties. Since then he has performed thousands of magic shows for all types of audiences.

Upendra Thakur has performed magic shows at:

Formal & Informal Shows

Corporate Launching
Corporate Parties
Promotion Events
Road Shows
Hotels & Schools
Birthday Parties
Marriages & Other Ceremonies

Upendra Thakur who in bestowed with magical arts instinctively. Since his childhood, he is dedicated to overthrow his pearls of magic leaving a spell-bounded impact on the minds and hearts of audience and spectators. In his professional strength he performed lots of shows for Schools & Corporates . His magic is full of entertainment.

His sense of humors says that Magic is an art which means: -

M ----- MYSTERY
A ----- AMUSEMENT
G------GALLORY
I--------ILLUSION
C------CHALLENGE

Upendra Thakur has sound educational background which acts as catalyst while showing his magical arts. He is a graduate in History with Hon. He combines his educational and theatrical background effectively to spell his magical tricks on the audience.

If you are going to organize a party with a wish to make it extraordinary for your honorable and the dearest guests, don’t ever forget to include a magic show by Upendera Thakur. So enjoy his magical art and spend some thrilling moments with him in his magical world.

P.C.Sarkar

2010-01-03T02:08:00.000-08:00

Magician P. C. Sorcar (Junior) is the living legend of Indian Magic. He is "BANGAL-KA-JADU" personified and is what "Magic of India" means today.
He comes from the famous SORCAR family of HINDU-MAGICIANS, and this family of "MAGICIANS" or "WONDER-WORKERS", are popular in this field atleast for EIGHT GENERATIONS. Each generation contributed its share of mysticism through centuries and thus have become a house-hold name and are romantically associated with Indian Folk-tales, Fables Literature and Facts. To an average Indian, SORCAR and MAGIC are synonymous.
It is P.C.SORCAR(Senior), father of P.C.SORCAR(Junior), who popularised their family art of "MAGIC" beyond the boundaries of India elevating the presentations to a more prestigious pedestal of theatrical form of International standard, keeping the Indian traditions as the central motif. He gave a new lease of life to the dying art and thus is recognised as "THE FATHER OF INDIAN MAGIC".
P.C.SORCAR(Junior) elevated the status of magic further more from the position where his father left it, to this futuristic mystery-spectacular-entertainment show for the intellectuals, successfully competing with the other forms of theatrical shows. He has added modern techniques, surrealistic sequences, third dimensional choreography, mixture of rustic, tradition and modern music, classical dance along with the intellectual-illusions created by psychological directions, superb technical and mechanical instruments along with his super showmanship and personality.P.C.SORCAR(Junior) is the professional stage name of PRODIP CHANDRA SORCAR. Prodip is the second son of the late P.C.SORCAR,Senior (Pratul Chandra Sorcar), Padmashree, the Father of Indian Magic and was declared by his father as his successor. Both his elder brother, Prafullaand his younger brother Provas Chandra, have also learnt conjuring from their father. "Ours is a family of magicians . . . and performing magic is our birthright. Even the cat in our house is a magician", says P. C. Sorcar Junior.
But it is in him that the inherited art has borne most fruit, spanning the entire world, and giving fresh life to a once neglected art. P. C. Sorcar's mother is Mrs. Basanti Sorcar, a noted philanthropist , who has been a source of courage and inspiration to her son. Coming from a family with a great respect for education, P.C.Sorcar Junior is a double graduate in both Arts and Science and has an M.Sc degree in Applied Psychology from the University of Calcutta
P.C. Sorcar Junior married Jayashree, daughter of , Sri Aroon Kumar Ghosh and Smt. Nilima Devi on May 22, 1972. Her beauty and talents have since lent wondrous support to P. C. Sorcar Junior's performances. As a costume designer or choreographer, or as the beautiful damsel who levitates, disappears, is cut into halves or stretched, Jayashree is a vital part of both, the magician's life and career.
The Present:
The couple have three daughters, Maneka, Moubani and Mumtaz. "My daughters make my art alive", says Prodip Chandra, the family man, who travels with his daughters whenever he can, on his tours. It is inevitable that the three girls show the charm and talent of their parents. They are completing their education, but the ' magnetic field of magic' in which they have been brought up has made them begin to share the stage with their parents occasionally. At least one of them is destined to become a magician, because as P. C. Sorcar Junior says "The Goddess of Magic, Mahamaya Durga wants at least one lady magician like Queen Bhanumati in our family".
Inheritance Made AliveP.C.Sorcar Junior's development as a magician is a continuation of the tradition that made his father his 'guru' or teacher. He began performing in his teens, when he was still in school, forming a group of his own, and presenting some of his own inventive items. His father was so happy with his development that he announced to the World that his 'magical successor' would be his son Prodip Chandra.
In early 1971, Sorcar Jr. had just finished his M.Sc. final examinations, while his father was away in Japan on a tour. At the end of a show at the City Hall of Shibetsu, wherein P.C.Sorcar had declared that it would be his last performance, but the show would go on even if he were to die, he suffered a massive heart attack, and before breathing his last, expressed the wish that his son Prodip should continue his engagements. His death on January 6, 1971 propelled P.C.Sorcar Junior immediately on to the international stage. The disciple son did not even have the time to indulge his grief. When his father was being cremated in Calcutta, he was on stage for his first show in Sapporro, North Japan.
But all those who doubted whether the son would be able to match his father were silenced by the sheer talent, rich presentation, and flamboyant performance of P.C.Sorcar Junior. Today the master magician has set the highest standards, scaling ever new heights. But his acknowledgment of the tradition represented by his father and other ancestors is ever present. "Even in the way I call myself, I never refer to myself except as P.C.Sorcar Junior, to remind myself and others, that there was a Senior", says the caring son.

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2009-12-24T23:28:00.000-08:00

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posted by Bhagirath

Harry Houdini

2009-12-14T06:34:00.000-08:00

Harry Houdini
in 1899
Born	Ehrich Weiss March 24, 1874
Died	October 31, 1926 (aged 52) Detroit, Michigan
Occupation	magician, escapologist, stunt performer, actor, historian, film producer, pilot and debunker
Signature

Harry Houdini (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926, born Erik Weisz later spelled Ehrich Weiss) was a Hungarian American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer. He also was a famous skeptic who set out to expose frauds purporting to be supernaturalphenomena.

Early life

Harry Houdini was born in Budapest, Hungary. A copy of his birth certificate was found and published in The Houdini Birth Research Committee's Report. (1972). As to his birth date, from 1907 onwards, Houdini claimed in interviews to have been born in Appleton, Wisconsin, on April 6, 1874. He was really born on March 24, 1874.

Houdini's father was Rabbi Mayer (Mayo) Samuel Weiss (1829–1892), and his mother was Cecilia Steiner (1841–1913). Ehrich had six siblings: Herman M. (1863-1885); Nathan J. Weiss (1870–1927); Gottfried William Weiss (1872–1925); Theodore "Dash" Weiss (1876–1945);Leopold D. Weiss (1879–1962); and Gladys Carrie Weiss (1882-?).

He immigrated with his family to the United States on July 3, 1878, at the age of four, on the SS Fresia with his mother (who was pregnant) and his four brothers. Houdini's name was listed as Ehrich Weiss. Friends called him "Ehrie" or "Harry." In 1918 he registered for selective service as Harry Handcuff Houdini.

At first, they lived in Appleton, Wisconsin, where his father served as rabbi of the Zion Reform Jewish Congregation. In 1880, the family was living on Appleton Street On June 6, 1882, Rabbi Weiss became an American citizen. After losing his tenure, he moved to New York Citywith Ehrich in 1887. They lived in a boarding house on East 79th Street. Rabbi Weiss later was joined by the rest of the family once he found more permanent housing. As a child, Ehrich took several jobs, then became a champion cross country runner. He made his public début as a 9-year-old trapeze artist, calling himself "Ehrich, the prince of the air". Weiss became a professional magician and began calling himself "Harry Houdini" because he was heavily influenced by the French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, and his friend Jack Hayman erroneously told him that in French, adding an "i" to Houdin would mean "like Houdin" the great magician. In later life, Houdini would claim that the first part of his new name, Harry, was a homage to Harry Kellar, whom Houdini admired a great deal.

Magic career

"My Two Sweethearts" - Houdini with his mother and wife, ca. 1907

Initially, Houdini's magic career resulted in little success. He performed in dime museums and sideshows, and even doubled as "the Wild Man" at a circus. Houdini initially focused on traditional card tricks. At one point, he billed himself as the "King of Cards". But he soon began experimenting with escape acts. In 1893, while performing with his brother "Dash" at Coney Island as "The Houdini Brothers", Harry met fellow performer Wilhelmina Beatrice (Bess) Rahner, whom he married. Bess replaced Dash in the act, which became known as "The Houdinis." For the rest of Houdini's performing career, Bess would work as his stage assistant.

Harry Houdini's "big break" came in 1899 when he met manager Martin Beck in rural Woodstock, Illinois. Impressed by Houdini's handcuffs act, Beck advised him to concentrate on escape acts and booked him on the Orpheum vaudeville circuit. Within months, he was performing at the top vaudeville houses in the country. In 1900, Beck arranged for Houdini to tour Europe.

Houdini was a sensation in Europe, where he became widely known as "The Handcuff King." He toured England, Scotland, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Russia. In each city, Houdini would challenge local police to restrain him with shackles and lock him in their jails. In many of these challenge escapes, Houdini would first be stripped nude and searched. In Moscow, Houdini escaped from a Siberian prison transport van. Houdini publicly stated that, had he been unable to free himself, he would have had to travel to Siberia, where the only key was kept. In Cologne, he sued a police officer, Werner Graff, who claimed he made his escapes via bribery. Houdini won the case when he opened the judge's safe (he would later say the judge had forgotten to lock it). With his new-found wealth and success, Houdini purchased a dress said to have been made for Queen Victoria. He then arranged a grand reception where he presented his mother in the dress to all their relatives. Houdini said it was the happiest day of his life. In 1904, Houdini returned to the U.S. and purchased a house for $25,000, a brownstone at 278 W. 113th Street in Harlem, New York. The house still stands today.

From 1907 and throughout the 1910s, Houdini performed with great success in the United States. He would free himself from jails, handcuffs, chains, ropes, and straitjackets, often while hanging from a rope in plain sight of street audiences. Because of imitators and a dwindling audience, on January 25, 1908, Houdini put his "handcuff act" behind him and began escaping from a locked, water-filled milk can. The possibility of failure and death thrilled his audiences. Houdini also expanded his challenge escape act - in which he invited the public to devise contraptions to hold him - to include nailed packing crates (sometimes lowered into the water), riveted boilers, wet-sheets, mailbags, and even the belly of a Whale that washed ashore in Boston. Brewers challenged Houdini to escape from his milk can after they filled it with beer.Many of these challenges were prearranged with local merchants in what is certainly one of the first uses of mass tie-in marketing. Rather than promote the idea that he was assisted by spirits, as did the Davenport Brothers and others, Houdini's advertisements showed him making his escapes via dematerializing, although Houdini himself never claimed to have supernatural powers.

Poster promoting Houdini taking up the challenge of escaping an "extra strong and large traveling basket"

In 1912, Houdini introduced perhaps his most famous act, the Chinese Water Torture Cell, in which he was suspended upside-down in a locked glass-and-steel cabinet full to overflowing with water. The act required that Houdini hold his breath for more than three minutes. Houdini performed the escape for the rest of his career. Despite two Hollywood movies depicting Houdini dying in the Torture Cell, the escape had nothing to do with his demise.

Houdini explained some of his tricks in books written for the magic brotherhood throughout his career. In Handcuff Secrets (1909), he revealed how many locks and handcuffs could be opened with properly applied force, others with shoestrings. Other times, he carried concealed lockpicks or keys, being able to regurgitate small keys at will. When tied down in ropes or straitjackets, he gained wiggle room by enlarging his shoulders and chest, moving his arms slightly away from his body, and then dislocating his shoulders. His straitjacket escape was originally performed behind curtains, with him popping out free at the end. However, Houdini's brother, who was also an escape artist billing himself as Theodore Hardeen, after being accused of having someone sneak in and let him out and being challenged to escape without the curtain, discovered that audiences were more impressed and entertained when the curtains were eliminated so they could watch him struggle to get out. They both performed straitjacket escapes dangling upside-down from the roof of a building for publicity on more than one occasion. It is said that Hardeen once handed out bills for his show while Houdini was doing his suspended straitjacket escape. This enraged Houdini as people thought it was Hardeen in suspension and not himself.

For the majority of his career, Houdini performed his act as a headliner in vaudeville. For many years, he was the highest-paid performer in American vaudeville. One of Houdini's most notable non-escape stage illusions was performed at New York's Hippodrome Theater when he vanished a full-grown elephant (with its trainer) from a stage, beneath which was a swimming pool. In 1923, Houdini became president ofMartinka & Co., America's oldest magic company. The business is still in operation today. He also served as President of the Society of American Magicians (aka S.A.M.) from 1917 until his death in 1926. In the final years of his life (1925/26), Houdini launched his own full-evening show, which he billed as "3 Shows in One: Magic, Escapes, and Fraud Mediums Exposed."

Notable escapes

The Mirror Handcuff Challenge

In 1904, the London Daily Mirror newspaper challenged Houdini to escape from a special handcuff that it claimed had taken Nathaniel Hart, a locksmith from Birmingham, five years to make. Houdini accepted the challenge for March 17 during a matinée performance at London's Hippodrome theater. It was reported that 4000 people and more than 100 journalists turned out for the much-hyped event. The escape attempt dragged on for over an hour, during which Houdini emerged from his "ghost house" (a small screen used to conceal the method of his escape) several times. On one occasion, he asked if the cuff could be removed so he could take off his coat. The Mirror representative, Frank Parker, refused, saying Houdini could gain an advantage if he saw how the cuff was unlocked. Houdini promptly took out a pen-knife and, holding the knife in his teeth, used it to cut his coat from his body. Some 56 minutes later, Houdini's wife appeared on stage and gave him a kiss. It is believed that in her mouth was the key to unlock the special handcuff. Houdini then went back behind the curtain. After an hour and ten minutes, Houdini emerged free. As he was paraded on the shoulders of the cheering crowd, he broke down and wept. Houdini later said it was the most difficult escape of his career.

After Houdini's death, his friend, Will Goldstone, published in his book, Sensational Tales of Mystery Men, that Houdini was bested that day and appealed to his wife, Bess, for help. Goldstone goes on to claim that Bess begged the key from the Mirror representative, then slipped it to Houdini in a glass of water.

Goldstone offered no proof of his account, and many modern biographers have found evidence (notably in the custom design of the handcuff itself) that the entire Mirror challenge was pre-arranged by Houdini and the newspaper, and that his long struggle to escape was pure showmanship.

The Milk Can

In 1908, Houdini introduced his own original invention, the Milk Can escape.In this effect, Houdini would be handcuffed and sealed inside an over-sized milk can filled with water and make his escape behind a curtain. As part of the effect, Houdini would invite members of the audience to hold their breath along with him while he was inside the can. Advertised with dramatic posters that proclaimed "Failure Means A Drowning Death", the escape proved to be a sensation.Houdini soon modified the escape to include the Milk Can being locked inside a wooden chest, being chained or padlocked, and even inside another Milk can. Houdini only performed the Milk Can escape as a regular part of his act for four years, but it remains one of the effects most associated with the escape artist. Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, continued to perform the Milk Can (and the wooden chest variation) nto the 1940s. The Milk Can and the Overboard Box are presently housed at the American Museum of Magic.

The Chinese Water Torture Cell

Houdini performing the Chinese Water Torture Cell

In 1912, the vast number of imitators prompted Houdini to replace his Milk Can act with theChinese Water Torture Cell (which was second in fame only to the Straight Jacket). In this escape, Houdini's feet would be locked in stocks, and he would be lowered upside down into a tank filled with water. The mahogany and metal cell featured a glass front, through which audiences could clearly see Houdini. The stocks would be locked to the top of the cell, and a curtain would conceal his escape. In the earliest version of the Torture Cell, a metal cage was lowered into the cell, and Houdini was enclosed inside that. While making the escape more difficult (the cage prevented Houdini from turning), the cage bars also offered protection should the front glass break.

The original cell was built in England, where Houdini first performed the escape for an audience of one person as part of a one-act play he called "Houdini Upside Down". This was so he could copyright the effect and have grounds to sue imitators (which he did). While the escape was advertised as "The Chinese Water Torture Cell" or "The Water Torture Cell", Houdini always referred to it as "the Upside Down" or "USD". The first public performance of the USD was at the Circus Busch in Berlin, on September 21, 1912. Houdini continued to perform the escape until his death in 1926. Despite two Hollywood movies depicting Houdini dying in the Torture Cell, the escape had nothing to do with his demise. This trick is still a mystery today.

Suspended straitjacket escape

One of Houdini's most popular publicity stunts was to have himself strapped into a regulation straitjacket and suspended by his ankles from a tall building or crane. Houdini would then make his escape in full view of the assembled crowd. In many cases, Houdini would draw thousands of onlookers who would choke the street and bring city traffic to a halt. Houdini would sometimes ensure press coverage by performing the escape from the office building of a local newspaper. In New York City, Houdini performed the suspended straitjacket escape from a crane being used to build the New York subway. After flinging his body in the air, Houdini escaped from the straitjacket. Starting from when he was hoisted up in the air by the crane, to when the straitjacket was completely off, it took Houdini two minutes and thirty-seven seconds. There is film footage of Houdini performing the escape in The Library of Congress. After being battered against a building in high winds during one escape, Houdini performed the escape with a visible safety wire on his ankle so that he could be pulled away from the building if necessary.

Overboard Box Esc

Another one of Houdini's most famous publicity stunts was to escape from a nailed and roped packing crate after it had been lowered into the water. Houdini first performed the escape in New York's East River on July 7, 1912. Police forbade him from using one of the piers, so Houdini hired a tugboat and invited press on board. Houdini was locked in handcuffs and leg-irons, then nailed into the crate which was roped and weighed down with two hundred pounds of lead. The crate was then lowered into water. Houdini escaped in fifty-seven seconds. The crate was pulled to the surface and found to still be intact with the manacles inside. Houdini would perform this escape many times, and even performed a version on stage, first at Hamerstein's Roof Garden (where a 5,500-gallon tank was specially built), and later at the New York Hippodrome.

Buried Alive

Throughout his career, Houdini performed three variations on a "Buried Alive" stunt/escape. The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1917, and it almost cost Houdini his life. Houdini was buried, without a casket, in a pit of earth six feet deep. He became exhausted and panicky trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious and had to be pulled from the grave by his assistants. Houdini wrote in his diary that the escape was "very dangerous" and that "the weight of the earth is killing."

Houdini's second variation on Buried Alive was an endurance test designed to expose mystical Egyptian performer, Rahman Bey, who claimed to use supernatural powers to remain in a sealed casket for an hour. Houdini bettered Bey on August 5, 1926, by remaining in a sealed casket submerged in the swimming pool of New York's Hotel Shelton for one hour and a half. Houdini claimed he did not use any trickery or supernatural powers to accomplish this feat, just controlled breathing.

Houdini's final Buried Alive was an elaborate stage escape that was to feature in his full evening show. The stunt would see Houdini escape after being strapped in a strait-jacket, sealed in a casket, and then buried in a large tank filled with sand. While there are posters advertising the escape (playing off the Bey challenge they boasted "Egyptian Fakirs Outdone!"), it's unclear whether Houdini ever performed the Buried Alive on stage. The stunt was to be the feature escape of his 1927 season, but Houdini died in October 1926. Interestingly, the bronze casket Houdini created for Buried Alive was used to transport Houdini's body from Detroit back to New York following his death on Halloween.

Movie career

"The Houdini Serial", 1919

"The Grim Game", 1919

Houdini swims above Niagara Falls in a scene from The Man from Beyond (1922)

Houdini made his first movie for Pathé in 1901. Titled Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini à Paris, it featured a loose narrative meant to showcase several of Houdini's famous escapes, including his straitjacket escape. Houdini returned to film in 1916 when he served as special-effects consultant on the Pathé thriller,The Mysteries of Myra. That same year, he got an offer to star as Captain Nemo in a silent version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but the project never made it into production.

In 1918, Houdini signed a contract with film producer B.A. Rolfe to star in a 15-part serial, The Master Mystery (released in January 1919). As was common at the time, the film serial was released simultaneously with a novel. Financial difficulties resulted in B.A. Rolfe Productions going out of business, but The Master Mystery was a box-office success^{[citation needed]} and led to Houdini being signed by Famous Players-Lasky Corporation/Paramount Pictures, for whom he made two pictures, The Grim Game (1919) and Terror Island (1920). While filming an aerial stunt for The Grim Game, two biplanes collided in mid-air with a stuntman doubling Houdini dangling by a rope from one of the planes. Publicity was geared heavily toward promoting this dramatic "caught on film" moment, claiming it was Houdini himself dangling from the plane. While filming these movies in Los Angeles, Houdini rented a home in Laurel Canyon.

Following his two-picture stint in Hollywood, Houdini returned to New York and started his own film production company called the "Houdini Picture Corporation." He produced and starred in two films, The Man From Beyond (1921) and Haldane of the Secret Service (1923). He also started up his own film laboratory business called The Film Development Corporation (FDC), gambling on a new process for developing motion picture film. Houdini’s brother, Hardeen, left his own career as a magician and escape artist to run the company. MagicianHarry Kellar was a major investor.

Neither Houdini's acting career nor FDC found success, and he gave up on the movie business in 1923, complaining that "the profits are too meager.” But his celebrity was such that, years later, he would be given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (at 7001 Hollywood Blvd).

As of 2007, only The Man From Beyond had been commercially released on DVD. Incomplete versions of The Master Mystery and Terror Island were released by private collectors on VHS. Complete 35 mm prints of Haldane of the Secret Service and The Grim Game exist only in private collections. Haldane of the Secret Service was screened in Los Angeles in 2007.

In April 2008, Kino International released a DVD box set of Houdini's surviving silent movies. The set includes The Master Mystery, Terror Island, The Man From Beyond, Haldane of the Secret Service, and five minutes of The Grim Game. The set also includes newsreel footage of Houdini's escapes from 1907 to 1923.

Pioneer aviator

In 1909, Houdini became fascinated with aviation. That same year, he purchased a French Voisin biplane for $5000 and hired a full-time mechanic, Antonio Brassac. Houdini painted his name in bold block letters on the Voisin's sidepanels and tail. After crashing once, Houdini made his first successful flight on November 26 in Hamburg, Germany.

In 1910, Houdini toured Australia. He brought with him his Voisin biplane and had the distinction of achieving the first powered flight over Australia, doing so on March 18 at Diggers Rest, Victoria (near Melton), just north of Melbourne. Colin Defries preceded him, but he crashed the plane on landing. Houdini proudly claimed to reporters that, while the world may forget about him as a magician and escape artist, it would never forget Houdini the pioneer aviator.

After his Australia tour, Houdini put the Voisin into storage in England. Although he announced he would use it to fly from city to city during his next Music Hall tour, Houdini never flew again.

Debunking spiritualists

Houdini demonstrates how a photographer could produce fraudulent "spirit photographs" that documented the apparition and social interaction of deceased individuals

In the 1920s, after the death of his beloved mother, Cecilia, he turned his energies toward debunking self-proclaimed psychics and mediums, a pursuit that would inspire and be followed by later-day conjurers. Houdini's training in magic allowed him to expose frauds who had successfully fooled many scientists and academics. He was a member of a Scientific American committee that offered a cash prize to any medium who could successfully demonstrate supernatural abilities. None were able to do so, and the prize was never collected. The first to be tested was medium George Valentine of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. As his fame as a "ghostbuster" grew, Houdini took to attending séances in disguise, accompanied by a reporter and police officer. Possibly the most famous medium whom he debunked was the Boston medium Mina Crandon, also known as "Margery". Houdini chronicled his debunking exploits in his book, A Magician Among the Spirits.

These activities cost Houdini the friendship of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle, a firm believer in Spiritualism during his later years, refused to believe any of Houdini's exposés. Conan Doyle actually came to believe that Houdini was a powerful spiritualist medium, had performed many of his stunts by means of paranormal abilities and was using these abilities to block those of other mediums that he was 'debunking' (see Conan Doyle's The Edge of The Unknown, published in 1931, after Houdini's death). This disagreement led to the two men becoming public antagonists. Gabriel Brownstein has written a fictionalized account of the meetings of Houdini, Conan Doyle, and "Margery" in The Man from Beyond: A Novel (2005).

Yearly séances

Bess Houdini, the magician's widow, held yearly séances on Halloween for ten years after Houdini's death, but Houdini never appeared. In 1936, after a last unsuccessful séance on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel, she put out the candle that she had kept burning beside a photograph of Houdini since his death, later saying in 1943 that "ten years is long enough to wait for any man." The tradition of holding a séance for Houdini continues by magicians throughout the world to this day; the Official Houdini Séance is currently organized by Sidney Hollis Radner, a Houdini aficionado from upstate New York. The yearly Houdini Séances are also done at the Houdini Museum in Scranton by magician Dorothy Dietrich who previously held them at New York's famous Magic Towne House with such magical notables as Houdini biographers Walter B. Gibson and Milbourne Christopher.

Appearance and voice

Heavyweight boxer Jack Dempsey mock punching Houdini (held back by lightweight boxerBenny Leonard)

Unlike the image of the classic magician, Houdini was short and stocky and typically appeared on stage in a long frock coat and tie. Most biographers peg his height as 5'5", but descriptions vary. Houdini was also said to be slightly bow-legged, which aided in his ability to gain slack during his rope escapes. In the 1996 biography Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss, authorKenneth Silverman summarizes how reporters described Houdini's appearance during his early career:

“

They stressed his smallness – "somewhat undersized" – and angular, vivid features: "He is smooth-shaven with a keen, sharp-chinned, sharp-cheekboned face, bright blue eyes and thick, curly, black hair." Some sensed how much his complexly expressive smile was the outlet of his charismatic stage presence. It communicated to audiences at once warm amiability, pleasure in performing, and, more subtly, imperious self-assurance. Several reporters tried to capture the charming effect, describing him as "happy-looking", "pleasant-faced", "good natured at all times", "the young Hungarian magician with the pleasant smile and easy confidence."

”

The only known recording of Houdini's voice reveals it to be heavily accented. Houdini made these recordings on Edison wax cylinders on October 29, 1914, in Flatbush, New York. On them, Houdini practices several different introductory speeches for his famous Chinese Water Torture Cell. He also invites his sister, Gladys, to recite a poem. Houdini then recites the same poem in German. The six wax cylinders were discovered in the collection of magician John Mulholland after his death in 1970. They are currently part of the David Copperfield collection.

Artifacts

Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, who returned to performing after Houdini's death, inherited his brother's effects and props. Houdini's will stipulated that all the effects should be "burned and destroyed" upon Hardeen's death. But Hardeen sold much of the collection to magician and Houdini enthusiast Sidney Hollis Radner during the 1940s, including the Water Torture Cell Radner allowed choice pieces of the collection to be displayed at The Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls, Canada. In 1995, a fire destroyed the museum. While the Water Torture Cell was reported to have been destroyed, its metal frame remained, and the cell was restored by illusion builder John Gaughan. Many of the props contained in the museum such as the Mirror Handcuffs, Houdini's original packing crate, a Milk Can, and a straight-jacket, survived the fire and were auctioned off in 1999 and 2008.

Radner archived the bulk of his collection at the Houdini Museum in Appleton, Wisconsin, but pulled it in 2003 and auctioned it off in Las Vegas on October 30, 2004.

Death

Houdini and his wife Bess

Harry Houdini died of peritonitis secondary to a ruptured appendix. It has been speculated that Houdini was killed accidentally by a McGill University student, J. Gordon Whitehead, who delivered multiple blows to Houdini's abdomen (with permission) while he was in Montreal, in order to test Houdini's claim that he was able to take a blow to the body above the waist without injury.

The eyewitnesses were students named Jacques Price and Sam Smilovitz (sometimes called Jack Price and Sam Smiley). Their accounts generally agreed. The following is Price's description of events:

Houdini was reclining on his couch after his performance, having an art student sketch him. When Whitehead came in and asked if it was true that Houdini could take any blow to the stomach, Houdini replied groggily in the affirmative. In this instance, he was hit three times before Houdini could tighten up his stomach muscles to avoid serious injury. Whitehead reportedly continued hitting Houdini several more times and Houdini acted as though he were in some pain.

Houdini stated that if he had time to prepare himself properly he would have been in a better position to take the blows.

Houdini had apparently been suffering from appendicitis for several days prior and yet refused medical treatment. His appendix would most likely have burst on its own without the trauma.Although in serious pain, Houdini nonetheless continued to travel without seeking medical attention.

When Houdini arrived at the Garrick Theater in Detroit, Michigan on October 24, 1926, for what would be his last performance, he had a fever of 104°F (40°C). Despite a diagnosis of acute appendicitis, Houdini took the stage. He was reported to have passed out during the show, but was revived and continued. Afterwards, he was hospitalized at Detroit's Grace Hospital. Houdini died of peritonitis from a ruptured appendix at 1:26 p.m. in Room 401 on October 31 (Halloween), 1926, at the age of 52.

After taking statements from Price and Smilovitz, Houdini's insurance company concluded that the death was due to the dressing-room incident and paid double indemnity.

Funeral

Houdini's funeral was held on November 4, 1926 in New York, with more than 2,000 mourners in attendance. He was interred in theMachpelah Cemetery in Queens, New York, with the crest of the Society of American Magicians inscribed on his gravesite. To this day the Society holds its "Broken Wand" ceremony at the grave site in November. Houdini's widow, Bess, died in February 1943 and expressed a wish to be buried next to him but instead was interred at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Westchester, New York. She was not permitted to be interred with him because she was not Jewish.

The gravesite of Harry Houdini

The grave marker at Harry Houdini's burial site

Proposed exhumation

On March 22, 2007, around 80 years after Houdini died, his great-nephew (the grandson of Houdini's brother Theo) George Hardeen announced that the courts would be asked to allow exhumation of Houdini's body. The purpose was to look for evidence that Houdini was poisoned by Spiritualists, as suggested in The Secret Life of Houdini. In a statement given to the Houdini Museum in Scranton, the family opposed the application and suggested it was a publicity ploy for the much fictionalized book. The Washington Post added credence to this idea when it revealed the press conference was not orchestrated by the family of Houdini, but by Secret Life authors William Kulash and Larry Sloman, who hired the PR firm Dan Klores Communications to put it together. In 2008 it was revealed the parties involved never filed legal papers to perform an exhumation.

Legacy

1936 - On October 31, 1936, Houdini's widow held the "Final Houdini Séance" atop of the roof of The Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood, California. A recording of the séance was made and issued as a record album.

1953 - Houdini, a mostly fictionalized biopic of Houdini's life, was made. This movie, starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, has contributed, in part, to several misconceptions about Houdini's life. For example, it portrays the cause of Houdini's death to be the magician's failure to escape from the Chinese Water Torture Cell. (Curtis's Houdini agrees to seek medical attention "when the tour is over.") Houdini actually developed the Chinese Torture Cell trick fourteen years before he died and performed it numerous times.

1968 - The Houdini Magical Hall of Fame was opened on Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. At its opening, this museum contained the majority of Houdini's personal collection of magic paraphernalia. One of Houdini's death wishes was that his entire collection be given to his brother Theodore (also known as the magician Hardeen) and burned upon Theodore's death. Against his wishes, forty years after Houdini's death, the items were taken from storage and sold. Two entrepreneurs purchased the items and renovated a former meat-packing plant on Clifton Hill, Ontario, Canada, to house the museum. The Hall of Fame was moved in 1972 to its final location on the top of Clifton Hill. Séances were held every year at the museum on October 31, the anniversary of Houdini's death. A fire destroyed the museum on April 30, 1995.

1968 - Stuart Damon plays Houdini in a lavishly staged London musical, Man of Magic.

1975 - Houdini received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star is located on the northwest corner of Hollywood Blvd. and Orange Drive, just across from the Grauman's Chinese Theater and down the street from The Magic Castle.

1975 - Houdini repeatedly appears in E. L. Doctorow's historical novel Ragtime.

1976 - Houdini was played by Paul Michael Glaser, of Starsky and Hutch fame, in a 1976 TV movie called The Great Houdinis! (aka The Great Houdini), which was also highly fictionalized. The film focused on Houdini's relationship with his wife and mother, who were portrayed as frequently bickering because his wife was a devout Christian and his mother almost fanatical in her Judaism to the point of being anti-Christian (although, in reality, they had cordial relations) and on his fascination with life after death. The cast also included Sally Struthers,Vivian Vance, Bill Bixby, and Ruth Gordon. Peter Cushing appeared as Arthur Conan Doyle; Cushing had previously played Doyle's creation, Sherlock Holmes. Actor/Houdini authority Patrick Culliton played Houdini's assistant Franz Kukol.

1985 - The City of Appleton, Wisconsin, constructed the Houdini Plaza on the site of the magician's childhood home.

1985 - Wil Wheaton played Houdini in Young Harry Houdini, a made-for-TV movie that aired on ABC as a "Disney Sunday Movie." The film also featured Jeffrey DeMunn as the adult Houdini. DeMunn first played Houdini in the film version of Ragtime.

1989 - Canadian synth pop act Kon Kan release "Harry Houdini," the third single from the Move to Move album.

1993 - The film Last Action Hero is released, in which a magical movie ticket, which grants the bearer entry to a film's world, allegedly belonged to Houdini, prior to being passed off to the character by the name of Nick.

1997 - Actor Harvey Keitel plays Houdini and Peter O'Toole Conan Doyle in the film FairyTale: A True Story, set during World War I and portraying the alleged photographing of live fairies by two English schoolgirls. The two are shown as collegial even though they disagree as to the validity of spiritualism; in reality, Conan Doyle's fervent belief and Houdini's avowed skepticism sparked a bitter feud between the two that was never resolved. Keitel hired Patrick Culliton and Stanley Palm as "Houdini advisors."

1998 - Ragtime, the Broadway musical version of the movie, premiered on January 18, 1998. It featured Houdini as a character and has a song called "Harry Houdini, Master Escapist." The book was written by Terrence McNally, with music and lyrics by Stephen Flaherty andLynn Ahrens. The play ran on Broadway until January 16, 2000, and won four Tony Awards. Both the movie and the play are based on E.L. Doctorow's 1975 novel of the same title.

1998 - Johnathon Schaech played Houdini in the TNT original movie Houdini. The film co-starred Stacy Edwards as Bess and Mark Ruffaloas his brother, Dash (aka Theo. Hardeen). The TV movie first aired on December 6, 1998.

1999 - Six Flags Great Adventure opens a Mad House ride named "Houdini's Great Escape", with the ride and pre-show based on bringing Houdini's spirit back into the world.

2001 - The Houdini Seance is mounted as a theatrical piece in Chicago by Neil Tobin and becomes an annual Halloween event at Excalibur (nightclub).

2002 - The United States Postal Service issued a postage stamp with a replica of Houdini's favorite publicity poster on July 3, 2002.

There is a Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It is the only building in the world entirely dedicated to Houdini and is run by magicians Dick Brooks and Dorothy Dietrich. The museum also holds an annual Houdini séance.

While touring in the United States, Houdini met Joe Keaton and his family vaudeville act. It's said that after Joe's young son fell down a flight of stairs unscathed, Houdini remarked, "Your kid is quite the buster" (buster being a stage name for a fall) and gave a name to comedy legend Buster Keaton (the kid).

2007 - A movie, Death Defying Acts, starring Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta Jones was made which is based on Houdini's life.

2008 - Escape artist Curtis Lovell II dedicated his buried alive stunt to Harry Houdini. It took Lovell 16 minutes to escape and over 2000 people came to witness this Houdini style stunt in the city of Grand Terrace California. CBS, KCAL9 and local newspapers covered the event.

2008 - Australian rock band Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds releases their album Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! based on Houdini's attempt to discredit spiritualists.

2008 - Houdini's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is restored and rededicated in a ceremony attended by Neil Patrick Harris, Penn & Teller, Aron Houdini,Tippi Hedren, Milt Larsen, and other notables from the world of magic and movies.

2009 - Summit Entertainment purchased the film rights to The Secret Life of Houdini and announced plans to produce a series of films featuring Houdini as an action hero in the vein of Indiana Jones and Sherlock Holmes.

2009 - The Perth Mint releases a limited supply of dollar coins commemorating Houdini’s first flight in Australia on March 18, 1910.

Publications

Houdini published numerous books during his career (some of which were written by his good friend Walter Brown Gibson, the creator of The Shadow):

The Right Way to Do Wrong (1906)

Handcuff Secrets (1907)

The Unmasking of Robert Houdin (1908)

Magical Rope Ties and Escapes (1920)

Miracle Mongers and their Methods (1920)

Houdini's Paper Magic (1921)

A Magician Among the Spirits (1924)

Under the Pyramids (1924) with H. P. Lovecraft.

Films

Films starring Houdini:

Merveilleux Exploits du Célébre Houdini à Paris - Pathé (1901) - playing self.

The Master Mystery - Octagon Films (1918) - playing Quentin Locke.

The Grim Game - Famous Players Lasky/Paramount (1919) - playing Harvey Handford.

Terror Island - Famous Players Lasky/Paramount (1920) - playing Harry Harper.

The Man From Beyond - Houdini Picture Corporation (1922) - playing Howard Hillary.

Haldane of the Secret Service - Houdini Picture Corporation/FBO (1922) - playing Heath Haldane.

Biographical films:

Houdini (1953) - played by Tony Curtis

The Great Houdini aka The Great Houdinis (1976) - played by Paul Michael Glaser (TV movie)

Ragtime (1981) - played by Jeffrey DeMunn

Young Harry Houdini (1987) - played by Wil Wheaton & Jeffrey DeMunn (TV movie)

A Night at the Magic Castle (1988) - played by Arte Johnson

FairyTale: A True Story (1997) - played by Harvey Keitel

Houdini (1998) - played by Johnathon Schaech (TV movie)

Cremaster 2 (1999) - played by Norman Mailer

Death Defying Acts (2007) - played by Guy Pearce

David Blaine

2009-12-14T06:24:00.000-08:00

David Blaine

David Blaine
Blaine in September 2008
Born	David Blaine White April 4, 1973 (age 36) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Illusionist, endurance artist
Years active	1997–present
Website David Blaine

David Blaine (born David Blaine White; April 4, 1973) is an American illusionist and endurance artist. He is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance, and has made his name as a performer of street and close-up magic. He has set and broken several world records. Theatre owner James Nederlander as well as The New York Times have referred to Blaine as a modern day Houdini. He has also been called a "Houdini wanna-be" by the New York Daily News.

Early life

Blaine was born David Blaine White in Brooklyn, New York and is of Puerto Rican descent on his father's side. His mother, Patrice Maureen White (1946–1995), was a school teacher living in New York, and his father William Perez was a Vietnam veteran. When he was four years old, he saw a magician performing magic on the subway. This sparked an interest in Blaine. He was raised by his single mother and attended many schools in Brooklyn. When he was ten years old, his mother married John Bukalo and they moved to Little Falls, New Jersey, where he attended Passaic Valley Regional High School He has a half-brother named Michael James Bukalo. When Blaine was a teen, he frequently traveled to Manhattan, New York to pursue acting. He attended acting school and has appeared in some television commercials and daytime dramas.When he was 17 years old, Blaine moved to Manhattan, New York

Career

Street Magic and Magic Man

On May 19, 1997, Blaine's first television special, David Blaine: Street Magic aired on the abc network. According to The New York Daily News, “Blaine can lay claim to his own brand of wizardry. The magic he offers in tonight’s show operates on an uncommonly personal level.(10)When asked about his performance style, David explained, “I'd like to bring magic back to the place it used to be 100 years ago.”' Time Magazine commented, "his deceptively low-key, ultracool manner leaves spectators more amazed than if he'd razzle-dazzled." The New York Times wrote, “He's taken a craft that's been around for hundreds of years and done something unique and fresh with it."

In Magic Man, Blaine is shown traveling across the country, entertaining unsuspecting pedestrians in New York City, Atlantic City, Dallas, San Francisco, Compton, and the Mojave Desert recorded by a small crew with handheld cameras. Jon Racherbaumer commented, "Make no mistake about it, the focus of this show, boys and girls, is not Blaine. It is really about theatrical proxemics; about the show-within-a-show and the spontaneous, visceral reactions of people being astonished. USA Today calls David “The hottest name in magic right now”.

Buried Alive

David Blaine buried underneath a 3.5 ton tank of water in New York.

On April 5, 1999, Blaine was entombed in an underground plastic box underneath a 3-ton water-filled tank for seven days across from Trump Place on 68th St. and Riverside Drive. According toCNN, "Blaine's only communication to the outside world was by a hand buzzer, which could have alerted an around-the-clock emergency crew standing by." BBC News reported that the cramped plastic coffin offered six inches (152 mm) of headroom and two inches on each side. During the endurance stunt Blaine ate nthing and drank only two to three tablespoons of water a day.An estimated 75,000 people visited the site, including Marie Blood, Harry Houdini's niece, who said, "My uncle did some amazing things, but he could not have done this." On the final day of the stunt, April 12, hundreds of news teams were stationed at the site for the coffin-opening. A team of construction workers removed a portion of the 75 square feet (7.0 m²) of gravel surrounding the six-foot deep coffin before a crane lifted the water tank. Blaine emerged and told the crowd "I saw something very prophetic ... a vision of every race, every religion, every age group banding together, and that made all this worthwhile." Reiterating Marie Blood's remarks,BBC News stated, "The 26-year-old magician has outdone his hero, Harry Houdini, who had planned a similar feat but died in 1926 before he could perform it."During the preparation of the stunt, Jonathan Demme told Time Out New York, “He’s the most exciting thing in America ... And I’m not just talking entertainment.”

Frozen in Time

David Blaine encased in a block of ice for Frozen in Time in Times Square, New York.

On November 27, 2000, Blaine began a stunt called "Frozen in Time," which was covered on a TV special. Blaine stood encased in a massive block of ice located in Times Square, New York. He was lightly dressed and seen to be shivering even before the blocks of ice were sealed around him. A tube supplied him with air and water while his urine was removed with another tube. He was encased in the box of ice for 63 hours, 42 minutes and 15 seconds before being removed with chain saws. The ice was transparent and resting on an elevated platform to show that he was actually inside the ice the entire time. CNN confirmed that "thousands of people braved the pouring rain Wednesday night to catch a glimpse of Blaine as workers cut away at the ice."He was removed from the ice in an obviously dazed and disoriented state, wrapped in blankets and taken to the hospital immediately because doctors feared he might be going into shock The New York Times reported, "The magician who emerged from the increasingly unstable ice box seemed a shadow of the confident, robust, shirtless fellow who entered two days before." Blaine said in the documentary follow-up to this feat that it took "a month" before he was able to walk again and that he had no plans to ever again attempt a stunt of this difficulty. The validity of the event was questioned on Breaking the Magician's Code, shown on myNetworkTV on May 21, 2008. The masked magician showed how it could be performed as an illusion with two magicians taking turns in the block of ice

David Blaine stands on a 100 ft (30 m). pole for Vertigo in the middle of Bryant Parkin New York.

Vertigo

On May 22, 2002, a crane lifted Blaine onto a 100-foot (30 m) high and 22-inch (0.56 m) wide pillar inBryant Park, New York City. Although he was not harnessed to the pillar, there were two retractable handles on either side of him to grasp in the event of harsh weather. The Evening Standard's James Langton wrote, "He was battered by high winds and unusually cold May weather during his first night and would have been killed or seriously injured if he had fallen." He remained on the pillar for exactly 35 hours. The New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik wrote, “David Blaine, standing up there, is actually as good a magical metaphor for the moment as Houdini, fighting his way out of the straitjacket of immigrant identity toward prosperity, was for his." With his legs weak from standing atop the pillar for so long, he ended the feat by jumping down onto a landing platform made out of a 12-foot (3.7 m) high pile of cardboard boxes and suffered a mild concussion.

On October 29, 2002, Random House published David Blaine's Mysterious Stranger: A Book of Magic. Part autobiography, part history of magic, and part armchair treasure hunt, the book also includes instructions on how to perform card tricks and illusions. Editing director, Bruce Tracy, explains “David Blaine is the most exciting and creative magician since Houdini, and now, readers have the opportunity to enjoy Blaine's unique book about magic, and they can participate by testing their own ability to discover and interpret clues.”

The treasure hunt, Blaine's $100,000 Challenge, was devised by game designer Cliff Johnson, creator of The Fool's Errand, and solved by Sherri Skanes on March 20, 2004, 16 months after the book's publication.

Above the Below

David Blaine in the box for Above the Below in front of thousands at City Hall (London).

On September 5, 2003, Blaine began his 44-day endurance stunt sealed inside a transparent Plexiglas case suspended 30 feet (9 m) in the air next to Potters Fields Park on the south bank of the River Thames, the area between City Hall and Tower Bridge in London. The case, measuring 3 feet (0.9 m) by 7 feet (2.1 m) by 7 feet (2.1 m), had a webcam installed so that viewers could observe his progress. During the 44-day period, Blaine went without any food or nutrients and survived on just 4.5 liters of water per day.

The endurance stunt became the subject of much media attention. The Guardianwrote, "Blaine has created one of the most eloquent and telling visual images of our time." The Times reported that "1,614 articles in the British press have made reference to the exploit."U.S. President George W. Bush referred to Blaine’s stunt in a speech at the Whitehall Palace in London, saying “The last noted American to visit London stayed in a glass box dangling over the Thames. A few might have been happy to provide similar arrangements for me.”

A number of spectators were mischievous or hostile towards the endurance artist. The Times reported that eggs, lemons, sausages, bacon, water bottles, beer cans, paint-filled balloons and golf balls had all been thrown at the box. The Evening Standard reported that one man was arrested for attempting to cut the water supply to Blaine's box. According to BBC News, a hamburger was flown up to the box by a remote-controlled helicopter as a taunt.

On September 25, BBC News reported that Blaine announced via webcam that he was feeling the taste of pear drops on his tongue. Dr. Adam Carey, who performed a medical examination of Blaine before he entered the box, said that the taste was produced by ketones produced by the body burning fatty acids, which are themselves produced from fat reserves via glycerol.

Blaine emerged on schedule on October 19, murmuring "I love you all!" and was quickly hospitalized. The New England Journal of Medicine published a paper that documented his 44 day fast and stated that his re-feeding was perhaps the most dangerous part of the stunt. The study reported, “He lost 24.5 kg (25 percent of his original body weight), and his body mass index dropped from 29.0 to 21.6. His appearance and body-mass index after his fast would not by themselves have alerted us to the risks of refeeding. Despite cautious management, he hadhypophosphatemia and fluid retention, important elements of the refeeding syndrome.” The event was filmed by cult director, and close friend of Blaine, Harmony Korine.

Drowned Alive

David Blaine prepares to hold his breath on the final night of Drowned Alive at Lincoln Center.

On May 1, 2006, Blaine was submerged in an 8 feet (2.4 m) diameter, water-filled sphere (isotonic saline, 0.9% salt) in front of the Lincoln Center in New York City for a planned seven days and seven nights, using tubes for air and nutrition. During the stunt, doctors witnessed skin breakdown at the hands and feet, and liver failure. The New York Times' Kenneth Silverman wrote "his feat of endurance brought a diverse crowd of thousands of New Yorkers together, renewing for a while the city's waning spirit of democratic community."

He concluded this event by attempting to hold his breath underwater to break the then-current world record of 8 minutes, 58 seconds held by Tom Sietas for static apnea—holding one's breath without the aid of breathing 100% oxygen beforehand, although Blaine's attempt would not have qualified as static apnea under AIDA Internationalrules. Blaine also tried to free himself from handcuffs and chains put on him upon coming out after the week in the sphere. He seemed to have trouble escaping from the last of the handcuffs. Around the 7 minute mark, he showed some signs of distress. He was pulled up and out of the water by his support divers after 7 minutes and 8 seconds underwater—one minute and fifty seconds short of his goal. Although he did not take home the record for breath holding, he was called “an everyday hero for an everyday age,” by The Boston Globe, and The Washington Post stated, “Blaine represented an opportunity to see something unbelievable.”

Blaine did claim to succeed in setting a record for being fully submerged in water for more than seven days straight (177 hours), and has since broken the record for holding one's breath using oxygen beforehand (as permitted by the Guinness book of records).

Blaine underwent multiple short hospital visits after the stunt ended and has entered an agreement with doctors from Yale University to monitor him in order to study the human physiological reaction to prolonged submersion. In an interview on The Howard Stern Show on Sirius satellite radio, Blaine spoke of the week-long fasting he did before the "drowning alive" stunt, to avoid having to be concerned with defecation.

Revolution

On November 19, 2006, Blaine announced his next stunt: he would be shackled to a rotating gyroscope. His goal was to escape from his shackles after the gyroscope had been spinning for 16 hours. The gyroscope was constantly spinning at a rate of eight revolutions per minute while hanging above an empty lot in Manhattan near Times Square.

The stunt began on November 21, 2006, with Mr Blaine declaring, "This one's exciting for me. This one's a fun one." 52 hours later, without food or water, a dehydrated and weakened Blaine, landed on a wooden platform 30 feet below after jumping from the hanging gyroscope.

As a result of his success, Blaine led 100 children selected by The Salvation Army on a shopping spree at Target, after each child received a $500 gift certificate from the retailer. Blaine said the stunt was particularly important since The Salvation Army had provided him with clothing while he was growing up. "This challenge is close to my heart," Blaine said.

Guinness World Records

After failing to surpass the then-current record of unassisted static apnea in his previous attempt Drowned Alive, Blaine appeared on the April 30, 2008 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, announcing that he would attempt to break the Guinness World Record for oxygen assistedstatic apnea set by Peter Colat of Switzerland on February 10, 2008.

Before entering his eighteen-hundred gallon water tank, Blaine spent 23 minutes inhaling pure oxygen; up to 30 minutes of "oxygen hyperventilation" is allowed under guidelines. His heart rate remained above one hundred beats per minute during much of the attempt, rising to one hundred and twenty-four bpm. in the fifteenth minute. A faster heart rate increases oxygen consumption leading to painful carbon dioxide buildup. In the final minute, his heart rate became erratic and he started rising from the bottom of the water-filled sphere; however, he kept his head submerged for a half minute longer than the previous record. Ultimately, Blaine held his breath for seventeen minutes four and a half seconds, surpassing Colat's previous mark of sixteen minutes thirty-two seconds. This was Blaine's first Guinness record and it stood for almost four and a half months, until surpassed by Tom Sietas on September 19, 2008.

During the following interview, Blaine stated: "I really thought I was not going to make it," claiming that he did so by staying in a meditative state which was helped by the studio lights reflecting off of the sphere. According to Blaine, besides the pressure of performing on television, the heart-rate monitor happened to be close enough to his ear so that he heard its beeping, and he had to keep his feet locked in holds at the bottom of the sphere — instead of just floating freely, as he did in the pool on Grand Cayman months earlier. Back then he said he was so relaxed he "wasn’t even there" during most of the breath-hold. But when he emerged from the sphere today, he told Oprah, "I was pretty much here the whole time."

Dive of Death

Donald Trump with David Blaine announcing Blaine's next event in the atrium of the Trump Tower.

On September 18, 2008, Donald Trump and Blaine held a press conference at the Trump Tower in New York City to announce his latest feat, “The Upside Down Man.” Blaine was to hang upside down without a safety net for 60 hours above Central Park’s Wollman Rink, with a predicted end for 10:45 p.m. on September 24. Reportedly, Blaine risked blindness and other maladies in the stunt. Trump has helped finance this and other Blaine events. Blaine hung over the Wollman Rink and interacted with fans by lowering himself upside down. At the press conference Blaine stated he had already gone without food for over a week, and will continue to do so throughout the act. In order to drink fluid and restore circulation he will pull himself up, although he will contend with muscle spasms and lack of sleep. Blaine began the stunt on Monday September 22, but was widely criticized when, only hours into the endurance challenge, he was seen by fans to be standing on a waiting crane platform, and not upside down, as expected. He reportedly would come down once an hour to receive a medical check, stretch and relieve himself.

When the "Dive of Death" took place, Blaine came down from the platform on a cable, and lightly touched the stage. He was then pulled back up into the air, and, in the words of the New York Daily News, "hung in the air like a sack of potatoes with a goofy grin on his face, occasionally kicking his legs as though he were running." The plan had been for Blaine to be pulled up into the air by helium balloons and disappear into the atmosphere. Blaine attributed the problem to changes in weather conditions that occurred after the stunt was delayed due to an address by President Bush.

Bhagirath Goswami

Criss Angel

2009-12-14T06:10:00.000-08:00

Angeldust (band)" redirects here. For the German power metal band, see Angel Dust (band).

Criss Angel

Born	Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos December 19, 1967 (age 41) East Meadow, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Illusionist, musician, hypnotist,stunt performer, actor,escapologist
Years active	1997–present
Website CrissAngel.com

Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos (born December 19, 1967), better known by his stage nameCriss Angel, is an American magician, illusionist, musician, escapologist, and stunt performer. He is best known for starring in his own television show, Criss Angel Mindfreak.

Early life

Angel was born to John and Dimitra Sarantakos and raised in East Meadow, Long Island, New York along with two brothers, Costa and J.D. His father owned a restaurant and doughnut shop and was devoted to personal fitness before dying of cancer in 1998.^[1] He is of Greek descent.

Angel was first introduced to magic at age 7, after his aunt taught him a card trick. His interest grew and, by the time he graduated from East Meadow High School, he was not interested in attending university and instead aimed at becoming a professional magician.

Criss Angel Mindfreak

Main article: Criss Angel Mindfreak

Criss Angel is the star and creator of the A&E Network show Criss Angel Mindfreak. Seasons 1 and 2 were filmed at The Aladdin in Las Vegas, with Season 3 at the Luxor Hotel. Premiering on July 20, 2005, the illusions have included walking on water, levitating above the Luxor Hotel (in the light of 39 lightbulbs that can be seen from space^[2]), floating between two buildings, causing a Lamborghini to disappear, surviving in an exploding C4 Crate, cutting himself in half in full view of an audience and getting run over by a steamroller while lying stomach down on a bed of glass. Also in season 3 he was known for jumping out of a moving car. Angel was injured and stopped production for 3 weeks.

Criss Angel Believe

Main article: Criss Angel Believe

Criss Angel collaborated with Cirque du Soleil to create Criss Angel Believe, a live show at the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas, which stars Angel, who is billed as "co-writer, illusions creator and designer, original concept creator and star."

Angel originally tried to develop the show for a Broadway run, as well as other casinos. Eventually, what became Believe came together when he entered a partnership with Cirque du Soleil and the Luxor's parent company, MGM Mirage Resorts, financed the show with $100 million.

After several delays, the show was set for a Gala opening on October 31, 2008, with preview shows in late September.^[5]^[6]^[7] The initial preview was not well received, with thoroughly negative audience reactions.^[8]^[9] The show opened to equally harsh reviews which cited a lack of the magic Angel is known for, as well as a confusing and uninteresting theme. Reviewers felt neither Angel nor Cirque du Soleil were able to perform to their capabilities.

In April 2009, Angel ended a performance of Believe by "hurling obscene insults" at Perez Hilton, who was an audience member. Hilton reportedly had Tweeted to his fans during the performance that the show was "unbelievably BAD" and that he'd "rather be getting a root canal", and word had gotten back to Angel by the end of the performance. Cirque du Soleil later apologized to Hilton for Angel's remarks

Phenomenon

Main article: Phenomenon (TV series)

Starting in October 2007 he appeared as a judge on Phenomenon, with Uri Geller and in a CNN interview about the show he told Larry King "no one has the ability, that I'm aware of, to do anything supernatural, psychic, talk to the dead. And that was what I said I was going to do withPhenomenon. If somebody goes on that show and claims to have supernatural psychic ability, I'm going to bust [him] live and on television."

~~prince vivek~~

On the October 31, 2007 episode of the reality show Phenomenon, Paranormalist Jim Callahan performed a summoning, purportedly of author Raymond Hill, to help discover the contents of a locked box. Although fellow judge Uri Geller praised the performance, Angel called it "comical" and subsequently challenged both Callahan and Geller to guess the contents of two envelopes he pulled out of his pocket, offering a million dollars of his own money to whoever could do so. This led to an argument between Callahan and Angel, during which Callahan walked toward Angel and called him an "ideological bigot", with the two pulled apart as the show promptly went to a commercial break. Angel has since revealed the contents of one envelope and at the unveiling he challenged Geller one more time. Geller was unsuccessful, and the envelope was revealed to contain an index card with the numbers "911" printed on it for September 11, 2001. Criss' explanation was this: "If on 9-10 somebody could have predicted that 9-11 was going to happen, they could have saved thousands of lives". The other envelope's contents was scheduled to be revealed on the first episode of Season 4 of Criss Angel: Mindfreak. However, the contents of the other envelope were never revealed and remain a mystery to this day.

Personal life

In 2002, Angel married his longtime girlfriend JoAnn Winkhard. The couple filed for divorce five years later. Although Angel was seen with his wife in the buried alive illusion (season 1, episode 6, 2005), she was not credited as his wife. Rather she was listed as "Criss' Girl". During the divorce proceedings the attorney of Angel's estranged wife claimed that their relationship was kept secret to further Angel's career.

In November 2008, Angel began dating Hugh Hefner's former girlfriend Holly Madison.The relationship ended in February 2009.

Posted By Bhagi and ~~Prince Vivek~~

Who is the world's best magician

2009-11-26T21:36:00.001-08:00

Houdini.

(1)No one before or after left such an impression, and most people on the street even today know who he was.

(2)That is a Tough One honestly, Houdini Started as a Magician But Died an Escape Artist, this is a HUGE difference, Now please do not get me wrong, but He may have been the Most Famous "Magician" But he by far was the best. Look up a man by the name of Dai Vernon. He is considered by far a better magician than Houdini, infact when Houdini Said if he saw a card trick more than 3 times he would figure it out, Dai Vernon was the only magician to ever fool Houdini, do you homework and read it for yourself.

prince vinay

2009-10-16T04:30:00.000-07:00

What do we mean by MAGIC ..?

Firstly, we mean magic. Much as some people mean magick, only that I have decided I won't leave that very magical word to the people with the card tricks who have truly made a sham of its usage. I won't be driven out into a small corner esoteric re-spelling of the word but indeed, choose to simply reclaim it and define magic as follows.

Magic is when something happens that is OTHER THAN building a brick wall with bricks, cement, the operating instructions on a sheet.

It is something that is BEYOND the ordinary root digging endeavours and that is why it appears magical to those who can't look any further than the gold coin in front of their noses.

But magic isn't spooky.

Quite in the contrary.

Only when magic is allowed to re-enter the world of the living does the world slowly begin to make any sense at all.

It is the science of those realm that TOTALLY AND ABSOLUTELY EXIST WITHIN CREATION but have been just as totally and absolutely ignored, and misunderstood, by a great many very, very stupid people over the last few hundred thousand years or so.

So here is my personal definition of "magic".

The Creative Order created the universe. It is the ultimate force in the universe and to study the Creative Order and its unbearably wonderful ways is THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE HUMAN ENDEAVOUR.

The Creative Order is totally logical and totally sensible in all ways. It just sometimes seems chaotic to those who don't understand how it works just yet.

There is much, much more to the workings of the Creative Order than any living human being (and including all dead human prophets!) can ever understand. It is vast, immense, immortal and immutable and if it could laugh, it probably would at the megalomania of men.

However, we can try and study it. We can try and understand it, try and BE TAUGHT BY THE EXAMPLES OF THE CREATIVE ORDER that we actually are and which of course exist all around us, all the time.

That study or exploration or homecoming I call "magic".

It is simply so that if you KNOW that the Nile will flood its banks at regular intervals, the people who DON'T KNOW THAT and are constantly surprised that it is happening again think you to be a "magician".

And indeed, you are.

Much like a pigeon, really, who can detect a power line from 30 miles away is a magician to those people who can't.

The Creative Order is magical in nature, and the more we understand it, re-learn to move with it and basically stop fighting the one true order of the Universe, the better life becomes, the easier all manner of things become very practically and the happier the life you lead.

It is simple and has nothing to do with reward or punishment, other than in the sense that if you stop bashing your head against rocks, eventually you will find that your headaches recede in a very simple cause-and-effect.

The Creative Order gave birth to each one of us very personally, and us as humans with consciousness in particular.

The creative order doesn't make mistakes.

Only human beings do.

When we stop aligning ourselves with the faulty learnings of humanity and strike out on our own and take as our teacher the creative order and our own selves instead, that is when we start to actually work with true magic. That is when the "powers that be" get very nervous, because they are about to lose control of such individuals forever and that's why there is so much utter nonsense and so many scary old wife's tails (!) attached to the topic.

I don't believe in black or white magic, only pure magic. Pure, true clear magic that does nothing but celebrate the splendour of the creative order and seeks to celebrate it in every way.

You can't make pure magic when you are terrified of your own dark side, or your head is full of half lies and chinese whispers of the past.

You can't make pure magic from a place of anger and injury, or from a place of need and desperation.

All of that has got to go first for it lies in between ourselves and the wonders of the creative order, our own true parentage, our only real home and hearth. So there is a strong component of "preparation and healing" as we each begin to get ready for the high energies of the creative order that you simply cannot handle without burning to cinder if your channels are still a Gordian knot of fear, terror and unresolved injuries.

The closer you get to the high energies of the creative order, the more your power to create true magic grows. The more magical you become in every way. The further away, the more the same energies if called upon will burn you, hurt you and create havoc in your life. It's all very simple and very logical, very cause-and-effect.

And indeed, in my estimation there is no holier endeavour, no truer effort nor more extreme rewards than to engage in the study of the creative order, and to begin to re-learn the lessons of true magic which were our birthright and given to us just as a standard by the Creative Order itself.

The Creative Order did not give us legs so we would crawl on the ground. It did not give us eyes so we would shut them to the pure beauty of its existence. It did not give us a heart so that we would be stones and never sing or cry and it did NOT give us the minds we have so that we don't do anything with them but churn out rotely repeated nonsense all our lives.

We are more than that. Much, much more.

Magic awaits.

All of it, all the time, everywhere.

Let's see if we can't go and meet it half way

PRINCE Vinay

PRINCE VIVEK IN BHUJ

2009-10-13T04:51:00.000-07:00

PRINCE VIVEK IS SHOW AND HIS RECORD BREAKING BOOKING IN THIS DAY.

prince magic show

2009-10-10T01:57:00.000-07:00

gujrat greet magician chudasama and prince vivek with his assistant.

Bhagirath the vivek Guru

2009-10-10T01:11:00.000-07:00

A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others (teacher). As a principle for the development of consciousness it leads the creation from unreality to reality, from the darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge. In its purest form this principle manifests on earth as a divine incarnation (saint), a person with supreme knowledge about God and all creation. Other forms of manifestation of this principle also include parents, school teachers non-human objects (books) and even one's own intellectual discipline. Some Gurus ask for unquestioning obedience, but full trust of the disciple is only justified, when the Guru is Brahmanishta Shrotriya Brahma Gyani, the knower of God, a saint which can see God at any time he so desires.

DEVID COPERFIELD

2009-10-09T03:28:00.000-07:00

este es uno d los mejores o talves el mejor mago del mundobueno eso es lo q dicen pero creo q criss angel para mi es el mejor por q e visto videos mas sorprendentes d criss q de david coperfil.

LEVITACION

2009-10-09T03:10:00.000-07:00

Vaya que si, como no pude darme cuenta? pero gracias a esos "hilos" que le sostienen lleva una vida de puta madre que muchos aqui ni siquiera imaginan. Con trucos o magia como se le quiera llamar el tio lleva una vida de la ostia, ole tus cojones Copperfield!!!!

CRISS ANGEL

2009-10-09T03:08:00.001-07:00

So they let half the lady run off? and evryones commenting on the trick while theres half a lady behind? WHAT HAPPENS TO THE LADY!

KRIS ANGLE

2009-10-09T03:01:00.000-07:00

Requests for an KRIS Angel audition: "just to say: Oh my God!"
Ha hahahaha :D!

with klal

2009-10-07T03:16:00.000-07:00

vivek With jr. & K lal mayajal 2010 geest 1st no prince Vivek

2009-10-07T02:23:00.000-07:00

vivek and little Boy has win the trophy.