Top 10 Magicians
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Ask 10 magic fans to name their all-time Top 10 list of sorcerers, and you'll get 10 different answers. But every list will begin with Harry Houdini, who wowed the world with his great escapes in the early 1900s.
Houdini has escaped from chains, vaults, and handcuffs. Performing primarily on the Vaudeville circuit, he also developed a stage presence that elevated magic shows' believability and acceptance.
Among his many great escapes, the Chinese Water Torture Cell is probably his best known. Houdini's feet were firmly locked in stocks secured to a steel restraint before he was suspended from his ankles, then lowered into a glass tank filled with water. A curtain covered the tank to conceal the magician's machinations. After the crowd held its own breath for several minutes, Houdini would emerge to thunderous applause.
Since Houdini, David Blaine made his debut in the '90s. Blaine is well known for his endurance tricks. Construction workers dug him out of the ground. Houdini wanted to do a similar stunt but passed away before he could complete it.
David Copperfield is an illusionist who was considered the most commercially successful. Copperfield had 20 television special in the course of 20 years, and in one of them made the Statue of Liberty vanish!
In the 1930s, the elegant Harry Blackstone Sr. followed Houdini as the best-known magician in America. His big trick was sawing a woman in half on stage.
Doug Henning was a family attraction because of his charm and good showmanship. He had a different saw trick being that one woman would dress in pink, and one in blue. Both women were sawn in half. When the emerge, one had a pink bottom, the other was blue.
Criss Angel, who goes by Mindfreak is a modern phenomenon who attracts an audience worldwide. He has walked on water, levitated, and gotten run over by a steamroller.
Siegfried and Roy performed at the Mirage in Vegas until Roy was critically injured by one of their tigers. Commanded by Roy before the incident, the tiger and Siegfried switched places from within separate locked enclosures in one of their signature illusions.
With a Saturday morning show in 1960, Mark Wilson was the pioneer of TV magic. He did the kind of card and disappearing coin tricks that still introduce many children to the world of magic.
Another Vegas act is Lance Burton. He gave a memorable performance by escaping an 80 MPH coaster. He missed being hit by a tenth of a second.
Richiardi did most of his performances in New York City from the 1940s to the 1970s, and also made 24 appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show. He used fake blood and sound effects. Those who saw his live shows said he was unforgettable.
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