Criss Angel to Perform Mid-Air Straight Jacket Escape

Houdini in Milwaukee

Criss Angelwill emulate Harry Houdini’s midair straitjacket escape January 15th, as part of a free, public block party hosted by Miller Brewing Co. Read press information here.

Angel will be strapped into a straitjacket and hoisted, upside down, 100 feet above the Miller Brewing complex on W. State St. between N. 35th and N. 41st streets. He will then try to escape from the straitjacket in full view of the crowd.

Angel is helping Miller Lite launch their new label and what better place to perform a straightjacket escape than Milwaukee.

Houdini performed in Milwaukee several times including one nearly fatal performance in 1912. He accepted the challenge of the Schlitz Brewing Company to escape from a padlocked steel milk can filled with Schlitz beer on the stage of Milwaukee’s Majestic Theatre.

Houdini recounted later that the fumes of the beer caused him to nearly pass-out. The escape took three minutes rather than the expected two minutes as previously performed.

For an oustanding page on Houdini in Milwaukee, check out Larry Wilden’s Milwaukee history.

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Bob Cassidy – In Parts


the eBook that Grows

I have sung the praises of Bob Cassidy earlier.

His DVD is outstanding and was the only reason I won an award at the Abbott?s Get-Together this summer.

He has a great writing style too. I have subscribed to two of his e-books and I want to recommend you do the same.

The first book I subscribed to was The Fundamentals, a Guidebook to Mentalism.

It began as a four part series but Mr. Cassidy has just informed us that he will add two more chapters. The process to get the e-book is simple and considering the quality of the material you receive, very inexpensive.

The Fundamentals is priced at $30.00 and a new chapter comes in regular intervals. I understand there was some delay because Mr. Cassidy received so many orders. That is understandable.

I am sure that many, like me, enjoy the format of The Fundamentals because he takes you through the psychology of doing mentalism. This is not an art in which you are trying to prove you can fool the audience or offer some puzzle for them to guess a solution. Nor, necessarily, are you attempting to portray yourself as Uri or Kreskin.

I just purchased my second e-book, Strange Impressions: Professional Presentations for the Working Mentalist, from Mr. Cassidy andit toois an outstanding work. It is short, to the point, and clear.

According to Mr. Cassidy, there are basic, fundamental, principles that cannot be violated if one hopes to work as a mentalist. It is ironic that he would write exactly what I read between the lines of his last e-book: you can?t present puzzles to be guessed or attempt to show your cleverness by fooling the audience.

One of the things I enjoy very much about Mr. Cassidy?s writing style is that it is as if he is writing to the reader directly ? as if it is a transcript of a conversation he is having with you. His asides are humorous and sometimes blunt. Perhaps it is the nature of the e-book method of publication that allows Mr. Cassidy to take such a relaxed and effective approach to writing. The pressure of a publishing house and their deadlines must be minimized by the media.

The proof is in the pudding ? as we used to say when I was working as a dessert detective. His writing and content come together with great results.

Once you are on Mr. Cassidy’s mailing list, you will receive periodic offering of effects presented in eBook form. I have purchased two recently and will provide a review of each in a later column.

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