Curtis Lovell II is an American illusionist and

escape artist Escapology is the practice of escaping from physical restraint, restraints or other traps. Escapologists (also classified as escape artists) escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, Cage (enclosure), cages, coffins, steel boxes, barrels, bags, bu ...

. He is known for his high-profile escape performances and his events for corporations. The Washington Times interviewed him for a political piece subtitled "Houdini Factor". He was referred to in an article in weekly entertainment newspaper ''Citizen LA'' as "the premiere escape artist of our time." He has also received coverage for his stunts, including a performance with actor

Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor with a career that spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 films, in roles co ...

and Larry King.

Career

When Lovell was seven, his father performed a magic trick by pulling a coin from the young boy's ear. This inspired him to become a magical entertainer. At an early age, Lovell mastered the art of close up magic. In the Death Trap, created for a nightlife/entertainment complex in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, Lovell attracted thousands of spectators and media on 18 subsequent nights when he was chained up and lowered into the

Singapore River The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. The immediate upper drainage basin, watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Plann ...

. He has performed Houdini's Cube of Death trick hundreds of times, including 29 times at a shopping entertainment complex in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, as well as for radio and Television Publicity for

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

and News Radio. Lovell was buried alive during a performance on

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

night 2008 and 2012. The stunt attracted over 2000 spectators, as well as

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

and KCAL9 News stations, local newspapers, and radio shows including

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio presenter who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40'', as well as the weekly syndicated televi ...

's Top 20. He has appeared as a guest on television programs such as:

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are locate ...

for MANSWERS, where he explained how to escape from handcuffs. He appeared on the reality show

The Simple Life ''The Simple Life'' is an American reality television series starring Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. It depicts the two wealthy socialites, as they struggle to do menial, low-paying jobs such as cleaning rooms, farm work, serving meals in fa ...

E! Entertainment E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable television network. It is owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The channel focuses primarily on pop culture, celebrity based reality shows and movies. ...

to cut

Paris Hilton Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, and socialite. Hilton was born in New York City and raised there partially; shuttling between Los Angeles and New York City; she is a great-grandda ...

in half.

Television appearances

2014 OVATION TV: The Art of: Magic 2012–2013 kuperman.tv: ''Living in La La Land'' is a 53-episode docu-reality show following the journey of six Israeli performing artists, extremely famous in their own country, to Los Angeles in order to break into the international music market. Curtis Lovell guest appears on six episodes as a mentor, instructor, consultant to a musical artist. Also Lovell performs escapes and illusions. 2009 MYNETWORK-TV: MASTERS OF ILLUSION Four-minute guest appearance where Lovell performed a water escape. 2006 E! ENTERTAINMENT: THE SIMPLE LIFE - WITH PARIS HILTON Season 4 - "Murray Family" The concept was themed around auditioning entertainers for a party that Paris was throwing. Lovell cut Paris in half and was hired back to perform for the party. 2007 USA NETWORK: CHARACTER ROAD TRIP Five-minute spotlight around Lovell and his Cube of Death escape. 2007 SPIKE TV: MANSWERS Season 1 - "How to escape from handcuffs" Lovell explained the art of escaping from police handcuffs. 2008 A&E: GENE SIMMONS FAMILY JEWELS MARCH Season 3 - Season Premier Lovell made a cameo appearance at the veterinarian hospital with his pet Chinchilla and interacted with

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; ; born August 25, 1949) also known by his stage persona "The Demon", is an Israeli-born American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, which he co-founded wit ...

. 2007 RHEELZ CHANNEL: DAILIES Lovell shared his insight on the movie ''

The Prestige ''The Prestige'' is a 1995 epistolary science fantasy mystery novel by Christopher Priest. It tells the story of a prolonged feud between two stage magicians in late 1800s England. Its main structure is that of a collection of diaries that ...

''.

Show accomplishments

;February, 2012 -Guard A Heart -Pre-Oscar fundraiser honoring Larry King - Hollywood California Guard A Heart presented the Guardian of Hearts award to Larry King in recognition of his contribution to saving lives through the Larry King Cardiac Foundation. The Award was presented at a pre-Oscar party at the Avalon Ballroom in Hollywood on February 25, 2012. The evening included performances by variety of entertainers and acts such as Midnight Red, Josh Sussman, Savannah Robison and International Escape Artist Curtis Lovell II. Lovell, performed a Houdini style escape as an opening act for Larry King and his guests. ;October, 2009 – U.S. Military Challenge - California :Lovell was challenged by the United States Marines to an escape. Lovell accepted their challenge and was strapped into a regulation straitjacket by two U.S. military officers in front of thousands of spectators. It took Lovell over 3 minutes to free himself from the straitjacket. The challenge was part of The City of Grand Terrace, California, Halloween Haunt in Richard Rollins Park. ;June, 2009 - The Magic of Tony Curtis - California :Produced by the Jules Verne Festival, where 1950s movie actor Tony Curtis was presented the "Legendarie award". As a show opener, Lovell recreated the water escape that Tony Curtis performed in the movie Houdini. A VIP dinner at the

Los Angeles Athletic Club Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) is a privately owned Sports club, athletic club and social club in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1880, the club is today best known for its John R. Wooden Award pr ...

followed, where Curtis strapped Lovell into a

straitjacket A straitjacket is a garment shaped like a jacket with long sleeves that surpass the tips of the wearer's fingers. Its most typical use is restraining people who may cause harm to themselves or others. Once the wearer's arms are in the sleeves, ...

in front of several hundred people. ;2008 Buried Alive - California Curtis Lovell II buried alive

:Successfully escaped being buried alive on

evening 2008. He was shackled and locked into a coffin by a local police officer. Then over 1,000 pounds of dirt was poured on the coffin. It took Lovell 16 minutes to successfully escape. The successful attempt echoed an escape performend by

Harry Houdini Erik Weisz (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926), known professionally as Harry Houdini ( ), was a Hungarian-American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts. Houdini first attracted notice in vaudeville in ...

. This escape received coverage from CBS, KCAL9, and I.E Weekly. ;2006 The Death Trap - Singapore :Lovell performed 18 magic escape shows for an entertainment complex in

. Lovell was chained and shackled onto two large steel plates and lowered into the

river by a crane. The goal was to gain publicity for the entertainment complex, and Lovell attracted the attention of 2,500 guests nightly, five major print organizations, three news networks, an international news station and radio stations. ;2006 Escape From Reality - Philippines :Lovell performed 29 shows at a shopping mall complex based on the theme of escaping fears and defying death. Lovell performed an effect similar to Houdini's water torture cell, called the Cube of Death. Lovell attracted thousands of guests nightly, sometimes more than 4,000 onlookers.

2007 Public Challenges

The

David Blaine David Blaine (born David Blaine White; April 4, 1973) is an American magician, mentalist, and Endurance art, endurance performer. Born in New York City, Blaine became interested in magic at a very young age. He gained prominence in 1997, when h ...

Challenge

Psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...

John Edward John Edward McGee Jr. (born October 19, 1969) is an American television personality, writer and self-proclaimed psychic medium. After writing his first book on the subject in 1998, Edward became a well-known (and controversial) figure in the ...

Challenge. Lovell publicly challenged Blaine to a magic duel. Lovell received national press coverage including: television, print, internet, radio and on major blogs and chat rooms.

Cryonics

Lovell is signed up for cryonic suspension with the American Cryonics Society.

DVD

''POOF! You’re a magician ~Learn magic with everyday objects'' is an instructional DVD that stars Lovell teaching magic to the viewers.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lovell, Curtis, 02 1981 births Cryonicists Living people American magicians American stunt performers People from Los Angeles County, California American performance artists