|
The World's Most Dangerous Magic
The World's Most Dangerous Magic was the title of two American television specials showcasing illusion and escapology acts, which were made for the NBC network. The first was originally broadcast on 27 April 1998 and the second, titled ''The World's Most Dangerous Magic 2'', was initially aired on 2 May 1999. The shows were the brainchild of producer Gary Ouellet and were made by the Gary L Pudney Company. They featured a combination of famous performers and lesser-known magicians, each performing stunts or illusions that were claimed to involve the risk of death or serious injury. While some stunts clearly involved genuine life-threatening danger should anything have gone wrong, the risk of injury in others was open to question. In the first show, The Pendragons performed the illusion '' Impaled'', which was described as a "balancing feat" in which Charlotte Pendragon risked fatal impalement should it go wrong. However this is a well known illusion in the general repertoire of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NBC Productions
Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a division of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#Universal Studio Group, Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predecessor of the company, NBC Studios, previously assumed such functions, and a substantial portion of the company's shows air on the network. It was formerly known by various names, including Revue Studios, Universal Pictures Television Department, Universal-International Television, Studios USA Television LLC, Universal Studios Network Programming, Universal Network Television, Universal Domestic Television, NBC Universal Television Studio, and Universal Media Studios. It is also known as Open 4 Business Productions in copyright in certain television series produced by them since 2009. Re-established in 2004, both NBC Studios and the ori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russian Roulette
Russian roulette () is a potentially lethal game of chance in which a player places a single round in a revolver, spins the cylinder, places the muzzle against the head or body (their opponent's or their own), and pulls the trigger. If the loaded chamber aligns with the barrel after cocking (with a single-action revolver), or is in the position which will be rotated to the barrel upon pulling the trigger (double-action), the weapon fires. Etymology The term ''Russian roulette'' was possibly first used in a 1937 short story of the same name by Georges Surdez, published in the January 30, 1937, edition of ''Collier's'' magazine: References to the term in the context of the ''Collier's'' story appeared in some newspapers during 1937. The first independent appearances of the term in newspapers began in 1938 with the reports of young men being killed while playing it. The earliest instance appears to have been the death of a 21-year-old former journalism student in Austin, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1990s American Television Series
Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Mesopotamia is partitioned into two Roman provinces divided by the Euphrates, Mesopotamia and Osroene. * Emperor Septimius Severus lays siege to the city-state Hatra in Central-Mesopotamia, but fails to capture the city despite breaching the walls. * Two new legions, I Parthica and III Parthica, are formed as a permanent garrison. China * Battle of Yijing: Chinese warlord Yuan Shao defeats Gongsun Zan. Korea * Geodeung succeeds Suro of Geumgwan Gaya, as king of the Korean kingdom of Gaya (traditional date). By topic Religion * Pope Zephyrinus succeeds Pope Victor I, as the 15th pope. Births Valerian Roman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Production Music
Production music (also known as stock music or library music) is recorded music that can be music licensing, licensed to customers for use in film, television, radio and other media. Often, the music is produced and owned by production music libraries. Background Unlike popular and classical music publishers, who typically own less than 50 percent of the copyright in a composition, production music libraries own all of the copyrights of their music. Thus, it can be licensed without the composer's permission, as is necessary in licensing music from normal publishers. This is because virtually all music created for music libraries is done on a work for hire, work-for-hire basis. Production music is a convenient solution for media producers—they are able to license any piece of music in the library at a reasonable rate, whereas a specially commissioned work could be prohibitively expensive. Similarly, licensing a well-known piece of popular music could cost anywhere from tens to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metamorphosis (illusion)
Metamorphosis is the name of a stage illusion invented by John Nevil Maskelyne, but most often associated with famous escape artist Harry Houdini and performed to some renown (for speed) by The Pendragons, among others. It is also known amongst magicians as the Substitution Trunk (often abbreviated to Sub Trunk). In the illusion, an assistant (Houdini employed his wife Bess) is locked inside a large box or trunk, often after being restrained with handcuffs, ropes, bags, etc. The magician stands on the trunk and holds a curtain up to momentarily conceal his entire body. When the curtain is lowered, it is now revealed to be the assistant standing atop the box, the magician and assistant having changed places instantaneously. When the box is opened, it is shown to contain the magician, restrained as the assistant had been. In some acts, the magician is locked in the box first, then appears standing atop the box. Variations include the Aquarian Illusion created in the 1970s by Alan W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Wyrick
Steve Wyrick (born May 12, 1970) is an American magician from Garland, Texas. Wyrick is best known for performing as a headliner in Las Vegas, Nevada for more than 15 years, having starred at Planet Hollywood Resort/Casino, Aladdin Casino, Sahara Casino, and at the Las Vegas Hilton. He was featured in ''The World's Greatest Magic'' series on NBC in the 1990s. Awards include the "prestigious" Merlin Award as Magician of the Year for the International Magicians Society, the world's largest magic organization.http://www.magicims.com/merlin_award_recipients.php ''Merlin Award Recipients International Magicians Society/no date noted'' Wyrick also headlined for multi-month performances in Atlantic City at Harrah's Casino and at the Golden Nugget Resort Wyrick has appeared on a variety of television shows, including appearances on ''Late Night with David Letterman'', ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'', The History Channel, and VH1's ''Celebracadabra''. Wyrick also appeared on TLC's ''Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Grandinetti
Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect), English 13th-century Bishop of Hereford elect * Michael (Khoroshy) (1885–1977), cleric of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada * Michael Donnellan (fashion designer), Michael Donnellan (1915–1985), Irish-born London fashion designer, often referred to simply as "Michael" * Michael (footballer, born 1982), Brazilian footballer * Michael (footballer, born 1983), Brazilian footballer * Michael (footballer, born 1993), Brazilian footballer * Michael (footballer, born February 1996), Brazilian footballer * Michael (footballer, born March 1996), Brazilian footballer * Michael (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dean Gunnarson
Dean Gunnarson (born 27 January 1964) is a Canadian escapologist (escape artist). He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He is noted for a series of large scale spectacular stunts done for television. Gunnarson has appeared on television in over 165 countries around the world performing his escapes. Gunnarson has performed over 500 shows across China and his TV escapes have been seen by millions of people there. In 2012 the Chinese Government presented him with "The World's Top Escape Artist" award after a successful escape on live TV. He has also performed across Canada and the US on TV, fairs, shopping malls, sporting events, and for many of the countries top corporations. Career Gunnarson narrowly escaped death in October 1983 during a stunt in which he was handcuffed and chained and nailed into a coffin which was then submerged into the Red River in Winnipeg. The stunt went wrong as the coffin was lowered into the water, leaving him unable to escap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Table Of Death
The table of death is a predicament escape that may be regarded as a magic trick or an act of escapology. Description The apparatus consists of a substantial table with an array of menacing metal spikes suspended above it. The basic premise is that the performer will be restrained on the table and must escape before the spikes are released and allowed to fall. A curtain is drawn around the apparatus to obscure the performer from view while the escape is attempted. The sequence of events is arranged so that it initially appears the spikes fall before the performer has had time to get out from under them; however, the curtain is then pulled back to reveal the performer free and unharmed. Sometimes a scrim (material), scrim is used instead of a curtain and, with back lighting, it is arranged that the audience see the silhouetted shadow of the performer struggling to escape before the spikes fall. The exact design varies slightly from one example to another but the basic arrangement r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magic (illusion)
Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of close-up magic, parlor magic, and stage magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural means. It is to be distinguished from Magic (supernatural), paranormal magic which are effects claimed to be created through supernatural means. It is one of the oldest performing arts in the world. Modern entertainment magic, as pioneered by 19th-century magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, has become a popular theatrical art form. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, magicians such as John Nevil Maskelyne and David Devant, Howard Thurston, Harry Kellar, and Harry Houdini achieved widespread commercial success during what has become known as "the Golden Age of Magic", a period in which performance magic became a staple of Broadway theatre, vaudeville, and music halls. Meanwhile, magicians such as Georges Méliès, Gaston Velle, Walter R. B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animal Trapping
Animal trapping, or simply trapping or ginning, is the use of a device to remotely catch and often kill an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including for meat, fur trade, fur/feathers, sport hunting, pest control, and wildlife management. History Neolithic hunters, including the members of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture of Romania and Ukraine (), used traps to capture their prey. An early mention in written form is a passage from the self-titled book by Taoism, Taoist philosopher Zhuangzi (book), Zhuangzi which describes Chinese methods used for trapping animals during the 4th century BCE. The Zhuangzi reads: "The sleek-furred fox and the elegantly spotted leopard ... can't seem to escape the disaster of nets and traps." "Modern" steel jaw-traps were first described in western sources as early as the late 16th century. The first mention comes from Leonard Mascall's book on animal trapping. It reads: "a griping trappe made all of yrne, the lowest b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melinda Saxe
Melinda Saxe (born March 6, 1965) is a magician from Las Vegas, Nevada. She is best known for her television performances and Las Vegas stage shows in which she was billed as "the First Lady of Magic". She often is associated with the Drill of Death illusion, a signature trick developed for her by André Kole. Early life Saxe was born in Tennessee on March 6, 1965, to band leader Richard Saxe (born 1933) and dancer/show producer Bonnie Saxe (born 1941). She was born in a small town in Tennessee. At the age of three, Saxe moved to Las Vegas after her mother Bonnie landed a spot as a showgirl in the'' Folies Bergere ''show at the Tropicana. Saxe has two siblings, Suzanne and Las Vegas stage producer David Saxe. Saxe became interested in magic at the age of 16, and practiced it all day long from that point on. Saxe graduated from Bonanza High School in Las Vegas as a junior in 1982. At the age of 17, she joined Siegfried & Roy's magic show as a dancer. Career Her title of "First ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
