Keystone Conjurors of Yesteryear MAES 1984 - Who among you was there for this? I see Howie Schwartzman in the audience shielding his eyes.
..and now for the rest of the story. When Dick Zechman was President of MAES in 1984 and the Convention was about to get underway, an unusual publicity stunt was taking place in the parking lot of the Embers Convention Center. Dick was there along with about 100 onlookers including the media. A young Escape Artist who shall remain anonymous, was about to recreate Houdini's Water Torture Cell and the atmosphere was electric. The young man was lowered head first into the tank with water gushing from the top. The massive lid was secured and the locks were ready to be applied. That's when the trouble began. Try as they might, the hasps would not align with the staples. The locks could not be attached. They struggled for several minutes and finally had to hoist the guy back out. They tried two more times and were unsuccessful. As they prepared for a fourth time, Dick called it off. He had to. We din't need an ambulance wailing in on the scene, nor did anyone want to see this guy in any more danger. It was quite an experience. As the crowd moved on and the assistants were looking at the tank and lid, I walked over to talk with the Escape Artist. He was a nice guy and incredibly, never panicked during the long ordeal. A short time later the assistants discovered the problem. The lid was never marked front and back. Both ends were identical. It seems that during all three of the attempts, the lid was on backwards and the hasps didn't align with the staples. Amazing! A simple problem never discovered during rehearsals but it became painfully obvious during the actual performance. We all make errors like this but it's not so much of a problem if we're doing a card trick. A Water Torture Cell is another matter indeed. ... See more
