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Tom Lyon is a British escapologist and magician who has appeared a number times on Blue Peter and Richard & Judy amongst other television shows.
Lyon wanted to be an escapologist from a very early age, picking toy handcuffs with a toothpick. He attended Eton College in the 1990s, where he met fellow magician Drummond Money-Coutts with whom he reformed the Eton College Magic Society, hosting such performers as Uri Geller. Whilst at Eton, he performed on many TV programs, such as Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway , Richard & Judy , MAGIC, Revolver, Blue Peter (five times), Innovation Nation, Xchange and several international television programs. [1] On one episode of Richard & Judy he got out of a straitjacket and undid his handcuffs in 1 minute and 53 seconds, and then, in under 3 seconds, got out of handcuffs he was wearing and tied Richard and Judy together. He has also been featured in several newspaper articles. He made front page news in America in 2004 when he escaped from a vault.
Lyon became the youngest member of The Magic Circle while still at school, being accepted into the society without having to audition. On leaving school in 2004 he travelled to Italy and France where he focused on close up sleight-of-hand magic. In 2006, he matriculated into Oriel College, Oxford. To concentrate on his studies, he left the public eye, although continues to perform at private engagements. Along with Drummond Money-Coutts, he toured Kenya performing magic in 2007, and a DVD, Kenyan Conjurations, was produced about their exploits. The advertising copy reads: "In August 2007, two English magicians travelled to Kenya and performed their mini-miracles wherever they went. They were chased by prostitutes, bribed to cheat in a casino and gave one man a seizure. This is their story." The profits from the DVD will fund the building of a new school in Kenya. [2]
In August 2008, Lyon toured China with Money-Coutts to film a second DVD, this time raising money for a Chinese Children's charity. While in Asia, they also performed for the Olympic Handover Party at London House, Beijing. Lyon performed for the British Ambassador to China at his residence.
Erik Weisz, known as Harry Houdini, was a Hungarian-American escape artist, illusionist, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts.
Escapology is the practice of escaping from restraints or other traps. Escapologists escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, cages, coffins, steel boxes, barrels, bags, burning buildings, fish-tanks, and other perils, often in combination.
Richard Jay Potash was an American stage magician, actor and writer. In a 1993 profile for The New Yorker, Mark Singer called Jay "perhaps the most gifted sleight of hand artist alive". In addition to sleight of hand, he was known for his card tricks, card throwing, memory feats, and stage patter. He also wrote extensively on magic and its history. His acting credits included the films The Prestige, The Spanish Prisoner, Mystery Men, Heist, Boogie Nights, Tomorrow Never Dies, Heartbreakers, State and Main, House of Games and Magnolia, and the HBO series Deadwood. In 2015 he was the subject of an episode of PBS's American Masters, the only magician ever profiled in the series.
This timeline of magic is a history of the performing art of illusion from B.C. to the present.
Dorothy Dietrich is an American stage magician and escapologist, best known for performing the bullet catch in her mouth and the first woman to perform a straitjacket escape while suspended hundreds of feet in the air from a burning rope. She was the first woman to gain prominence as an escape artist since the days of Houdini, breaking the glass ceiling for women in the field of escapes and magic.
Prahlad Acharya is a magician, illusionist, escapologist, and stunt performer from Udupi, Karnataka, India. Known for his escape acts, Prahlad has been termed Indian Houdini by the Indian media. He also performs ventriloquism and shadow play. His show is called Maya Jadoo, which is a 20-member performance of Indian illusions. Prahlad calls his combination of drama and magic "dramagic"
Dean Gunnarson is a Canadian escapologist. 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.
Alan Alan was a British escapologist and magician. He originated tricks that have subsequently become familiar features of the repertoire of other performers and he was honoured by The Magic Circle.
Drummond Money-Coutts, also known as DMC, is an English magician, and the heir apparent to the Latymer Barony. His first professional performance came in 2000 while he was still at school, at the Royal Horticultural Society.
J C Sum is a Singaporean hybrid marketer, author, content creator, former illusionist and illusion designer.
Close-up magic is magic performed in an intimate setting usually no more than 3 meters from one's audience and is usually performed while sitting at a table.
Dale Salwak is a professional magician from California who continues to perform internationally. He is a regular performer at The Magic Castle and is known as "The Gentleman of Magic". He has been the long-time director and owner of the Chavez School of Magic, which was established by Ben and Marian Chavez in 1941 under the G.I. Bill. He has been featured in cover stories on numerous magic-related publications. He has also taught English literature at Citrus College in Glendora, California since 1973 and has published 25 books.
Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of illusion, stage magic, and close-up 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 paranormal magic which are effects claimed to be created through supernatural means. It is one of the oldest performing arts in the world.
Zdeněk Bradáč is a Czech illusionist, magician, escapologist and juggler. He has been recognized for breaking multiple records for straitjacket and handcuff escapes as well as juggling and illusions.
Crispin James Alan Nevill Money-Coutts, 9th Baron Latymer, is a British peer who is a descendant of both the well-known Irish nationalist Thomas Addis Emmet and the banker Thomas Coutts. In 2003, he inherited the title Baron Latymer from his father, the 8th Baron Latymer (1926–2003). He was educated at Eton and Keble College, Oxford.
Christopher Alfred Goode, better known as Chris Cross, is an English magician, escapologist, and former contortionist. He has performed worldwide and appeared on British television.
Michael Vincent is a British magician. He won The Magic Circle's Close-up Magician of the Year award three times.
Paul Cosentino known mononymously by his stage name Cosentino, is an Australian illusionist and escapologist.
The Portsmouth and District Magic Circle (PDMC) is a magicians' society based in Portsmouth in the English county of Hampshire. It is one of the largest magic societies in the UK with nearly 100 members.