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Steve Brooks Founder / Manager Northern California - United States 3780 Posts |
Lady Houdini, the name given to Kristen Johnson by an Inside Edition producer at CBS Studios in New York has definitely stuck. Especially since she broke the immortal Harry Houdini’s record for the most Water Torture Cell escapes ever performed, which historians and magic aficionados worldwide estimate to be just over one thousand. She broke Houdini’s record in 2012 as she has successfully performed her 1,001 public escape during the Georgia State Fair at the Atlanta Speedway.
Johnson considered to be the Houdini of the 21st century almost seems fearless, even to the fault of flirting with death, as she has a knack for taking an ordinary magic escape and putting her signature brand on it. In the case of the Water Torture Cell, she decided to not hide the escape as Houdini and everyone since, but to perform it in full view which has drawn some criticism. It’s a nail biter, watching her during the escape, as she is able to hold her breath under physical duress for up to 3 minutes and 18 seconds while methodically picking the padlocks, handcuffs, and leg shackles that hold her in what could quickly become a watery grave. Manager and Producer Mark Bell has seen her perform the escape up close numerous times but is still horrified by the two times he witnessed her struggle before crowds of over 15,000 and 18,000 as she had to be removed from the water cell. Twice she suffered hypoxic seizures and blacked out, the third she could not pick the lock inside the lid. Johnson has only been denied the escape three times out of over 1,000 public attempts. Those three harrowing failed attempts prove the real dangers that exist in her profession. Kristen, a real escapologist, has carved out a living performing her daredevil brand of escapes around the world, live and on TV. When first asked to perform the aerial straitjacket escape which Houdini so often used to promote his theater shows, she said, ”sure, but in its original form is boring and anticlimactic for today’s audience. After all, Houdini was able to escape the jacket but not the circumstances that had him still hanging upside down in mid-air, of which he would have to be lowered back to the ground and released”. Kristen says to completely and successfully escape you not only have to remove the restraint but also escape from the circumstance of being hung mid-air. In 2007, Kristen once again set out to ‘best’ Houdini’s escape and for over three years whether outside with a crane at 80 feet high or inside an arena at 40 feet above the stage and even in theaters, hung from battens, she would drop the jacket, remove her feet from the rope loops and repel down. In 2011, Johnson pushed the envelope even further while performing the aerial escape for a group of over 5,000 screaming fans at an arena in Texas. After dropping the jacket and removing her feet from the loops she just let go. Falling backwards, for what seemed to be an eternity, the crowd’s gasps and screams finally turned to cheers and a thunderous applause when she reappeared on stage and took a bow. What the audience didn’t see, hidden in the stage was a Hollywood stunt airbag. Kristen has now added this version of the escape to her repertoire, both indoors with a chain motor or outdoors with a crane, Johnson has once again taken a classical escape made famous by the world’s greatest known escape artist and completely rewritten the rules for the 21st century now making it harder for those who wish to follow in Houdini’s or shall we say Lady Houdini’s footsteps. --- Kevin Ridgeway grew up in Wichita on the Kansas Plains. At an early age he was drawn to rock music, not the typical bands, but the cutting edge mega groups that took their music a step further by staging their shows as arena and stadium theatrical spectacles. These concerts were packed with incredible lighting, multimedia and every type special effect known to man. Little did Kevin know it, but his exposure to these sensory overloaded touring shows would be the basis of which he would fall back on years later when he set out to produce his own touring illusion show that would set him apart quickly from hundreds of other magicians. After high school he moved around a number of times, traveling to numerous foreign countries, and living in Southern California and eventually Colorado where he envisioned settling down permanently. It was there in Denver he was offered an opportunity by an Indiana marketing firm he couldn’t pass up, so he moved once more to the Midwestern city of Indianapolis. A move that would forever change his life as it was on a collision course to meet a young lady by the name of Kristen Johnson. As friends she took him to a magic convention one weekend and he was hooked. He returned home from the event and immediately quit his successful marketing job and began learning and performing magic tricks. Kevin started off performing parlor magic at birthday parties. Those that were around him were amazed how fast he could master a trick. He became proficient at sleight of hand in a very short time and moved from there to larger illusions. With a strong work ethic he set his sights on building a large show that could be performed in school gyms and Cafétoriums. Saving up money from his performances he began to acquire larger more expensive illusions & props. It was at this time that Kevin and Kristen Johnson got together and decided to produce a full blown show for teenagers. Working together was a natural for them. Their individual performance styles complimented each other and flowed seamlessly on stage. From Kevin’s hysterical comedy to Kristen’s charm the couple together were quickly able to capture an audience, disarm them and leave them enchanted. Kevin’s confidence on stage was evident as he would choreograph Kristen’s movement with illusions and escapes. This feat did not go unnoticed as they caught the eye of a TV producer that was casting a show for Discovery Channel Productions. Kevin and Kristen were hired for Inside the Houdini Museum and went on to perform one of the most memorable illusion/escapes of the special which ended up airing numerous time on both the Travel Channel and Discovery Channel. They were invited to Australia to perform during the 2000 Summer Olympic festivities, and while down under they were married in a romantic ceremony barefoot on the beach. Upon their return to the United States, they began plans to take their regional illusion show national. Within just a couple of years their first production LIVING ILLUSIONS was crisscrossing the nation. The six figure touring show traveled by a Freightliner sleeper rig jam packed with illusions and escapes, two multimedia screens, ninety feet of box truss, intelligent lighting and special effects. They had hit it big as their show was in demand nationwide. Kevin, an excellent communicator, puts together the magic show like a master weaving a fine tapestry. Building each production with breath-taking illusions and death-defying escapes he wraps each in heartfelt music and special effects that takes the audience through a wave of emotions not soon to be forgotten. His showmanship along with Kristen’s notoriety as the World’s Premier Female Escape Artist created a huge demand in other markets causing them to create the production company Ridgeway & Johnson Entertainment, Inc. which currently produces three touring shows, each year. BREATHLESS, produced exclusively for the performing arts market, the self titled RIDGEWAY & JOHNSON SHOW for the college, fair, festival, sporting events and corporate events market and LIVING ILLUSIONS for the faith based market. ---
"Always be you because nobody else can" - Steve Brooks
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The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The May 2013 entrée: Kevin Ridgeway & Kristen Johnson (aka Living Illusions) » » Living Illusions: A bit of history » » TOPIC IS LOCKED (0 Likes) |
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