The Chinese Water Torture Cell is a predicament escape

Predicament escape

A predicament escape is any form of magic trick or escapology stunt in which the performer is trapped in a dangerous situation and is required to escape from it...

 made famous by Hungarian-American magician

Magic (illusion)

Magic is a performing art that entertains audiences by staging tricks or creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means...

 Harry Houdini

Harry Houdini

Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts...

. The illusion consists of three parts: first, the magician's feet are locked in stocks; next, he is suspended in mid-air from his ankles with a restraint brace; finally, he is lowered into a glass tank overflowing with water and the restraint is locked to the top of the cell.

History

The original Chinese Water Torture Cell was built in Timbuktu in 1911. Houdini first performed the escape for an audience of one person as part of a one-act play he called Houdini Upside Down. This was so he could copyright the new escape (having learned with his Milk Can escape that patents failed to stop imitators). The first public performance was at the Circus Busch in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, on September 21, 1912. In letters Houdini referred to the effect as "the Upside Down" or "USD". Houdini continued to perform the escape until his death in 1926. Despite two Hollywood movies depicting Houdini dying in the Torture Cell, the escape had nothing to do with his demise.

After Houdini's death, the cell was willed to his brother Theodore Hardeen

Theodore Hardeen

Theodore Hardeen , known simply as Hardeen, was a Hungarian magician and escape artist, best known as Harry Houdini's brother...

. Hardeen never performed the cell himself, and despite Houdini's instructions for it to be "burnt and destroyed" upon Hardeen's death, his brother gave the cell to Houdini collector Sidney Hollis Radner

Sidney Hollis Radner

Sidney Hollis Radner was a retired rug salesman from Holyoke, Massachusetts, who owned one of the world's largest and most valuable collections of Harry Houdini artifacts...

 in the 1940s. The cell remained in the Radner basement until 1971 when it was put on display at The Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls, Ontario

Niagara Falls is a Canadian city on the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. The municipality was incorporated on June 12, 1903...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Here the cell suffered from neglect and theft. At one point, the museum owners put a fish tank inside the cell to achieve an aquarium effect. The leaky tank caused mold and damage to the cell wood and structure.

In 1995, the Houdini Magical Hall of Fame burned to the ground. It was initially reported that the cell was completely destroyed, but the metal frame survived and the cell was restored by illusion builder John Gaughan

John Gaughan

John Gaughan is a manufacturer of magic acts and equipment for magicians based in Los Angeles, California. His style of work is classic, not based heavily on machinery and technology....

. In 2004, the restored cell was sold at auction to magician David Copperfield

David Copperfield (illusionist)

David Copperfield is an Emmy Award-winning American illusionist, and was described by Forbes as the most commercially successful magician in history. Copperfield's network specials have been nominated for 38 Emmy Awards and won a total of 21 Emmys...

. It now resides as part of his massive private magic collection in his home in Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

.

Sidney Radner gave the burned wood, screws, nails, metal straps and many other unused pieces of the original Water Torture Cell to Geno Munari. In August 1998, John Gaughan subsequently sent those items to Geno Munari, owner of Houdini's Magic Shops, in Las Vegas. Additionally, Geno Munari provided John Gaughan an original back-up Water Torture Cell glass plate from The Houdini Museum in Las Vegas. This backup glass traveled with Houdini as a spare in case the Water Torture Cell had to be axed to save Houdini's life.

In 2003, an exact duplicate of the Water Torture Cell was discovered, leading to controversy over the authenticity of the restored cell.

In 2011 Richard Sherry of Richard Sherry's Magic and Escapes created the only exact working replica of Houdini's Chinese Water Torture Cell.

Modern interpretations

Several magicians and escape artists have performed the escape since Houdini, among them Al Marks (1940s, using a steel tank with no window), Dill-Russel and Norman Bigelow.

In the 1950s, magician Leo Irby performed the escape for "You Asked for It."

In 1975 magician Doug Henning

Doug Henning

Douglas James Henning was a Canadian magician, illusionist, escape artist and politician.-Early life:...

 performed a version of the Water Torture Cell during his first live television special on NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

. In his version, a twist ending revealed the magician to be one of the hooded ax-wielding assistants standing beside the cell.

In the Spring of 1980, magician John R. Hall (stage name Keoni - pronounced key-OH-nee) purchased a Chinese Water Torture Cell from Tony Spina of Louis Tannen (a magicians' supply company in New York City) and performed the escape on the television show PM Magazine

PM Magazine

PM/Evening Magazine was a television series with a news and entertainment format. It was syndicated to stations throughout the United States...

 in October 1980 ... and in other venues throughout 1980 and 1981. The Chinese Water Torture Cell purchased by Keoni was represented by Louis Tannen as a duplicate of the cell constructed for Doug Henning's live television broadcast on NBC. Like Doug Henning's performance, Keoni's escape ended with a twist, when the curtain around the cell was lowered, the cell was empty and Keoni retook the stage by running from the back of the theaters, down the aisles, to the stage.

In the 1980s, the renowned English magician Paul Daniels

Paul Daniels

Paul Daniels, born Newton Edward Daniels on 6 April 1938, is a British magician and television performer. He achieved international fame through his television series The Paul Daniels Magic Show, which ran on the BBC from 1979 to 1994.-Early life:...

 achieved great acclaim by reproducing the illusion for his television show, with his son Martin Daniels

Martin Daniels

Martin Daniels is an English magician and entertainer.The second son of famous UK magician Paul Daniels from his first marriage to Jacqui Skipworth, Martin worked alongside his father on The Paul Daniels Magic Show, but he also took singing, dancing and music lessons, in addition to magic.Martin...

 as the performer. This performance of the illusion was notable for the fact that Daniels intended it to be as near as possible to a recreation of the original illusion. The cell used is a replica of the Houdini cell, made after extensive research using photographs and plans. The replica "Houdini Water Torture" escape, as seen on The Paul Daniel's Magic Show, is now owned by of Merlins of Wakefield, who plan to exhibit it in a museum of magical props and memorabilia. As the original British built Houdini cell was destroyed in a fire, this is now believed to be the only one to have been made and used in the UK.

Escape artist Steven Baker performed the Water Torture Cell for many years, including a performance on Dick Clark's LIVE Wednesday

Dick Clark's LIVE Wednesday

Dick Clark's LIVE Wednesday was a 1978 NBC variety television series, sometimes called simply Live Wednesday. Hosted by Dick Clark, it was a musical show much like Clark's American Bandstand. Guests included musical artists and actors such as Frankie Avalon, Bo Diddley, Connie Francis, Annette...

.

Escape artist Kristen Johnson

Kristen Johnson (escape artist)

Kristen Johnson is an award-winning escape artist who works with her husband magician Kevin Ridgeway under the names Living Illusions, Ridgeway & Johnson and Breathless. She was the featured magician on the cover of the June 2009 issue of the magicians' magazine The Linking Ring.-Early life:Kristen...

 performs a water cell escape that was inspired by Houdini's trick. Johnson's stunt is significantly different in that she remains in full view of the audience throughout the escape. She performed her 900th water torture cell on April 9, 2011 in Clark County, Nevada and is known in the industry as doing a legitimate three minute plus breath hold in the water torture cell. Johnson has performed her version at NBA half time shows and has been seen on ESPN

ESPN

Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

's SportsCenter

SportsCenter

SportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of American cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979. Originally broadcast only daily, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major...

.

During a FOX special called Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed, the Masked Magician told the audience how a version of this trick is done.

Different versions of the device have been featured in Houdini biography fims, such as "Houdini" (Paramount, 1953), "The Great Houdinis" (1976) and the Turner TV-movie, "Houdini."

A simple, 'headfirst dive' version was depicted in the film, "The Escapist."

A similar, but simpler, immersion escape is featured in the 2006 movie The Prestige

The Prestige (film)

The Prestige is a 2006 mystery thriller film written, directed and co-produced by Christopher Nolan, with a screenplay adapted from Christopher Priest's 1995 novel of the same name. The story follows Robert Angier and Alfred Borden, rival stage magicians in London at the end of the 19th century...

.

In 2006 actor Orlando Seale did a version of a water torture cell for the TV show Ghost Whisperer

Ghost Whisperer

Ghost Whisperer is an American television supernatural drama, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005 to May 21, 2010.The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon , who has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts...

, on the episode named Miss Fortune. Mark Cannon was the Underwater Escape Consultant.

In 2007, a failed imitation of the stunt was attempted by a character performed by the British actor Steve Valentine

Steve Valentine

Steven John Valentine is a Scottish actor, singer and magician who has performed on stage and screen, but is best known for his role as the eccentric Nigel Townsend on NBC's crime drama Crossing Jordan...

 before the character passes out in the episode "You Don't Want to Know" of Fox's

Fox Broadcasting Company

Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

 TV series "House MD

House (TV series)

House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...

".

In September 2010, escape artist Alexanderia the Great, performed a smaller more confined version of the Chinese Water Torture Cell in full view (no curtains) that she calls UC or the Underwater Cell. A recent performance was in a front page story for the Metrowest Daily newspaper.

External links

• http://www.sherryandkrallmagic.com/article.php An article about the building of the only working replica of Houdini's Chinese Water Torture Cell.
• Houdini Lives! - A pictorial history of the Water Torture Cell.
• http://www.alexanderiathegreat.com/The_Escape_Show.html The Underwater Cell (UC)