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Listen to Ivan tell some stories that are inside the book.
Read a few excerpts from the book.
Icy Escape
As told by Ivan Amodei
Possibly Houdini’s most famous feat was his jump from the Belle Isle Bridge into the Detroit River.
As the story accounts, on November 27, 1906 Harry Houdini, after being locked into two sets of handcuffs, jumped off the bridge and into a hole that had been cut in the ice.
He did not resurface. Panic spread through the crowd. Houdini’s assistants knew that he couldn’t hold his breath for more than three and a half minutes.
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Trapped Underwater
As told by Steve Dacri
“We need you to do a huge publicity stunt for a client…you know, hang from the roof in a straight jacket or jump out of a plane, the normal sort of death defying activities that certify one’s insanity and gets great press. Any ideas?”
For some reason, I believe fear of heights being the motivating force, I blurted out “How about re-creating Houdini’s most famous underwater trick?” Her eyes lit up like that doll in those Chucky movies.
“That would be perfect, can you do that?”
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Farewell to Michael Jackson
As told by Rob Zabrecky
On the morning of February 21, 2009 my phone rang. It was a producer friend with a very interesting proposition. “It’s a gig performing for a major celebrity, and it’s a birthday party. Today.”
I declined. I had a busy day ahead, with a couple of television commercial auditions followed by a night performing at the Magic Castle. “You should consider it,” he countered. “It will be an interesting afternoon. It’s for an extremely high-profile client!”
I took the bait and asked who, and admit I was stunned when I was told the gig was for Michael Jackson. I couldn’t get the word yes out fast enough. I was instructed to be at Jackson’s Beverly Hills home in three hours.
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What Parrot?
As told by Dana Daniels
I developed a plan when traveling with my Parrot Luigi, at least when I traveled by air. I would untuck my shirt and place Luigi on my rear end, letting the back of my shirt conceal him.
I’d walk through the airport with the Parrot hanging behind me. He wouldn’t set off any alarms, he’s a bird. Afterwards, I’d go into a bathroom and put him back into his cage, which looked like a carry-on bag. Very sneaky. No one was any the wiser.
Once after a show in a freezing cold Columbus, Ohio, I arrived at the airport wearing a trenchcoat. Rather than employing my regular hang-loose method of sneaking Luigi onto the plane, I decided to put him into a huge trenchcoat pocket. I proceed through the entire ticket line with lots of people all around me.
When I arrived up front, the ticket agent was clicking away on his computer. He looked up at me and said, “One bag to check in?” I said, “Yes sir.” Then he said, “You want to check in the Parrot?” How does he know I have a Parrot?
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Attack Over Iceland
As told by Dave Cox
In Munich, in the First Class Lounge, a scotch and a Leberkaese sandwich sitting nearby, while I waited 4 hours for my plane.
Why? Because of the ATTACK OVER ICELAND! Do you remember that story of the Luthansa flight that had to ditch in Iceland because a passenger was attacked?
Did you see it on CNN? I did, and it was especially interesting to me. Because I was that ATTACKED passenger.
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