Norman Bigelow (August 12, 1944 – August 16, 2015) was an American
illusionist
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 ...
. He has been described by the
Society of American Magicians
The Society of American Magicians (S.A.M.) is the oldest fraternal magic organization in the world. Its purpose is "to advance, elevate, and preserve magic as a performing art, to promote harmonious fellowship throughout the world of magic, and t ...
as "one of America’s leading escape artists".
Biography
Trained as a locksmith and a wood-worker, as a young man Bigelow became the apprentice of Frank Renaud (1890-1965), who performed as an acrobat and escape artist under the stage name of The Great Reno. From 1972, Bigelow started performing solo shows of
escapology
Escapology is the practice of escaping from restraints or other traps. Escapologists (also classified as escape artists) escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, cages, coffins, steel boxes, barrels, bags, burning buildings, fish-tanks, and ot ...
. He became well-known in that field, and wrote several books and articles. He agreed to let
David Copperfield
''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...
perform one of his tricks in television. He died of
leukemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...
in 2015 after a long illness.
Bigelow devoted considerable time to study the techniques of
Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...
and was advertised as "Houdini reincarnated" for his ability to perform some of the same tricks.
He was among those who promoted the theory that Houdini’s death was not an accident, but a murder.
To prove his theory, Bigelow tried to obtain in 1985 Houdini’s original medical records, but was told they no longer existed.
[ Bigelow also became controversial by claiming that some of Houdini’s secrets might be hidden in the monument marking his grave in the ]Machpelah Cemetery (Queens)
Machpelah Cemetery is a Judaism, Jewish List of Jewish cemeteries in New York City, cemetery located within the Cemetery Belt in Glendale, Queens, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It was established around 1855. In addition to ma ...
. The theory was never proved, but led to vandalism of the monument by some who hoped to find secret documents there. [
]
Main tricks
Bigelow’s main escape tricks were called Trial by Fire, The Straight Jacket Escape, and The Doors of Death.
In Trial by Fire (also known as Fire Escape), Bigelow asked an assistant to handcuff him to a table before a ramp of gunpowder leading up to his face. He had to escape the handcuffs quickly and jump away before the explosion took place.[
Bigelow also asked to be locked in a safe in a building just about to be demolished, and escaped on time. The latter was the trick borrowed by David Copperfield for his TV show.][”Norman Bigelow”, ''M-U-M Magic-Unity-Might. The official organ of the Society of American Magicians'', March 1994, pp. 2–5.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bigelow, Norman
1944 births
2015 deaths
American magicians
Escapologists