Chilly plunge for Houdini at the Viaduct

By AINSLEY THOMSON

Handcuffed and crouching in a small metal cage, American escape artist and illusionist Robert Gallup was lowered into the Viaduct Harbour last night.

Moments before, the crowd of around 50 shivering spectators had seen the cage, with the slim, wetsuit-clad figure of Mr Gallup inside, being welded shut, and swathed in chains and padlocks.

They were told police had checked the cage, and they had watched as it was hoisted by crane and dropped into 5m of 11C water.

One minute 20 seconds later Mr Gallup popped back up.

The spectators had just witnessed what Mr Gallup's publicists called a "death-defying escape" - worthy of the great Houdini - which had never been performed before.

Some were sceptical.

"There's too many air bubbles down there, he must have an air line," someone said as she waited for Mr Gallup to surface.

Another woman in the crowd laughed when it was announced that the escape had never been performed before. "I watched him practise it a couple of times this afternoon," she said.

Mr Gallup claims the escape had never been performed before ... in public.

Harry Houdini performed similar stunts, escaping from handcuffs, ropes, tanks of water, and straitjackets.

Last night's stunt, filmed by a TV crew, was designed to raise Mr Gallup's profile. This wasn't hard considering most New Zealanders have never heard of the Santa Barbara illusionist, described in publicity material as having "movie star looks and a rock 'n' roll attitude".

So was last night's stunt death defying?

Probably not. Mr Gallup had a buoy line he could pull on if he found himself in trouble, and if he had not freed himself within two minutes he was to be pulled up.

St John Ambulance officers were at the scene and divers were there in case anything went wrong.

How did he do it? Well, we will never know because underwater cameras were banned.

Houdini revealed how he escaped from handcuffs - he used a key hidden in his hand or up a sleeve.

Perhaps Mr Gallup used the same trick.

But he is unlikely to tell us.

At least not before his Extreme Magic and Deadly Escapes show, which starts on September 19.