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grace of a ballet. Colorful parasols from nowhere filled the entire stage. Those who have seen Shimada perform before noted many refinements and added bits to his already polished presentations. Audience response was tremendous.
Henning presented "The Sands of The Desert" which brought back (to us old timers) fond memories of Eugene Laurant and Jack Gwynne; I'm sure it would have pleased these two past greats to know Doug included this fine but seldom seen mystery in his show. Next Henning did his version of the torn and restored newspaper, not just one sheet but the whole paper; in his hands this has become a classic. Doug then set a chair in the center of this big empty studio stage and Lori Lieberman sat down with her guitar and sang a popular song. At its conclusion Henning covered her with a cloth and suddenly whisked it away and revealed only the empty chair to the dumbfounded audience; response to this was terrific.
A box was wheeled in and all sides let down to prove it empty. Henning held three different colored cloths, one at a time, in front of it and suddenly three covered figures were moving under the cloths. Henning stepped into the box and it was closed. Suddenly two of the cloth covered figures threw off their covers revealing themselves to be two assistants while the third covered figure turned out to be Doug Henning himself! He then opened the box and it contained a full grown live Siberian tiger! The spectators in the studio gasped as the home viewers must have.
The closing number was "The Water Torture Cell" escape mystery which Houdini had featured for years. The magician being locked and shackled and lowered, upside down, into a glass tank containing 200 gallons of water. In the New York Times, Sunday, December 21, Henning was quoted as saying: "After dozens of submersions in the cell, I am certain I will be able to get out even on a live TV show that allows no retakes if something should go wrong.
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Still, I am aware of the fact that each time I perform the feat I am taking a chance with my life. Several times during rehearsals I have been unable to get out before I could no longer hold my breath and have had to use the scuba tank and mouthpiece placed at the bottom of the tank (which were there only during rehearsals and were NOT on the live show) and I remind myself that in Houdini's day such rehearsal safety devices had not been invented. I am also conscious of the fact that Houdini used to perform this feat regularly seven nights a week, with matinees on Wednesdays and Saturdays, when he was almost 30 years older than I am."
Gene Kelly returned to narrate this escape feat. Henning, in swim trunks, first had his feet locked in stocks and then was chained. He was lowered headfirst into the glass tank of water. The tank was atop a table with full view underneath and the entire prop was sitting in the center of the studio floor. A curtain which surrounded the bottom of the tank atop the table was raised hiding Henning from view. A hooded assistant stood in front of the tank and table from the very beginning. After 2 1/2 minutes the assistant sprang toward the wings and grabbed a fire rescue axe. The curtain was dropped. . . the tank contained only water. . .this instant was spellbinding. . .suddenly the hooded assistant threw off his robe, revealing himself to be DOUG HENNING! He had gone one step further than Houdini.
This was the surprise of surprises and (because of a TV commercial the studio was off camera) the entire attending audience gave Doug Henning a standing ovation. Houdini was magic's greatest showman. However, if Houdini were there that night I am sure he too would have congratulated Doug Henning for the surprise-power-packed finale. "Tke. World 0f Magic" was outstanding entertainment.
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