Norman Bigelow

Norman Bigelow (August 12, 1944 – August 16, 2015) was an American illusionist. He has been described by the Society of American Magicians 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. He became well-known in that field, and wrote several books and articles. He agreed to let David Copperfield perform one of his tricks in television. He died of leukemia in 2015 after a long illness. 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. The Straitjacket was a classical escape trick, that Bigelow performed either lying on the floor or suspended. The Doors (or Board) of Death involved a medieval-like torture board from which Bigelow escaped avoiding to be hit by sharp spikes. These tricks were dangerous, and Bigelow ended up in hospitals more than once.