Alan Alan

British magician (1926-2014)

Alan Alan
Alan Alan at The Magic Spot
Born	Alan Rabinowitz (1926-11-30)30 November 1926 London, England
Died	4 July 2014(2014-07-04) (aged 87) London, England
Occupation(s)	escapologist and magician

Alan Alan (born Alan Rabinowitz, 30 November 1926^[1]^[2] – 4 July 2014) was a British escapologist and magician.^[3] He originated tricks that have subsequently become familiar features of the repertoire of other performers and he was honoured by The Magic Circle.^[4]

Alan achieved fame through a series of stunts staged for the media. He made headline news in 1949 when a "buried alive" stunt, performed for Pathe News, nearly went wrong.^[4] He is credited with devising the burning-rope straitjacket escape,^[5] in which he is suspended upside-down from a crane with a length of thick rope doused with petrol; once ignited there is a short time to escape before the rope burns through.

He appeared in a number of television magic shows, including The Magic of David Copperfield.^[6] He also "taught" the inmates of Wormwood Scrubs prison how to escape from handcuffs in his performance with a number of other magicians.^[7] In more recent years he was seen on the Channel 4 TV show The Secret Cabaret with Simon Drake.

He was proprietor of Alan Alan's Magic Spot, a magic shop based on Southampton Row, London until its lease expired in the mid-1990s.

Alan's standing and influence in the world of magic was formally recognised in 2006 when The Magic Circle chose him to receive the coveted Maskelyne Award for services to British magic.^[4] He died on 4 July 2014, aged 87.^[8]

References

^ Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2014. 30 April 2015. ISBN 9780786476664.
^ "Alan Alan". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
^ "Magicians' Biographies". magictricks.com. Archived from the original on 29 June 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c "The Magic Circle Awards Banquet". The Magic Circle. Archived from the original on 4 July 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
^ "BURNING ROPE ESCAPOLOGIST". British Pathe Ltd. 26 October 1959.
^ "The Magic of David Copperfield". BFI Film ad TV Database. Archived from the original on 4 March 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
^ "This Billing is a Smash Hit". Calgary Herald. 6 April 1959. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
^ Milazzo, Franco (6 July 2014). "Obituary: Alan Alan, "The British Houdini"". This Is Cabaret. Retrieved 6 July 2014.