Kristen Johnson is an escape artist who works with her husband magician Kevin Ridgeway under the names Living Illusions, Ridgeway & Johnson, and Breathless. She was the featured magician on the cover of the June 2009 issue of the magicians' magazine The Linking Ring.
Johnson was born in Glens Falls, NY and grew up in Carmel, Indiana.[1] Her mother, Sunny Johnson, was also a performer best known for her work as a clown.[2] Sunny was featured on the front cover of The Linking Ring magazine in March 2002 and still lives in Carmel, where she owns a clowning supplies company.[3] Johnson began learning magic when she was a teenager and used it to earn money to help pay her way through college.[2]
Performing careeredit
Johnson and her husband Kevin Ridgeway are Christians and, under the name Living Illusions, built up a reputation as performers specializing in faith based events such as the Will Graham Celebration with evangelist Billy Graham's grandson in May 2008.[4] In 2007 they launched a full-length touring theater show under the name Breathless, which has played across the United States.
Johnson's signature escape is the full view water torture cell, in which she is chained up and locked inside a water filled tank from which she escapes in full view of the audience. The full view aspect differentiates it from Houdini'swater torture cell escape, which required a curtain to be drawn to obscure him from the audience while he escaped.[5] She performed the original version of the stunt as part of the Worldwide Escape Artist's Relay in 2005, which was an attempt to set a world record for the largest number of escapes performed in a day.[6]
On October 29, 2006, during the 4th Annual International Escape Convention, Johnson was presented with The Masters Award by Thomas Blacke of Escape Masters magazine. She performed a new version of her full view water torture cell, making her one of only two artists to have performed at the first four international escape artist conventions that had been held.[7]
Full View Water Torture Cell
Johnson's water cell stunt requires her to hold her breath while she picks a series of locks that fasten chains and secure the lid of the cell. She averages 2 minutes and 48 seconds underwater on one breath. However, she has occasionally taken up to 3 minutes and 18 seconds to free herself. The longest time she has ever held her breath is 5 minutes and 2 seconds. She ends her shows with this escape and has performed it as often as 30 times in ten days. She offers a $10,000 challenge to anyone who can prove that she takes a second breath, uses an underwater breathing apparatus or a key once she has dropped below the water.
Accidentedit
On January 16, 2009, while performing her water torture cell escape during the halftime show of a basketball game featuring the Detroit Pistons versus the Oklahoma City Thunder, Johnson lost consciousness while attempting to open the top of the cell. She had to be quickly rescued by assistants. A week later she successfully performed her water torture cell escape at Ford Park Event Center in Beaumont, Texas. This was her 600th performance of the escape. [8]
Referencesedit
^"Famous Carmel Illusionist Returns Home". Current Publishing LLC. 12 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-11. [dead link]
^ ab. Allaboutmagicians.com. Archived from the original on 2010-09-10. Retrieved 2009-06-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^"Cover page". The Linking Ring. 82 (3). The International Brotherhood of Magicians. March 1977.
^Fuller, Debbie (2006). . Christian Hollywood. Archived from the original on 2007-04-21. Retrieved 2007-03-10.
^"Kristen Johnson's Full View WTC". Escape Artist Reference Library. Retrieved 2007-03-10.
^"Worldwide Escape Artist Relay, October 29, 2005". Dr Wilson's Memory Elixir. Retrieved 2007-03-10.
^For 2nd convention see . Archived from the original on 2007-06-27. Retrieved 2007-03-10. For 4th convention see Sholley, Diana (27 Sep 2006). . DailyBulletin.com. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-03-10.
^Taylor, Bill (2008-08-08). "Houdini torture revived right before your eyes". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
External linksedit
Living Illusions
April 18, 2024
kristen, johnson, beauty, queen, miss, kentucky, american, actress, kristen, johnston, filmmaker, kirsten, johnson, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this. For the beauty queen see Kristen Johnson Miss Kentucky USA For the American actress see Kristen Johnston For the filmmaker see Kirsten Johnson This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article contains content that is written like an advertisement Please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view October 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia s notability guideline for biographies Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention If notability cannot be shown the article is likely to be merged redirected or deleted Find sources Kristen Johnson news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Kristen Johnson is an escape artist who works with her husband magician Kevin Ridgeway under the names Living Illusions Ridgeway amp Johnson and Breathless She was the featured magician on the cover of the June 2009 issue of the magicians magazine The Linking Ring Kristen JohnsonBornGlens Falls NYNationalityAmericanOccupationEscape ArtistSpouseKevin Ridgeway Contents 1 Early life 2 Performing career 3 Accident 4 References 5 External linksEarly life editJohnson was born in Glens Falls NY and grew up in Carmel Indiana 1 Her mother Sunny Johnson was also a performer best known for her work as a clown 2 Sunny was featured on the front cover of The Linking Ring magazine in March 2002 and still lives in Carmel where she owns a clowning supplies company 3 Johnson began learning magic when she was a teenager and used it to earn money to help pay her way through college 2 Performing career editJohnson and her husband Kevin Ridgeway are Christians and under the name Living Illusions built up a reputation as performers specializing in faith based events such as the Will Graham Celebration with evangelist Billy Graham s grandson in May 2008 4 In 2007 they launched a full length touring theater show under the name Breathless which has played across the United States Johnson s signature escape is the full view water torture cell in which she is chained up and locked inside a water filled tank from which she escapes in full view of the audience The full view aspect differentiates it from Houdini s water torture cell escape which required a curtain to be drawn to obscure him from the audience while he escaped 5 She performed the original version of the stunt as part of the Worldwide Escape Artist s Relay in 2005 which was an attempt to set a world record for the largest number of escapes performed in a day 6 On October 29 2006 during the 4th Annual International Escape Convention Johnson was presented with The Masters Award by Thomas Blacke of Escape Masters magazine She performed a new version of her full view water torture cell making her one of only two artists to have performed at the first four international escape artist conventions that had been held 7 nbsp Full View Water Torture CellJohnson s water cell stunt requires her to hold her breath while she picks a series of locks that fasten chains and secure the lid of the cell She averages 2 minutes and 48 seconds underwater on one breath However she has occasionally taken up to 3 minutes and 18 seconds to free herself The longest time she has ever held her breath is 5 minutes and 2 seconds She ends her shows with this escape and has performed it as often as 30 times in ten days She offers a 10 000 challenge to anyone who can prove that she takes a second breath uses an underwater breathing apparatus or a key once she has dropped below the water Accident editOn January 16 2009 while performing her water torture cell escape during the halftime show of a basketball game featuring the Detroit Pistons versus the Oklahoma City Thunder Johnson lost consciousness while attempting to open the top of the cell She had to be quickly rescued by assistants A week later she successfully performed her water torture cell escape at Ford Park Event Center in Beaumont Texas This was her 600th performance of the escape 8 References edit Famous Carmel Illusionist Returns Home Current Publishing LLC 12 February 2009 Retrieved 2009 06 11 dead link a b Kristen Johnson Allaboutmagicians com Archived from the original on 2010 09 10 Retrieved 2009 06 11 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link Cover page The Linking Ring 82 3 The International Brotherhood of Magicians March 1977 Fuller Debbie 2006 Living Illusion Christian Hollywood Archived from the original on 2007 04 21 Retrieved 2007 03 10 Kristen Johnson s Full View WTC Escape Artist Reference Library Retrieved 2007 03 10 Worldwide Escape Artist Relay October 29 2005 Dr Wilson s Memory Elixir Retrieved 2007 03 10 For 2nd convention see Cannon s Great Escapes Archived from the original on 2007 06 27 Retrieved 2007 03 10 For 4th convention see Sholley Diana 27 Sep 2006 Escape artist convention to mesmerize in Ontario DailyBulletin com Archived from the original on 2007 09 29 Retrieved 2007 03 10 Taylor Bill 2008 08 08 Houdini torture revived right before your eyes The Toronto Star Retrieved 2008 08 11 External links editRidgeway amp Johnson Living Illusions Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Kristen Johnson amp oldid 1194355882, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
