"Where Houdini left off...
Gallup's Extreme Magic begins!"
If it's intense...He'll try it.
If it hasn't been attempted...He'll attempt it.
If it can't be done...He'll do it.
Is it really happening...or is it an illusion?
"...at a very young age, he received his very first magic set..."
It's a familiar story. Like a lot of kids, Robert Gallup received
his first magic set at Christmas when he was five. However, unlike
most of them, he didn't lose interest by New Year's Day. The creator
of his own unique version of high risk illusion and escape, Gallup
Extreme Magic, was so single-minded about his interest
- spending all of his chore money on tricks and props, that by the
time he was ten, he was earning about $50 a week performing at birthday
parties, and at thirteen was featured for his skills on ABC's "That's
Incredible".
As he grew into a teenager, the Santa Barbara, California native
was invited to audition for the Junior Society at The Magic Castle
in Hollywood - at the time, the center of the world of magic. Recognized
for his prowess, Gallup was one of the youngest students ever asked
to join the prestigious organization, and studied under the tutelage
of "the greatest magicians most people never heard of." However, magic,
and it's perception as "legitimate" entertainment, was in a period
of decline.
"In the 1980's, there were very few, if any variety shows left on
TV, so there was no vehicle for magic to reach a vast audience," Gallup
explained. "Magicians were often perceived as 'lounge acts in bad
tuxedos' until Doug Henning came along at the end of the decade, made
a mark on Broadway, and took magic out of the 'dark ages'. His original
approach inspired a whole generation of young illusionists."
Gallup, however, did cite one influence that has remained with him
from the beginning of his career. "In Santa Barbara, Bill Adams, who
owned the only magic shop in town, gave me a tremendous number of
opportunities and personal support. I took my first magic lessons
from him, and used to hang out incessantly at his shop until eventually
he had to let me work there. And even though I had to stand on a milk
crate to reach over the demonstration counter, I was truly 'a kid
in a candy store'. When I was in junior high school, I was a 'closet'
magician because it wasn't considered very 'cool'. Most of my friends
didn't even know I performed, but Bill was always encouraging me,
and never tired of showing me a new trick or how to improve my technique."
During high school Gallup performed in a myriad of comedy clubs and
lounges, and then attended the University of California at Davis.
While majoring in business, with emphasis in marketing and finance,
he also honed his theatrical skills with a minor in theatre. As a
summer job in the interim he performed on cruise ships, developing
his act under a variety of conditions. "Unlike the gorgeous shipboard
theaters of today, cruise ship entertainment was relegated to intimate
lounges fully surrounded by the audience - not to mention the ship
was often rolling. Aside from the technical challenges, this intimacy
taught me how to work on a more personal level with the crowd and
to make them feel they were right up there with me," he said. "Now,
even in the largest of venues I never feel there's a 'fourth wall'
between me and the audience."
Upon graduation, Gallup was planning to either continue his education
in pursuit of a master's degree in business, or try his hand in the
"real world" of business, marketing and finance. However, his passion
for magic made him consider other options. "I decided that if I was
ever going to take a chance and become a full-time professional magician,
I might as well try it when I was young. I never wanted to wonder
'what if..., so I developed a business plan and went out and raised
$60,000 to mount my 'dream' act. I started in a glorified miniature
golf course in North Carolina, and honed my act...making every mistake
possible, and then some! After a very long summer of four shows a
day, seven days a week, I starved in L.A. for a while, drowning in
interest payments. I eventually began getting bookings - first in
small casino towns in Nevada, and then eventually graduating to some
of the most prestigious venues throughout the world - La Scala in
Madrid, Jupiters in Australia and the Super Bowl in Sun City."
Within a few years, he became the youngest person ever to put together
a "main room" Las Vegas-style revue, serving as producer, director,
casting agent, production coordinator, lighting director and pyrotechnician
for a show that included a cast and crew of 22, and required three
semitrucks to transport. As he reminisced, "I wore too many hats and
spread myself too thin... doing everything but sweeping up after the
final curtain, but it was an excellent learning period."
Ten years, 22 countries and six continents later, Gallup began taking
his craft to a level previously unseen by audiences anywhere. Part
athlete, part aesthetic and part daredevil, the creator of Gallup
Extreme Magic describes what he does in a confidant, yet
humble manner. "The concept of Extreme Magic is simple - I want to
take magic, and my audience, to the edge of reality and believability.
I want to challenge that which has never been challenged. When people
see Gallup Extreme Magic, I want them to not only say 'how did he
do that?', but 'I can't believe he even tried that!"
Over the decades, certain successful magicians have created illusions
or escapes that became uniquely their own. Houdini was known for his
"water torture cell" where he was handcuffed, manacled and placed
upside down underwater in a locked tank. He was able to free himself,
and to this day, "Houdini's Water Torture Cell" is an escape of legendary
proportions. With Gallup
Extreme Magic, Robert has also created a series of illusions
and escapes that are his alone.
The
"Pyre of Death" offers razor-sharp
metal spikes suspended over Gallup's shackled and chained body. As
the deadly apparatus inches closer to the extremist's writhing form,
the apparatus is set afire, and Gallup has only moments to free himself
before becoming a human shish kabob. "I get a real adrenaline rush
every time I attempt this escape because there is always a very real
possibility of catastrophe."
As the live finale' to his first FOX Network television special,
Gallup barely pulled off one of the most insane death-defying escapes
ever attempted, the "Challenge of the Death Dive". Handcuffed
and leg manacled, Gallup was stuffed, chained and padlocked inside
of a mail bag, chained and locked inside of an eight-foot square jail
cell, and thrown out of a C-123 transport plane 18,000 feet above
the Mojave desert. Plummeting to earth at 150 miles an hour he had
less that a minute to free himself from his restraints and retrieve
his parachute that was attached to the outside of the cell! A close
call for Gallup but a huge ratings success for FOX as Gallup
Extreme Magic: Challenge of the Death Dive won all of its
key demographics in its prime-time slot and further entrenched Gallup
as a world wide preeminent leader in magic, illusion and escape.
Today, having been featured in over 200 television shows internationally,
including a half-dozen of his own highly rated network specials, Robert
splits his time between performing his highly successful live international
touring show, and creating and producing new extreme magic, illusions
and escapes. Gallup's eyes dance with excitement as he discusses his
next greatest death-defying
escape challenge, and mocks the risks involved. "O.K.,
so maybe I occasionally cut it a little close, but if the consequence
of failure isn't death... then it's just not fun!" And then admitting
with a smirk, "Let's face it... a lot of my stunts are like car races...
half the people come to cheer me to the finish line, and the other
half show up to see if today's the day I crash and burn."
A far cry from his first magic kit, but Robert is most content when
pushing himself, and the paradigm of magic and escape, to new extremes.
As he says with a grin, "Hey, what's the worst that can happen - I
end up hang'n with Houdini and doing card tricks for Elvis!?"
