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Kristen Johnson is an escape artist who works with her husband magician Kevin Ridgeway under the names Living Illusions and Ridgeway & Johnson. As a successful performer in her own right she stands out in the male-dominated world of magic and she is one of a very small number of women to achieve prominence in the field of escapology.
The couple are christians and have specialised in performing for christian events and organisations under the Living Illusions name. As their act has become more successful they have expanded into a full-length touring show under the Ridgeway & Johnson name, which has played in all types of venues.
Kristen's signature trick 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. She performed the original version of the 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.
On October 29, 2006 Kristen was given one of the top awards in her field during the 4th Annual International Escape Convention where she performed her futuristic Full View Water Torture Cell Escape. She was given The Masters Award, presented by Thomas Blacke of Escape Masters magazine. Kristen is also one of only two artists to perform at all four Escape Artist Conventions.
Her Full View Water Torture Cell totally mesmerizes the audience they have never witnessed this daring event in full view. Nothing is more heart pounding than to watch Kristen hold her breath while she picks the locks that entomb here in a watery grave. She averages 2 minutes and 45 seconds in the underwater escape on one breath, however she has encountered several events where it has taken up to 3 minutes and 15 seconds to free herself, once again on one breath. She ends each and every show with this escape and has performed it as much as 30 times in ten days. Kristen offers a $10,000.00 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.
Media wise, she has been featured on The Travel Channel's Inside the Houdini Museum. This show documented Houdini and modern day escape artists. Kristen was the only female selected for the show as she performed her Spike Escape and together with her husband, performed their version of Origami. She has been mentioned on the front page of The L.A. Times in a story about the reemergence of escape artists, most notably Mark Cannon. She is recognized as North America's Premier Female Escape Artist. --E2XGUY 07:31, 23 February 2007 (UTC)
References
External links
- Ridgeway & Johnson
- Living Illusions
- Article by Debbie Fuller at Christian Hollywood magazine