It’s tough for a man who once dangled upside down from a wire in a straitjacket 90 feet in the air over Downtown Pittsburgh to one-up himself, but Pittsburgh native and magician Lee Terbosic is burning to try the impossible this Halloween.
“There’s always an element of danger. Anytime you’re doing anything at height or something like this, by nature, there’s always that chance of the unknown going awry,” Terbosic explained with just over a week of preparation to go until his next live stunt. “Those dangers are obviously maximized when you see these types of things live.”
In coordination with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Terbosic, 44, of Baldwin and Downtown, will attempt to showcase the most grandiose trick the Steel City has up it sleeve this year. That will come in the form of his second live straitjacket escape, this time from the skies above Arts Landing as trick-or-treating winds down on Halloween night.
Terbosic will endeavor to best the November 2016 spectacle that saw him escape from a straitjacket while suspended 90 feet from a crane above Wood Street and Liberty Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh. He challenged himself to that feat in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of legendary magician Harry Houdini’s own daring 1916 escape while dangling from a building high above the streets of Pittsburgh.
This time around, Terbosic is preparing to honor the 100th anniversary of Harry Houdini’s death. And with “Houdini 100: Chapter Two — The Great Firetruck Ladder Escape,” he’s raising the stakes.
“The weather is a big factor in this, but that is the ultimate plan is to do a light of the line and have essentially a ticking clock against me,” explained Terbosic. “The line between my feet and the fire truck will be in flames. That’s what we’re hoping to perform.”
On Oct. 31, Terbosic will be lifted 100 feet skyward by way of a firetruck ladder around 8:45 p.m. The ascent will mark the culmination of three years of planning and preparation that will climax over four expected minutes of action once setup is complete.
“There’s a lot of mental preparation and physical preparation that goes into this one moment in time. How it goes between those 10 minutes is all up to me,” Terbosic said. “That’s the most important thing, to be dialed in and be focused on exactly what I need to do, in the time I need to do it, to do it all correctly in a sequence. That sequence is completely memorized in my head and it’s like kind of a muscle memory.”
A ceremony will precede the spectacle at 7 p.m. featuring performances by DJ Bonics and DJ Midas. The free event will be streamed live on Terbosic’s social media channels.
In 2016, Terbosic was joined by Steelers greats Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier as well as horror movie makeup and special effects legend Tom Savini, who helped secure Terbosic in his straitjacket. No special guests have yet been formally announced for this year’s event.
“I hope people come out as neighbors, experience something that they’ll always say you had to be there to see it,” said Terbosic. “(Magicians) do it to create these unique memories for people.”
Terbosic’s own journey to becoming a magician who eventually starred in Discovery Science Channel’s four-part series “Houdini’s Last Secrets” and befriended a member of the Houdini family began in Pittsburgh’s Lincoln Place.
“I had a couple posters on my wall growing up. One was Roberto Clemente, and the other one was Harry Houdini,” Terbosic said. “I visualized these crazy antics in my head for my whole childhood, so it’s kind of crazy that as an adult I bring them to life.”
Other career accomplishments for the Baldwin High School graduate have included co-creating Downtown’s Liberty Magic with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and performing in productions like “In Plain Sleight,” “The Life and Death of Harry Houdini” and “52 Up Close” at Kimpton Hotel Monaco.
“Most kids I think at some point in time have a weeklong fascination with magic tricks. I think most kids that only lasts a week or two, some that last a few months, some that last a few years and some that lasts a lifetime,” said Terbosic. “And I just happen to be one of those lifetime kids.”
Houdini, who on several occasions plunged into the freezing waters of the Allegheny River where the Andy Warhol Bridge now stands, holds a special place in the heart of Terbosic, a Houdini prop collector and historian of sorts.
“He’s the one magician that kind of transcends time, and I think that’s what’s so cool about his life. He’s still relevant today,” said Terbosic. “If your cat escapes, you’re calling him a little Houdini.”
As Terbosic puts it, his legacy goes far beyond his prowess and daring.
“He was the one guy that gave people hope. That was it. He knew how to spread hope. He showed people how to free themselves, and that was an important thing at that moment in time. But I think that that’s one of those things that should never go away,” said Terbosic. “I think there should always be somebody trying to show you that anything is possible.”