Nothing Up My Sleeve Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sawing a woman in half

Selbit (birth name Percy Thomas Tibbles) was always inventive in his magic act and tried to always have something new for his audiences. The idea of a sawing-a-woman-in-half trick had been discussed for many years but Selbit was the first to present it to an audience, in January, 1921.

There were claims that the trick was done earlier but none have ever been proved and illusionists in general credit Selbit with bringing it to fruition.

Answer: Carl Ballantine

Born Meyer Kessler in Chicago, Illinois, Carl Ballantine was a magician, comedian and actor. His attempts to be a regular magician in the 1940s were failing until one night when a trick didn't work and he made a joke to cover it up. The audience laughed, so he changed his act to make many of the tricks flop on purpose. He made frequent appearances on television shows in the 1950s and 60s and was the first magician to play in Las Vegas.

Answer: Harry Anderson

A fan of magic since childhood, Harry Anderson practiced magic every day after high school classes in Los Angeles, California. He worked as a street magician for a while, then became an actor, appearing as con man "Harry the Hat" on "Cheers" and as judge Harry Stone on "Night Court". Moving away from television in the 21st century, Anderson has concentrated on performing magic in clubs and restaurants he has owned.

Answer: Lance Burton

From a childhood dream, Lance Burton made a career as a magician, from 1979 to 2010. After some TV work in California, Burton moved to Las Vegas and began appearing in various clubs. In 1994 he signed a 13-year contract to perform at the Monte Carlo Resort on the Las Vegas Strip. It was the longest contract ever given to a Las Vegas performer, even Elvis! The resort built a special theater for him in which he performed over 5,000 shows and earned about 110-million dollars during his tenure there. His contract was extended until 2015 but he retired in 2010.

Answer: Dante the Magician

Harry Jansen was born in Denmark in 1883 and moved to the U.S. with his family in 1889. At age 16 he started performing as a magician, later being given the stage name Dante. He worked in vaudeville, burlesque, films and television. His troupe consisted of 25 to 40 performers and assistants. As television siphoned off audiences from live theater, he found less work to support his large group and retired in the late 1940s. His trademark utterance "Sim Sala Bim" was used as a greeting by late night TV host Johnny Carson in his Carnac the Magnificent seer persona.

Answer: Uri Geller

A self-described psychic, Uri Geller is an illusionist from Israel, now living in England. A frequent TV guest, Geller's notable trick is bending spoons, supposedly by telepathy. He claims to be telepathic and have psychokinetic abilities. He has also claimed extraterrestrials gave him his powers. Okay.

Answer: Zig Zag Girl

Taking the 'sawing a woman in half' trick one step further, Robert Harbin invented the Zig Zag Girl trick, putting a woman in a long box and then cutting it into three parts. The middle section is then pushed partly away from the other two, giving the woman a zig-zag shape. Harbin often did the trick with audience members onstage with him. Of course, the sections would be put back together and the woman would emerge unscathed.

The Zig Zag Man on the other hand is a trademark character used on the packaging of Zig Zag cigarette-rolling papers.

Answer: Siegfried and Roy

Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn were magicians at the Mirage Resort in Las Vegas from 1990 to 2003. They performed magical illusions and displayed white lions and tigers onstage. Their show was one of the "must see" shows in Las Vegas. In 2003, while onstage, Horn was bitten in the neck by one of the tigers they used in their act. It took Horn years to recover and the duo retired in 2010. "Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat" continues to be a feature at the Mirage, where visitors can see white lions and tigers and paint a picture or do yoga exercises with dolphins.

Answer: Houdini

Harry Houdini's real name was Erik Weisz. He took the name Houdini from French magician Robert Houdin. Houdini was an escapologist, famed for escaping from locked trunks, multiple sets of chains and padlocks, strait jackets and being buried alive. He once said that he spent much time learning the working of locks which aided him in his act.

Answer: David Copperfield

David Kotkin became interested in magic at age 10. At age 16 he was teaching a course in magic at New York University. At age 18 he came across "David Copperfield" by Charles Dickens, liked the name and started using it as his own. Besides the Statue of Liberty illusion, Copperfield has levitated over the Grand Canyon and walked 'through' the Great Wall of China. He has hosted 20 TV specials which earned him 21 Emmy Awards. Oh, and he has grossed over 4-billion U.S. dollars doing his job!