Invite the Magic of Siegfried and Roy into Your Torts Discussion

• Published date: 01 February 2008
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-1722.2008.00048.x
• Date: 01 February 2008

Invite the Magic of Siegfried and Roy

into Your Torts Discussion

M.P. ‘‘Marty’’ Ludlum

n

Shirley MacLaine said I was a tiger in a previous life. She ought to know best,

right?

–Roy Horn

1

INTRODUCTION

Magic is exciting, but dangerous. David Copperfield explained ‘‘of all the

performers on stage, no one courts disaster, no one flirts with danger as

much as the magician.’’

2

On October 3, 2003, Siegfried

3

and Roy

4

expe-

rienced that danger firsthand. On that tragic night, Roy was attacked by

one of his tigers while performing before a live audience. This tragic event

can initiate an informative class discussion.

r2008, Copyright the Author

Journal compilation rAcademy of Legal Studies in Business 2008

107

Journal of Legal Studies Education

Volume 25, Issue 1, 107–126, Winter/Spring 2008

n

Professor of Business/Economics, OklahomaCity Community College. Professor Ludlum can

be reached at mludlum@occc.edu. I wish to thank the editor and three anonymous reviewers

from JLSE for their comments on the article. Any mistakes or omissions remain my respon-

sibility.An earlier draft of this article was presented to the Southern Academy of Legal Studies

in Business, March 3, 2007, San Antonio, Texas.

1

Bill Zehme, Siegfried & Roy,ESQUIRE, Aug. 2000, at 108.

2

DAVID COPPERFIELD,ADELICATE SLIGHToFHAND:MAGIC AND ITS HISTORY OF ILLUSION 6 (1994).

Criss Angel has made headlines and millions of dollars with his daredevil stunts; see Susan

Karlin, The Daredevil,FORBES, July 4, 2005, at 130 (stating that Angel’s Mindfreak television

specials show him risking death by, among other stunts, blowing himself up with dynamite,

dangling over a canyon in a helicopter,being suspended by fishhooks in his skin); see also Penn

Jillette, The Dark Arts,R

OLLING STONE, Nov. 13, 2004, at 53; Neil Strauss, Even in Magic Acts,

Tigers and Bullets Can Be Lethal, N.Y. TIMES, Oct. 8, 2003, at E1 (stating that over a dozen

magicians have died trying to perform a single trick, catching a bullet in their teeth).

3

Siegfried’s full name is Siegfried Fischbacher. Franz Lidz, Cats Entertainment,SPORTS ILLUST-

RATED, Feb. 23, 2001, at 93.

4

Roy’s full name is Roy Uwe Ludwig Horn. Id.

In this article, I will present a classroom discussion exercise using the

Siegfried and Roy incident. I will begin with some brief background in-

formation, including the history of Siegfried and Roy. Next, I will detail the

tragic event of October 3. I will then discuss a script of the basic discussion,

detailing the many tort issues from this incident. The Siegfried and Roy

incident encompasses a variety of issues that are perfect for the introduc-

tory law class or a more advanced torts class. With a minimal twist on the

facts, the instructor can incorporate many diverse legal topics with this

single example. I will conclude with a summary of the legal issues from this

exercise. This topic has special relevance to me. Besides being a full-time

faculty member, I am also a magician.

5

Magic is a big part of my life, and I

try to incorporate this passion into the classroom whenever possible.

6

SETTING THE STAGE

Las Vegas capitalized on the image of theme parks and designed casinos to

resemble those tourist destinations.

7

It has been a tremendous financial

success. Las Vegas, with a small population,

8

hosted 38,900,000 visitors in

2006, a 4 percent increase from the previous year.

9

5

My stage name is The Magic Dad.See http://www.themagicdad.com (last visited Aug. 1, 2007).

6

I am active in several magic societies; The Magic Circle of London,

http://www.magiccircle.co.uk (last visited Aug. 1, 2007); the International Brotherhood of

Magicians, http://www.magician.org (last visited Aug. 1, 2007); the Society of American

Magicians, http://www.magicsam.com (last visited Aug. 1, 2007); The Oklahoma City Magic

Club, http://www.okcmagic.org (last visited Aug. 1, 2007).

7

RONALD M. PAVALKO,RISKY BUSINESS:AMERICAN’SFASCINATION WITH GAMBLING 90 (2000); BAR-

BARA LAND &MYRICK LAND,A SHORT HISTORY oFLAS VEGAS 83 (2d ed. 2004) (stating that the

face of Las Vegas changed in 1941,when hotel man Tom Hull and local businessmen Robert

Griffith and James Cashman created the El Rancho Casino).

8

In 2000, Las Vegas had a census population of 478,434. See http://www.lasvegasnevada.gov/

FactsStatistics/history.htm (last visited Aug. 1, 2007).

9

Kitty Bean Yancey, Sin City Uncovered, USA TODAY, May 11, 2007, at 8d (representing a 93.2

percent hotel occupancy rate). The number of tourists rises every year. See Gene Sloan et al.,

Hooters Has a Hot Hand: A Casino Hotel in Vegas,USA TODAY, Feb.3, 2006, at 1D (stating that L as

Vegashad 37.4 million visitors in 2005); PETE EARLEY,SUPER CASINO:INSIDE THE NEW LAS VEGAS

19 (2000) (stating that, in the 1990s, Las Vegasovertook Walt Disney World as the most pop-

ular tourist destination in America); SALLY DENTON &ROGER MORRIS,THE MONEY AND THE

POWER:THE MAKING OF LAS VEGAS AND ITS HOLD ON AMERICA 360 (2001) (stating that Las Vegas

is a place where ordinary people go to feel extraordinary).

108 Vol. 25 / The Journal of Legal Studies Education