The Houdini of Indy: the magician who broke free from Indianapolis
For most of his life, Bill Shirk lived in Zionsville, Indiana. The young Indianapolis magician started performing in the Eitel Jorg Museum in Indianapolis, Indiana. Born 1945, after graduating from Ball State University, Bill Shirk became “The Indy Houdini.” The Indianapolis illusionist is not only the most famous magician escape artist in Hoosier history, the performer is a radio personality and an actor as well.
Unlike other Indianapolis entertainers like Reggie Miller, throughout the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s, the Midwest magician played a huge role in Indianapolis radio. But Bill Shirk didn’t stop there. He made a mark as a magician.
Wanting to boost the ratings for his new show, Shirk decided to climb its antenna on top of Chase Tower. The magician shimmied up the 250-foot pole during a thunderstorm. The winds twisted around the performer, bending the pole like a plastic toothpick. A man shouted at him to come down at once.
Vice President Dan Quayle (from Indianapolis) was coming to Chase Tower to give a presentation. Something about a man climbing a 250 foot pole on top of Chase Tower didn’t sit well with the Secret Service.
The publicity stunt worked, boosting the ratings of the new station more than 300 percent. That’s why Bill Shirk did them. Not for the love of it. Not because it made Bill Shirk feel alive. Not for the thrill of it. The magician wanted to boost the ratings of his Midwest radio show.
It worked.
In four short years, the Indianapolis man set eight Guinness World Records—the fastest strait jacket escape and fastest jail break in the world.
Throughout his career, Shirk was buried alive ten times. Like Harry Houdini before him, the Hoosier was buried alive for over three days.
But Bill upped the ante, raising the stakes by being buried with two tarantulas, a rattle snake, and a ten-foot python snake. The publicity stunt wasn’t broadcast in only Indiana. Radio stations and televisions covered this across the globe.
In 1983, the man set his sights higher, taking on a role as an actor. Closely mirroring his real life, he portrayed himself, Bill Shirk, in The Escapist. In the movie, he tried to save his precious station from a ruthless corporation. Harry Houdini before him escaped from a straight jacket hanging upside down suspended from a crane. The Hoosier daredevil Bill Shirk escaped from a straight jacket while suspended from a helicopter 2,000 feet in the stratosphere.
Buried alive
In 1992, on the 66th anniversary of Harry Houdini’s death, Shirk performed a buried alive trick. For added drama, he would be buried alive in a solid plexiglass casket, under 1400 pounds of wet cement.
The casket collapsed on Bill.
Magic can be tragic. Sadly, more than a dozen magicians have died from a magic trick.
Is Bill Shirk alive?
Yes, Bill Shirk is alive. Though the casket crushed and nearly killed Bill, the magician survived. Now in his 70’s, Bill Shirk said, “I’ve lost interest in trying to kill myself.”
The Hoosier magician retired his straitjacket and now the only remaining magician in Indianapolis is Jon Finch.
Shirk owns a Boone County Indiana radio station. The Hoosier Broadcasting moved studios of its channel in Boone County, from the Pyramids office Park near North Michigan Road and Interstate 465 to new venues in Lebanon, Indiana.
Catholic Radio Indy uses a station owned by Hoosier Broadcasting. Despite being a millionaire, something about the magic of radio still has its hold on Shirk and he’s not ready to retire. Radio gives him something to do that doesn’t involve magic or escapes.
Bill Shirk is not like other hillbilly Hoosiers in Indianapolis, as the music on his radio station isn’t like most of the other music from stations in Indianapolis.
