Background and career
David Merlini is a Hungarian-Italian escape artist, and World Record holder, described by Expo 2015 as the world's most famous escapologist, currently serving as Director of The House of Houdini, the only Houdini museum in Europe. Merlini's signature performances had been broadcast live in some of the most relevant television networks worldwide.
His mother is Hungarian and his father is Italian. He was raised in Italy, where he moved with his family from Hungary at the age of 4. Around the age of 4, Merlini became interested in locks and handcuffs. As a child, he was given a magic trick, which founded his career. Around 13, Merlini attended night school at Turin's Circolo Amici della Magia, an illusionist school. When he was 17, he returned to Hungary, the country he regards as his homeland. Merlini cited Harry Houdini, who had also been born in Hungary, as a major source of inspiration.
At Sziget'95 (now called the Sziget Festival), Merlini was strapped in a straitjacket, and was tied to a flaming rope by his feet. His aim was to escape from the rope and descend 20 meters to the platform below with a safety line.
Merlini was locked in a perforated steel box, after being chained and padlocked. The box was lowered into the Danube from the Chain Bridge.
Attempts to recreate Houdini's famed Chinese Water Torture Cell, Handcuffed by five sets of regulation police handcuffs, locked with 60 pounds of chains, and padlocked in a metal cage, Merlini was lowered into a transparent tank of water, live at eurovision television programme Jeux Sans Frontieres.
Handcuffed to the steering wheel of a Mercedes 500, doors are welded shut, the car is set on fire and lifted up to a height of 100 ft. before being released free fall.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
