He added: At the end of the day when you perform that many shows and have no incident whatsoever this is an

He added: “At the end of the day, when you perform that many shows and have no incident whatsoever, this is an anomaly.”It is also a tribute to their skills, for both Siegfried and Roy have worked with dangerous animals for no fewer than 44 years. But then neither has ever known a life without ever-present risk. He tried to beat it off with a microphone, as the audience, half of whom thought it was part of the act, was transfixed. But when the tiger pulled Horn off stage they knew that the illusionist was being seriously, perhaps fatally, attacked.Horn was reportedly able to speak with medics as an ambulance took him to hospital, but the animal had inflicted a fearful injury to the side of his neck.

Roy Horn, the dark-haired half of the duo, who was celebrating his 59th birthday, was 45 minutes into the act and led from the wings one of their trademark white tigers. It was called Montecore, a seven-year-old male, and it was making its debut. Cue renewed applause.Whether it was that cascading noise, which the animal was hearing live for the first time, or just a rogue moment, but the tiger suddenly lunged at Horn. But unlike the bouffant-haired, rhinestone-encrusted old trouper, the duo’s dangers, involving tigers, lions and other big cats, have always been more palpable and immediate.They hid it well, developing a showy spectacle that has been a staple in Las Vegas for three decades, but always there was the risk that one day a lion or tiger born with less of an instinct for show business would strike without warning.On Friday night, amid the glitzy stagings of the Mirage Hotel, it finally happened. Roy Horn may live, but this act will never be the same again.
Siegfried and Roy are the Liberaces of the magic shows and, like him, they have always lived dangerously. There are some magicians for whom any risk is just an illusion. Not Siegfried and Roy; for on Friday one half of this, Las Vegas’s most spectacular and high-camp double-act, was critically injured when a white tiger suddenly leapt at his throat and dragged him off the stage “like a rag doll”.

Roy Horn may live, but this act, and maybe even this town, will never be the same. Not Siegfried and Roy, for on Friday one half of this, Las Vegas’s most spectacular and high-camp double-act, was critically injured when a white tiger suddenly leapt at his throat and dragged him off the stage “like a rag doll”. There are some magicians for whom any risk is an illusion. A $10,000 “Mermaid Suit”, for instance, is described as a “custom-designed prosthetic suit [that] fits over the hips and envelops the legs, creating an extremely realistic blend of female and fish”.Then there is the $800,000 Laser-Inscribed Diamond Ring, the $50,000 Monogrammed Multicore Five-Piece Luggage Set and the $27,000 Luxury Ice Fishing House “constructed on steel skids for easy transportation” in which family and friends “can drop lines into six fishing holes in the floor and fish in cozy comfort”.There’s one other thing you should know about these products: every year people with big pockets and small brains actually buy them.. The 6ft automatons will answer the door, greet visitors and carry purchases indoors.
Neiman’s catalogue is renowned as much for its excitable prose as for its crazy prices. Neiman Marcus, the Chicago store patronised by the very rich, has excelled itself in this year’s Christmas gift catalogue – with his ‘n’ hers robots, a snip at $400,000 (£241,000).