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| Topic: The Man Who Could Not Be Hanged |
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Anybody ever heard of this? Rumor has it, it is an effect where a man can wrap a rope around his throat and have audience members pull on the ends, yet the rope does not choke or injure him. PLEASE NOTE: I am NOT planning on attempting this. Someone had merely told me about this and I was curious to see if this actually existed. |
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Yes, this is still performed today: Hercules from Exeter, and the amazing Magnus, to name but two who work this at Gala's in the UK. Penny Hinksman— who I lost contact with back in the eighties— was the only female I knew who had this as a feature in her act. I understand on one occasion it went wrong and for a period of time she had to cover the scars by wearing polo neck costumes. Many of the old books cover this stunt, but I must say it has never been my cup of tea. Also Miss Atlas comes to mind. |
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| Could anyone point me to a specific source for this stunt? A name of a book? |
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Am on tour at moment will list relevant info upon return (Next week) OK, Book, Bed of Nails springs to mind not sure if method is exposed though. If you e me your post mail address I will send you method by return. Ken. |
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I just saw the plans for an effect very close to this called Gallows. It was in a book called TOPS and was published in 1965 if I remember correctly. This particular book was of illusion plans. Hope this helps. Carter |
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| I have actually seen a man hanged at a far out Las Vegas ghost town. It's in some clay canyon. I was fairly young, about 15 years ago, but from what I remember, there is a gimmick of course. I don't want to get into too much detail here. |
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| There was a man by the name of Farmer Burns who did this. He was a catch-wrestler, had a 20" neck on a 5'6" frame. He has a web site at http://www.farmerburns.com run by Matt Furey, it's mostly exercise related but has some interesting stories. He was turn of the century, so don't expect anything up to date. |
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| I know that they use a gimmick in "Jesus Christ Superstar" when Judas is hanged. I know how it works to a point but not all the way, so I have never tried it myself. It is fairly simple as long as you have the facts. This is the closest thing I have seen to the one mentioned above. |