While I do not watch much television (Unless it's TLC or Discovery or The history Channel), I do tune in to most magic related programs.

While not magic related per say, I watched (for the first time) a program called Maximum Exposure. The show is nothing more than a showcase of home videos where folks attempt different stunts, but fail.
(Cars crashing, jumps that didn't work, etc)

Anyway, as I sat watching this show, a young female magician named Anadela was shown attempting a box escape. She had a limited amount of time to escape before a large explosive charge would go off.

The video showed her struggling to pick the locks, etc. Then, as she emerged from the box, and just as she was stepping out from the deathtrap, the bomb exploded! She was thrown forward, and was ingulfed in flames running and screaming. She finally fell to the ground, where specatators and (crew?) covered her with a large blanket.

Clearly this was a dangerous stunt, as evidenced in this particular case. I bring this up to help remind all of us that no matter how well you plan something, there is always a chance (no matter how small), of something unexpected happening.

We have all heard stories of magicians drowning in boxes thrown into the bay, or being crushed by tons of dirt while attempting some sort of 'buried alive' stunt.

I urge all of you, please do be careful!
After all, an escape attempt does not have to be dangerous to get attention, as long as it appears to be deadly! After all, we are in the business of illusion, are we not?

A very often overlooked issue in escapes!

Thanks Steve!

I've had my share of bumps, bruises and cuts when doing escapes in my younger years. I have a strong memory of the day I almost drowned in a pool when handcuffed to the ladder. Be careful. Play safe, but make it look dangerous.
Greg

Great advice Steve: After all, an escape attempt does not have to be dangerous to get attention, as long as it appears to be deadly! After all, we are in the business of illusion, are we not?

As the late Lester Lake once advised me, "Die for your audience every night, but get up fresh the next morning."

I would also suggest letting your life and healthcare insurance agents in on what you're doing, showing them how and why it's safe (sharing the secret if necessary), so they won't cancel your policy on the grounds of doing "reckless stunts."

Steve
Joe Burris comes to mind, then Steve Quinn then others. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGSg0lP0Kd4
Joe called me before the stunt and I told him if he didn't have enough money to use thicker plexi not to do it.
He showed the box to a dealer I know, and the corner of the plexi was already broken AND Duct-Taped together. Joe thought everything-out except stuff like how thick the cement needed to be and how strong the box needed to be. He performed the same basic stunt with a wood box previously. Those small details were decided based on budget so the lesson here is, if you can't afford the correct equipment don't do the stunt. trick or illusion. I saw a guy hanging upside down using clothes line. that could have been bad. I asked why he didn't have a thicker rope and he said he couldn't afford it. - How about the hospital bill when you become a Quad?

Thanks for coming over to this section and showing your face, I know you have better things to do.
For anyone without years of experience, actually performing escapes. This is great advice. For anyone who theorises about the correct way to do things, for all the armchair quarterbacks that have day jobs..... sometimes it's better to stick to cards (especially if they're R&S ) I know that cards aren't as dangerous as some escapes but then again, cards are not as dangerous as some escapes. So the benefit is that you might get as much applause but without dying for your art.

Happy New Year Steve

To Curtis "we are in the business of illusion" Yes-but it aint necessarily so ... even illusions break, fall off the stage OR your assistant isn't there exactly when you need them so it's only an illusion most of the time. I've seen sharp blades go flying in the audience and almost hit someone. That wasn't part of the illusion. Just type Magician Knife Trick into youtube and see all the guys who have stabbed themselves with their illusion.
As my father once said 'It's not a crime until you get caught. When I used to do the Milk Can, we practised 50 times so I was sure the assistants got it right, About the 30th time they stopped paying attention and when they made a mistake THAT"S when they realised it was important to do it correctly.

I'm still here (even though a few of you possibly wish I could disappear)

Some escapes are stunts, some are tricks, and some are a mix. We each decide what risks we'll take, and how to approach them.

It ain't what you have it's what you do with it. Good phrase! Fits for all kinds of situations! When you have been involved in a business as long as Jay, Ian, Ken, Steve and Michael I think you can give sound advice based on what you know and have seen. I would certainly listen t any of thoes guys! Fantastic advice AND free!

If you do this for a living which is in the season three to four days a week doing up to three escapes a day you don't take chances, you know your biz and treat it as a job.

However if you do one a month then a different perspective can be used (Mainly for your own amusement).
Over this holiday week I shall be doing two days in Bath, just done two stunts for the Solstice at The Henge, Have two privates at Highclere Castle (Home of Downton Abbey) with a Xmas Eve booking in Lacock (Home of Harry Potter Movie). For the after Xmas week I do the Hospital run for the kids charity that CHAINS support...thats it... could have trebled that ammount of work but this is my final year in escapology as a living so cut my workload down by two thirds.

So does anyone really take any chances when its your job ??? Of course not.
Still a lot of BS regards the facts is bandied around here, I have done this for many years and yes had injuries (Mainly from taking on challenges,,,way back when I was a young idiot and up for it,,,but have out grown the testosterone trap and moved on).

The truth seems to be absent on the ATU thread,,,and posts vanish which shows the truth sometimes hits the mark.
Im a no nonsense up front person so if any of this hits the grain, tough,,cos its factual not pretence.

It would be like saying your a Stuntman but when checked out via the USA stunt association found to be BS.

Get my drift ? Ken.

Not all stuntmen join organizations, eh? Quite a few of us do very ancient, traditional stunts. A bureaucracy doesn't change that, any more than inclusion in the Guinness book makes a record legitimate.

In the UK you have to join a recognised unit in order to get insurance and indeed any work at all. Try getting stunt work without being Equity reg!!!

I've heard good things about Brit Equity.

Sadly, Equity in the US is an actor's union. I've known quite few members who barely know how to walk onto a stage, but they have their card. They do not acknowledge people like us.

WOw, Kondini, sounds like you cut back.

Usually in the states in Dec a working performer that does the type of venues and events as you, does 30 to 50 shows in the month of Dec alone!

Used to be the same here Harley but the nanny state with the chance of getting sued put a change to a lot of things here.

Yes Dave I'm not taking the bait as you know I only respond to decent folk not the **** pretenders.

Yes Dave,
Sadly the the "pretenders" have a 100 times better resume than the one who has been doing it for 100 years! lol
The pretender has major accomplishments as the old timer hmm really nothing notable to my knowledge!

The notable one keeps rehashing the same old BS and hate speech,
as the "pretenders" add valuable content!

The U.S. is somewhat like the wild west in that aspect. Like Harley said, you can be a member of the Screen Actors Guild and be a stuntman and an actor and still completely suck. And you can not be a member and be completely awesome. The same is true of magic: membership in the SAM or IBM does not mean that you are a competent magician, sometimes it can mean just the reverse. And as far as martial arts goes it's the same thing. I have a first degree black belt and have been training and teaching for twenty years. At a party just recently, I hear about someone who is a fifth degree black belt and has just had their 16th birthday.

The UK is different, I have some friends that are part of the Magic Circle and they have a rigorous audition process. The SAM and IBM have none.

So things are different in America, qualifications and reputations do not correlate at all with ability or experience. Many people in the U.S. are completely out of depth either forwards or backwards with qualifications. They don't always go hand in hand, and often they don't. In the U.S. the politically connected get qualifications and recognition, but that has nothing to do with skill or ability.