Best approach to challenge escapes?
When to except?
When not to?
How do you avoid an embarrassing situation?

Roger

Roger, when you get paid for doing a challenge is the best time to ask for one. Until then, anyone challenging you, tell them to see your manager.

Ian
(keep safe)

Mr. McCall, once again... Thanks for the advice!!!!!

Roger

That's true for challenge escapes where the challengers come to you as a performer, but the other sort of challenge escapes are those that are actively sought, away from the stage, to actually test your skills. I pretty much learnt this way, by seeking out and challenging people to bind me effectively, and I still do when I can; as the old adage goes, no matter how good you are somewhere there is someone who can beat you, and I want to know as much as possible in advance of what people might try.

I do consider performance escapology and "sport" escapology as described above to be different (though related) disciplines. The former is about being able to control everything to make the show flow smoothly, tell a story and keep people entertained within a set time duration, whereas the latter has no set time limit and is genuinely about being challenged and pushing your limits. Sometimes the lines between the two blur, some people do one or the other, some do both. I spent a long time figuring out how to get from "sport" escapology into something I could control as an entertaining performance.

Challenges off stage will never pay my rent.
Challenges on stage will.
Any challenge is an illusion, if it`s for "real" then it`s a mistake! (Funny how most "real" challenges like insults come from within this so called community)Usually fed by let`s pretend Im an ea person, ea`s of real worth would understand this and treat it with contempt.

Accept only the challeges you know you have set up.

There will never be an embarrassing situation,because you will always be in control of all your situations (The man with the mike can always be heard!!)

Ego trips earn very little.

Self promotion challenges earn big.

Thanks Kondini! Man this is good stuff!!!!!

Roger

The ones I used in my night-club days:

75' of rope

Regulation Police Handcuff challenge (It was the late 1970s to mid-1980s, and my collection and knowledge were good enough at that time for me to make it an 'international' challenge - cuffs as used by police in any civilized country)

Allowing audience members to bring their own padlocks to fasten MY escape show devices (none of which required opening the locks).

Final comment; Prynce Wheeler's advice: "If you don't think you can get out of it, don't try it; good, common sense."

Steve

Kondini has obviously been around the block, he knows what he is talking about. I paid my dues in the earliest part of my magic/escape career via the challenge act. I allowed people to do henious things to my body, (mostly my wrists and thumbs) in order to proclaim myself as "King of Escapes"...and it was all for publicity, no money! I soon found out that the better way to go was a presentation by my own design and one that I alone controlled. My upside-down straitjacket escape and my underwater river escape seemed to impress the public enough to keep would-be challengers at bay and when these were set up, I got paid for them. I gave up the challenge act long ago. I, for one, would not want to live in fear every time I did a show of some smart-alac card carrying magician coming into a show with God knows what in his challenge bag waiting for me to accept his challenge. If you advertise the challenge act...they will come. Mike