talkmagic.co.uk

i just wanna find out what ppl think i shud try nxt straigt jacket or stick with rope for now cos i tried stuff n can do it but i dunno what 2 do nxt

First thing, stop using Internet short hand as your means to communicate... then the old farts like me can better understand what you want instead of trying to decipher things. Communications is the foremost required skill of any show person both, in written and spoken forms. The style of magic I currentlly specialize in leans heavily upon how words and even body movement are used in order to create the effect desired. So learn how to correct such poor habits now, while you're young.

When it comes to escape work the best way to learn is simply get tied up again, again and again and learn how to get out. This is the true foundation to escapeology, not a bunch of gimmicks and devices but concentration, rational thinking and at times, brute force.

Remember that chains are nothing more than steel ropes and you can more or less do the same thing with them as you do with rope (and in many cases, escaping form 100 ft. of chain is easier than 100 ft of rope).

There are many videos that cover this topic now days, I know Stevens Magic here in the states has at least two or three decent ones to choose from as well as a nice line of gaffed pad locks and handcuffs but, be prepared to cough up some money. Decent escape equipment gets expensive really fast now days. If you cut corners on quality you not only run the risk of ruining the illusion around the challenge, you may literally find yourself with a faulty gimmick that could, in time, cost you your life.

True escape work is not the same thing as doing an illusion that appears to be an escape like the Water Cell, Bed of Death or Sub Trunk. There's a lot more being put on the line and it can be exceptionally dangerous. Even some of those I just listed have caused some ugly accidents, and I won't go down the list of people (myself included) that have been seriously hurt doing a suspended straight jacket escape.

Take your time and study the craft... take your time and practice, practice, practice.

Craig Browning wrote:First thing, stop using Internet short hand as your means to communicate...

Come now Craig. Perhaps he has to bash the keyboard with his head and this is the best he can manage. We should find out firt whether he's unfortunate or simply wants us to think he's unfortunate.

Sorry. Unaccountably happy.

It could be that he got really used to typing like that that even when typing in normal posts like this, it just comes like that naturally. It happened to me only for a while. *Laughing Out Loud*

I don't really like the short hand myself but when needed, I'll use it since the person I'm talking to already knows it. *Laughing Out Loud*

LOL

Craig makes some very valid points about escape, so I'd listen to him if I were you, work out what it is you want to achieve; a performance based illusion or a genuine escape, both are physically demanding and both can be highly dangerous (I too have fallen doing a suspended strait jacket).

On the bright side the strait jacket can be done on the ground (if you want to see a comedy version go to my website via the link below and click on the spade symbol), but as a stand alone effect a 'percieved' danger certainly helps the overall excitement.

It really depends where you are at with the art of escapology as to where to go next, if you're after a genuine escape then I'd recommend the following:

You say you can escape a rope? Then why not get someone else to tie you in a different way, and see if you can escape that, if you can still escape then find someone else to tie you up in it a different way, become an expert, study knots, make sure you can escape the rope no matter how they tie it.. (far more cost effective than shelling out for a decent straitjacket in my honest opinion)