Possible Art of Escape Forum Topic

[Chrispy]

I would honestly question my ability to get out of the double locked hinged version with the keyhole correctly facing away from my hands if they were behind my back. It would definately give me a run for my money. I can get out of them when they are in front of me, but it's quite hard if they are double locked and the keyhole is facing away from my hands.

Same here.

[helix]

I just picked my way out of being handcuffed to a chair tonight. I'm always up for some escapology.

Chained or hinged?

One of each.

Aaaaaaaaahh, now I see.
You had a set on each hand, not your hands together in one set?

..Because I know how to put on cuffs police standard
and I tried it the other day and there was no way
that I could get out of them with the key in my hand.

(It was just me home and took me long enough to
get them on properly, I had to lay back onto them).

I kept them very loose, just in case and after a good
struggle, my partner came home from work and let
me out LOL.

I don't think a tolerance to pain would have helped much.
Even loose, there was only metal or bone that was
going to give. I certainly don't have big wrists, either.

I'm sure that SOMEWHERE there is a freak that can achieve this,
maybe it is you but it definitely isn't me LOL.

If anyone can do it, I'd LOVE to see a video of it if possible.
That would really interest me a lot.

[TOWCH]

True masters learn to hold the key in their cheeks.

[Chrispy]

True masters learn to hold the key in their cheeks.

Buns of steel, eh?

[capt.dunc]

different people (shape, size, flexability, pain tolerance) can do different things in the world of escapology, as a performer it's important to have a partner that you can trust when trying out new stuff. for my lectures i break down stunts into sections based on how the escape is effected;
1. trick locks, fake chain links etc.
2. physical ie. strength and contortion.
3. topology, loops and slip knots.
4. keys and picks.

as part of no.4 we should consider that you don't have to put the key into the lock using your hand, and that just as you can turn a key in a lock to open, you can also turn a lock around a key to the same effect. now go back and consider the handcuff problems above as homework.

[digital_blue]

Hey, maybe you can help on this one DB. What about dislocating your thumb? Or how about the thing we've all seen done on TV (last time I recall seeing it was Mel doing it in Letal Weapon, but it's a lot older than that--believe Houdini did it, but I could be wrong) where someone gets out of a straight jacket by dislocating their shoulder? Does it work? How practical is it? Do people with 'double-jointed' fingers/knuckles have a certain way they can slip out of cuffs if they know what they're doing?

Myth.. myth... and myth.

Magicians are crafty devils, and things are never as they appear. You do not need any fancy freak of nature body abnormalities to do any of the escapes you mentions, nor do you need to rip a joint from its socket. Thumb cuffs can be slipped from easily if you know how to have them applied in the first place. Handcuffs are almost never just slid past the hand (unless they were installed incorrectly in the first place). I've heard the same rumors that Houdini had freakishly small hands and could slide out of them, but I'm inclined to think that is a myth as well, since there are so many other methods. Did you research "jump cuffs" dd? This is a simple modification that can be made to pretty near any ordinary pair of handcuffs. They are examinable by all but the enlightened and appear perfectly normal. They can even be installed on a spectator and demonstrated to be fully functional immediately prior them being installed on yourself. And yet, you can get out instantly, and get back in if need be.

There's much out there, but the myths about freakish double-jointing and tiny hands are just that... myth.

Cheers!

db

[illusion]

mis-direction is largely used nowadays it seems, allowing the magician time to fiddle about with handcuffs and the like. Therefore it stands to reason that it is often just a case of the magician having an endless supply of "here's something I made earlier" type gadgets. Maybe I had the wrong idea all along, but it almost seems fake doing it this way.

are none of those contortion stories true?

I like the idea of an area for this on site...

p.s: db...do you have any interest in magician pick-pocketing by any chance?

[digital_blue]

Re: pickpocketing... yup. A couple of my favorite sources are "How to Pick Pockets For Fun And Profit" (despite the title, it's actually all very legit) and the Watch Steal Video with Chappy Brazil.

Re: contortions... Don't get me wrong. There are escape artists that train very hard to be able to gain an advantage by twisting this way or that. Arguably one of the worlds top escape artists is Dean Gunnerson (a Winnipeger who now resides in Vancouver). Dean gave a lecture at the Winnipeg Magic Club a couple years back and discussed the importance of physical training and conditioning. But having said that, I'm pretty confident that Dean has probably never had to dislocate his shoulder to slip out of a straight jacket. My point was, don't believe everything you hear about somebody's strange physiological condition which gives them some unnatural ability for escape. There's usually something much more dastardly at play. I have done a straightjacket escape myself in the past, but I can tell you that 8 years and 40 lbs later, I don't think I'd be "fit for the job".

Cheers.

db

[illusion]

"How to Pick Pockets For Fun And Profit"

read it already ... my mate bought it for a laugh, and lent it to me - quite impressive the way you can take peoples watches and ties off without notice.

[digital_blue]

If you liked the watch steal, you haven't seen anything until you've watched Chappy's Watch Steal Video. Man, that guy's (was) a savant with the watch steals.

db

[chrisgc]

RE:devildog Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 8:15 am Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey, maybe you can help on this one DB. What about dislocating your thumb? Or how about the thing we've all seen done on TV (last time I recall seeing it was Mel doing it in Letal Weapon, but it's a lot older than that--believe Houdini did it, but I could be wrong) where someone gets out of a straight jacket by dislocating their shoulder? Does it work? How practical is it? Do people with 'double-jointed' fingers/knuckles have a certain way they can slip out of cuffs if they know what they're doing?



Answer: While dislocating your shoulder could enable you to escape out of a straight jacket, its not really advisable or practicle and of course it would hurt!!

Of course there are other ways and them ways are by sheer hard work and strength (if you see Houdini pics of his physique - he was a small but very strong man).

These days of course there are gimmicked straight jackets - which could be incorporated in escapes that required an escape to be made in a particular amount of time, ie. a train on a track or a box set to explode.

They are available on the market but at a price.

Not quite sure but i think Houdini was quoted as once saying, "Locks are to keep people out and not in".

This would be very true if you was to put this statement to something like where he would escape out of a vault etc.

Other than that it would be great to have an escapologist forum.

[chopitup]

Best way to get out of a straight jacket is to tense up your body when they are putting it on you, giving you the most slack when you relax so you can maneuver around.

[chrisgc]

Best way to get out is still the gimmicked jackets - Guarnteed to get out no matter how tight you are strapped in - why make life hard for yourself by using a genuine jacket when your life could be on the line?

[chopitup]

Personal glory.

[NKT]

Not quite sure but i think Houdini was quoted as once saying, "Locks are to keep people out and not in".

This would be very true if you was to put this statement to something like where he would escape out of a vault etc.

Well, it's true. If you get inside the vast majority of safes, you can open the inside with a screwdriver and access the boltwork, and then you can trip the lock or not as you see fit. Few of them even use tamperproof screws, let alone have locks. Large vaults actually do, because this is a known weakness, and you will often see a set of good locks on the access to the back of the vault door on the big high end ones.