Harry Houdini, a famous escapologist and magician.

Escapology is the practice of escaping from restraints or other traps. Physical restraint refers to the practice of rendering people helpless or keeping them in captivity by means such as Handcuffs, Shackles, Straitjackets Escapologists (also called escape artists) escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, cages, steel boxes, barrels, bags, burning buildings, fish-tanks and other perils, often in combination. Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individual's Wrists close together A straitjacket is a Garment shaped like a Jacket with overlong Sleeves The ends of these can be tied to the back of the wearer so that the arms are kept A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container traditionally made of Wood Staves and bound with Iron Hoops The An aquarium (plural aquariums or aquaria) is a Vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which Water -dwelling Plants

Some escapologists' tricks are accomplished by illusionists' techniques; others are genuine acts of flexibility, strength and daring.

History of escapology

The art of escaping from restraints and confined spaces has been a skill employed by magicians for a very long time. It was not originally displayed as an overt act in itself but was instead used secretly to create other illusion effects such as disappearance or transmutation. ^[1] In the 1860s, the Davenport Brothers, who were skilled at releasing themselves from rope ties, used the art to convey the impression they were restrained while they created spirit phenomena. Ira Erastus Davenport (1839 &ndash 1911 and William Henry Davenport (1841 &ndash 1877 known as the Davenport Brothers, were American magicians ^[2]

Other illusionists, including John Nevil Maskelyne, worked out how the Davenports did their act and re-created the tricks to debunk the brothers' claims of psychic power. John Nevil Maskelyne ( December 22, 1839 - May 18, 1917) was an English stage magician and inventor of the However the re-creations did not involve overt escape, merely a replication of tricks with the statement that they were accomplished by secret magicians' skills rather than spirits. It took another thirty years before the pure skill of escape began to be displayed as an act in itself. The figure most responsible for making escapology a recognised entertainment was Harry Houdini, who built his career on demonstrating the ability to escape from a huge variety of restraints and difficult situations. ^[3]

Houdini made no secret of the fact that he was an expert on restraints and the skills needed to overcome them but he often concealed the exact details of his escapes to maintain an air of mystery and suspense. Although many of his escapes relied on technical skills such as lock-picking and contortion, he also performed tricks such as Metamporphosis and the Chinese Water Torture Cell, which are essentially classic stage illusions reliant on cleverly designed props. Lock picking is the act of unlocking a lock by analyzing and manipulating the components of the lock device without the original key Metamorphosis is the name of a stage illusion invented by John Nevil Maskelyne but most often associated with famous escape artist Harry Houdini and performed The Chinese Water Torture Cell is a Predicament escape made famous by Hungarian-American magician Harry Houdini. Houdini's feats helped to define the basic repertoire of escapology, including escapes from handcuffs, padlocks, straitjackets, and prison cells. Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individual's Wrists close together Padlocks are portable locks used to protect against Theft, Vandalism, Sabotage, Espionage, unauthorized use and harm A straitjacket is a Garment shaped like a Jacket with overlong Sleeves The ends of these can be tied to the back of the wearer so that the arms are kept term prison cell or holding cell refers to the accommodation of a Prisoner in a Prison or Police station. A succession of performers have added new ideas and created variations on old stunts, but it is common for even the best contemporary escapologists to be dubbed modern day "houdinis".

Escapology in fiction

The Grim Game, a 1919 film, stars Harry Houdini as a young man who is bound and imprisoned on numerous occasions by a gang who have kidnapped his fiancée. The Grim Game is a 1919 Silent film starring Harry Houdini. The film's basic plotline serves as a showcase for Houdini's talent as an escapologist The year 1919 in film involved some significant events Events February 5 - Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas

The novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon (winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize), features escapology as an important plot point. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is a 2000 Novel by American author Michael Chabon that won the Pulitzer Prize Michael Chabon (pron SHAY-bon (born May 24 1963 is an American author and "one of the most celebrated writers of his generation" according to the The Virginia The Pulitzer Prize, ˈpʊlɨtsɚ PULL-it-sər is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in Newspaper journalism,

Ragtime, by E.L. Doctorow, features Harry Houdini as a major character. Ragtime is a 1975 Novel by E L Doctorow. This work of Historical fiction is mostly set in New York City from about Edgar Lawrence Doctorow (born January 6, 1931, New York New York) is an American Author whose critically acclaimed and award winning fiction

In American superhero comic books, many superheroes like Batman are trained in escapology which is invaluable when dealing with deathtraps. A superhero (sometimes rendered super-hero or super hero) is a Fictional character "of unprecedented physical prowess dedicated to acts of derring-do A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative Batman (originally referred to as the Bat-Man and still referred to at times as the Batman) is a fictional Comic book Superhero co-created A deathtrap is a Literary and Dramatic Plot device in which a Villain, who has captured the Hero or another sympathetic character However, superheroes who are escape artists by profession include Mister Miracle, Ms. Liberty and The Escapist. Mister Miracle ( Scott Free) is fictional Superhero published by DC Comics. The Justice Machine is a Fictional team of Superheroes originally created by Michael Gustovich and appearing in Comic books from many small publishers Houdini himself appeared as a time/space traveler in the comic book series, Daring Escapes featuring Houdini.

The 1953 biographical film, Houdini, starring Tony Curtis in the title role, depicted many of Houdini's escapology performances. Houdini is a 1953 Biographical film about the life of the magician and Escapologist Harry Houdini. Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz June 3, 1925) is an American film actor

In 1972, Christopher George played an escape artist named Cammeron Steele in the TV movie/unsold series pilot, Escape. Christopher John George ( February 25 1929 - November 28 1983) was an American television and film actor who was perhaps best known for his starring Steele was a non-performing escapologist and night-club owner who, like Bill Bixby's Anthony Blake (The Magician) habitually helped people in trouble. Bill Bixby (born Wilfred Bailey Bixby on January 22, 1934 – November 21, 1993) was an American Film and The Magician was an American Television series that ran during the 1973&ndash1974 season

In 1982, Griffin O'Neal played a junior escapologist named "Danny Masters" in the film, The Escape Artist. Griffin Patrick O'Neal (born October 28, 1964) is an American Actor.

In 1983, real-life escape artist Bill Shirk played himself in a film called The Escapist.

Yorick, the main character of the comic book Y: The Last Man is an escape artist. Y The Last Man is a Comic book series by Brian K Vaughan and Pia Guerra, about the only man to survive the mysterious simultaneous

In the 1991 film, The Linguini Incident, Rosanna Arquette plays an aspiring escape artist. The Linguini Incident (1992 is a comic film set in New York starring David Bowie and Rosanna Arquette. Rosanna Lauren Arquette (born August 10 1959 is a Golden Globe -nominated American actress Film director, and Film producer.

The novel Specific Gravity by J. Specific gravity is defined as the ratio of the Density of a given solid or liquid substance to the density of water at a specific temperature and pressure typically Matthew Neal (2007) features a female scientist who is also a master escape artist.

Adam Phillips' essay "Houdini's Box" uses Houdini himself, as well as a young victim of sexual abuse and other examples to discuss escapology.

The console video game Exit focuses around the exploits of self-proclaimed escapologist Mr. Exit is an action / puzzle Video game that was developed and published by Taito for the PlayStation Portable. ESC (Which is a joke on the computer's escape or ESC key)

List of escapologists

See also

• List of magicians
• Illusionist
• Stunt performer

References

1. ^ Dawes, Edwin A (1979), The Great Illusionists, Chartwell Books (New Jersey), p. Alan Alan (Alan Rabinowitz is a retired British escapologist and magician Anthony Martin is a professional Escape artist, Locksmith and Christian Evangelist most known for his daredevil skydiving and underwater escapes on network television David Blaine White, known simply as David Blaine (born April 4 1973 is an American Guinness Book of Records World record -holder Matt the Knife is an American magician, sideshow performer and mentalist as well as an accomplished writer consultant and lecturer Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos (born December 19 1967 better known by his Stage name Criss Angel is an American of Greek descent Tim Ellis is an Australian performer author and lecturer in the world of Magic and illusion David Merlini is a Hungarian Escape artist. He was born in Budapest in 1978 October David Straitjacket (born July 1977 is an British escape artist most notable for his television appearances and world record attempts Dorothy Dietrich is a female magician. She is one of very few women who have performed the Bullet catch and the only woman known to have caught it in the mouth Dean Gunnarson is an award-winning Canadian Escapologist. He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. James Randi (born August 7 1928 (stage name The Amazing Randi) is a stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of Paranormal Jonathan Goodwin (born February 20 1980) is a British TV Escapologist. Kristen Johnson (born in Glens Falls NY) is an award-winning escape artist who works with her husband magician Kevin Ridgeway under the Lance Burton (born William Lance Burton on March 10 1960 in Louisville Kentucky) is a Jewish American stage magician who performs nightly Cynthia Morrison aka "Cindini" is an Escapologist and Strongwoman who is based in Palm Beach, Florida, USA Penn & Teller ( Penn Fraser Jillette and Teller) are Las Vegas headliners whose act is an amalgam of illusion and Comedy. Scott Interrante (born August 4 1961 is an American magician who specializes in escape-artist feats and grand illusions Thomas Solomon (born 1969 in Milwaukee Wisconsin) is an American escape artist and magician. Major Zamora was a dime museum performer in the late 1890s He was a physical dwarf who specialized in feats of Contortionism and enterology (squeezing into impossibly small This is a list of magicians, Illusionists Mentalists, Escapologists and other practitioners of Stage magic. 193, ISBN 0-89009-240-0 
2. ^ Dawes, 'The Great Illusionists', p. 157.
3. ^ Dawes, 'The Great Illusionists', p. 193.

External links

• Escapology — the magic art of escape
• Busker Central - Rare and historic videos of Escapologists.
• Magic Shop - Escapology by Dooley.