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 In Memory of Bob Nixon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Worldwide Escape Artist Relay 2009 - Press Releases & Coverage
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Here is some information about Publicity and Press Releases.
Escape artists around the world are planning the third Worldwide Escape Artist Relay (WEAR) for Saturday, October 24, 2009. WEAR 2009 will circle the globe as participants escape from handcuffs, chains, straitjackets, and other restraints while facing drowning, impalement, explosives or the humiliation of public failure. The participating escape artists hope that the event will restore the art of escape to its rightful place in the public imagination. The prior events in October 2005 and October 2007 attracted over one hundred performers, and received extensive media coverage.
WEAR 2009 began as a idea among escape artists on the internet, and has attracted a large number of well-known performers. I.B.M. Ring 362 in Bangor, Maine, is hosting the registration page on its web site.
Registration is open to all at no cost. To register for WEAR 2009, see the website for Ring 362 (www.ibmring362.org) or call Paul Szauter at (207)-288-0388.
Harry Houdini, the most famous magician that ever lived, died on Halloween in 1926. Houdini's spirit lives on in the heart of every escape artist of today. This year, escape artists around the world have banded together to honor the art form that Houdini perfected. On October 24, just a week before the eighty-third anniversary of Houdini's death, escape artists across the world will perform public escapes in the largest coordinated performance by escape artists in history.
The Worldwide Escape Artist Relay (or WEAR) began as an idea among escape artists exchanging ideas on the internet. The prior events in October 2005 and October 2007 attracted over one hundred performers, and received extensive media coverage. The event is being organized through a registration page on the website hosted by Ring 362 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians (www.ibmring362.org).
Escape artists face many challenges. First, there is the technical skill, learning to defeat padlocks, handcuffs, straitjackets, and all other types of restraints. Second, the escape artist must conquer fear: the fear of confinement, the fear of failure, or the fear of the many dangers (drowning, fire, and so on) that performers add to the restraints. The greatest challenge for the escape artist, however, is to engage the audience and make them care about the struggle taking place before their very eyes.
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BANGOR, Maine (October 24, 2009) - Harry Houdini, the most famous magician that ever lived, died on Halloween in 1926. Houdini's spirit lives on in the heart of every escape artist of today. This year, escape artists around the world have banded together to honor the art form that Houdini perfected. On October 24, just a week before the eighty-third anniversary of Houdini's death, escape artists across the world will perform public escapes in the largest coordinated performance by escape artists in history.
The Worldwide Escape Artist Relay (or WEAR) began as an idea among escape artists exchanging ideas on the internet. The prior events in October 2005 and October 2007 attracted over one hundred performers, and received extensive media coverage. The event is being organized through a registration page on the website hosted by Ring 362 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians (www.ibmring362.org).
Escape artists face many challenges. First, there is the technical skill, learning to defeat padlocks, handcuffs, straitjackets, and all other types of restraints. Second, the escape artist must conquer fear: the fear of confinement, the fear of failure, or the fear of the many dangers (drowning, fire, and so on) that performers add to the restraints. The greatest challenge for the escape artist, however, is to engage the audience and make them care about the struggle taking place before their very eyes.
On October 24, 2009, escape artist Dr. Wilson will attempt to escape from the Chrysalis, a seldom-performed escape that emerged in the 1930s. The Chrysalis was developed during a period of wild invention by escape artists, as many performers attempted to capture the attention that had once been Houdini's. Although there are disputes about who first performed the Chrysalis, the basic mechanics have always been the same. The escape artist is searched by members of the audience to ensure that he has no hidden keys, lock picks or other tools concealed. A member of the audience then applies a set of restraints: an iron slave collar, padlocking manacles, and thirty feet of chain secured by a dozen or so padlocks. The escape artist is then blindfolded and hooded before being wrapped in a shroud or cowl, which is secured on the outside with an additional length of heavy chain and more padlocks.
The Chrysalis has acquired the reputation of being an unlucky escape. Some performers in the early years dropped the escape because of public failure or injury, while many others simply grew wearing of transporting the sixty pounds of metal that make up the restraints. In 1967, Australian escape artist Roger MacKenzie died while performing the Chrysalis. While the escape is not inherently dangerous, MacKenzie had been engaged in a grueling performance schedule and was exhausted. The weight of the Chrysalis gear, and the extreme confinement that it produces, caused heart failure in the 37-year-old performer.
Dr. Wilson first performed the Chrysalis for WEAR 2005. He has performed it several times since then, but set it aside for over a year following an injury in performance. He will once again attempt the Chrysalis escape for WEAR 2009 at Paraween II, Penobscot Country Conservation Association, 570 North Main Street in Brewer, Maine. The evening performance at Paraween II runs from 7:00 - 10:00 pm. Admission is $20 for a family group (3 or more), $15 for those without costumes, $10 for those with lame costumes (e.g. kitty ears with jeans), and $5 for those fully costumed.
Read more about Roger Mackenzie and the Chrysalis escape.
Escape Artist Will Escape or Go Mad
MONROE, Ohio (October 24, 2009) - Escape artist Steve M will attempt to escape from an 18th century madhouse restraint chair at Treasure Aisles flea market in Monroe, Ohio, as part of a global escape artistry event in tribute to Harry Houdini. The escape is scheduled for October 24th at 1:00 pm, at the Treasure Aisles outdoor food court stage. The restraint device, called a Tranquilizer Chair and invented by Dr. Benjamin Rush in the late 1700s, consists of a heavy wooden chair fitted with heavy leather straps and a sensory deprivation box that encloses the patient's head. Unlike the historical original, the Tranquilizer Chair used in this attempt will have a locking head enclosure, fitted on the outside with a combination lock hasp. Steve M will attempt to escape in full view. If successful, he will be the first person ever to escape from this device. The Worldwide Escape Artist Relay, or WEAR, involves escape artists throughout the globe performing escape stunts within the scheduled, 24-hour period. The event has taken place twice before, in 2005 and 2007. Steve M will represent Southwest Ohio for WEAR 2009. Treasure Aisles is located at 320 N. Garver Road in Monroe, Ohio. Contact:
### Steve Mollett (Steve M) is a Hamilton, Ohio based entertainer specializing in outdoor shows and crowd-gathering business promotions. His involvement in the WEAR event is an unpaid performance to support public awareness of the event. Steve Mollett (Steve M) |
Dedham Native Takes Her Underwater Hobby to New Level
Edward B. Colby/
Dedham Transcript DEDHAM - After taking a few "breath holds," a middle-age mom of three gets help putting steel shackles around her ankles and wrists and wrapping multiple chains around her body. Counting a 15-pound lead belt and nine padlocks, she straps on 55 pounds of weight in all. She stands on the edge of a 12-foot-deep pool, steadies herself, and jumps in, sinking to the bottom. She stays underwater for 50.91 seconds, air bubbles floating upwards, before freeing herself and returning to the surface. Want to See Alexanderia's Act?
Alexanderia the Great - real name, Donna Purnell - has only one more day to train before her first escape show this weekend. Purnell, a Dedham native and Medway resident, will perform in "The Girls of Magic" at the Dedham High School pool Saturday night as part of the Worldwide Escape Artist Relay 2009. Donna Purnell says she is motivated to do her risky act by the challenge - "and something that shows people older girls can do things, not just younger girls." Sporting bruises on her arms from the chains, she says it's taboo for women to do such escapes, but it shouldn't be. "We can be just as daring as men out there, and I think we're cooler at it," she says. Her husband and coach, Bill Purnell, says their escapades go back to high school. Donna Purnell says she doesn't have formal training in underwater escapes. Instead she started with simple rope escapes in her pool and moved up from there. "We'd go back and forth and challenge each other, and she's a hell of a lot better than I am," he says. Worldwide Escape Artist Relay 2009 is a coordinated performance by escape artists on at least four continents. This year it will feature acts including a rope challenge by Wolflock in Thailand, an "extreme fire escape" by Santini in Toronto, and the frightening-sounding "Lobotomy Chair" by Gwyd the Unusual in Grand Rapids, Mich. Donna Purnell said she first thought about performing in the escape artist relay in 2005, but was anxious about what people would think. This time around, Donna Purnell said she had a change of heart, deciding almost at the last minute to participate. A prominent Boston snake-charmer and fire dancer, Zehara Nachash, quickly offered to be Alexanderia the Great's first act, and "The Girls of Magic" show came together very quickly. "Within 24 hours she went from not doing this, to being a participant in Worldwide Escape Artist Relay, and she's one of only three women in the world doing this event, and she's the only one doing an open-water escape," to landing big roles in two of Zehara's "Odditorium" shows in Cambridge next year, Bill Purnell says. "Our heads were spinning." Going public meant Donna Purnell needed to tell her brother and parents about her unusual hobby - an indication, she says, of "how closed I was about this." "They've been awesome. They've been so supportive about this," she says. Bill Purnell notes that you don't hear much about escape artists, citing their somewhat freakish reputations. "And then you've got a mother of three, who's a CCD teacher, who says, 'You know what, I want to give this a try,'" he says. Understandably, their kids were somewhat worried, pointing out that "if something doesn't go right, something will happen," as Donna Purnell recounts. But, she replied, "Nothing will happen. I've been doing this long enough." Inspired by Houdini, she has worked with rope, chains and shackles underwater, and plans to venture soon into standard straitjackets. But her 55-pound open-water escape is even more dangerous than the great master's "water torture cell" act, according to the Purnells. At the training session, Donna Purnell jumps in the pool for her first breath hold - staying below, unshackled, for one minute and 20 seconds. While she is down there, Bill Purnell muses that panicking could cost her three-quarters of her air. "If all of a sudden she freaks out and loses her focus...once she loses her air, then it becomes a real danger," he says. "Panic will eat you up. That's what's really scary." He adds that she does some yoga breathing, and is working with a female bodybuilder to get in better shape for her escapes. She pulls through on her main jump, despite taking what Bill Purnell calls a "crappy breath" before her plunge. They say that she frees herself through struggling and force. "It's basically a lot of determination and a lot of pain. It's really tough on her arms and her hands," Bill Purnell says. On the pool deck, Donna Purnell shows new marks on both wrists. "It was difficult," she says. Dedham Transcript staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com. |
Escape Tricks at AmphitheaterBy Di Lewis ( Standard-Examiner staff), Oct 24 2009
OGDEN -- With 10 seconds to go, Bruce Bunnell was still struggling with a lock that had his neck clamped in prime position for decapitation. With five seconds to go, a worried child asked her mom if he would get out. The clock hands hesitated. Three seconds later, Bunnell pulled himself free and took a bow while the blade of a guillotine thudded down behind him. It was a successful escape and a relief to Bunnell -- rehearsal had not gone well. Bunnell was one of the participants in the third annual Worldwide Escape Artist Relay, an activity that coordinates escape artists from around the world to perform on the same day. Brandon Chapman, 13, of Ogden, also performed his first public escape by getting out of thumb cuffs and a rope tied around his wrists within eight seconds. "I was nervous about the crowd, because I've never headlined," Brandon said. But he performed perfectly, so he was excited by the success. About 50 people turned out on the cloudy Saturday to watch the two perform at the Ogden Amphitheater. James Dayley, a magician and owner of Two-Bit Street Cafe, was there to document the performances. He said the number of magicians in the Ogden area has been increasing since the founding of the Northern Utah Magic Association, which allows members to socialize, practice performances and swap tips. Dayley, Bunnell and Chapman are all members. Brandon's father, Chris Chapman, said his son got into magic when they went to Las Vegas for a motorcycle convention and attended a David Copperfield show. Brandon said he'd been playing around with magic since he was 7, but knew he wanted to make a career out of it when he got to be an onstage assistant for Copperfield. Chris Chapman said he realized how good Brandon was when his son was approached by the producer of the TV show "Criss Angel Mindfreak" and appeared on the show with Angel. He said he had no problem when he found out what Brandon wanted to do. "I said, 'Well, whatever. Have fun. Don't do drugs. Don't drink alcohol.' " Bunnell said he has been performing since first grade and has loved escape tricks since he began learning about Harry Houdini. The trick he performed Saturday was one he designed himself. Bunnell had two minutes to free himself from a straitjacket, chains strapping him to the guillotine and a locked restraint keeping his neck in the path of the blade. Although magic is a side job -- Bunnell works at Ogden Regional Respiratory Center -- he works hard at keeping up his skills. "I love the lights. I love being on stage. I love performing. I love the people." |
