Well, here's yet ANOTHER so-called "escape artist" getting out of a Strait-Jacket.

Folks.....Don't you think by now, after decades of watching performers regularly getting out of strait-jackets - in either comedic or dramatic situations....that the public has begun to question the legitimacy & security of a strait-jacket - when performed by a theatrical performer?

Don't you think the public is asking themselves "How tough can it be to get out of a strait-jacket, when that's all I see, time & time again"?.

The STRAIT-JACKET ESCAPE was once a revered & highly respected example of the escape artist's art....NOW, it is nothing more than going to the local magic shop, and buying a Viking Magic Strait-Jacket.

News Flash: Legitimate strait-jackets don't have "fancy vinyl/leather trim" on them. You think the public isn't wise to this?

The audience is thinking: "If comedy magicians, flabby middle-aged men, AND women...are all getting out of strait-jackets...then I guess
it can't be so hard after all!"

Sadly, the strait-jacket has been done-to-death, and as a result....it's once great credibility as an "almost inhumane torture confinement for the murderous insane" ...is long, long gone.

But fear not, you can be sure that the next Talent Show that you witness - either on stage or on TV...will have someone doing a strait-jacket escape in it.

As with any 'classic' act, it's a matter of how it's presented.

My friend Danny gave me the single bit of advice that I think everyone needs to follow for an escape to seem engaging for the audience - there must be a perceivable consequence for failure.

An example - P&T's strait jacket escape. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF_zT6hmcGo - If Penn finishes the poem before Teller is out, he drops onto the spikes. This plays of the play rivalry they have on stage and it's an obvious consequence.

What is really comes down to isn't whether or not the performer is going to escape. They expect the performer to escape. Just like they expect that performer to succeed in everything else that said performer claims is nigh impossible. That's what they paid to see. It's whether the process of getting out of the jacket can be entertaining.

I almost always open my sideshow act with a strait jacket escape and it's a popular piece that gets talked about afterward.

P & T used the act Harry Anderson did on the streets with his wife. I don't know who originated it. In any case it's funny as hell, add more commercial than anybody else. Penn and Teller used it on their first TV apperance.