Kitano and I were friends for several years when he decided to organize his first public magic show at our old swim club. Kitano was twenty-four, so five years older than me, and already attempted a number of pretty dangerous escapes. I learned several of my more intense tricks from him before I got hooked on escapology. Unlike him, though, I didn't get into elaborate setups because part of the fun in bondage was the inability to escape. Frankly, I would remain bound rather than struggle to escape from a burning wooden box, but each to their own. Hanging out with my friend Caleb only help me truly appreciate being tied up helplessly, inescapably, so why bother escaping. Therefore I could not attempt most of Kitano's tricks, where not escaping on time would probably make you dead. Kitano was also an extremely talented swimmer and a former member of my swim team. It took him two months to perfect his next escape. He already attempted straightjacket escapes, escaping from a cage, variations on the metamorphosis trick, but these were apparently getting old and he needed a new trick to wow his audience this time. Not a magic trick, just a good set of inescapable restraints.
Naturally, I was excited when I got an email from Kitano asking me to be his assistant for the Swim Club show. I was required to show up for rehearsals every Saturday at 7:00 pm. Since my Saturday evenings were mostly free, and considering rehearsals would be no longer than two hours tops, I said yes. I was told to show up wearing "normal" clothes, and no accessories were required since he already had everything that was needed. So I showed up on Saturday, wearing clothes that were appropriate for the cold November weather: Thick blue jeans, an old dark blue hoodie with my high school logo, brown winter shows and my puffy winter jacket. I received a text message on my phone: “In the pool areaâ€, and made my way there. The deck was powerfully heated which only helped accentuate the overbearing smell of chlorine. I threw my coat and sweater on one of the benches, remaining in my black Green Day t-shirt. Then I received another text from Kitano: I'll be ready in two minutes. Make yourself comfortable".
It was the first time I saw Kitano for several months. He came out of the locker room exit wearing only a tight black Aqux Speedo. His muscular body was unusually tanned for November, and his head was shaved. He got closer and shook my hand, introducing me to his assistant, Mark. I resisted the urge to say: "Wow, you look great!" And instead just asked: "So, what am I doing here?"
Kitano smiled and said: "Well, I thought we will start right away. Here's what's going to happen," he led me to a desk that was covered in lengths of rope, duct tape and bandanas and even a large, thick U.S. mailbag complete with two padlocks. "Alex, I want you to pick up the mailbag and look for any rips, zippers, anything like that." I've seen enough mailbag escape tricks to know how they work, but I did as he told me. It was a thick, white canvas bag with no openings other than the top. Wherever the bag was rigged, I couldn't see it. Pretty impressive, I thought.
"It's just a regular mailbag with no modifications, but I just wanted to let you check. Now, I'm going to be put inside that mailbag soon, and you’re going to help Colin tie me inside. Do you want to back out?"
"Do I wanna back out? No!" I said. In fact, I waited for an opportunity to be involved in an escape trick for years. Naturally, I would've preferred to be the one tied in the mailbag, but I wasn't complaining.
Colin started by trussing the long rope around Kitano's wrists, binding them together and then looping the rope vertically several times. He passed the rope around Kitano's elbows, cinching them tightly together, then sending it over his neck, wrapping his arms to his chest three or four times. The rest of the rope was wrapped several times around his midsection, followed by his waist, right on top of his Speedo elastic. Colin finished the rope wrapping it around Kitano's crotch and then tightened the ends in a strong knot. I felt myself aroused
"You're a really good binder,"I told Colin, "How do you figure he is going to escape?"
"He won't," Colin replied while opening a full duct-tape roll. He wrapped it around Kitano's ankles about six times, and then repeated the process right above his knees. Kitano was almost completely hairless so that wasn't an issue. I could feel myself getting aroused.
At this point, Colin and I helped Kitano to the edge of the deck. With his legs and ankles taped together, he could barely hop so we had to grab him together. Colin then brought the mailbag as well as a very large, black garbage bag. He opened the garbage bag on the floor and arranged the mailbag inside it. Kitano stood on the mailbag.
"Kitano, you should start taking deep breaths," said Colin in a commanding voice. Kitano put his game face on. "Alex," he asked, "this is it, from this time on, I will not be able to communicate anymore, would you like to continue?" Surprised, I exchanged looks between them, then said: "Um, yes." Colin gave the duct tape role and said: "Good. I want you to wrap 3 rounds of tape around Kitano's mouth and gag him nice and tight." I looked at Kitano, who seemed to be pleading: "Please, let me go!" In an overly dramatic fashion.
"This is part of the show, Alex. Don't listen to him," said Colin impatiently, so I did as I was instructed, effectively gagging the escapist. At this point, I noticed the obvious bulge in his Speedo restrained by the crotch ropes.
"At the real show, you will gag him in midsentence, ok?" Asked Colin. I was a bit surprised, but I nodded.
"Good. Now wrap three more rounds around the eyes." He said. I blindfolded Kitano with the duct tape, so now he couldn't see or talk.
"Now I want you to take this paddle, and spank him until I say stop." Colin handed me a paddle and nodded. Kitano started "hmpf"-ing through the gag and I just stood there, confused. What was up with the spanking? But I was seriously enjoying this, so I did as instructed. Colin grabbed Kitano to prevent him from moving while I smacked his buttocks raw. Tough as he was, Kitano could not go through a minute of hard spanking without making noise. "Mmm! Urppppth!" He kept grunting, but I just spanked him harder, I even laughed maniacally. "Okay okay Alex, I think this is enough. At the show, I want you to spank him just like that. Now let's finish him". We grabbed the mailbag Kitano was standing in, brought it over his legs, waist, arms, shoulders, and eventually over his gagged and blindfolded head. Colin had to force Kitano's head down so his entire body will fit inside. He handed me the bar and padlocks and told me to insert the bar through all the appropriate holes and then lock it. When I finished, and the mailbag locked very secure, Colin checked the padlocks and nodded. Kitano started wiggling, his escape seemed helpless. That's it, I thought to myself.
But it wasn't. Colin told me to wrap the garbage bag very carefully around the mailbag, and make sure it doesn't rip. Kitano was already tied in a bag helplessly, the garbage bag was just to seal him in extra tight, explain Colin. Tentatively, I wrapped the garbage bag while Colin held the mailbag in place. It was a tough task since the mailbag with Kitano inside was almost as large as the garbage bag, so I really had to squeeze him in just to wrap the garbage bag halfway. The rest was pretty easy; with Kitano pressed down and everything. Surprisingly, I managed to get him entirely inside without a single rip in the garbage bag. The little slack was gone when I tied the top in a tight bag knot. Then, Colin gave me the duct tape and told me to wrap it over the knot. I wrapped it around several times. The bag had no holes, Kitano was completely sealed inside! I was reminded of the camping trips where I tried to fit all my clothes and my sleeping bag inside a single garbage bag, and expertly managed to tie it off without ripping it. I stared at the garbage bag and realized how tightly and helplessly Kitano was sealed.
The suffocating black bag concealed everything inside completely, but it kept puffing where Kitano was inhaling for air, creating an amusing image. The next step required us to hang the garbage bag from the Tarzan rope that dangled in front of the deck, where normal people jumped into the water. The rope was extremely sturdy and not too thick, so we were actually able to tie a knot around the garbage bag opening. Colin moved the lever that effectively pulled the Tarzan rope, moving it about six feet in the air. The noose around the garbage bag tightened as Kitano was suspended in the air. Eventually it stopped. At this point, the escape began.
"Okay Kitano, you can try to get out now!" Shouted Colin, "will he escape the bag, or die in vain?..."
"Wow," was all I could say. My eyes were fixed on the suspended garbage bag, which despite Kitano's weighted movements hasn't shown signs of collapsing. “Are you sure that's safe?" I asked Colin.
“We tried that rope several times. Kitano is only 140 lbs. That rope can carry fat people who keep swinging for minutes on end, I don’t think it’s going to collapse.â€
"Yeah, I know that, but isn't he going to suffocate?" I asked.
"Well, we'll just have to wait and see," was all he said matter-of-factly.
Three minutes passed, and the helpless struggle continues. Kitano's "hmpffffs!" are still somewhat audible. I was embarrassed to acknowledge that this entire scenario was strangely arousing.
Eventually we notice a rip in the garbage bag. It gets bigger, and eventually two hands and a face pop out. The hands rip further through the bag, and when it gets big enough, Kitano dives into the pool, perfect form, still clad in his black Speedo. He swam towards us, smiling at his success. He gave me a big, wet hug. Perhaps I was hallucinating, but I could feel something hard rubbing furiously against me. "Man, that was incredible! How did you do that?" I asked.
"I can't tell you that, it's magic," was all he answered. He was still breathing heavily, but otherwise he was fine. There were red around his mouth and eyes and some rope burns on his body. Colin handed him a towel, and Kitano quickly dried himself.
"We're not done yet, Alex, there's another trick and you're the star," he said.
"Oh no, nothing like that!" I said back.
Kitano laughed. "No idiot, it's a different magic trick, nothing dangerous. I like to call it The Pancake."
I was about to ask what The Pancake was, but then I found out. Colin and Kitano unrolled a huge, satiny screen. It looked like the screens used as backgrounds for grad photos, except the colour was shiny silver. "It'ss called The Pancake because the volunteer is supposed to walk into the screen, while I wrap it around him. The screen is then unwrapped, and that's when the magic happens. You're the volunteer, Alex."
"Ohh, you mean, I morph into a goblin or something?" I asked jokingly.
"You're on the right track, Alex, except we don't have a goblin."
"And all I have to do is keep walking, and you're just going to wrap the screen around me?"
"Yeah, that's it. Are you ready, or should I get someone else?â€
"Okay, okay, I'll do it. That's actually pretty cool."
"Wait!" Kitano moved back a few steps, replaced the screen, walked behind me and before I could react, covered my eyes with a black silk blindfold. "Now go!"
Taking a deep breath, I walked right into the trap. Kitano wrapped me like a pancake. "That's it Alex, nice and tight," I felt myself being restrained. I couldn't breathe, then after a few seconds the screen unwrapped itself and I found myself with my arms bound tightly and my eyes still covered with the black blindfold so I couldn't take it off. Thankfully, he wasn't gagged.
"Where the hell am I?" shouted. I heard my voice echo, so I began to assume I was in the locker room. Thankfully, I wasn't naked.
"Alex, it's me Kitano," he heard his friend's reassuring voice; "I'll take you back to the deck. That was excellent! I think this trick is going to be a great success." He then led me back to the pool, where I was untied and the blindfold removed from my eyes. I found out that I somehow exchanged places with Colin, who conspicuously walked away during the Pancake trick without me noticing. I asked Kitano how he did it, but he just smiled.
Kitano was right. The show was a great success. We had three nights, and I just could not wait to bind Kitano in that mailbag and garbage bag and watch him struggle. The spanking was completely useless, but the audience seemed to absolutely love it. Since then, Kitano and I kept in touch and I desperately waited for him to come up with another absurdly entertaining escape.
