The Escape Artiste

Postby sarobah » Tue Jul 29, 2008 1:04 am

It’s human nature that we find connections where they don’t exist; which is why a lot of people associate tie-up games with bondage. We aficionados know this is like saying that kids who play cops and robbers end up robbing banks. However, that’s not the main reason I’ve always tried to develop a scenario for my games. It’s fun. Of course, it can also be tricky, when you intend to be the “victim”. You have to be in control while appearing to give it up.

My most successful scenario has been the Escape Artiste routine, which I still make use of occasionally. I developed it in my ideal setting, the birthday party. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when everyone’s full of chocolate cake and fizzy drink and birthday cheer.

In the course of my misspent, precocious adolescence, I had become a rather gifted amateur magician. I put on neighbourhood shows and was a big hit at the parties. I developed an extensive repertoire of stunts and illusions, but the highlight of my act was – you guessed it – the Escape Artiste.

The skill of a successful stage magician lies in the art of misdirection. My forte was the trick-gone-wrong. I would gull the audience into thinking I was inept and then pull off the big illusion that left them gasping. However, the deception began the right at the start, when my male assistant would come onto the stage in traditional tuxedo, tails and top-hat. I would then make my entrance squeezed into a tiny sequinned leotard, and naturally I would be mistaken for the assistant. Then I’d wow the audience with my awesome talent; and the climax of the show would arrive when I was tied up and struggled helplessly in my bonds before making my last-minute escape, Houdini-style.

The Escape Artiste had its origins one afternoon when I was practising for a school fête. I was breaking in a new assistant, a guy named Jason – Jaz, we called him. We were classmates and “study buddies” but not boy- and girl-friend. This was our first full rehearsal, and Jaz’s eyes sort of popped when I stripped down to a one-piece swimsuit. He must have thought I was about to seduce him, but I explained that I had to rehearse in the sort of costume I’d be wearing on stage.

I mention this only because it led to my inspiration. I was amused at Jaz’s reaction, and I thought it would be fun to have him tie me up. I excused myself and left him standing alone, looking a little perplexed, in my living room. His eyes bulged a second time when I returned and dumped a bundle at his feet – a pile of scarves and coils of rope.

“Now you have to take control,” I told him, as I took control. I guided him through the steps, the moves, the ties. At first he was nervous, trembling slightly.

I put my hands behind my back and crossed my wrists. I explained how to loop the cord around and between my wrists, and fazed him by immediately slipping out of his carefully knotted bindings. We gradually built up the inventory – elbows, knees, ankles, culminating in everyone’s perennial favourite, the full hog-tie. Yet each time, I escaped within seconds. (I won’t explain, because a good magician never reveals her secrets. I will just say that, firstly, I was a veteran of tie-up games and escape techniques; and secondly, I was doing the instructing.)

Jaz was becoming increasingly frustrated and mystified. He insisted on blindfolding me and even gagging me, to no avail. For dramatic effect, I would wiggle and squirm; and once he even said, his voice quavering, “Are you okay?” just before I handed him the ropes.

He was deeply impressed by my magic and served as my assistant for about a year. He didn’t get to tie me during the performance, but we rehearsed a lot. Eventually his girlfriend became anxious that we were spending so much time together. However, in the meantime, we perfected the routine and it became our opening act. He was very slick, and I hammed it up in my sexy little showgirl’s costume, so everyone would be miscued. An unsuspecting member of the audience, usually a guy, would be called to the stage for the pleasure of tying me up. It was hilarious, from the spectators’ point of view but also from mine, when he applied the chest-tie – being careful to loop the rope around my breasts without touching anything – and of course the crotch-rope. That invariably made them blush. I would struggle against my bonds long enough that the spectators believed I was utterly helpless, and then – viola!

Probably the high point of the Escape Artiste came at the end of my schooldays, when I was invited to perform at the seniors’ farewell concert. What made this occasion so memorable was that I drafted from the audience a teacher on whom I had a bit of a schoolgirl crush. It was a thrill to have him tie me up in front of the entire school assembly. He was a little flustered but took it in good humour – though I’m sure he copped a ribbing back in the staffroom. I was almost tempted to flub my act so he could have the honour of untying me, but professional pride prevailed.

Although I have not yet retired the act, it has become rather passé. I have lots of other tricks up my leotard.

Postby canuck100 » Tue Jul 29, 2008 1:23 pm

Again, cute story!

It never happened that someone tied you up so well during a show that you couldn't untie yourself? How do you make sure that you'll be able to free yourself?

I always found that people who do the tying in these show are quite inept at it: I wonder what would happen if I did the tying...

:D

Postby sarobah » Tue Jul 29, 2008 1:59 pm

How do you make sure that you'll be able to free yourself?
I always found that people who do the tying in these show are quite inept at it...

As I’ve said, a good magician never reveals her secrets. It’s in the way the volunteer is instructed to tie the knots... and what you said.
However two points: (1) if I had been stuck, that would become part of the act, (2) a good magician also knows how to improvise.
I wonder what would happen if I did the tying...

:P
~ Sarah
http://profiles.yahoo.com/sarobah

Postby K.C. » Tue Jul 29, 2008 4:06 pm

Is it similar to the secret of the "spirit cabinet" trick or the "gypsy rope" escape? (I remember watching how it was done on youtube)

Postby canuck100 » Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:05 pm

sarobah wrote:As I’ve said, a good magician never reveals her secrets. It’s in the way the volunteer is instructed to tie the knots...

Shoots! It was still worth a try...


:wink: