When people visit me, they have come to expect seeing photos of people in handcuffs. But whenever people see your poster they always let out (on a regular basis) a surprised exclamation: “Cor, he’s absolutely packed!” Do you do a lot of physical training and does it have any impact on your escapes?

Yes. I do much physical training. When I was a teenager, I had entered many decathelons (running, biking, swimming) and had actually took first place in two of them. Usually a decathelon involves running ten miles, biking twenty-five miles and swimming five miles. My father was big on physical activity and instilled in me while I was young, the love of physical activity. He had me working in construction doing heavy work, lifting of machinery and building as early as 13. My summers from school were spent working with him in construction. Consequently, I have always strived to be in the best shape possible. When I am not on the road performing I am in the gym for several hours five days a week. With the type of escapes that I am performing, it is absolutely necessary to have this physical training. I could not do some of the escapes without it. Besides the gym, I do yoga/meditation to keep my flexibility at its absolute best. Anyone who has had handcuffs locked on them behind the back, knows the absolute necessity of being extremely flexible. I view escapes as a type of athleticism requiring more nerve and endurance than actual lock picking ability.

Your poster, “Where the possibility ends . . . the impossibility begins” is clearly inspired by one of Houdini’s escape posters. How else has the grand master influenced you and your style?

I think Houdini is a genius for the fact that unlike most performers, he understood the real secret to magic and escapes. That secret being showmanship. The problem inherent in escapes is that all escapes violate the basic tenet of theatre—that of the audience knowing what will happen before it happens. In all great theatre and in most great magic, there is an element of surprise—there has to be. There is a rule in magic—never perform the same effect for the same audience. That exists because an audience member who is aware of the effect to occur will be much more observant than someone who does not know what to expect. As soon as a performer (escape artist) steps out onto the stage and is buckled into a straitjacket or locked in handcuffs, the audience instinctively knows what is going to take place and the surprise is lost and the overall mystique of the performance is dulled.

Houdini’s genius lies in what he did with the escapes. His performance was never about the escapes—it was about Houdini. People went to see Houdini—the person, the showman, the symbol that he represented. The escapes were only a means for him to bring his dynamic personality to the stage. The close-up magician Dai Vernon (who knew Houdini) used to say that if Houdini was a cobbler, a dancer, a butcher, a violin player, he would have been the best in the world. It was the man that was the secret. Bess Houdini when asked by a reporter in 1927 about her husband’s ‘secrets’ remarked: “All magicians know his secrets. It was Houdini that was the real secret.”

Of course, it is a little hard for us (who never met him or experienced a live performance) to understand this. I suspect it was the remarkable showmanship he exhibited. There is an old movie clip of Houdini getting out of a straitjacket inside of a prison cell. I remember the first time I saw it—I was absolutely blown away because through his gyrations (either real or faked) Houdini was able to convince me (already knowledgeable about magic and having seen straitjacket escapes) that he was really fighting to get out of this, that there was a very real possibility that he might not get out. Houdini understood after performing many years in circus sideshows that the real interest lie in the audience believing you may not get out. He knew how to dramatize conditions. For a man who never had any formal education, he understood an awful lot about theatre. He never made things look easy—even if they were. This is the hallmark of a great performer which Houdini understood in spades!!!!

Houdini taught me that it’s not the tricks, the illusions, the escapes, the handcuffs, it’s the performer. It’s always about the performer. Houdini adapted his style and performance to the times in which he lived which is what every true artist does. What the audience really wants is to be entertained and mystified—they don’t care how good of a lock picker you are. My understanding of showmanship, inspired by Houdini, Evel Knievel, PT Barnum and others has allowed me, like Houdini, to enjoy the benefits and suffer the pitfalls of being a fulltime escape artist/magician.

You are one of very few performers today who can rely on regular challenges in your show. However, you have a clever concept of presenting these as ‘demonstrations’ rather than challenges’. How well do people take up your request for challenge items. What are the most unusual tests you have received and what are the most common restraints you are faced with?

First, I don’t like the word ‘challenge’. It’s an emotionally charged word which says to many people—I’m better than you. I know that if I am challenged, I will make every effort to meet and exceed the challenge. In the Olympics, in education, science, growing up, I think challenge is healthy. It inspires the human race to move forward. Challenge implies competition. However, theatergoers and spectators are in a different mindset when they see magic/escapes. Even the most watered down magic and escapes are, by their very nature a challenge to the audience. Many people see magic as a puzzle to be figured out. I think ‘challenging’ the audience in this day and age is the wrong approach. What I have done is to diffuse the emotion behind the word ‘challenge.’ I do this by simultaneously maximizing the best elements of a challenge and eliminating the worst elements. First of all, I call them ‘demonstrations’. I am demonstrating an ability I have to escape any device. If you have a lock or a handcuff—bring it to the theatre and I will demonstrate and attempt an escape from it. A demonstration takes on the appearance of an endurance test or a sporting challenge and people are much more receptive. In most cases, people are on your side, they want you to escape and sometimes unconsciously help you. Furthermore, I leave open the possibility that I may not be successful which is a diabolical psychological ploy that also wins over people. The majority of people on this earth instinctively want someone “they like” to win—as long as you are sincere in your ability to do so.

While I always mention I may not escape, I always do. That’s the important thing—you never want to fail.

Secondly, I control the situation so that ‘demonstrations’ can never get out of hand. My show is a very structured, scripted 90 minute theatre piece where my escapes intermesh with my magic. There is costuming, excellent direction, music, pyrotechnics. In fact, I will be playing Las Vegas later in the year. There is a segment in the show where all these ‘demonstrations’ happen. The marketing and posters that sell my show before I enter a city inform the public to bring items but also let them know of the ground rules—the most important being that these ‘on the fly’ escapes will not inhibit the smooth running of this performance.

Many, many years ago, I had met James Randi and one thing he told me that has always stayed with me was that to be successful—an escape artist always has to be in control.”

Depending on the places I perform really determines how many ‘challenges’ (demonstrations) I get. In some cities, I don’t get any. Other places, I have more than will fit into the show (the structure of the show allows only three per performance).

My production company receives on average over the course of a year—about sixty-seventy requests for me to escape various devices—locks, handcuffs whatever. We keep a rolodex of these individuals and sometimes when I know I am coming to a particular city, these people will be contacted to bring their device to the theatre. It also helps well in ticket sales because believe it or not, some locals coming to the theatre with a device for the magician to escape from gives the incentive for other people of the area to show up.

I receive a lot of handcuffs from people. Interesting that almost everyone who owns handcuffs thinks they’re impossible to escape from—so I get a lot of handcuff escape requests. A lot of darbies, clejuso’s, harvards, towers, bean cobbs, S&W’s. I pick and choose, I try to pick the most interesting ones that the audience will like. I won’t do multiple handcuff escape requests during one show only because it is redundant for the audience. In other words, I will accept a handcuff escape request with whatever they want to use—it can be ten handcuffs or one—but that will be the only handcuff test during that show—the other two ‘demonstration’ slots may be taken up with a safe escape or something else.

I have had some wacky ‘demonstrations’ throughout my life. In Cinncinnati, I had a ‘escape artist’ who wanted to fasten two Bean Giants behind my back with the keyholes facing one another. I accepted it and as is my custom, I performed it behind my ‘cabinet obscura” which allows a full view look at the escape. It took longer than expected and I broke my index finger and middle finger in the process. I did escape but had to cancel shows for two weeks afterwards. In New York City, one night the management of the theatre was presented with an all-leather straitjacket which was owned by the organization TESS (one of the largest S&M groups in American and possibly Europe). This was a specially constructed straitjacket which had been designed to prevent escape. The arms could not be moved over the head or down below the feet. The buckles were out of reach and on the outside of two thicknesses of black leather. Extremely difficult but did mange an escape thanks to my physical training.

Some other strange items—
Brooklyn, NY—I escaped from a jail but was unaware of an infrared camera that was filming the entire escape!!!!

Chicago, IL—over the course of my show that played three years there—I had a guy one night bring a wrought iron gate from his home that he wished to handcuff me spread eagle too. Another night, three resident surgeons brought rubber tourniquet tubing, yards and yards of it. They cut it into two foot lengths and bound my arms behind my back. They started at my wrists and went all the way to the base of my shoulders. I had welt marks on my arms for weeks. A week later, I was performing some sleight-of-hand for a television show and could not roll up my sleeves because of the marks. Another time in a show, I had someone who wanted to place me into an oversized butter churn that was a prop in a movie. It actually took longer for me to squeeze into the thing than for me to escape.

In Philadelphia, I received a burn on my arm from an iron box I was welded into. The welder, sealing the lid, did not realize my arm was pressed against the top and as I am escaping the handcuffs inside and waiting for the lid to be sealed before I began the escape, I became aware of absolute searing pain (the worst I ever felt) the metal from the arc welding had become so hot, it was burning my arm. Just recently, I escaped from one of the New York City Transit (subway’s) locked money bags as seen in the Wood Harrelson and Wesley Snipes movie, Money Train. These are locked, ‘canvas vaults’ as they call them that transport money from station to station. They’re made entirely of leather, canvas, accentuated with knife-resistant Kevlar. That was performed not at the theatre but at the offices of the Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York.

I had some requests I have not accepted. In Missouri, I had someone who wanted to use ten or twenty safety pins and stick them through my flesh pinning my fingers together. He was then going to take a needle-nosed pliers and crush the heads of the pins so they could not be opened. Needless to say, I did not accept that. I had a construction company who wanted to rivet me into a metal suit (that covered my torso.) and then magnetize me to a large crane-held magnet that is used for lifting cars in junkyards. I worked on a method of escape for weeks but the logistics of trying to get the necessary equipment to the theatre made it impossible to do.

Being on the road for most of the year your act must be constantly evolving. Aside from your challenges what escapes do you/have you presented on stage?

Yes. The act is constantly evolving. I believe in performing as much as you can. That’s how you become good. The more you perform the quicker you learn what works and what doesn’t from a theatrical perspective. I tell one of my students the same thing. He tends to think about his magic too much. Thinking is good, scriptwriting is good, but at a certain point, you have to go out and perform for an audience. Real people—not magicians will give you the best criticism ever. What they tell you and the observations made by watching them will help you to grow as a performer by leaps and bounds. As far as escapes, I try to avoid outright Houdini inventions. The upside down straitjacket escape, certainly a wonderful theatrical idea is something I only performed once and that was to raise money for charity. The upside down straitjacket escape is really Houdini’s as are the milk can and water torture cell and consequently are things I would never do. Years ago, I escaped a top secret military device (I won’t fully explain it—you’ll have to see my show) that the US Navy contacted me about. The escape was easy—getting the device was not. It took me a year of red-tape, negotiating with the military to allow me to use this as part of my act. The only thing I will say is that it is a secure device used by the US Navy to store plutonium underwater. It is my answer to the milk can and water torture cell. Incredibly, it combines the best elements of both while at the same time, not being a prop but a very real device that some people have seen and most are aware of.

Besides that, I have certain set escapes which are in the show. They remain the same and are part of the act. The handcuffs in the set segment in the beginning involve full view escapes from Berliners, palmers, two bean giants, german dollars, towers and whatever else may strike my fancy that night. Audience members examine and fasten these on me and the escapes happen in full view of the audience. There is a pillory escape that I do that I acquired from a ‘demonstration’ in Boston a few years back and the look of the pillory is so unusual that I could not resist putting it into the act. I have a set of the famous ‘walking irons’ from Alcatraz that I use in the beginning of the show. I have done roped to a chair escapes on stage, lots of handcuffs, pillories, various bags of all kinds including a man-sized plastic bag made by a plastic bag manufacturer. I have talked about many of these and other demonstrations in a series of articles I had written for GENII Magazine called Diaries of an Escape Artist. To get reprints of these articles you may contact Richard Kaufman at GENII or myself and I’ll see what I can do about getting copies.

Please tell us how well magic mixes with genuine escapology from your extensive experience?

Well for me, it is the reason for my success. I think that it would be impossible to do a show of just escapes. First of all, most likely you would lose the interest of the audience. The priority should be to create an entertaining and amazing show. To do this, you incorporate escapes but I also think you need other things. Audiences today are very sophisticated (more than magicians give them credit for). Most people know how basic magic and escapes work. Its important that the performer explode some of these theories that people have and create new effects which will mystify today’s audiences.

Finally, I guess a lot of people are intrigued as all your escapes (including challenges) are made in full view. How do you work this? How do you prevent methods being exposed?

That is the hardest trick of all. There was a time when I tried to do the Houdini curtained cabinet escape act. It was a dismal failure. The fact is that people will not sit and look at nothing while you escape behind a cabinet. I reasoned that all escapes—not just straitjackets and rope ties—but everything, handcuffs, locks, chains, packing cases, welded boxes, bags, etc., etc. has to be done in full view. There cannot be any other way if you are going to entertain the audience. I approach each escape with a method first. I look at my method of escape and determine—what can I show, can I mask it, can I disguise it, can I use misdirection to move the audience’s attention away from the lock I am picking. When I perform the subway bag escape on stage—I connect it with the metaphor of the subway—without explaining the exact method—I can state that I give the audience the experience of the subway, the lights, the sounds, the moving train—I bring those elements to the stage—as they are experiencing that—I make my escape from the bag in front of them. They see the escape—but later will not know how I did it. It is the same technique that is used in magic—when you need to palm a card and load it into your wallet—you apply misdirection so that when the effect is complete—the spectator will never remember your hand ever going to your wallet.

My full view escapes from handcuffs vary in method—some I will perform behind my cabinet obscura which I used on the 2000 World Magic Awards where I escaped handcuffs brought and fastened on by two officers from the Los Angeles Police Department. Others depending on the style I may escape in other ways.

As a final note, there will be an upcoming issue of GENII Magazine detailing my work in escapes. I expose some of my methods and show some of the tools and concealments that I have used at one time. I detail some more of my wacky experiences, including the time I was stuck on the Brooklyn bridge in New York. If you are not a subscriber, you may contact Richard Kaufman, editor GENII Magazine at genii@geniimagazine.com

My sincere thanks to Richard Jones for an opportunity to talk escapes with him. For further information, you can always view my web site at www.thomassolomon.com

And many thanks to Thomas for such a fascinating read. At the time of publication, Thomas' new show, Thomas Solomon's Elusions is under rehersal and will be going on tour soon. News as it comes…