You once said that when you were learning escapes you didn't know there were such things as gimmicked handcuffs. How did you first get interested in escapes and how did you learn?

I first became interested in escapology when I was 13. I did a book report on Houdini for school and that lit the fire. Following the book report, I began to wonder if it was indeed possible for a person to perform the feats Houdini had been credited with, or, wether the book was more fiction than fact. This led to some serious experimentation on my part. Since I was not aware that such things as gimmicked padlocks or handcuffs existed, I began to work with, and discover, ways to open and escape from the real items. I basically learned escapes the "hard way". I cannot count the many times I lost skin or bruised myself in those early days. But it certainly was fun. Every time I escaped from a rope, length of chain, or a handcuff, I got not only the satisfaction of having escaped, but also the thrill of having discovered something new and fresh.

A jail escape at age just 14

If you had to choose 4 adjectives to describe yourself which would you chose and why?

If I had to use 4 adjectives to describe myself, I would probably say... INVENTIVE: As I had to develop my own methods and technology for doing escapes and I still rely on my own methods to this day. DETERMINED: There are many times I have had to undertake a gruelling or difficult escape challenge or test only to have things not quite work out the way I had planned. In these situations it is only abstract thinking as well as sheer stubborness and determination that has allowed me to continue my efforts and eventually escape. EMPATHIC: My abiltiy to be empathic by nature has always served me well in the "reading" of my audience. This allows me to more easilly picture my escapes not only from a performer's perspective, but also from the position of an audience member. This sort of ability is very important. I feel many escapologists ignore this and performances suffer as a result. I always try to think as my audience would think no matter what escape I am considering performing. CREATIVE: I have always tried to be creative and original and not to pattern my act after A) Houdini's effects, or, B) Any other escape artist. For example, I no longer do a strait jacket release in my act. Too many people do it and the audience has seen it a million times. Instead, I tell the audience that the strait jacket is a very old restraint and had it's genesis with a bag like restraint that encased the entire body except the head. I explain that this sort of restraint was called the "sea bag" and is a much more physical release than the modern strait jacket. The audience appreciates my honesty and I tend to get more applause when I do the sea bag than when I ever did the strait jacket. Certainly my creativity has been very handy throughout my career.

When you perform your escapes what is the point and how do you achieve it?

When I perform my escapes, my main or key objective is ENTERTAINMENT. Believe me, nothing else matters (if you want to keep on working). Far too many performers think of escapes from a performers point of, "this is cool!", or, "this looks impossible!", and so on, but they do not develop the showmanship to make the "cool looking" escape entertaining for the audience. If one does not entertain the audience, especially with escapes, one can be the greatest technician that ever existed, but at the same time the greatest flop and bore ever to take to the stage. It is always on my mind to be an effective entertainer first, and a good technician second. One has to be. Look at escapology like this...in reality, an escapology show is the ultimate in repetative entertainment. In a nutshell, it is "look I'm in, look I'm out". Any sort of entertainment which has such a basic format is an easy victim and target for audience apathy and boredom. It is up to the escapist to break the boring routine with good patter and innovative showmanship or the art is doomed to stagnation.

Do you think the restraints in use by the police today are adequate/suitable? Why?

While I do think the restraints used by modern Police forces in most cases do the job they were designed for, I consider the North American "universal key" restraints to be simplicity bordering on supidity. They are far to easy to pick open and copies of the keys are far too easy to acquire. There is no "key control" where many of these shackles are concerned.

A sly smile as Santini contemplates revenge on the man in the audience who tied his arm straps through the buckles of his straitjacket.

What is your most prized possesion?

My most prized possesion is an original Houdini milk can. This can is a prototype Harry made in 1908 and used prior to the model of can he is often seen pictured with. I would love to one day perform with it, but I am too large to even fit into it! Harry was a very small person...

Santini - instantly recognisable.

In musical composition they say you can only break the rules if you know them in the first place. Does this apply to escapes? (ie only use fake locks if you can pick the real ones?)

I feel there are no hard and fast "rules" when it comes to the equipment used in performing escapology (except where underwater releases are concerned). Certainly, every performer must work with what they are comfortable with. There is often no direct relation between the actual difficulty of an escape and the applause any performed escape may generate. The audience simply has no idea, if the escape is handled properly, if gimmicked locks or cuffs are used, nor perhaps do they care. Once again I will remind you, that they only want to be entertained. Besides, many in your audience will be of the mindset that "he would not get into it if he could not get out of it". I feel if you like to use gimmicked props instead of going to the trouble of picking open real ones, by all means use what suits you best. Always do what you do best and only what you have trained and practiced to do best.

What do you think the future holds for you?

I really do not know what my future in escapology holds. I have many book and manuscript projects in the works which I trust will serve as teaching aids to the escapology community. These are my real "pride and joy". In my mind I see that escapology has been somewhat of a "closed" trade with very few of the real "pros" offering ideas and training to the "up and comers" in the art. In the writing of my publications I want to break open the stagnant state of the art and perhaps do some good with the sharing of my ideas and methodology. If I had any say in how people in the future came to associate the name of "Santini" with the art of escapology, it would be: "a true artist who cared enough about the art to share his own ideas and inventions for the overall betterment of the craft". If I came to be known like this, I would be a very happy man indeed.

Finally, could you share an amusing anecdote with us?

Forgive me, but I can't really think of anything sort of amusing. Well there is sort of something; I once went to see another escape artist perform at a theatre in Toronto. Prior to doing the water torture cell, the guy did an upside down strait jacket suspended high above the stage. Since he would be doing a water escape right after the jacket release, the escapist did the jacket wearing boxer style swim trunks. As he struggled with the jacket in mid air, the ctrotch strap pulled the boxers sort of to one side and... you guessed it! He was "exposed" in a most intimate way. I guess if there is a lesson in all of this it would be: "check and double check every aspect of what you plan to do. Otherwise, not only could you potentially get hurt performing an escape, you could embarrass yourself publicly to such a degree that both your reputation as well as your self esteem would never recover!"

Many thanks, Steve!

Santini's latest book, Devices of Human Restraint, is availble now for under $20. Please get in touch with Steve himself for more information on this comprehensive title. odditorium1@home.com