Who is the best escape artist?
When it comes to Houdini escapes or even escaping from an escape room which is super popular currently the question that just won’t go away or vanish (ok magician pun there) is “Who is the Best Escape Artist?” and that is a tough question to answer in the sense what is the best Cola soft drink? Coke, or Pepsi? it very often comes down to simply a subjective personal preference, however in this case there might be a strong argument to suggest that The Best Living Escape Artist is Michael Griffin.
The eyes say it all: Escape Artist Michael Griffin - “Do With Me What You Will”
We are qualifying this with the world living, because in history the nod for best probably has to go to Harry Houdini. He was the magician who combined the PR style of P.T. Barnum with the chutzpah of Evel Knievel and single handedly made a very little known branch of magic become a major entertainment drawing card of its time and still to this day a fascinating art form when performed correctly and in the hands of true showman. Sure, we always see a “big name” magician performing an escape on the latest TV special and that’s because, well frankly, most magic is boring on TV and ratings are king and to get ratings too often the magician has to perform a “quasi-escape” meaning the magician is usually placed into some over the top nonsensical James Bond like contrivance and somehow must get out and does with the magic of editing and paid actor stooges all coming together to make a great tv escape hoping to leave the viewer at home breathless and the magician of the moment on tv as a demi-god because wow, he just cheated death.
The reality is sadly totally opposite, the magician, whether it’s somebody like Criss Angel, David Blaine, Penn & Teller or even David Copperfield goes thru the acting to convince the audience that they are escape artists and not just mere magicians, they do the escape on tv and with all the power of the editors and camera cuts and special angles it does make good tv and that’s all it is, TV, an illusion right before our eyes, but are any of them real escape artists that can be compared to Houdini?, No.
Based on performing real escapes with real consequences and real sweat and physical taxing the argument is that the Best Living Escape Artist is Michael Griffin and maybe just a little spooky coincidence (okay a huge spooky coincidence) is that in Houdini’s silent movie The Man From Beyond which deals with being frozen alive for 100 years there are only 2 dates in the entire movie: Houdini’s birthday and Griffin’s birthday separated by 100 years (que the Twilight Zone theme now).
Like Houdini, Griffin has made a reputation for challenging the World to keep him prisoner to the tune of if he cant get out he could forfeit $100,000.00. Houdini was known for his unique physicality and Griffin with his physicality has been able to withstand submersion under the ice in a dramatic sub-zero December escape in Cincinnati, OH doing an escape for real that legend says Houdini did and actually never happened. It’s this belief in himself that Houdini must’ve possessed as well that has led Michael Griffin to re-write the rules about escapology and create genuine one of a kind masterpieces.
Michael Griffin Escape Artist becomes the only Human to survive a Public Hanging from the back of a horse.
Hanging for hundreds of years was an accepted way to execute prisoners and even up to a few years ago recently Saddam Hussein was put to death at the end of a rope, Michael Griffin became the only human to survive and escape an actual hanging from the back of a horse, his hands tied behind his back and his nec secured by a 13 knot hangman’s noose tied to a gallows above. Griffin escaped and when asked how said “I knew it would be hard, but I said I’d do it” he did and became the bearer of a new standard in modern Escape Artistry. Since then Griffin has helped catch a murderer while tied up, has helped get 1200 people out of a burning building while tied up and has continued to push the limits of “Real Escape Artistry” It is this reason by getting out of other people’s devices and not relying on his own escape illusion props that Michael Griffin is arguably the Best Escape Artist.
We welcome any input.
