Roslyn Walker (b. 19 March 1981 Brislington, Bristol, England) is an escape artist and stuntman famous for recreating Harry Houdini's most technically challenging escape stunts including the suspended straitjacket escape[1] and the world famous Mirror Handcuff Challenge.[2][3][4]
Most recently Roslyn Walker set two new World records within the field of escapology and has been voted 6th in the Ten Greatest Escape Artists in History [5].
Known as the original gentleman escape artist, Roslyn Walker is often referred to as The Aristocrat of the Sideshow due to his performances having an air of British sophistication and Victorian class despite being performed outdoors. He can often be seen at steam rallies, country fairs and other events throughout the UK performing his one-man travelling show or appearing with his 21st Century Sideshow.
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On the 29 April 2011 in The Albert Pub, Llandudno, Roslyn Walker set two new world records for escaping from regulation police handcuffs.
The original Mirror Handcuff Challenge was issued to Harry Houdini[7] in 1904 by the newspaper The London Daily Mirror.
In 2008 Roslyn Walker appeared at the Llandudno Victorian Extravaganza and at the end of the event was challenged by the committee to recreate the feat under the same conditions Houdini faced over 100 years previous.
The handcuffs took the next two years to make and in 2010 Roslyn Walker returned to the North Wales event to face his challengers.
In those two years he had not been allowed to see the handcuffs that were to be locked on his wrists. The first time he would set eyes on them would be as they were being snapped onto his wrists.
Just as when Houdini performed the original Mirror Cuff Challenge, Roslyn Walker did not see how the cuffs locked or unlocked, he did not see or handle the key used to secure the restraints, nor were the cuffs removed once they had been locked in place. To do so would have been to accept defeat.
Houdini had two advantages over Roslyn Walker's attempt. The first was that Houdini was able to hide inside a cabinet away from the eyes of the public, Roslyn Walker had to perform his attempt before an audience of 10000 people. The second advantage is that Houdini had as much time as he wanted. Roslyn Walker had a strict time limit.
Roslyn Walker was successful and the Extravaganza Challenge Cuffs now form part of his collection of defeated handcuffs and can be seen in all venues he performs in.
Roslyn Walker recreated this stunt in the same way that Houdini did it for Fanfarlo's music video The Walls are Coming Down.[8]
Suspended by his feet Roslyn Walker dangled above the band and managed to free himself a total of seven times during just three hours of filming. This stunt was so extreme that Roslyn Walker left the shoot bleeding from the armpits.[9]
Roslyn Walker has also accepted new challenges never before attempted by another escape artist living or dead.
One such challenge was to crack the combination of a safe that contained his fee. Upper Norwood Library, the UK's only independently owned public lending library, challenged Roslyn Walker to free his fee from their safe during an event to celebrate their 110th anniversary[10]
On other occasions Roslyn Walker has been challenged to escape from the inside a beer barrel donated by the National Brewery Centre[11] and was almost pulled apart by two timber trucks at a steam rally.[12]
Roslyn Walker has been featured on both TV and radio most notable was his two appearances on Kerrang! Radio for Tim Shaw's Asylum. The first time managing to free himself from two straitjackets and then escaping from an airtight body bag. The second time he hammered a nail up his nose and escaped from three pairs of police issue handcuffs in full view.
His most recent TV exploits have seen him appearing on Big Brothers Little Brother and ITV's primetime show Odd One In where he successfully fooled the celebrity panel and studio audience with his acting skills whilst simultaneously managing to escape from a canvas sack secured with single borrowed padlock that he picked through the thick material of the sack in under 30 seconds.
Roslyn Walker's 21st Century Sideshow is a travelling outdoor show that brings the thrills of the Victorian sideshow to the modern audience.
You will see amazing tricks on a single wheel from World champion unicyclist Kaleigh Grainger; comedy, juggling and high-wire walking from Harley the Clown; as well as Roslyn's own daring feats of escapology and classic sideshow stunts all accompanied by live music from fiddler Ed Wright and guitarist Stu Dench