Roslyn Walker

Roslyn Walker was created by performer, writer and consultant Russel Erwood (b. 19 March 1981 Brislington, Bristol, England. He married Kaleigh Grainger in September 2011 and currently resides in the West Midlands).

The Walker character is an escape artist and stuntman and is Russel's most famous creation. Over the years Erwood has used this character to recreate Harry Houdini's most technically challenging escape stunts including the suspended straitjacket escape^[1] and the world famous Mirror Handcuff Challenge.^[2][3][4]

Walker broke two 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, 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.

World records

On 29 April 2011 in The Albert Pub, Llandudno, Walker set two new world records for escaping from regulation police handcuffs.

• The Most Handcuff Escapes in One Minute: The previous record of six was beaten by Walker setting a new world record of nine handcuff escapes in a single minute.
• The Most Handcuff Escapes in One Hour: Walker ~ the Gentleman Escape Artist escaped from 677 pairs of handcuffs in full view without the use of keys within one hour beating the record set by Zdenek Bradac in the Czech Republic in 2010 by 50.^[6]

Modern mirror handcuff challenge

The original Mirror Handcuff Challenge was issued to Harry Houdini^[7] in 1904 by the newspaper The London Daily Mirror.

In 2008 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 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, 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 Walker's attempt. The first was that Houdini was able to hide inside a cabinet away from the eyes of the public, 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. Walker had a strict time limit.

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.

Suspended straitjacket escape

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 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 Walker left the shoot bleeding from the armpits.^[9]

Unique escapes

The world of escapology has been a stagnant place with very few modern escape artists creating new material. Choosing instead to use tried and tested escape stunts created years before. Despite becoming known within the escape community and wider afield for duplicating Houdini's most famous stunts, Walker also devises new stunts that are unique to him.

These stunts are then tested, for the first time, in full view of the public.

One such stunt is Roslyn Walker's inverted, suspended sack escape that he calls The Cocoon. In this escape Walker is suspended by his feet, bound in chains, handcuffs and other restraints before being lowered into a sack that's secured above his feet. Walker is then lifted high in the air where he attempts to make his escape.

This escape had its world premiere at the Dacorum Steam Rally and Country Fair in the United Kingdom on Sunday 30 September 2012. On this occasion Walker freed himself from his restraints, removed the sack and managed to right himself before returning to the ground. The escape took 5 minutes and 47 seconds to complete.

Other challenges

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 Walker to free his fee from their safe during an event to celebrate their 110th anniversary.^[10]

On other occasions 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]

TV and radio

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.

21st Century Sideshow

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 Walker's own daring feats of escapology and classic sideshow stunts all accompanied by live music from fiddler Ed Wright and guitarist Stu Dench

Writer

Walker is also an author of literature designed to help and teach others within the field of escapology. His books do not reveal methods of escape, instead they reveal the secrets behind performing escapes in the real world for paying audiences.

Praised by his peers^[13] his written work on the subject of escape artistry has been described as "a master piece" and "one of the greatest... tools for the escape artist"^[14] by some of the top names in the field.

Book titles include:

• Get Real – How to add realism and believability to your escapes.

Roslyn Walker also regularly writes for The Chain Letter, the monthly online magazine for escape artists published by The International Escapologists Society.^[15]

References

External links

• Official website