The pressure from the heavily starched white
canvas is constricting my ability to take a full breath. My
breathing is forced to become short and quick. As a result, I
begin to hyperventilate slightly. Soon my lungs are begging for
more oxygen, causing my heart to pound strenuously against my
chest.
Desperate to calm my pounding heart, I whisper
to myself, “Don’t panic. Concentrate on what you are
doing. Focus on the escape.”
It isn’t working – just the
opposite. Claustrophobia is taking hold of me. As my blood
pressure increases, I begin to feel light-headed. The blood,
pulsating against my eardrums, changes the dull thumping in my
chest into a sharp throbbing in my head.
Gradually the driving bass notes of some
dramatic theme music replace the thudding in my ears. Over the
loudspeakers, I hear the deep-voiced master of ceremonies
announcing to the crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen, children of
all ages, you are about to witness one of the most daring
escapes of all time. Even the late, great Harry Houdini never
attempted anything like this! After being strapped into a
regulation straitjacket and shackled by the ankles to a piece of
rope, our magician, the amazing James Carpenter, will be
attached to this two-hundred-foot extension crane. Whereupon,
the rope will be set on fire, the crane will be set into action,
and our magician will go way beyond Houdini!
Concentrate, Jim! Panic and you could die!
“He will be hoisted upside down,
two-hundred feet into the air. Remember, the only thing holding
him up there will be a four-foot length of burning rope. Check
your watches, ladies and gentlemen. The rope will burn through
in approximately three minutes. If this daring escape artist
does not release himself before the rope burns through – he’ll
either have to learn to fly – or he’ll plunge
two-hundred feet TO HIS DEATH!”
The crane starts up. The music builds toward a
crescendo, quickly drowning out the dull roar of the crane’s
diesel engine. After repositioning my chair to face the crowd,
the police officers attach one end of the rope to the inversion
boots around my ankles and the other end to the hook of the
crane. With a wave from one of them, my beautiful assistant, her
golden hair blowing in the breeze, steps up onto the platform
carrying a fiery torch.
