What you are about to read below was taken from the above newspaper clipping.
Escape Artist Dies of Heart Attack Caused By Death Defying Escape
Famed local escape artist, Roger MacKenzie, died during a performance yesterday evening while performing an escape called Chrysalis in Perth.
Roger MacKenzie, aged 37, was a healthy and experienced performer who had escaped from many various binds in the past.
He had been travelling extensively with a busy performing schedule at fairs and festivals before his outdoor performance at Perth.
The weather was hot and humid, and this was his first attempt using the full Chrysalis rigging, although he was known to be proficient at handcuff, chain and straitjacket escapes.
Onlookers were stunned when the performer suddenly went into convulsions and collapsed from a Heart Attack right after he managed to wriggle free from the metal collar.
Brian Carver, a volunteer, inspected and placed the chains and manacles onto the performer as requested and then stood back to enjoy the show.
In the Chrysalis Escape, the escape artist is locked into a slave collar of iron with chains padlocked to side loops.
The chains were wrapped around Roger’s body in a manner of the volunteer’s choosing and secured with padlocks.
Roger was then padlocked into manacles, which were then secured to the body chains in a manner resembling a straitjacket.
He was then blindfolded and hooded.
A cowl and a high collar was brought down over his head and wrapped tightly around the body, secured with a length of chain and padlocks.
Authorities believe that the shear weight of the chains as well as the anxiety caused a strain on the performer just after he removed the collar, bringing on the heart attack.
A fellow escape artist told reporters that this was one of the most dangerous escapes to perform because the extreme immobility caused by the rigging, the weight of the chains, collar, and manacles, and the confinement of the escape, known to induce panic reactions in performers who endure the confinement of a straitjacket without difficulty.
One of the spectators, Jenny Barlett, escape artist. “I could not believe it, he just lay there shaking and moving around like a worm. No one knew what to do. It was horrifying when he stopped moving. Two men decided to help when he did not move for about five minutes. He was found to be dead”.
The Crysalis Escape, said to be “unlucky” by many seasoned escape artists and magicians alike has created a stir.
