Sunday, June 20, 2010

Introducing Alex



Welcome to my very first blog entry. My name is Alexanderia the Great. I live just outside of Boston, Massachusetts. I am the mom of three beautiful children. I work as a health club manager and oh by the way, I am an escape artist. Rare for a women as I am one of only a handful of female escape artists in the world.

Now a number of you are probably asking what is an escape artist. Well Dictionary.com defines an escape artist as:
escape artist 
–noun
1. an entertainer expert in getting out of handcuffs, ropes, chains, trunks, or other confining devices.
2. an inmate of a prison who has a reputation for being able to escape confinement.
Origin:
1940–45
n. A performer who entertains by escaping from confinement.

To escape is to
–verb (used without object)
1.to slip or get away, as from confinement or restraint; gain or regain liberty: to escape from jail.
2.to slip away from pursuit or peril; avoid capture, punishment, or any threatened evil.
3.to issue from a confining enclosure, as a fluid.
–noun
12.an act or instance of escaping.
13.the fact of having escaped.

—Synonyms
1. flee, abscond, dodge, flee, avoid. Escape, elude, evade mean to keep free of something. To escape is to succeed in keeping away from danger, pursuit, observation, etc.: to escape punishment.
Dictionary.com Unabridged

The figure most responsible for making escapology a recognised entertainment was Harry Houdini, who built his career on demonstrating the ability to escape from a huge variety of restraints and difficult situations. Houdini made no secret of the fact that he was an expert on restraints and the skills needed to overcome them but he often concealed the exact details of his escapes to maintain an air of mystery and suspense. Houdini's feats helped to define the basic repertoire of escapology, including escapes from handcuffs, padlocks, straitjackets, and prison cells.

I love a challenge. In escape no one has really tried to push past what Houdini did. In a world dominated by males I hope to do just that. Not simply duplicate what the master Houdini did but go to the next level. Much of what I will attempt has never been done by a women which for me makes this even more fun.

In this blog I hope to help you to learn more about what I do and why I do it. Stay tuned as this is gonna be a fun ride.

Extremely Yours
Alex