His latest escape attempt defies both belief and the naturally imprinted sense of self-preservation. Mr. Gunnarson's had him miles high in the frigid mountains of Xining, China. (Think Superman's crystal home or Wolverine's den).
He intended to be locked and chained by the Chinese military inside a tomb of ice on a frozen lake high in the mountains. His goal: to escape within 100 seconds before a bus explodes and drops on him.
From the press release:
Locked and chained by the Chinese military inside of a tomb of ice on a frozen lake high in the mountains in China. A ten ton bus loaded with explosives will be raised above him by a crane and then, Gunnarson will have exactly 100 seconds (an important number in China) before the bus will explode and drop on him from a timer, crushing the ice tomb and him if he is inside. Dean will attempt this escape on a frozen lake that is the largest in all of China. It is located about 100 kilometers (about 62 miles) west of the provincial capital of Xining at 3,205 m (10,515 feet) above sea level in a depression of the Tibetan Plateau in the traditional Tibetan province of Amdo, located between Tibet and Mongolia. This escape is extremely dangerous because of the cold but even more so from the high evaluation and lack of oxygen this high up.
Mr. Gunnarson told Inside Magic that he has been training in the thin air but it brought on altitude sickness. “The lack of air and trying to do even small things just leaves me grasping for breath. This is like nothing I have ever encountered before.”
If he lives, the Chinese government will award him the title "World's Greatest Escape Artist." If he fails, he will likely not be given the title of World's Greatest Escape Artist. We're just guessing about this. The Chinese press did not discuss what happens if the bus explodes and lands on him whilst still chained.
As loyal readers of Inside Magic know, Mr. Gunnarson is a very scary man. He seems so nice and gentlemanly but there's a crazy side to him. He does stunts that are anything but sure-fire or fixed. Check out his mistiming while trying to escape from a roller coaster track. That escape (sort of) was in China as well. We hope he has correctly converted the 100 seconds into the metric equivalent and escapes unharmed. The roller coaster collision shattered his ankle and fibia.
According to press accounts, this is Inside Magic FavoriteDean Gunnarson’s first tour of Australia and judging from the favorable press, it will certainly not be his last.
But then again, as an escape artist with a penchant for pushing the envelope with no concern for paper cuts, Mr. Gunnarson comes harrowingly close to making every performance his last.
Inside Magic readers will no doubt recall Mr. Gunnarson’s near-death experience in China last year. He was able to free himself of the shackles and came very close to clearing the hurtling roller-coaster and landing safely on a stunt cushion.
Somewhere we heard that Force is equal to Mass times Acceleration.
We don’t know if that is true or if it is just the kooky theories cooked up by the crazy kids in their college classes.
But assuming there is a positive correlation between mass, acceleration and force, a steel framed roller coaster traveling at 62 miles per hour would likely bring a significantly larger force to bear on a human leg than would the human leg impose on said roller coaster.
We received some very disappointing news from Inside Magic Favorites Mark and Shelia Cannon, owners of our favorite place to shop for escape gear. Mark Cannon has brought fear and exhilaration to the plaque encrusted and otherwise jaded hearts of magicians and laity worldwide.
The good news: Mark and Shelia Cannon will continue to perform.
The bad news: Cannon’s Great Escapes will vanish forever at the end of this month. (Remember that June has only 30 days when calculating your cash flow / opportunity cost ratios).
The good news (for them): by closing the shop, Shelia will be able to focus on her work as a vacation specialist.
The good news (for Shelia’s clients): Mark and Shelia Cannon have performed almost everywhere on this allegedly round planet. They know the good, the bad, and the poorly maintained villas and outposts. Armed with this knowledge, Shelia can guide her clients to an enjoyable respite and avoid the traps set for those booking with less-experienced agents.
The shop will shutter forever in a little more than two weeks but the goods are going quickly. They will not be ordering additional stock and many items are completely sold out; and the additional markdowns only encourage the frenetic “shark smells blood, shark follows blood, shark creates more blood” behavior shopkeepers love.
We lusted for their Cannon’s Strong Box Escape for years. When we heard the store was closing, we rushed to the site as fast as our gas-powered laptop would go. Alas, we were too late. This incredible escape was gone. We cursed aloud because we were miffed, positively ticked that we waited too long to get something we knew we wanted. We hoped this taught us a lesson for the future. It serves us right.
Mark and Shelia Cannon are two of our very favorites. They have always been helpful and cooperative with this on-line scandal sheet. We have thanked them and their attorneys several times for their willingness to drop otherwise meritorious lawsuits in exchange for our issuing a retraction or clarification – or, when it got really bad, openly weeping in a YouTube appeal to their better natures. Continue reading Cannon’s Great Escapes to Shutter
CBS News reports on Donna Purnell a/k/a Alexanderia the Great whom they describe as “housewife by day, escape artist by night.”
The network relates the story of two ordinary folks who loved to escape from rope, handcuffs and chains as they courted in their youth.
Now, with their children out of the house, they avoid the empty nest syndrome by trying more complex, more daring escapes.
Donna Purnell trains with a strength coach and a “holding breath coach.”
In the unbearably cutesy narrative, the home of Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and Edward R. Murrow relates how her family reacted to learn of her new vocation.
“[H]er kids like the idea of having an escape artist mom – in fact, they were relieved to find out that’s all she is.
“We would walk around the house and we’d see chains and handcuffs in places,” said her daughter.
Apparently, compared to that image – seeing your mom trapped in a tank of water is nothing.
Man oh man are we cynical here at Inside Magic. This is a story that did not need the following saccharine phrases:
“She felt like her hands were tied. And it motivated her to start thinking inside the box.”
“A few of her friends think she’s jumped off the deep end.”
“Donna and the kids hope that this act and the story behind it serve as inspiration to you – to escape whatever it is you’re stuck in.”
“It’s quite a predicament – especially considering, originally, all she wanted to escape – was boredom.”
Here is our twisted take on the reporting of this story. The author apparently believes these stunts are foolproof; that no one ever drowns whilst being tied, locked, and cuffed within 700 gallons of very cold water (Boston – Outside – Winter). Whether the artist is 49 or 14, this is a story about guts. Donna has our respect not simply because she risks her life performing escapes she learned later in life; but that’s a lot of it. Dean Gunnarson told us once that there is no “automatic” escape and there is no “safe” escape when water is involved. Continue reading Housewife Escapes Boredom and Cuffs
We have mentioned several times that Dean Gunnarson is nuts and should be stopped before he kills himself again. (Recall that one of his first coffin escapes ended in him dying but resuscitated by incredible medical professionals). His newest stunt could bring incredible fame or posthumous second-guessing.
Here are the details of what he hopes to accomplish:
Dean will be chained, locked, and bound and placed inside a steel coffin;
The lid will be locked on and wrapped in even more chains and locks on the outside;
The coffin, with Dean securely locked inside, will be lowered 6 feet underground;
Dean will be buried alive with over 3 tons of dirt dumped on top of him.
He will remain within the coffin and beneath the 6,000 pounds of dirt for two days; and,
Dean will then attempt to escape on Sunday Halloween Day around 1:26 P.M. The exact day and time the Great Houdini died in 1926.
We should point out that he will not have access to water, food, or similar accoutrements.
Dean said his boyhood wish was to die on the same day as his mentor, Houdini.
Of course, Houdini would not have performed the stunt in the first place. The great escape artist tried it out with assistants at the ready. He nearly died. Houdini wrote in his diary that the escape was “very dangerous” and that “the weight of the earth is killing.”
“I know that from a physical and mental stand point this will be my most challenging escape ever,” said Gunnarson. “The last time I was locked in a coffin I died. (He was underwater for nearly 4 minutes before the coffin was raised back out of the murky waters and rescuers found his blue lifeless body). I never wanted to be in another one and I never have. I will have to conquer all my personnel fears and demons to make this escape on Halloween.”
UPDATE: According to CJOB 68: Manitoba's Information Superstation, Dean Gunnarson survived and succeeded just minutes ago.
We received some very disappointing news from Inside Magic Favorites 
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