I got the updated edition of this book yesterday. Arthur Coghlan is an Australian magician and escape artist. His daughter Helen has performed multiple escapes designed by her and her father on Fool Us and has successfully fooled Penn and Teller several times.
Now to the book. It is an exciting mix of useful information about building and designing escapes and Arthur’s story in magic. I looked into getting the book when I heard it mentioned on a podcast and Fool Us. When I looked at the time it was out of print and there were no plans to reprint it. There was enough interest to create a new edition (it covers some of the Fool Us stuff and his older material).
My interest was on the escape design side of things, and I have enough escape resources in my magic library to know how things are done, but he was working at a different level. The book provides insight into how they did some things and gives you enough of the thought process that you could apply to your escape design.
Arthur’s story in magic is a welcome addition and holds up well with anyone telling their first-person story in magic. I am interested in magic history, and getting someone’s story from their perspective is different (to say the least) from most magic biographies written long after the performer has passed.
If you have an interest in escapes I would highly recommend it.
