Free Dubby... Free Dubby... Free Dubby...

Just look at what Misty has done to poor Dubby, poor little duck, all gaffa taped, blindfolded and tied up with string – and what’s that? That bad cat has put him on a bread and water diet, not that the poor creature can do much with it, all entrammeled like he is… what a tangle. Are you okay Dubby? Can you breathe? Nod once for yes, twice for no. Its okay everyone, Dubby just nodded. Now what can we do to get him out of there?

Dubby have you ever heard of Harry Houdini? Dubby just nodded twice everyone. Well, that’s hardly surprising I guess rubber ducks don’t usually have much of a need for escapology, and I’m sure that bondage isn’t really a duck thing.

Harry Houdini, the ‘Handcuff King’ as he was known, was probably the greatest escapologist to have ever lived, he’s certainly the most well known.

In the early 1900’s Houdini has great success in both Europe and America making a fortune by freeing himself from jails, handcuffs, chains, ropes, straitjackets, sometimes while hanging from a rope in clear sight of an audience who were only too happy to pay to watch him - probably in the morbid hope that he would fail. He would regularly have himself handcuffed, chained and incarcerated in a locked, water-filled milk churn, and sometimes into a nailed packing crate that was then lowered into the water. Riveted boilers, wet-sheets, mailbags - you name it, Harry was up for it. He once even escaped from the belly of a Whale that had been washed ashore in Boston – I bet that was stinky.

What’s that? No, don’t worry Dubby, we’re not going to put you inside the belly of a whale, but you do want to get out of there don’t you? Dubby just nodded once ladies and gentleman

One of the techniques Harry used to get him out of ropes was simple, he’d flex and un-flex his muscles over and over until the knots on the ropes started to loosen, then he’d throw himself all over the place, banging into the walls of the crate or cell he was imprisoned in, turning himself upside down, until eventually the movement would cause the ropes to loosen so much that they would simply fall off leaving him as free as a bird.

Do you want to be free as a bird Dubby? Sorry, bad choice of expression – of course you do. No, there’s no need to nod – we all know that you want to be free.
Okay, let’s give it a go. Flex Dubby, flex.

Come on everybody lets help him here, everyone flex with Dubby. Flex in, flex out, flex in, flex out, flex in, flex out.

















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Now Dubby, throw yourself about a bit. That’s it, upside down, to the left, to the right – are they loosening? They are! Good. Keep it up Dubby, keep it up. Flex in, flex out, flex in, flex out, spin, turn, spin, turn, flex in, flex out, left, right, left, right, flex, flex, flex, flex, flex…WELL DONE DUBBY! You’re free!

It could have been worse you know - at least that nasty cat didn’t lock you in a tank full of water, not like poor old Harry. In 1912, Houdini started performing his most famous act, the Chinese Water Torture Cell. He was suspended upside-down in a locked glass-and-steel cabinet filled to the top with water. It required him to hold his breath for more than three minutes and Houdini performed the escape for the rest of his career.

Now I know what you’re thinking. You all think I’m going to tell you that Harry Houdini drowned in the tank, am I right? Dubby there’s no need to nod, your beak is free now - all you have to do is quack once. That’s it, one quack – so you think that he drowned Dubby… well you are all wrong!

Despite two Hollywood movies that show Houdini dieing in the icy water of the Chinese Torture Cell, this escape had nothing to do with his death. He actually died from peritonitis caused by a ruptured appendix, probably accidentally, when a McGill University student, J. Gordon Whitehead, was allowed (on request) to punch Harry’s abdomen repeatedly. Yes, I know that it’s a bit of an odd thing to do but Harry Houdini was a showman, and back then there was no TV so you had to make your own entertainment.

Poor Harry, death is death no matter how it’s packaged.

Still, that isn’t your worry is it Dubby? Now pick up that string and let’s get you down from there. Indian rope trick time I’m afraid. Now, grip tight with that bill, lower yourself away, and no quacking under any circumstances, not even if I ask you a question…

To be continued...