Ben Bradshaw, (born December, 1982), is an Australian leading corporate entertainer who specialises in making special events and corporate events dynamic and memorable for companies worldwide.[1] Australia's fastest rising award-winning magician who's been wriggling out of straitjackets since he was 14, Bradshaw, 23, currently holds two Guinness World Record titles for the fastest straitjacket escape. [2]

Biography & History

Ben Bradshaw was born in Blackpool, one of Britain’s most well-known and best loved seaside resorts. His interest into the art of magic and illusion developed at the early age of five years, when a magician came to his birthday party. The event sparked his fascination of magic but little did he realise that this would change his life - forever.

After moving to Australia, Ben Bradshaw continued honing his skills and developing his own unique illusions, turning professional and performing magic wherever the opportunity arose. Following his tenth birthday, Bradshaw received an invitation to join The Magic Circle, an organization dedicated to magic. He soon became the youngest magician in Australia to be admitted into the prestigious society. [3]

Current Career

Ben Bradshaw is one of Australia's fastest rising magicians. In 2003, he founded 'Australians Magicians Bureau', an agency providing clients with high quality magicians for entertainment purposes. [4]

Bradshaw produces and performs in a varity of custom-tailored shows, including spellbinding illusions, slight-of-hand magic and comedy magic for any event or occasion. His dynamic magic has been seen by millions of people on TV and thousands of Australia’s leading companies and corporations. Some of his satisfied clients, as listed on his website, include : Dulux, Sony Music, Commonwealth Bank, Sensis, DHL Express, Telstra, Australian Government, Coca Cola and Seven Network, [5] making him the most successful comedy magician for his age in Australia.

World Record Achievement

While some go for size or endurance, Ben Bradshaw goes for speed, having broken two records on Seven's Guinness World Records TV show – an Australian production that debuted in 2005. An award-winning magician who's been wriggling out of straitjackets since he was 14, Bradshaw, 23, would have impressed even the great Harry Houdini. The previous record-holder, British performer David Straitjacket (not his birth name), had escaped from a straitjacket in 1 minute and 25 seconds.



On June 19 2005, Bradshaw – wearing what he claimed was the latest, "most impenetrable" straitjacket on the market – took just 50.08 seconds. A posey straitjacket was used for this record and two adjudicators were required to witness the attempt, including a jacket examiner. "There's only a handful of people in the world who can actually escape from real straitjackets," says Bradshaw. "A lot of magicians claim they can, but they're all wearing fake straitjackets." As such, a posey straitjacket is the only one permitted for use in world record attempts.

One thing made Ben Bradshaw's feat perhaps slightly less impressive. Three months earlier on June 19, 2005, he had set a new record when he escaped from a straitjacket in a mere 38.59 seconds – while immersed in a water tank. Not even Houdini had tried this. Bradshaw's attempt was not without hitches, one of which was a shrinking jacket. "I was sweating, literally," he recalls. "I was just hoping I could get out of it. I rehearsed in a swimming pool, but it was definitely difficult." He adds that in the water he used "a few different techniques" but, like any good magician, he won't betray his secrets. The water escape obviously impressed the folks at Guinness. The much-promoted stunt featured in one of the highest-rating episodes of the TV show.

According to the The Courier Mail (September 02, 2006) Bradshaw is now working on something even more spectacular, which he can't reveal. [6]

External links

Ben Bradshaw's official website

Guinness World Records website

Australian Magicians Bureau

References

Ben Bradshaw Biography/History