Hello all,
It was fantastic to see so many of you at the convention.
For me it's all about just seeing old friends, and making new ones as well. Great to see Fred Pitella, Joe Fox, Joe Lauer, Mark Lyons, Gordon Gluff, Stan Willis, Bill Liles, Gene Brogan, Joseph Holland, Mark & Sheila, Terry Roses, Margarette, Bruce Thompson, Elliot Cutler, Thomas Solomon, Lars Holst, Michael Busch, and, well, you get the idea...... Thanks to all of you for making it a great convention for me. Great to meet some of the newer
people as well. Here are a few of my personal memories that made it a great convention for me:

1. I got to open, and take apart to clean, a lorey combination handcuff! What a thrill!!
2. Added LOTS to my own collection, more than I can afford; including a phelps, Dollar sign cuff (barrell key), Romer handcuff, Stotz handcuff, and several others (Thanks Gene).
3. Eating at the "In and Out" burger place up the street.
4. Meeting Arthur Coghlan and his daughter Helen.
5. Seeing Stan's lecture.
6. Having and enjoying so much laughter with so many friends, both new and old. Thanks to all of you.

Thanks go Mark and Sheila for ALL THAT THEY DID!!!

I can hardly wait until next time we meet.
Best Wishes to all of you! John Bushey

Hi all!

I just can agree to what John wrote; we had a great time together with a lot of fun.
For those who are interested I have posted a few pictures from the Convention on my website. I'm not a great photographer though.
http://www.holstcollection.com/Escape_Convention_2007.htm

Lars

I agree with John and Lars. Besides being the handcuff social event of the year, there were plenty of good restraints at fair prices. I found a mint Burdick chain cuff and an R.C.S. daliesque shaped cuff I've been looking for for 30 years, as well as a few other cuffs. I can say there were more cuffs for sale at this show than any show I've ever been to, and I've been to many of them.
We need to all thank the Cannons for their hard work in putting on the Convention.
Stan

Stan took a bit of good natured ribbing here about his lecture, but everyone who was there got a great revelation about not just cuffs but collecting in general. I thought it was very decent of him to mention his influences from friends in collecting at the early stages, as well as the obvious pleasure he derives from discussing his hobby.
This was the first time I took any of my collection along for show and tell, and I am very pleased to have received compliments from those who had the time to look.
And there was never enough time!
I mentioned going early next year for the socializing aspect of it and I hope I can convince others to spend more time than the actual convention next time.
The opening night escape by Mark Cannon is going to be difficult to top next year!
Top marks to Cliff for the great auctioneering!
Meeting Arthur Coghlan - ever such a nice feller!
Seeing Fred Pitella and Bill McClaury meet and talk about J.H. Trudel.
John Bushy's fantastic display.
The great cuff deal from Gene Brogan
Trips to In N out burger
The planes of fame museum (side trip).
Big thanks to Thomas Blacke for his efforts in dealing with the sound problem from next door.
Who will ever forget the 'milk bottle'....cracked me right up!
A very big thanks to Mark and Shiela Cannon.

For those of you who couldn't make it I hope you can attend the next one.

I too agree with John, Lars, and Stan

I don't think anyone could say that they had less than a great time.

My good time started on the previous Monday night when I picked up Peter Pensaert and showed him some of the sights in these parts. After the show, Joseph Lauher was my guest for the day and yesterday Martin from Germany arrived for a few days of perfect Southern Californian weather. He leaves tomorrow and my convention fun will be over for 2007.

Thanks to Mark, Sheila, and Josh for all their efforts to ensure a great time.
I had a great time hosting Cinema Night and from all the nice feedback, I hope to put together an even better video presentation.
Speaking of video, thanks also goes out to Jay Leslie who captured all the great lectures and events on dvd for all these moments to be cherished and remembered forever.

And lastly, thanks to everyone who attended. I really enjoyed meeting or seeing you again. I hope to post a pic or two here soon.

mark
O--O

I'm still in Cincinnati so the fun isn't over for me yet. A big thank you to everyone who made me feel welcome at their homes and to all old and new friends I met at the convention.

Seeya next time,

Peter

I wish add my congratulations to Mark and Sheila for once again hosting a wonderful weekend. The handcuffs collectors turned out in great numbers and we had a very successful gathering.

We all got to see an hold the Lorey cuff. What a neat item!. Smaller than I thought, it is a real jewell. A lovely item.

John Bushey has another great display of his Houdini and Houdini pretender items. He was also the hero who opened the Lorey. I never saw John so excited.

Last year we had a lecture by the American TV star Chris Angel. This year it was even better. The Cannon's booked Stan Willis, the Italian TV star. He gave a great lecture. The handcuff groupies all went wild.

Peter won the handcuff indentification contest. That was great fun. Too bad I couldn't see it, I was blindfolded.

Martin just barely beat out Joe Fox in the handcuff escape contest. That one I did get to see. It was very exciting. Way to go Martin and Joe!

Martin also broug
ht his Andy-58 high security cuffs, a Lorey cuff for future generations of collectors. He let me test them. They worked. Thanks Martin.

The entertainers all did a great job. Andrew was tremendous and great fun. He really is going to be a star. It was an honor to see and meet Arthur Coghlan, Stephen Bargatze was nuts. Mario Manazini was MARIO MANZINI! Mark and Sheila put on a great act. Jay Leslie was great MC (and also nuts).

I made a couple of very nice purchases myself. I got a great German leg iron. (It was Swedish for a day.) A F.W.S.M. plug cuff on a chain. A nice Gecko cuff from Germany and a new, but bizarre lucking Chinese cuff. (Thanks go to Joe F., Howard and Lars for parting with such nice items.)

After the show I went down to San Diego with Mark Lyons and had another chance to look at his collection. Thanks Mark for another great show.

So I had a wonderful weekend. Can't wait until next year.

Thanks Mark and Sheila. Thanks everyone.

Joe

I have posted some convention pictures at the address below.
Joe

http://www.lauher.com/convention07/

It was great seeing many faces from last year's convention and meeting many new ones this year. My son Adam had SO much fun and is still riding on a cloud from the weekend. After going to many magic conventions over the years I am consistently impressed at how warm and open the attendees of Mark and Sheila's convention are. I am sure this is due in no small part by the tone set by Mark and Sheila but I wanted to thank everyone for being so kind and supportive to my little guy. These are the kind of memories that will stick with him forever and might even contribute to him being a famous escape artist one of these days! I look forward to next year

I enjoyed GREAT time at the convention.

I left at 10am on Sunday and it seems that I have missed the chance to buy the group photo.

Does anyone bought one?

Okay, I can see that the escape artists had more fun, and more handcuffs, than the old cops this weekend.

I see most of the old familiar faces there. But one thing bothers me...since I wasn't there, who was supervising Brogan (I didn't see his mug in all that) and did he do anything I should know about?

Brad

Gene was indeed there. I had the table next to him, so I could watch the Berliners go back to their native land. My Lilly Iron now has a much smaller partner now thanks to Gene and his wife. There was lots of other activity taking place at the Brogan table.



Gene ..... 2007 Lockpicking Contest Winner ..... Mario Manzini










Cuff collectors from around the globe







Fred teaching Mario a thing or two







Tried to get a poker game together with these guys but I kept loosing....Wonder why







A good time had by all!

mark
O--O

Looks like Evreyone Had a Great Time. I have a Few Questions but will only ask one Here. what kind of Strait Jacket is in the Photos ?

I will have to agree with everyone that the convention was great. I had a great time catching up with old friends and making new friends! Although, I could say that Mark didn't have to make me look THAT bad in getting his lock opened so quickly! I haven't seen Steve Bargatze in several years, so I enjoyed catching up with him. As usual, his straitjacket routine had me in stitches! I enjoyed explaining about Oliver to everyone. To be honest, I didn't REALLY get upstaged by a monkey, but it sounded good! I think the highlight was seeing Arthur Coughlin in action! I hope I'm in that good a shape when I reach his age! No, I'll be happy to make it to his age! I'm going to have to spend the extra dollars for the post-convention price of his book, but it is a must have for my library. Now, I must start saving my pennies, nickles, dimes, quarters, and the occasional dollar for the next convention!! Mark and Sheila...another great job!

Margarette

Dear friends,

going to the escape artist convention always is a bit like coming home, thousands of miles away from the place where we live. You meet friends and right from the beginning you have the feeling that not a year passed since the last meeting but only a week or perhaps a month.

It was just great to meet you all, thanks a lot to everybody who made this convention to that great event that it was!

I also took a few photos, but will have to resize them to show, might take a little time...

Best wishes to all of you, also from my wife Nele and my son Mathis,

Michael

Hi Howard,

yes, I bought some photos, two large ones and some smaller ones. I first thought they might be damaged during flight, but in a card roll it was OK. As the photographer told me he sells pictures by mail order, so you can contact him. His name is Vaughn Rees, this is his email address:

vaughnrees(at)hotmail.com

I think I missed to put my name on your lists, but I am interested in some of the items you have to offer, we should contact by email.

Best wishes,

Michael

Hello again.
A few more comments, now that I've somewhat caught up on sleep.
I looked over Stan's CD I picked up from him. ANYONE that doesn't have this had better contact him and get it. It's simply amazing. Nowhere will you find more pictures of cuffs.
Great for identitying them, putting your wish list together, etc... Great job Stan. Also, great lecture.

Michael; AS I told you at the convention. I find it ironic
you had to travel all the way to America to buy a German handcuff. You sure looked happy with it, and I'm glad it
found it's way home!

Again, to Mark and Sheila --- THANK YOU for all you do, all you have done, and all you hopefully will continue to do to bring us together.

To all my friends, new and old, I look forward to when next
we meet.

Best Wishes to all, John

I would also like to thank Mark & Shelia for once again putting together a great event!!!!
The weekend never seems long enough it goes way to fast. The early mornings the late nights (which are getting harder to keep up with) there really isn’t enough time in the day for all that goes on!! You can never eat enough In-Out Burgers!!!
There hard work and lack of sleep is amazing!! Where they get there energy is magic!!
I must say the meeting of old friends as well as new as always is heart warming!!!
Yes, there where friends that where truly missed Ian, Kevin, Kristin, Brad…..
Yet there where new friends to meet Bill& Dot McClure, Peter, Martian, Dave and his wife Barbra and of course Arthur Coghlan and his wife and daughter Helen who by the way speaks with an accent.
One of the highlights as always for me is to help out backstage. This year was a lot of fun especially working with Arthur, Jeff, Helen, Mario, Jay, Thomas, Mark, Shelia, Doc, Andrew, Dennis (where are the dancing girls), Joe, Peter and Joe!!!
The old friend you know who you are I gave you SH.T!! It’s always good spending time together!!
And by the way I didn’t fall asleep during Stan’s Lecture like I thought?? Oh sorry talk!! Just kidding, Stan did a great job I really enjoyed his talk!! I agree with John by his CD
Sorry if I ran off with out saying goodbye to everyone Lars, Michael, Bruce, Marregette Elliott …… but it was time to get back to work!! Congratulants to Mark, Gordon, John& Michael for picking up some GREAT pieces!!!
In till next year!!!!!!
Marlin Leg irons $15,000
Lorey cuffs $ 9,000
Sharing them with friends pricelist!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Fred,

The only thing that was as priceless as holding a Lorey was watching your utter disbelief when you discovered that Mario had vanished from the Milk Can.
Splashing the water around to clarify your observation was the funniest moment for me.
Almost as funny as when you absorbed about 5 gallons last year from Kristin's Water Torture Cell.
You're a funny guy. Thanks for the laughs!

mark
O--O

I had a fantastic time there too!

Because I wasn't performing a solo act this year - it gave me an opportunity to socialize much more with old friends & fellow handcuff collectors from around the world. If I start naming names, I might accidently leave someone out, so I won't. But you all know who you are!

Hightlights for me were meeting Arthur Coghlan & his children, Helen & Jeff...nice people!

And just as nice were Bill McLaury and his wife Dot. Bill was very humble, but the fact is that his 1964 published book "Encyclopedia of Escapes" was responsible for introducing an entire generation to the art of Escapology & handcuffs collecting. It greatly influenced my life. And it certainly influenced the lifes & careers of many people who attended this convention.

Kudos to our MC and video-ographer, Jay Leslie, for holding the Saturday show all together.

I grew up in the NY area watching Manzini on TV..and assisting him on stage - was a big thrill for me.

A new feature was having Vaughn offering same-day prints and posters of the photos he took during the Convention...I saw lots of people getting their photos autographed.

And of course...Without Mark & Sheila Cannon - there would be no Convention at all! It's a huge burden to organize an event like this, and yet somehow - they always manage to pull it off. Thank you Mark & Sheila!!!!!

The Convention just ended for me, although I've been home for 5 days. I brought Peter Pensaert from Belgium to Cincinnati with me and just took him to the airport. This year was his first Convention, and I've been to all of them. It is the highlight of the year for my hobby of collecting handcuffs. Not many people know the hard work Mark and Sheila Cannon put into the Convention or how much most of the attendees appreciate it. For me it has become as much a social event as a collecting event. The fact that I can talk and play with people with common interests from around the world is amazing. We are from different places, but we have the common bond of handcuffs and escapology. When you can rub shoulders with the elite of the escape and collecting communities, and come home with great handcuffs and a friend from another country...it just doesn't get any better than that. Actually it did get better than that because Peter brought me some Belgian Chocolates. Everyone I talked to after the show raved about what a great time they had.

Stan Willis...handcuff collector and challenger of escape artists

Hello again,

here is the link to the video on fox news. Is anybody able to make an .mpg, .mov, or .avi from this clip? I would like to save this on my computer.

Thanks a lot and best wishes,

Michael


http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=012186479D748764519DC9A96C567258?contentId=4561733&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1

Hi,

I finally made it home from the convention and I really had a great time. Thanks again to the Cannons for organising an event like this.

During my trip I was lucky enough to see three collections (Mark’s, Cannon’s and Stan’s) so I had my share of cuffs. Next thing to do is browsing Stan’s new cd which is the second best thing to seeing the collection for real so if you don't have a copy yet : get one!

Thanks again for everything and a special thanks to Joe Fox for emptying my wallet

I hope to see everyone at the next convention.

Greetings from Belgium,

Peter

Hi again,

here some more pictures from the convention.

Best wishes to all,

Michael

We've just arrived back in Australia after a 4-week holiday in your country which, of course, included the fabulous weekend in Ontario. Thank you to everyone who made it such a great time. By the way Fred, I don't have an accent...you do!

To all my friends who made it to the convention, and all of you who couldn't get there this year, I have started the next group on yahoo to cover all the good stuff. Those who were there are invited to add anything they wish, otherwise simply enjoy.

The group in in progress, but so far...

Wrap ups from several people
Some pictures I took (More will be coming)
Under files, a trailer from Jay Leslie of the upcoming convention video.

See you there
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cannons5/