Kidnap kicks: ThePost.ie


TCH Archives > Sunday Business Post > 2006/01/22 > Kidnap kicks

Kidnap kicks
Sunday, January 22, 2006 - By Lisa Brady
Imagine: it’s 8.15am as you leave your apartment in downtown Manhattan.

You’re half way to your office when suddenly you’re bundled into a waiting jeep by a group of masked men. You’re bound, gagged and taken to a destination for a period of incarceration that could last for hours . . . or days.

You’re experiencing terror beyond your most vivid nightmares - and you’ve paid for the privilege.

Bespoke kidnappings, where clients tailor-make their ordeal, is a bizarre thrill-seeking trend that began in New York a few years ago and has been gaining in popularity ever since.

One person to thank for this extreme escapism is artist Brock Enright, who admits that the initial inspiration for the business was adolescent pranks when he was growing up in VA Beach.

‘‘The place was full of strip malls and military bases, so my buddies and I needed to find ways to amuse each other,” says Enright. ‘‘We videotaped our pranks, which grew in intensity - ultimately leading to kidnapping one another.”

It was not until an exhibition at Enright’s art school in 1995,when one of the kidnap videos was shown in public, that it became an idea for a business.

‘‘An audience member approached me following a screening and asked if they could be the subject of such an adventure video. They became the first client. Once it became public knowledge that our service existed, demand expanded tremendously,” says Enright.

Video Adventure Services (VAS) was born in 2001 and now has a client base in the US and internationally.

Enright compares the service to a real-life video games console, where any so-called adventure - from reality-altering games to being stalked, to a kidnap scenario – can be created for the client.

Sign-up fees range from $200 to $1,500, depending on the type of service desired. A kidnap scenario where the client’s movements are followed over three days, culminating in a six hour holding, would range from about $3,000 to $6,000.

Anyone who logs onto Enright’s website, www.semagoediv.com (‘‘videogames’’ spelt backwards) can view various adventure packages.

The clients then meet Enright and his team to customise their scenario, and undergo a psychological evaluation to see if they are up to playing the game.

Legal and safety documents are signed and parameters are established about the level of violence to be used, if any. After that, the client waits in anticipation for Enright and his team either to create a specific reality, or to pounce.

The service is not illegal, and the company operates ‘‘within the boundaries of the law at all times’’. Because abductions are videoed (for legal reasons and as a souvenir option for the client), passers-by rarely intervene, believing the kidnappings to be part of some sort of reality show.

‘‘VAS offers essentially any scenario the client can imagine, ranging from the pleasant to terrifying, from the hilarious to macabre. We take the keys to your house and car if we need them. Breaking in is illegal, after all.”

The service is not just the ultimate adrenaline rush or a form of escapism, but it actually has a therapeutic effect, says Enright. He sees it as a form of alternative psychotherapy - if people force themselves to face their most extreme fears, they may be able to overcome them.

‘‘We have had adventures created to confront issues from weight-loss to arachnophobia to fear of heights. We have worked with college students and retirees, newlyweds, businessmen and housewives (the client list is divided evenly between men and women).

‘‘They use the service to face fear, as a vacational tool (such as watching a film or playing a videogame) or simply to satisfy their curiosity.

“The only boundaries are the limits of your imagination.”

Sado-masochists will be disappointed, however. ‘‘We do not offer an S&M service.

“It is narratively and aesthetically uninteresting to VAS,” says Enright.

A world of smoke and mirrors may seem initially enticing to a client, but what happens when the game is no longer fun? David Finch’s 1997 film The Game documents the dangers of blurring reality for kicks. It tells the story of a wealthy financier, Nicholas Von Orton (played by Michael Douglas), who receives an unusual gift from his brother - the game, developed by a company called Consumer Recreation Services.

Von Orton begins a disturbing metamorphosis from a cool, crisp moneymaking machine into paranoia personified as he desperately tries to distinguish fiction from fact and return to his normal life.

Morgan Falconer, a journalist with The Times in London, investigated Enright’s service last year. He opted for a ‘Fantasy Photo’ scenario, where Enright was to stage his kidnapping and take a series of souvenir photos.

After being submitted to physical and verbal abuse, he admitted that ‘‘even after a cab home and a shower, I found myself oddly reluctant to talk about what happened.

“The game had been a little more involving than I had envisaged.

“I had quite a few bruises.”

Enright insists, however, that, although violence can play a role, it is ‘‘always with the utmost regard towards safety to all’’.

VAS is not the only company catering for the adrenaline rush with a difference.

The website www.extremekidnapping.com was set up by rap artist Mr Scrillion (aka Adam Thick) in 2002. It has inspired an episode of the American television series CSI: Miami and has featured in publications such as FHM and Playboy.

‘‘We offer two very different kidnapping teams, and two very different types of kidnappings,” says Thick.

‘‘The Henchmen offer the most realistic, hard core, movie-style kidnappings that are allowable by law. If you pick them, it’s more of a survival test.’‘ The other team is the Elite girls’ team. The girls’ team can do a very realistic kidnapping and is good for role-playing adventures; bad-girl Charlie’s Angels-style, plus they can wear costumes to fit any specific role.”

Again, there are limits to what the service will provide.

‘‘We are a commercial venture, so there is no sexual contact ever. We can create a specific illusion, but that’s about it - the rest is psychological,” says Thick. ‘‘One guy even wanted us to barbecue him. Others have wanted to be severely beaten or punched. Many of the things people want us to do are things we will not do. In fact, I turn down more jobs than I actually take because of the crazy - and often illegal - things that are asked of us.”

This trend is not only Stateside.

‘‘I get hundreds of emails from people all over the world requesting our services,” says Thick.

‘‘At the moment, we’re in pre-production of a reality TV series. If the show gets green-lighted, it will be brought into the mainstream like never before.”

Enright of VAS was working on a job in Europe when interviewed.

‘‘The overseas market is a proven one, which is growing,” he says. ‘‘We will soon be launching a number of new products and services, so stay tuned.”