Check Out THIS Offbeat Business Idea!

Reminds me of the movie "The Game" with Michael Douglas.

http://www.activedayton.com/ddn/news/0816kidnapfun.html

Designer kidnapping lastest extreme sport
Clients pay $1,500 to be abducted

By Shelley Emling
Cox News Service

NEW YORK | Bungee jumping lost its white-knuckle appeal? Skydiving
grown as lackluster as a kiddie roller coaster?

Don't fret. Today's stimulus-seeking New Yorkers have found a new
adrenaline rush: designer kidnapping.

You allow yourself to be bound, gagged, roughed up a bit and ripped
from your daily life. And you get to pay thousands of dollars for the
privilege.

The business scheme is the brainchild of Brock Enright, 25, an artist
who grew up in Virginia Beach, Va.

‘‘Many people treat it like the latest in extreme sports — it's like a
fun house that's been brought right to you,'' Enright said.

Clients pay $1,500 on up to be snatched and carted away for a period
that can last hours — or several days.

Every client's kidnapping is customized, depending on their
preferences.

‘‘People will give me a window of opportunity to do the kidnapping.
Some people give me a window of a week. Some people give me a window
of a month. I do surveillance and figure out their most vulnerable
time during that window, and that's when we do it,'' he said.

Sculptor Jason Peters, 25, has purchased three kidnappings so far. He
compares the experience to running a marathon: You may not like it
while it's actually going on, but afterwards you're proud you made it
through.

He said each kidnapping is different, although ‘‘I've always told them
I never want any broken legs or cuts, even if I am able to take a
certain amount of pain.

‘‘I'm usually kidnapped for anywhere from about 10 to 20 hours,'' he
said. ‘‘Once I was blindfolded so I had to depend on my other senses.

‘‘I like it because it's a way to test yourself and to find out more
about yourself,'' he concluded.

The New York Police Department's hands are tied so long as no laws are
broken and participating parties are consenting adults. But a police
spokesperson said that the practice is not something the department
condones.

Critics charge such a violent activity shouldn't be portrayed as fun
and games when children are being kidnapped and killed.

Just this week, young children in California and Texas were taken from
their families by strangers before being found and returned.

Enright said his service is for consenting adults, not non-consenting
children, so ‘‘it's a very different thing.''

And although some clients have been worked over a little, everyone is
given a code word they can scream out to stop the kidnapping any time
it becomes too scary.

But Jane Grady at the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence
in Boulder, Colo., said she hopes designer kidnappings don't become a
trend.

‘‘This sounds too bizarre,'' she said. ‘‘Why would someone want to do
this? Because they can't find anything else in life to enjoy?''

Enright's business started as an underground service for his
thrill-hungry friends that was opened up to the public after an
acquaintance agreed to pay $300 to be kidnapped.

Business has taken off this summer strictly through word of mouth,
since Enright hasn't advertised.

He said demand is growing so fast he'd consider launching the service
in other big cities such as Atlanta, Chicago or Miami.

Enright, who relies on a cast of about 15 operatives — or ‘‘birds,''
as he dubs them — said his designer kidnappings are big productions
‘‘in that I have to hire actors, gather the props and then set
everything up.''

So far about 26 people have paid for his service, and he's currently
designing eight more abductions.

His clientele is split evenly between men and women, with most
customers in their 20s. The oldest has been 45.

Some people want to be kidnapped on the streets of Manhattan. Others
want to be kidnapped from outside their homes. Some people understand
where they are going, and some don't. The thrill comes in not knowing
when the ‘‘birds'' will swoop in and strike.

‘‘So far most people seem to think we're participating in the filming
of a movie or something, and no one has interfered when we've
kidnapped on the streets,'' said Enright.

[From the Dayton Daily News: 08.16.2002]

Hi Clint,

Wow - yes, it reminds me of the movie "The Game" too...!

Sounds like a dangerous "business" to be in, though.... I could imagine a cop happening by and spotting a "kidnapping", and perhaps drawing his gun. Hmmm.... Not a business I'd choose to be in - but it's a pretty interesting article!

It's amazing the kind of businesses people can make profits with (since it sounds like the "fake kidnapping biz" is profitable)....

I bet partly what people get out of it is the "adrenalin rush".... Maybe it's the same kind of reason people watch horror movies, but this is even MORE of an "experience" than just watching a movie for a couple hours....

Thanks Clint for posting that!

- Dien Rice

The idea of people wanting to get "beaten up" as "therapy".... Kidnapping is not too different....

Gosh - definitely a very unusual business!

- Dien

.....it occured to me that they (or a budding entrepreneur) could start a similar program for children in order to help children learn what to do in the event they are snatched. Obviously, the learning environment would need to be very safe (so as not to pre-scare the kids) and an emphasis should be placed on prevention rather than on a successful escape (so as not to foster false bravado by the kids). Just like adults take self defense classes, why not teach the same thing to the kidlets so they can have a better chance of fighting off an abductor?

But yeah, the adults getting "kidnapped" is weird. To each his own, I guess....

:)
EM

You know, not too long ago I saw something on 20/20 or one of those shows about an "artist" who creates crazy/outrageous hoaxes in order to see if he can get the media to believe them and report them. He almost always succeeds. This almost sounds like one of the things he would do...but I'm not sure.

Hi Sharon,

Thanks for this post.... I hadn't heard of a person like this, but I searched around a bit - is this the guy?

Joey Skaggs? He seems to fit the description....

Read the site a bit - it's fascinating stuff!

I agree with you - it does sound like something he would do!

- Dien Rice

> You know, not too long ago I saw something
> on 20/20 or one of those shows about an
> "artist" who creates
> crazy/outrageous hoaxes in order to see if
> he can get the media to believe them and
> report them. He almost always succeeds. This
> almost sounds like one of the things he
> would do...but I'm not sure.

The link you gave wasn't working. (Maybe it's a temporary thing?) But the name Skaggs sounds right.

> Hi Sharon,

> Thanks for this post.... I hadn't heard of a
> person like this, but I searched around a
> bit - is this the guy?

> Joey Skaggs ? He seems to fit the
> description....

> Read the site a bit - it's fascinating
> stuff!

> I agree with you - it does sound like
> something he would do!

> - Dien Rice

Hi Sharon,

> The link you gave wasn't working. (Maybe
> it's a temporary thing?) But the name Skaggs
> sounds right.

You're right, I checked earlier and it wasn't working.... But it seems to be working again now.... I've added the link at the end of this post.... :)

Thanks Sharon for bringing this up - it's fascinating!

- Dien




Joey Skaggs - media prankster and "culture jammer"...!