Spy Escape & Evasion The Show Premieres at Stratosphere

 Photo credit: Spy Escape & Evasion

You’re a victim. 

Constricting duct tape presses into your body. A boa constrictor, its grip tightens the harder you struggle. Breaths draw short as panic sets in. 



You’re strapped to a chair. Bound by duct tape. Hands and feet constrained. Your restraints are inescapable. 



You’re helpless. What do you do? 



Enter Spy Escape & Evasion: the only Las Vegas show that could help save your life. The brainchild of former CIA agent Jason Hanson, Stratosphere premiered the new show on Thursday, March 2nd. 



After serving the agency for six years, Hanson left the government behind in favor of launching his own security business. “We teach people how to escape duct tape, how to escape rope, how to pick locks. So a bunch of safety and survival measures that they will hopefully never use, but if they do, it will save their life,” Hanson told Las Vegas Round the Clock during the show’s previous limited engagement run in 2016. 



“If I told you,” he said when asked of his time with the CIA, “I’d have to kill you.”

During Spy Escape & Evasion The Show’s one hour running time, you’ll not only learn how to escape duct tape, zip ties and rope — audience members are brought onstage for hands-on examples to demonstrate their newfound abilities, proving the show’s assertions that the skills presented can be obtained by anyone — you’ll also become privy to a crash course in becoming a human lie detector and receive insight on self-defense weapons to best protect yourself and loved ones.



“You should never be found dead on the side of the road,” Hanson told the audience. “This is something that’s fun, but it’s serious.” 



“Fun but serious” is a good way of summarizing Spy Escape & Evasion: it’s as informative as it is interesting and engaging, even if it sometimes plays like a live infomercial. Hanson is an affable and capable presenter, injecting humor and keeping things light — even amongst the underlying seriousness of the show’s mission. 

“You don’t need to spend 10 years becoming a black belt,” Hanson states in his official biography. “You need to know how to be situationally aware, how to use defensive tools and techniques and learn the ‘inside secrets’ to using these techniques to stay safe.”


“We live in uncertain times, and I know better than most how dangerous the world can be. My mission is to help good, honest Americans learn critical survival tactics that can literally mean the difference between life and death for you or a member of your family.”




Once you’re shown a means of escape, putting the skills into actual practice is, surprisingly, easier than expected. Hanson is your favorite teacher from high school, teaching essential information and getting that information across in a breezy, concise manner without lecturing. It’s fun, picking up skills that will save your life — or, at the very least, make you more interesting at parties. 



Hanson displays a tactical pen — a “regular writing pen, but on steroids” — an inconspicuous pen that you can carry anywhere, with one distinguishing feature: a nasty sharp point. Holding the pen with thumb on top for maximum striking power, you’ll jab an attacker wherever you can. The goal, says Hanson, “isn’t to go all Rambo on the guy,” but to provide yourself with a window of escape. 




There’s the paracord, a handy keychain that can be equipped either as a means of physical escape or an offensive weapon, and a familiar flashlight — one that just so happens to secretly double as a taser. (All items demonstrated in the show are, of course, available for purchase upon exit). 



Spy Escape & Evasion The Show is one of the more intriguing and unique shows in Las Vegas. It’s small scale, as one-man shows tend to be, and while it’s doubtful most tourists come to Vegas to learn genuine spy tradecraft, the presentation is compelling enough to justify an evolution from limited-time engagement to full-time show. 



Tickets for Spy Escape & Evasion Spy Show are available online at TicketBat.com. Showtime is 5 p.m. Tickets on sale now for the spy show hosted by Ex-CIA Officer Jason Hanson. Ticket prices start at $59 per person for general admission, $99 for VIP seating and $149 for a meet and greet package which includes a commemorative item. All ticket levels subject to applicable taxes and fees and can be purchased online by visiting TicketBAT.