I met up with the street performer Jason Escape at his neighborhood coffee shop, joined also by his 16-month-old son, who was with him in a stroller.

Every weekend weather permitting, the escape artist hangs upside down from a large metal tripod above the cobble stones in front of Faneuil Hall’s Quincy Market, and frees himself from a straight jacket and rope binding in front of amused and baffled spectators.

Jason, whose full name is Jason Gardner, is a family man and a lifetime performer with an engaging, inspired energy and an exuberance for life.  Growing up outside New York City, Jason said he was influenced by performance art he saw there. He chose to attend college at Berklee, where he majored in drums and, upon graduating, began street performance while doing magic on the side. He started his current upside down escape act six years ago. Over an iced coffee, he discussed his perception of the risk he takes in performing.

“I make my living by not dying,” Jason said. “It helps me in a sense, to confront death. It makes me very grateful for what I have. I guess living is a privilege, not really a right. If we see it as an opportunity, we live a happier life.”

Jason spent two years preparing for his current act, working out the correct tripod design and frequenting rock gyms after hours to practice hanging upside down before he took his act to the streets, although he insists that the best way to make an act successful is to actually get out and do it.

Jason supports his family through festivals, private events, fairs and his act at Faneuil Hall. This past Labor Day, he performed at a fair at Staten Island, where he escaped from a straightjacket from 100 feet in the air.

But at the same time, he would never try something like bungee jumping or skydiving.

“I’m not an extreme sports guy, I don’t take risks,” he said. “I know it’s odd coming from me, but I feel like it’s a calculated risk.”

He sees himself as a healer and a performer, and does mind reading, public speaking and intuitive consulting in addition to his act. He strives to impart the audience with a positive message on how to confront life’s obstacles. “I hope that people see the metaphor—escaping from what’s holding me back. The show does that in a very covert way,” he said.

When he is not hanging upside down in front of Faneuil Hall, he is a self-proclaimed “student of life,” spending time with his son, working on several projects, and enjoying coffee. He is currently being filmed for a full-length documentary about his life entitled “Escape/Artist” (watch the documentary trailer below), and works on his anti-negativity campaign and lifestyle brand “Brew Coffee Not Hatred.”

You can watch Jason and others perform this weekend, October 12 through 14, at the Street Performer Fall Festival at Faneuil Hall.