Sunday, March 17, 2024

Houdini in Blackpool's new "Showtown" museum

The door from a jail cell that Houdini escaped from in 1905 is on display at the new Showtown museum in Blackpool, England. What a fantastic artifact! Blackpool native and magician Karl Bartoni shares photos from a special preview he attended last week.


Below is an account of Houdini's Blackpool jail escape on June 12, 1905.

Lancashire Evening Post, June 12, 1905.

The museum also has exhibits showcasing Murray the Escapologist, a long-time Blackpool resident; Karl Bartoni's straitjacket that he used during his Tower escapes; and a reproduction Houdini Milk Can with a cut-out in Houdini's famous 1908 poster that you can try on for size.


Showtown is located in the heart of the Golden Mile next door to Blackpool Tower. The museum showcases the best of the seaside, magic, circus, Illuminations, shows, and dance. For more details, visit the official website.

If you want to see all the photos Karl sent me, check out my Patreon below.


Thank you, Karl!

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Houdini spoke one year ago today

It was one year ago today that Mike CaveneyDr. Michael Khanchalian, and I heard the voice of Harry Houdini coming from wax cylinders that have not been played since 1970. What an incredible experience. I still can't believe I was a part of it. Click the image below to relive the adventure.


Below are some follow-up posts related to the Houdini wax cylinders.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Discovering Houdini's "O.D. stunt" at last!

Here's one I've been chasing for a long time. In Houdini's 1916 diary, he records an "O.D. stunt" (outdoor stunt) during his engagement in Toledo that year. Unfortunately, he provided no other details. I suspected it was a suspended straitjacket escape, but I've never been able to confirm it or nail down an exact date. But now, thanks to a recent upload of Toledo Blade newspapers, the "O.D. stunt" has been revealed!

Toledo Blade, December 8, 1916.

While this was indeed a suspended straitjacket escape (on December 7, 1916), it was an untypical one. Instead of doing the escape from a downtown building that housed a newspaper, Houdini did this from the "roof of the county jail." It isn't entirely clear where this would have been, but the Lucas County Jail in Toledo is a likely candidate.


Another interesting detail gleaned from another clipping is that the police provided a straitjacket, but Houdini "refused" it and used one of his own.

Finally, if the photo in the clipping looks familiar, it should! The NYPL has the full photo in its digital collection, and it has appeared elsewhere. Who knew we were looking at the elusive Toledo "O.D. stunt" this whole time?


Want more? I've shared all the clippings related to this stunt and Houdini's 1916 Toledo engagement with "Scholar" members of my Patreon below.


Related:

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

"That's an awful river."

I've shared on my Patreon a vivid account of Houdini's handcuffed leap into the Mississippi River on November 17, 1907. There are details here that I've not read before. Dive in by clicking below. 


I recently updated my Bridge jumps page to list all of Houdini's known jumps. Thanks to my patrons for supporting this work. 

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Houdini Museum launches new website

Our friends Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz have launched an all-new website for their famous Houdini Museum Tour & Magic Show in Scranton, PA. It's very well done and worth a visit. Just click below to go.


I had the pleasure of visiting the museum last year, and I loved it. It's a unique and special place run by a pair of magic legends. Not to be missed!

Related:

Sunday, March 10, 2024

Magic Castle announces a New Houdini Séance

The Magic Castle in Hollywood, home of the Academy of Magical Arts, will soon debut a New Houdini Séance Experience. Below is the news sent to members via the AMAs Flash Paper newsletter.

March 24 is Harry Houdini’s Birthday
& the Premiere of the New Houdini Séance Experience!

The Houdini séance at The Magic Castle® debuted 55 years ago in 1969, with people experiencing a re-enactment of the final séance of 10 held over a decade at the nearby Knickerbocker Hotel by Bess Houdini—to summon Harry from the other side—on Halloween 1936, which was attended by Bill Larsen, Sr.

The séance at the club has always been a big draw, evolving over the years—Milt Larsen’s Winchester House, adding and changing effects—into what was best described as a campy (albeit fun) experience. Currently, we are in the midst of an exciting overhaul of the séance, the second in recent years, which will make a soft debut on Harry Houdini’s birthday, March 24 (for evaluation and tweaks by involved parties), and likely open for general membership bookings in late spring/early summer, with specific date to be announced.

In 2019-2020, the séance and the room were renovated under the direction of Jim Steinmeyer, making it a more modern, theatrical and technically advanced experience. The new, more low-tech séance option being developed will be a much more haunting, “jump-in-the-dark,” organic experience. Both seances will be available for bookings.

The new transformation is being supervised by a collaborative team that includes Todd Robbins, Chris Hart, Mike Caveney and medium/magicians Rob Zabrecky and Stuart McCloud; executive produced by the Board of Trustees and Chuck Martinez.

Says Todd, “The Magic Castle® is the center of the world of magic and Houdini is so much a part of that world. On the 98th anniversary of his death, you can ask 100 people to name the first magician that comes to mind and 90% of them will still say Houdini. Even though no one’s alive who’s seen him perform, he still lives on in our collective conscious and that’s the greatest feat of his entire career, that he became this legend. It’s important that The Magic Castle® do something that grabs people, is emotional and serves as a fitting tribute to this remarkable man.”

“I like to say that you’re never so alive as when you are scared to death!” continues Todd. “This experience will be a little more fun in the dark and very bespoke to who the medium is … rather than the medium being guided by the presentation. When the inaugural séance was created in 1969, the only automated gimmick was the table rising and the rest of it was up to the presiding medium. The original medium, Ed Fowler (who also performed under the stage name of E. Raymond Carlyle), had a grandmother and a great aunt who were ‘real’ mediums at a spiritualist retreat in Michigan. They taught him the techniques they used to deceive the believers. Rob and Stuart have been integral to this renovation.”

The Houdini séance chamber is located in an area that was originally part of the master bedroom of the Chateau-esque mansion built in 1908 by Rollin B. Lane, which was also the room where he passed away. “Ghosts do walk and who knows who will come back,” teases Todd, who doesn’t want to give away too many surprises. “It depends upon the people in the room and the willingness to open themselves up.”

Plans are also being discussed to initiate a stage two-update that integrates off-menu food service (Houdini’s favorite foods?) into the overall event with a host who provides historical insights, with a flourish of magic, as each course is served, leading up to the main event with a medium.

Says Todd, “The original séance included a personal chef and a small antique stove where he flambéed an appetizer of shrimp in cognac, finished a main course of filet mignon; and prepared flaming cherries jubilee. Unfortunately, it was a fun part of the performance that Milt didn’t run by the fire department and it was ultimately shut down!”

Participants in the final séance in 1936 (Bill Larsen, Sr., far right).

I'm looking forward to seeing what the Castle has cooked up for this new seance!

Related:

Friday, March 8, 2024

Shadow of Houdini with Sher'ril & Samantha

Here's another event celebrating Houdini's 150th birthday this month. Sher'ril & Samantha, Escape Artists Extraordinaire, present Shadow of Houdini on Saturday, March 23, at Rock House Coffee Company & Event Center in Hohenwald, Tennessee.


For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Shadow of Houdini page at Eventbrite.

If you know of any other Houdini birthday events or celebrations, please let me know.

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Magic & Mind Games LIVE: A Tribute to Houdini

This month sees a few special events celebrating Houdini's 150th birthday. One of these is Magic & Mind Games LIVE: A Tribute to Houdini, on Saturday, March 23, at Old Oak Inn Bed and Breakfast in Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin.


For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Magic & Mind Games LIVE: A Tribute to Houdini page at Eventbrite.

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Deconstructing Houdini '53: Judgment in Germany

Continuing my scene-by-scene dissection of the 1953 biopic HOUDINI starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. Last time we saw Houdini reach the heights of fame in Europe. But German law wants to bring him back down...

Chapter 14: Judgment in Germany

The next scene in Houdini (1953) is a highlight that furthers Houdini's legend and continues the story of his early European adventures. But did it really happen?

At the end of the last scene, Houdini received a summons to appear before a German tribunal accused of fraud. "I might have to go to jail," he warned Bess. Now we dissolve to the courthouse where a growling prosecutor (Stefan Schnabel) makes his case:

“When any magician transgresses the bounds of reason and humbugs the people into not only thinking but believing that he’s supernatural, then this man becomes a menace to society and must be restrained from further practice of such deception.”

Sounds serious! (And a little flattering.) It's hard not to see this as a witch trial. The prosecutor is dressed in robes from the last century. Houdini, on the other hand, is dressed in a modern gray suit. (The suit reminds me of the one he wore at his 1926 congressional hearing.) It makes for a nice contrast. Houdini represents modernity defending itself against old-world superstition.


Houdini stands and offers his defense, using words the real Houdini spoke many times from the stage.

"I have never claimed to be supernatural. All my escapes have been effected by purely physical means."

The judge (Lawrence Ryle) decides to put it to a test. If Houdini can open the courthouse safe in full view of the tribunal, he will have proven himself a man of skill and not the devil's pawn. Houdini volunteers to do one better. He will escape from the safe! As he hands his coat off to Bess, she reminds him of the last safe he got into. A nice callback.


After Houdini climbs inside the safe, we hear the poorly dubbed line, "Go ahead, what are you waiting for. Lock it up." The door is locked. Seconds tick by on the courtroom clock. All wait anxiously. All except Bess, who shows no concern at all. This is amusing, but it's actually inconsistent with her characterization. Janet Leigh's Bess is constantly worrying! By the way, notice she is wearing her royal crown brooch.


Soon, the tumblers on the safe door began to rotate. The door swings open, and Houdini emerges. "It's hot in there," he says. The courtroom bursts into applause, and the case is dismissed. Houdini even receives a grudging handshake from the sour prosecutor.


So, is any of this real? Yes, basically. Houdini did appear before a court in Germany in 1902 and demonstrated his escape abilities before a judge and jury. However, Houdini was the plaintiff, not the defendant.

It all started with an article in the Daily Rheinische Zeitung in which a German police officer, Werner Graf, who had challenged Houdini with a lock that he easily defeated, claimed the magician was a fraud who had used a saw to escape from his lock and had attempted to bribe him. Houdini demanded a retraction. Graf refused. So Houdini filed slander charges against Graf and editor Johann Merfeld. The case was heard in Cologne.

The first trial ran for three days, during which Houdini demonstrated how he easily opened Graf’s lock by rapping it against a metal plate fastened below his knee. He then showed the judge how he could slip out of any transport chain. Houdini won the case and created a poster that told the story of the trial with a dramatic image that clearly influenced Houdini's Art Directors, Al Nozaki and Hal Pereira, and/or Set Decorators Sam Comer and Ray Moyer.


But what about the safe?

Graf appealed the case twice. Houdini claimed that during the third trial, he was challenged to open the judges' safe, which, ironically, they had forgotten to lock. This is likely fiction. There is no record of Houdini doing anything at the third trial except being present. Houdini also often told the story of almost being defeated by an unlocked door, freely changing the details and location to suit the occasion. But the safe story is in the Kellock book on which this movie is based, so as far as screenwriter Philip Yordan was concerned, he was drawing from fact.

Okay, back to the movie.

As the "audience" leaves the courtroom, Mama says to Bess, "But Harry never saw that safe before, how did he ever do it? What is the trick?" Bess tells her the only trick was to get the judge to lock him inside the safe. "Safes were built to keep people from breaking in, not out."

Could this be considered an exposure? If so, it's the only exposure in the movie. But this "in, not out" idea comes from Kellock, so maybe it gets a pass for being Bess-approved. (In contracts Bess drew up for earlier biopic projects, there was always a stipulation that the film must not feature exposures.) It's also utter nonsense. Don't get inside a safe thinking you can easily get out!

But what about the mystery man with a stopwatch who has been watching the entire proceedings? The camera cuts to him several times. It appears someone else has taken an interest in the abilities of The Great Houdini...

Related:

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Watch Young Harry Houdini (1987)

Disney's Young Harry Houdini (1987) is one of the harder Houdini movies to see. But here it is in its entirety on YouTube. The quality could be better, but if you've never seen it, this gets the job done!


Young Harry Houdini first aired on March 15, 1987, as part of the Disney Sunday Movie on ABC.

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Leap Day Dash

While we know Hardeen was born on March 4, 1876, in Budapest, like his famous brother, he later claimed Appleton as his birthplace and changed his birthdate. The date Dash chose was February 29 (Leap Day), showing he had a sense of humor about all this. As it only happens once every four years, let's celebrate Hardeen's "birthday" today with some dashing posters.

Below is one of my all-time favorite posters for either brother. If Houdini ever created a poster depicting a bridge jump, I've not seen it. But it would be tough to do better than this one. This appeared on the back of the July 1945 Conjurers Magazine "Hardeen Memorial Issue." How I would love to see this in color.


Here's another Hardeen poster that features a bridge jump as a key image. This is a blow-up from a photo of an Oakland billboard when the brothers were both performing there in 1915. Again, how I'd love to see this in color.


Here's another beauty. This appears on the back of Hardeen's pitchbook.


While the above posters will be familiar to some, I'm sharing a Hardeen poster on my Patreon today that I bet you've never seen because I sure hadn't! And, yes, this one is in color. This comes from Eric Colleary and our friends at the Harry Ransom Center. Enjoy.


Happy Leap Day Birthday, Dash!

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Holmes & Houdini Issue 2

The dynamic duo of Holmes & Houdini are back in issue 2 of this three-part series from Zenescope written by Honor Vincent with artwork by Oliver Borges. Girls get it done...again!

The die has been cast, the game is afoot, and this thrilling journey has begun to unfold! 
Spencer Holmes and Erica Houdini’s lives would never have crossed-paths or so they thought. But when a plot that involves the very future of all human life begins to dig its way into the literal minds of all those around them, only Holmes and Houdini will be able to try and find a way to save everything and everyone. 
Don’t miss this exciting and mysterious next chapter of the biggest new series from Zenescope Entertainment!

You can Purchase Holmes & Houdini #2 for the Kindle on Amazon.com. You can also buy directly from Zenescope, which offers printed copies with variant covers (the above is Cover B by Jordi Tarragona and Ivan Nunes).

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