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| New York Daily News, June 16, 1925. |
Want more? You can see a photograph of Houdini taken on his last day at the Hippodrome as a member of my Patreon below.
Monday, June 16, 2025
Big Houdini news 100 years ago today
If you were a Houdini fan 100 years ago, you would have woken up to some big news this morning, as reported in The New York Daily News.
After a 3-day preview in Cumberland, Houdini did indeed open his "3 Shows on One" at the Alvin Theater in Pittsburgh on Labor Day. As promised, it was an "all-Houdini show." However, it did include some jazz tunes and bare legs, thanks to Dorothy Young's "Radio Girl."
Sunday, June 15, 2025
Breaking news!
Word is Robin Fox beat my challenge to recreate the infamous Houdini-Hodgson challenge at yesterday's UKEA convention at Shrewsbury Prison. DRAT! I am making inquiries. I hear his brother might have helped him. And what was with that glass of water being given to him during the challenge? Did anyone check those shackles for file marks!!??
Seriously, a massive congratulations to Robin and the UKEA for successfully re-staging this historic escape. I'm dying to hear what it felt like to be in Houdini's shoes and if Robin had any fresh insights about the original challenge.
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Saturday, June 14, 2025
VIDEO: Weird & Crazy Tales From The 1920s
One of my favorite YouTube channels is The1920sChannel. Founded in 2013, there are a wealth of videos related to the 1920s, and several related to Houdini. Below is a recent upload. This collects several "weird and crazy tales of the 1920s "and is pretty terrific. Houdini appears at 34:58, but I would recommend watching them all. The straw hat riot is especially wild, and maybe relevant as Houdini was known to wear a boater in the 1920s.
Friday, June 13, 2025
Jen Silverman's "Untitled Houdini Project" reading in Portland
On Thursday, June 26, there will be a workshop reading of "Untitled Houdini Project" by Jen Silverman as part of the 2025 Profile Theatre Playwright Festival in Portland. Silverman is a playwright, novelist, and screenwriter with an impressive background and credits. It's exciting to see a new young voice taking on Houdini.
In the winter and spring of 1926, Harry Houdini was summoned to a hearing before the House of Representatives to testify on behalf of a new bill that would make acts of fortune telling illegal.The newest project by playwright Jen Silverman takes as its starting point the exact transcript for these Congressional hearings, while weaving in thrilling theatrical séance sequences, and the growing complexity of Houdini's relationship with Rose Mackenberg, Houdini's chief investigator.
Are we to be a country of cold hard facts, scientific data, and honesty? Are we to be a country of comforting possibilities, where the boundary between the living and the dead is crossable if the right guides are permitted to take you? What does it mean to argue over the character of a nation in 1926 And, of course, what does it mean to do that right now?
You can buy tickets to the reading on Eventbrite.
Thanks to D.R. Schreiber, The Historical Conjurer, for the tip.
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Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Houdini and E. Patrick Talon, son of Philippe
This caused some confusion as the man bears little resemblance to the Ira Davenport in the famous photo of Houdini and the spiritulist taken in 1910, and, as far as I know, they never had a second face-to-face meeting.
But by sheer chance, I stumbled on the answer. The mystery man in the photo is actually Edmond Patrick Talon, the son of the magician Philippe. It was taken in Paris, likely in 1909. Below is the photo and an excerpt from the article, "Unknown Facts About Philippe," written by Houdini for the December 1921 M-U-M.
"Mystery and Wonder: A Legacy of Golden Age Magicians in New York City" opens February 12, 2026, and will run until July 11, 2026.
Very little was known of Philippe, though I tried to trace him for a long time. By the merest accident, I made the acquaintance of his son, E. Patrick Talon. One day I walked into the establishment of Caroly, in Paris, who informed me that a son of the celebrated Philippe was alive and wished to dispose of some of his father's letters. An appointment was immediately arranged for at the Alhambra Theatre where I was then performing, which proved to be the inception of a friendship that lasted till the death of Philippe's son. Strange as it may seem, E. Patrick Talon, though he knew not one word of English, was born in Ireland and named Patrick in memory of Philippe's successful stay in Dublin. So great was the joy of Philippe when tiny baby Patrick enriched the musical history of old Erin by giving forth his initial wail, that he produced the inexhaustible wine barrel trick at the performance that evening and bade the audience drink, in good cheer, to the health of his son.
Want more? You can read and download Houdini's entire Philippe M-U-M article as a "Scholar" member of my Patreon below.
Thanks to Leo Hevia and Abby Martin for putting me on the scent.
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Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Among the Gods
Here's another photo re-share from my 2013 series of unpublished images provided by our good friend John Hinson. This shot shows Houdini and Bess posing with a group of fellow travelers at "Balanced Rock" in the Garden of the Gods National Park on January 4, 1916. Houdini was appearing at The Burns Opera House in Colorado Springs at this time.
Balanced Rock still exists today and is a popular stop and photo op for tourists. Besides being an amazing natural phenomenon, we can now add: Houdini was here!
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Balanced Rock still exists today and is a popular stop and photo op for tourists. Besides being an amazing natural phenomenon, we can now add: Houdini was here!
Discovering Houdini's appearance in Colorado Springs was an exciting find. You can read more about that and see a collection of clippings as a member of my Patreon below.
Thanks to John Hinson.
Monday, June 9, 2025
Houdini art fanzine from 1980
Here's an eBay oddity that caught my attention. This is a 1980 fanzine produced in Bristol, England, called HOUDINI. It's not a magazine about Houdini himself, but a fanzine devoted to music and theater art. However, the man himself is featured on the cover of issue #1, and there appears to be an article about "The Self-Liberator" by Jim Newman. Was there ever an issue #2, I wonder?
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You can view the auction HERE.
The real Houdini was no stranger to Bristol, playing the city in 1904 (2x), 1909, 1913, 1914, and 1920.
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| District Free Press, March 13, 1909. |
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Saturday, June 7, 2025
New York Magic Conference to aid Houdini grave restoration
The next New York Magic Conference takes place on Saturday, June 14, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The focus will be close-up magic, and 100% of all registrations will be donated to the Houdini grave restoration fund. As we all know, the exedra is badly in need of repair. So this is a great way to help and learn magic from some of New York's most influential magicians. Below are details:
Initial list of performers for the conference:
Doug Edwards
Thomas Solomon
Doc Sasco, Dr.S
Dorothy Dietrich
Dick Brooks
Eric Q
Lou Johnson
(others to be announced shortly)
Location:
Abracadabra NYC
19 West 21st Street
New York, NY 10010
Price is $45.00 in advance and $65.00 at the door (if available, seating is extremely limited at this venue). Again, 100% of all registrations will be donated to the Houdini grave restoration fund.
To register for the conference, visit the Abracadabra website.
For additional information, please email your name and contact information to: NewYorkMagicConference@gmail.com or visit the New York Magic Conference on Facebook.
A fantastic daylong magic event
that all are invited to enjoy!
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Thursday, June 5, 2025
Houdini treasures at NYPL exhibition preview
Our good friend Charles Greene III attended an exclusive preview of an upcoming magic exhibition at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Division. As you can see, there were some Houdini treasures on display.
"Mystery and Wonder: A Legacy of Golden Age Magicians in New York City" opens February 12, 2026, and will run until July 11, 2026.
Want more? Charles, one of our fellow patrons, provided photos of an early Houdini letter he discovered in an NYPL scrapbook. You can check that treasure out on my Patreon below.
Thank you, Charles!
Tuesday, June 3, 2025
Deconstructing Houdini '53: Pagoda Torture Cell
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TONY CURTIS! Let's celebrate what would have been Tony's 100th by continuing our scene-by-scene dissection of Houdini (1953). Last time we went to a seance. Now Houdini gets back to business...
Chapter 22: Pagoda Torture Cell
We now enter the final act of Houdini (1953). It starts with Bess arriving at a theater advertising Houdini's return. Much to her alarm, she sees a large poster for the "Pagoda Torture Cell." Beside it is a sign reading, "Opening Tomorrow Night, Halloween." Fate is screaming out at Bess (and us) from the theater front.
It's a shame we don't see the theater name. But we know this is New York, not Detroit, and based on the Variety headline we saw in the preceding montage, this is Halloween 1925, not 1926. So the movie is taking liberties in the buildup to the big climax.
As Bess dashes into the lobby, a janitor tells her Houdini is not at the theater; he's at "Sherman Ironworks on 14th Street." Notice there is a Houdini handcuff case on display in the lobby with a man looking at it. Before high-resolution, I wondered if this could be a cameo by Joseph Dunninger. It resembles him, and what is a great idea, especially as Dunninger knew Houdini in these final years. But I can now see it's just an extra, dang-it.
Bess arrives at Sherman Ironworks, which is not rooted in any real Houdini history. Houdini's workshop was in New Jersey. There, Bess finds Harry and Otto working on the large glass Pagoda Torture Cell. Bess folds her arms and says. "So this is why you kept me in the country all week." Bess spending time in the country while Harry worked in New York is rooted in Houdini history. In fact, I'm pretty sure Bess was in the country when Houdini performed his famous Shelton Pool Test.
Houdini says they just wanted to see if it was "workable." Bess calls him out on this, saying she has been to the theater and it's "plastered all over the front." Houdini shrugs and says he's done water escapes before; this is nothing different.
"Nothing different?" says Bess, "It's an exact copy of Von Schweger's man in the bottle. It's what killed him. Don't you understand, Harry? It's what killed him."
Wait a minute. While this is a copy of the model Harry received as a gift from the late Von Schweger (see Chapter 15), Otto said nothing about it having anything to do with Von Schweger's death. I can only assume that Bess means Von Schweger's obsession with his "man in the bottle" trick isolated him and led to a collapse in health, hence "killing" him?
Notice that Bess does not mention the fact that Harry is planning this for Halloween. Remember her warning before the ice escape in Detroit: "That's not your day." But this would have been redundant, and there is something smart about letting the audience see this red flag without having to articulate it once again.
Harry says he's not worked before an audience in two years (further muddying the timeline as established in the montage), and he has to give them something new. "People aren't going to stand in line to watch me pull rabbits out of a hat," he says. This line reminds us of the poster that stood on Harry's platform at Schultz's Dime Museum. A rabbit from a hat was enough for audiences back then. But now Houdini and the world have lost their innocence. Both have hardened like the iron we see and hear being forged all around them.
Harry and Bess then address the key underlying issue, and we have this excellent exchange:
BESS
Why? Why must every act you do be flirting with death?
HARRY
Because it's the only act that'll hold an audience spellbound. People fall asleep at the opera, but they stay wide awake at the bullfights. Because there's one man defying death down in that arena. You take this out of my act and I'm nothing.
BESS
You keep it in and we're both nothing.
It's a standoff. Notice the X on the glass of the cell between them during this confrontation. A clever visual that separates them and marks the cell as the ultimate object of their core conflict.
Harry chooses death. He tells Otto, "Have this sent to the theater. We'll test it for tomorrow's performance." Even Otto, the enabler, seems upset by this decision. Houdini snaps at him, "Well, what are you standing there for?" Bess turns and leaves. Everyone is at odds as we head into the final show.
By the way, I've always thought Otto looked more like Houdini in his famous workshop photos than Tony Curtis, amiright?
Houdini (1953) presents the "Pagoda Torture Cell" as Houdini's final creation at the end of his career. That is far from the truth. Houdini debuted his Water Torture Cell, later known as The Chinese Water Torture Cell, in 1912, midway through his career, and he performed it hundreds of times. But it was still Houdini's penultimate stage escape, just as it is here.
Contrast this with the Houdini Miniseries of 2014, in which the Water Torture Cell is presented as Houdini's first major stage escape. That movie has nowhere to go (and it doesn't). So, as far as old-fashioned drama is concerned, making the Torture Cell Houdini's final escape is a great way to build up its importance...and menace.
Monday, June 2, 2025
The Vanishing Elephant will appear in Oxford
The Vanishing Elephant will run at the Oxford Playhouse in Oxford, England, from June 11 to June 14. The play is produced by Northern Irish theatre company Cahoots, written by Charles Way, and directed by Cahoots' artistic director, Paul Bosco McEneaney. The story is inspired by Houdini's famed vanishing elephant, Jennie.
Sunday, June 1, 2025
ESCAPE to Patreon
If you've been considering joining my Patreon, today would be a great day to do so. I'm offering 20% off your first month with the promo code ESCAPE. This offer is good for today (June 1) only. Just click below to go.
At my Patreon, you will find a wealth of Houdini material. You'll also get the inside scoop on my upcoming books and early publication alerts. With the release of Escaping Obscurity: The Travel Diary of Harry Houdini on the horizon, being a patron would be a good thing, especially if you want to land a special Deluxe Edition. Just saying.
You'll also be supporting all the work I do here at WILD ABOUT HARRY and beyond. I love my patrons, and I'm always thinking of ways to spoil them. So why not join us and go wild!
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