Bringing Houdini to 2026

I thought I could avoid TikTok for the rest of my life, but this is just too much fun. Welcome to the future, Harry.

@cosminacreates Catch me or I go Houdini 😂👀 #houdini #historytopresent #magnificai ♬ sunet original - CosminaCreates

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• Off to see Harry...
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Friday Flair

Here's a little something I just found for all you folks who need some extra Flair.

American Press, October 8, 1973.

Don't get caught without! Like this loser...

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Under since 1921

I know politics isn't very funny these days, but here's something from a gentler time. I've seen a lot of Houdini political cartoons, but this is the only one I've seen that ties into a specific Houdini stunt. In this case, it's his Shelton Pool Test. Just goes to show how much that feat captured the public imagination. 

Rockford Register Star, Aug 28,1926.

The artist is actually making a second Houdini reference without knowing it. Old John Barleycorn (a reference to prohibition) is reading the temperance play, Ten Nights in a Barroom. Houdini played the lead in this play during his struggling years on more than one occasion.

Related:

• The Shelton pool test at 90
• Houdini's nights in a bar room
• Political cartoonists still love Houdini

DIARY BOOK COVER REVEAL! (update)

Today, I'm thrilled to reveal the cover of my upcoming book annotating Houdini's first travel diary. I think you will all agree, this is magical.

Dear Diary: The Hopes, Dreams, and Secret Loves of Harry Houdini is at the printer and on track for a late summer 2025 release from Mike Caveney's Magic Words.

UPDATE: Just an April Fools Day joke, folks. But it is true that the book is at the printers and will be out this summer. 👏

Related:

• You will soon be able to read Houdini's first diary
• Listen to the new Houdini voice audio!
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Graded Houdini (1953) VHS, because I'm a nut

Some of you may be aware that there is currently a wild collectors market for sealed and graded VHS tapes. A sealed and graded Back To The Future made headlines when it sold for $75,000 at auction in 2022. I recently took a deep dive into the 1991 release of Houdini (1953) on VHS. This was inspired by my buying a still-sealed copy on eBay. I paid $9.00, less than it cost in 1991.

On a whim, I decided to have my Houdini VHS professionally graded by CGC. Here's the result:

Not a bad grade! If you're wondering why this didn't grade even higher, know that companies downgrade for stickers that obscure the cover art. Removing all stickers will get you a better grade. But, for me, the stickers are what tell this story. Houdini was part of Paramount Home Video's 1991 wave of sell-through releases at $14.95. The stickers show this copy is from that first wave. If the idea is to freeze a VHS in time, you gotta freeze the stickers as well!

Now, I am under no illusions that this is valuable or will ever become valuable. In fact, any deal I got on eBay is now out the window. But I love this movie and I thought this was a fun way to honor it and make it as important as any other tape from the VHS era. Maybe it's worthless, but the movie is priceless. And it displays well.

I highly recommend watching this video from one of my favorite YouTube channels, Red Letter Media. It's all about the VHS grading and the collecting phenomena and their own very funny experiment.

By the way, their Nukie ended up selling for $80,600. Now that's wild!

Related:

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No escape

Here's a fun one that's new to me. I'll let it speak for itself.

Bangor Daily Commercial, Sept. 27, 1921.

By the way, $12,500 is the equivalent of $197,646 today. Maybe the three of them could have worked something out!

Related:

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Gary Larson on his Houdini Far Side

Here's a classic from The Far Side with a Houdini twist. Pretty funny. Last week, Screen Rant published an interview with artist Gary Larson, who talked about this specific comic. Says Larson, "I remember all too well my long day in hell with this cartoon."

From Screen Rant:

Despite the comic successfully conveying its joke, Larson spent hours trying to get Houdini's 'corpse' right. Larson had to walk a fine line for what was acceptable to publish in newspapers all over the country, but also thought that a corny Halloween skeleton wouldn't achieve the darkness needed to make the joke genuinely funny. 

The Far Side creator recalls: Now, if you will, please pretend that you are the Cartoon Coroner and take a closer look at the "deceased." What we have here is a decomposed body, with the main focus on the head. If it's too gruesome, it doesn't work. If it's too corny, it doesn't work. The expression on that face has to simultaneously capture silliness and scariness, horror and hilarity, sadness and stupidity. For me, this meant draw, erase, draw, erase, draw, erase ... for hours. I couldn't get it, although I think in the end I got sort of close. ... If it hadn't been for my deadline, I might be sitting there to this very day, doomed to draw Houdini's skull for the rest of my life until I, too, am discovered one day looking much like this very drawing, only perhaps funnier.

You can read the full interview at Screen Rant. Below are some (less funny) Houdini corpse-related posts.

Related:

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• "Death expert" Bill Bass to examine Houdini's corpse

Houdini's Coffin wins UK soapbox derby

A coffin-shaped racer paying homage to the great Harry Houdini escaped with top honors at Sunday's Red Bull Soapbox Race at Alexandra Palace, outpacing 58 other wacky entries, reports The Standard. 

Thousands of spectators packed the grounds to witness the return of the event to British soil. The global competition challenges teams to cobble together the most outlandish gravity-powered vehicles imaginable before hurtling them down a treacherous hill.

The Hurry Houdini team from London were crowned this year’s winners. They said "a lifetime of preparation" had gone into the race and that they would be back to defend the title next year "with a few tricks up our sleeves."

You have now officially seen it all.

Related:

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• We've been looking at this photo all wrong!
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Jasper Blakeley presents CHARLATAN

Award-winning magician Jasper Blakeley presents a Houdini-themed magic and mentalism show at The Small Space in Wales beginning March 1, 2024. Details below.

Enjoy a full 90 minute show of astounding magic and laughs from World-Class Magician and entertainer Jasper Blakeley. 

'CHARLATAN' is Jasper's most ambitious show to date and centres around the history of the con artist world of psychics, mediums and those who claim to speak to the dead. This light-hearted, hilarious and laugh-out-loud (yet impactful show), reveals the con-stories behind some of the most notorious psychics and spiritual mediums of the past. We talk about the great Houdini and his exposure of spiritual con artists, the famous fakery of the Fox Sisters of New York and the myriad of other money-driven Charlatans of the past.

Jasper is an International Award-Winning Magic Circle Magician who, for over two decades, has performed all over the world, from multi-million dollar illusion shows in Las Vegas to private parties in Venice and everything else in between. He now owns and performs weekly in his hometown of Barry, at The World's Smallest Magic Theatre - The Small Space. 

For more information and to buy tickets, CLICK HERE.

Related:

• Houdini's war on fake mediums began 100 years ago today
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Reviews and pics from 'Houdini's Greatest Escape'

Houdini's Greatest Escape, the new play from New Old Friends in association with Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, is currently touring the UK through June 30, 2024. It offers a humorous take on Houdini's story. Below are links to some reviews.

What's Good To Do

Fairy Powered Productions

Robbie's Backstage Bants

West End Best Friend

Broadway World

Winchester Today

(If you've reviewed this play, please send me the link 

and I will include it here.)

Here are some photos from the production by Pam Raith, courtesy the New Old Friend Facebook page.

CLICK HERE to see all tour dates for Houdini's Greatest Escape.

Related:

• 'Houdini's Greatest Escape' begins UK tour
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'Houdini's Greatest Escape' begins UK tour

Award-winning theatre company New Old Friends, in association with Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, presents HOUDINI'S GREATEST ESCAPE, which opens at Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford today and tours the UK through June 30, 2024.

Harry Houdini is the world's greatest entertainer. Just as his death-defying escapology stunts have him, and his wife Bess, on the cusp of a career-defining performance for King Edward, he finds himself framed for murder by a gang of criminals in cahoots with the chief of police. Can Harry & Bess escape the plot and clear their names? And how is their rival, The Superstar Spiritualist medium, Agatha, involved?

All will be revealed in this hilarious 39 Steps-esque thriller, played out in New Old Friends' inimitable, award-winning style of physical comedy, sparkling wit and just a touch of chaos.

Featuring a hard-working cast of four playing multiple roles on an almost harder-working set, this show will have you laughing and gasping throughout at the magic of theatre and the ‘real' magic of illusions designed by TV's Pete Firman. Cast includes Ben Higgins as Harry Houdini, Lydia Piechowiak as Bess Houdini with ‘many other characters' played by Kirsty Cox and Adam Elliott.  

Writer-director Feargus Dunlop-Woods says: "This is a show we have wanted to make for years and are over the moon that the company is finally in a position to realize the vision of blending our slightly chaotic ‘overtly theatrical' nonsense with some genuine illusions. Researching and ‘getting to know' Harry and Bess Houdini has been fascinating and this, entirely fictional, episode in their crusade against fraud mediums has been a huge amount of fun to create. We can't wait to share it with the country."

CLICK HERE to see all tour dates for HOUDINI'S GREATEST ESCAPE.

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Seth Meyers and Dua Lipa talk Houdini (and drink)

I know this is sooooo 2023, but our new friend Dua Lipa is still out there promoting her mega-hit single "Houdini." Here's a fun clip from her appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers. My gosh, they drink a lot.

It's fun to hear their Houdini chatter. And at least they got the basic facts right about his death, Mr. Blaine. 🍻

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Houdini's humor

Once, during a Q&A, someone asked me if Houdini used humor in his act. I told them I didn't think so. That Houdini took himself pretty seriously. In fact, he once kicked a comedian (hard!) in the leg when he began telling jokes as Houdini struggled in a straitjacket.

But Patrick Culliton later told me I was mistaken. Houdini did use humor in his act. From that moment, I've kept an eye open for evidence of this, and, by gosh, it's out there! Check out the below from Houdini's appearance at the Regent Theater of Varieties in Salford, England.

This point was further driven home when I was shown a remarkable document at the Harry Ransom Center last year. It's a typewritten page of all the jokes Houdini had at hand during his performances. The jokes are pretty corny, largely dependent on puns and colloquialisms, but they apparently worked on audiences of the time. It's a fantastic glimpse at a part of Houdini's act that is (almost) forgotten.

Where can you read this remarkable document? The Harry Ransom Center, of course! Or you can read it as a member of my Patreon by clicking below.

Thanks to my patrons for supporting my research and content like this.

Related:

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Dua Lipa has to explain Houdini was a real person

In an interview with Italian radio station RDS, pop star Dua Lipa explained how she uses Houdini in her new song:

"Houdini is an escape artist and I love the idea of using him as a metaphor for knowing your own worth, knowing when to stay in a situation, knowing what you deserve, and also when something doesn't go your way or something doesn't feel right, knowing when to leave or knowing when to go Houdini. And in this sense, I use Houdini as a verb as well."

Nice answer. But then the interview took a slightly embarrassing turn, which you can watch for yourself below:

Dua Lipa answers an RDS interviewer who mistakes the magician Houdini as a biblical character:

“Well, I mean, Houdini was a real, real person.”

pic.twitter.com/XFzv2p84xP

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) November 11, 2023

To be fair to the interviewer, English is not her first language, and I suspect she meant "epic." But thank you, Dua, for doing the Lord's work!

You can watch the full interview on UPROXX. Purchase "Houdini" on Amazon Music U.S. or Amazon Music UK. Watch the video on YouTube.

Related:

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Houdini Vaudeville Vignette by Al Rosson

Here's a delightful video created by animator, cartoonist, and Magic Castle member Al Rosson. This uses the familiar 1914 recording of Houdini's real voice. Enjoy!

Thanks to Al Rosson and Joe Fox. You can check out more of Al's work on his YouTube and website.

Related:

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Listen to the new Houdini voice audio!

PLEASE NOTE: If you are linking here from Genii Magazine, know that this post is an April Fools Day joke. The post you were supposed to navigate to is HERE.

Here's something exciting to kick off the month! This is the new Houdini voice audio that was recently transferred from the original wax cylinders in David Copperfield's collection. Don't tell David I'm sharing this! Just click below and enjoy. 

  

Click here for special message about this rare recording.

Related:

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Houdini haunts The Dana Gould Hour

One my favorite podcasts is The Dana Gould Hour (which is never an hour). The high point of the year is always the Halloween Special, and this year it's extra special for Houdini fans. Dana's "True Tales from Weirdsville" segment is devoted to Houdini and his crusade against fraudulent spiritualists. It starts at 01:08:00 and as with all of Dana's deep dives it's well-researched and funny.

If that's not enough, Dana also interviews our friend Rob Zabrecky, who does the Houdini Seances at the Magic Castle, and Pleasant Gehman who penned the book Escape From Houdini Mountain.

So get in the spirit by having a listen at danagould.com or via your favorite podcatcher.

Related:

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Misquoting Dumb Houdini

Recently I discovered the sardonic magic blog The Jerx (a take off on The Jinx). It's pretty funny and now a blog I follow. Of course, I had to see if Houdini had even gotten The Jerx treatment, and he certainly has! In fact, they have somewhat regular series called "Dumb Houdini".

In their initial post, "How Dumb was Houdini?", they point out that his oft-quoted, "My brain is the key that sets my mind free" is pretty dumb and makes no sense. But they correctly point out this is NOT what Houdini said. What Houdini actually said was, "My brain is the key that sets me free." That is much less dumb.

They also point out that people are selling merchandise online featuring the incorrect quote. This inspired The Jerx to launch their very own Dumb Houdini Store. That isn't a joke. Well, it is a joke, but the merchandise is real. At least I think it's real?

Speaking of quotes... 

Another quote you will frequently see attributed to Houdini is: "What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes." It's a good quote and it sounds like something Houdini would say. I've never questioned it. But recently someone contacted me asking if I could verify that the quote really was from Houdini.

I did a little research and found a page at Goodreads that attributes the quote to Houdini's A Magician Among The Spirits. I figured it came from one of his books, so that tracks. However, when I did a keyword search of my PDF of the book, I turned up nothing.

I then searched Miracle Mongers and Their Methods, Houdini's Paper Magic, The Right Way to Do Wrong, The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin, the Margery pamphlet, even Elliott's Last Legacy. Still nothing. The closest I came was the quote, "Has your brain deceived your eyes, or your eyes your brain?" (Unmasking p 308).

I then plugged the quote into newspapers.com and the earliest hit that came up was from 2008 when a Durham Academy valedictorian named it as his favorite quotation. A search of Ask Alexander turned up a single mention in a 2015 Genii. So not only can I not find this quotation during Houdini's lifetime, I can't even find it before the 21st century!

Then I found this clip from the 2001 film Swordfish.

So there's the quote. At the moment, this is the earliest utterance that I've been able to find. But is it even a quote? It's not all that clear if John Travolta's character is actually quoting Houdini or if this is his own definition of misdirection. But even if he is quoting Houdini here, this is a movie, which is under no obligation to be factual. So it's possible these words are entirely the creation of the screenwriter.

I'm still holding out hope that Houdini did say this. There is still a lot of his written material that I haven't searched. Like I said, it's a good quote and it sounds like something he might say. I really don't want to believe that we've been quoting John Travolta all this time. Because as The Jerx might say, that would be really dumb.

Related:

• Houdini in the classroom
• "I'm not an advertiser, I'm news."
• "It's not egotism, Hilliar; it's Houdini-ism."

Watch Carol Burnett's 'Houdini's Daughter' sketch

In 2015 I did a post about a sketch on The Carol Burnett Show in which the comedian played Houdini's fictional daughter, "Flo Ziegfeld Houdini." The sketch went wrong in a number of ways. Now you can watch the sketch for yourself via The Official Carol Burnett Show YouTube channel. This was episode 22 of season 7 and first aired on March 9, 1974. Enjoy!

Thanks to Tom Odgen for the alert.

Related:

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'Please Don't Follow Me Home' podcast scares up Houdini

The spooky Please Don't Follow Me Home podcast dives into the world of Houdini in three episodes linked below. The plan is for me to join them for Part 4, which I'm looking forward to. As you'll hear, Jimi and Joei are a lot of fun.

Harry Houdini Part 1

Harry Houdini Part 2

Harry Houdini Part 3

You can also listen to "Please Don't Follow Me Home" on Spotify and Apple. Follow them (just not home) at Twitter and Facebook.

Related:

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