Drunk History will uncork Houdini

Ken Marino plays Houdini in Drunk History.

Drunk History is a brilliant short web series created by Derek Waters and Jeremy Konner for Funny or Die in which real historians get extremely drunk and talk about history while well-known actors act out their inebriated version of events. It's freaking hysterical!

Now Comedy Central is launching a half-hour television version of Drunk History, and according to an article in today's L.A. Times, Houdini is going to be one of the tipsy topics.

The article does not say who the drunken expert will be (I can think of two ways I would have been eminently qualified), but it does reveal that Houdini will be played in the reenactments by actor Ken Marino.

Recently scenes dramatizing Houdini's final performance in Detroit were shot in a downtown Los Angeles theater, with Marino "staggering and heaving, attempting card tricks and failing and finally stumbling and falling down, uttering his final words to his wife, Bess." In the Drunk History format, Marino performed to a prerecorded soundtrack "providing dialogue and accompanying narration [that] is both slurred and sometimes nonsensical."

Drunk History premieres tonight on Comedy Central. I don't yet know when the Houdini episode will air, but I will keep you posted.

Now enjoy one of my all-time favorite episodes of the original web series below.

Help Kickstart this HOUDINI doc

Jazz & Georgia, "two vibrant individuals who love the entertainment industry and great quality theatre," have launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund a behind the scenes documentary about the upcoming UK stage production, HOUDINI. They are offering some nifty premiums for different donation amounts, but even a donation as low as £7 ensures you'll receive a DVD of the finished film. All is explained (with great enthusiasm!) below:

To make a donation visit Jazz & Georgia's "Magic in the Making" Kickstarter page. There you can also see the evolution of this pretty cool artwork of Houdini as The Wild Man by WETA Workshop. The Peter Jackson owned company is doing the designs for the new play.

Houdini is set to open in the UK on September 9, 2013. Visit houdinitheplay.com for more details.

UPDATE: I'm hearing from some who supported this campaign that they have not received the DVD or any of the premiums. If you contributed to the campaign, please comment about your experience below.

UPDATE 2: I received the following message from Jazz & Georgia via Kickstarter:

"Hi John. Due to unforeseen problems with some of our footage, this has taken longer than anticipated sadly. However, we can now confirm all rewards will be sent out at the earliest available date in January."

UPDATE 3: Was this Houdini Kickstarter a scam?

LINK: Psychobable reviews The Man from Beyond

Click the headline to read a well thought through review of Houdini's 1922 silent film The Man From Beyond at Psychobable ("A Freaky Forum for Groovy Ghouls and Retro Rock").

Warning, tangent ahead: This review just reinforces my frustration that The Grim Game is still not available, even though a print exists. Many people now sample Houdini's film work (which is more accessible than ever), but all come away disappointed and a bit perplexed that a Houdini movie doesn't feature a series of spectacular Houdini escapes. Of course, that's exactly what The Grim Game offers. It's a great disservice to Houdini's legacy that his best and most representative film is not available to the public for reasons I don't understand.

Tangent ends.

Willem Dafoe's Houdini connections

Actor Willem Dafoe is appearing this weekend in The Old Woman at the Manchester International Festival in the UK. The Robert Wilson/Mikhail Baryshnikov production is running at the historic Palace Theater. Dafoe recently told the Manchester Evening News:

"A venue doesn’t always affect your work, but here’s this kid from Wisconsin, appearing on the same stage trod by the legendary Harry Houdini - what a thrill!"

I never knew this, but Defoe is actually from Houdini's hometown of Appleton!

The Old Woman is at the Palace tonight (July 6) at 7.30pm and tomorrow (July 7) at 2.30pm. Click here for information and tickets.

Harry Houdini, poetry lover

Who knew The Handcuff King enjoyed himself an occasional bit of verse? This book of Poetical Works by Felicia Hemans recently sold on eBay for $495. The book was owned by Houdini who inscribed it as "bot" in 1917.

Felicia Hemans was an English poet born in Liverpool in 1793. According to Wikipedia, "to many readers she offered a woman's voice confiding a woman's trials; to others a lyricism apparently consonant with Victorian chauvinism and sentimentality. Her poetry was considered morally exemplary, and was often assigned to schoolchildren. As a result, Hemans came to be seen a poet for children rather than taken seriously on the basis of her entire body of work. However, Hemans' critical reputation has been re-examined in recent years and her work has resumed a role in standard anthologies and literary studies, especially in the U. S."

Hemans' works appeared in nineteen individual books during her lifetime. After her death in 1835 they were republished widely, usually as collections, like this one.

Hemans Poetical Works was published by Leavitt & Company, New York, in 1851. According to a second inscription, the book was presented to the Ernest E. Ford collection by Clinton Burgess in 1927. Houdini edited and published Burgess' book, Elliot's Last Legacy, in 1923.

And now this from my Houdini scrapbook (apologies in advance)...

Not a Hemans.

Hardeen's Flight

Here's a July 1935 issue of The Sphinx featuring a nice cover photo of Hardeen performing The Flight of Time. This was a signature trick in Houdini's 1925-26 full evening roadshow and is said to be the last illusion he invented. To my knowledge, there is no photo of Houdini performing the effect, but I suspect this shot of Hardeen gives us an excellent idea of how Houdini staged it. Like much of Houdini's magic, we can see the apparatus was very minimal, emphasizing that there was nothing (or nowhere) to hide.

Hardeen inherited the Flight of Time from his brother and continued to perform it in his act, including during his engagement with the Olsen and Johnson hit, Hellz-a-Poppin. A review of Hardeen's show at the Belasco Theater in New York on January 21, 1945 said of the illusion: "To the audience at large, this effect was perhaps the most startling of the entire evening."

Hardeen passed the Flight of Time onto his successor, Douglas Geoffrey a.k.a. Hardeen Jr., who performed it for many years. William Rauscher received the original apparatus from Geoffrey in 1977 and also performed it for a time (there's a nice photo of him performing the effect in the November 1993 Genii). Rauscher penned an article about the effect in Perennial Mystics (Vol. 11) in which he stated:

"Geoffrey personally taught me the method of performing the effect. It was a temperamental pieces of apparatus and needed a great deal of work. There were times when it failed. According to stories by Geoffrey, it also failed upon occasion even for Houdini. Houdini would simply say "Take it away!" Even though there were incidents of failure, Houdini considered the trick a winner."

In 2011 one of the original Houdini-Hardeen Flight of Time alarm clocks sold for $1600 as part of Potter and Potter's auction of magic memorabilia from the collection of Ken Klosterman.

From The Original Houdini Scrapbook.

Happy 4th of July

UPDATE: CLICK HERE TO SEE THIS POSTER IN COLOR.

Discovering the Dark Art of Houdini (and Jaime Robledo) in Hollywood

On Sunday I had the great pleasure of seeing Watson and The Dark Art of Harry Houdini at the Sacred Fools Theater in Hollywood. Of course, I went to see Houdini and all else is secondary in my sick mind. But when I left, all I could think about was just how excellent the entire production was. I don't think I've ever seen local theater so cleverly staged as this play by the talented writer-director Jaime Robledo. But let's take this one step at a time.

I was happy to have wrangled a few magical associates to accompany me to the Sunday matinee. My crew consisted of Joseph Fox (handcuff expert), Joe Notaro (webmaster of HHCE), and Mark Willoughby (producer of The Ghastly Love of Johnny X). The experienced started with the temperature that day soaring near 100 degrees. But that somehow made it a true L.A. theater going experience, which can sometimes require heroic effort.

The Sacred Fools is a wonderful, intimate theater space located off Melrose Ave in what is known as East Hollywood. You're not stepping into the Pantages, that's for sure, but that's part of the appeal. There is a tangible passion and love of theater in every bit of this cleverly laid out small space. You are warmly welcomed and made to feel like you are part of the theater family. I was also happy to see the lobby decked out in Houdini posters. Even the bathroom was peppered with Houdiniana [click for pics]. So, yeah, they pretty much had me from the start.

Scott Leggett as Dr. Watson and Joe Fria as Sherlock Holmes.

Watson and The Dark Art of Harry Houdini is first and foremost a Sherlock Holmes play. Well, to be more precise, it's a Sherlock Holmes play in which Dr. Watson (superbly played by Scott Leggett) is the main character. This is actually a sequel to Jaime Robledo's 2010 production, Watson: The Last Great Tale of the Legendary Sherlock Holmes. It helps to have some knowledge of that first show (I didn't), but this sequel is well written enough to catch you up quickly and root you in this unique Holmesian timeline (10 years after Holmes and Watson's last adventure).

The first of many pleasant surprises was that the show was funny. Very funny. I might even classify it as a comedy, although it journeys into serious drama as well. Joe Fria plays Holmes very broadly and largely for laughs. I'm a bit of a Holmes purist, so I didn't love that, but it works here to shift the focus onto Watson, who has to tolerate his wildly moody and, yes, even buffoonish companion. However, Holmes' introduction and first deduction of a murder scene is extremely well done and shows us Sherlock at his full power. It's the first of several show stoppers.

The play also features Graham Skipper in a duel role as a somewhat sex-crazed Sigmund Freud and a Sherlock Holmes wannabe named Pike. Skipper is very funny and comes close to stealing the show whenever he's onstage. Other cast members include the very attractive Carrie Keranen as Violent Hunter, Eric Curtis Johnson as Mycroft Holmes, and Cj Merriman as the spirit of Watson's first wife, Mary Morstan.

Donal Thoms-Cappello as Houdini.

But what of Houdini? Well, Harry Houdini is played here by Donal Thoms-Cappello and he knocks it out of the park! It helps that the actor is clearly a major star in waiting. He has the presence and charisma of a leading man, which makes his Houdini jump off the stage just as he did in life. When you have Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson and Harry Houdini all sharing the same space, it could be hard to decide who is the most famous and iconic of the men. In this play it's clearly Houdini, and that is in no small part due to Donal's presence and performance. My companions all commented on how he reminded them of Johnathon Schaech in Houdini (1998). I could also see that. But I think Donal is better.

One thing that instantly jumped out at me was that Donal gives Houdini a somewhat heavy New York/Brooklyn accent. While Houdini didn't have this accent (Hardeen did), I think this works quite well. Talking to the actor after the play, he explained that he wanted to infuse his Houdini with a sense that underneath the wealth and fame is still a very tough, street smart character. The accent does this beautifully, and also works as a nice "new world" contrast to all the English accents in the play. By the way, Donal did Houdini's real voice for me after the show -- reciting; "the Water Torture Cell" -- which was great fun. (I also noticed he was holding a copy of Carter Beats The Devil.)

The actor also earns his magic stripes by performing a suspended straitjacket escape wrapped in chains during the show. This escape opens the second act and it's quite a harrowing thing to experience in such a small theater space. I hadn't expected to see any Houdini feats recreated, so this was a pleasant surprise.

Lisa Anne Nicolai as Bess.

Another pleasant surprise was that Bess is also in this play, although only briefly during two seance scenes. Here she's played by Lisa Anne Nicolai, who happens to be a good physical match for Bess. (When she first came out on stage as part of the stage crew, Joe Fox immediately identified her as a perfect Bess and was happy when she later appeared in the part.) I was able to chat with Lisa after the play and she explained that in doing research she was surprised to see that Bess wore her hair short, like her own, which she noted was quite progressive for the time. (I've often thought the same thing.) She seemed to have great affection for Bess and enjoyed playing the part, even though the majority of her stage time was spent as part of a troop of black clad pantomime artists who assist in the complex and creative staging of the play.

Lets now talk about that staging. For me and my companions this was the highlight of the show. The Sacred Fools has a small stage with just one set. But somehow on that stage we get to see an ocean liner sailing away from a dock, a shuffle board game between Houdini and Holmes (probably my favorite piece of staging), the bustling Coney Island midway, a carousel spinning wildly out of control, and a roller coaster! All are convincingly portrayed with a mix of pantomime and clever stagecraft. Really great stuff.

Watson, Freud, and Lisa Anne Nicolai in her role as pantomime artist.

The plot of the play finds an estranged Holmes and Watson reunited by Mycroft to investigate a series of grisly murders. Houdini, who is name-checked as Ehrich Weiss early on, is a chief suspect. There are also nods to Houdini's Scotland Yard handcuff escape (ahem) and the Mirror Challenge (Watson was in the audience). The action moves from London to Coney Island's Dreamland Park. Part of the play explores Watson's struggle to deal with the death of his wife, Mary. The play actually has a shocking surprise ending, but I won't spoil it.

As I said, I was able to chat with the actors as well as Jaime Robledo after the show. I was happy to learn that the director is planning a group trip to the Magic Castle very soon. They were all eager that magic fans come and see the show (which runs through July 27), so let's help spread the word. The program shows that Donal Thoms-Cappello's understudy is Curt Bonnem (a magician), so I would be curious to see his take on Houdini should the opportunity arise.

The original plan for our little magic crew was to visit the grave site of Harry Kellar after the show. However, we stayed late and the cemetery was closed, so we instead wandered across the street to an antique store. There two magical surprises awaited us. The first was a gigantic original Carter poster. The other was a spotlight from the New York Hippodrome circa 1910-1920. Yes, that light could have illuminated Houdini and his vanishing elephant [click for pics].

How strange for all these ghosts of magic to have come together on this one block in East Hollywood on a hot Sunday afternoon. But that's the Dark Art of...you know who.

Watson and The Dark Art of Harry Houdini plays through July 27 at The Sacred Fools Theater, 660 N. Heliotrope (at Melrose Ave), Los Angeles, CA 90004. Click here for more information and to buy tickets.

Photos by Jessica Sherman, Jessicashermanphotography.com.

UPDATE: A nice tweet from writer-director Jaime Robledo:

@HoudiniWild Wild about Houdini was wild about #watson2. So great to put on a great show for these guys.

— Jaime Robledo (@Roblizzle) July 1, 2013

NEW HOUDINI PLAZA GRAND RE-OPENING JULY 10

The newly redesigned Houdini Plaza in Houdini's adopted hometown of Appleton, Wisconsin will be officially dedicated on July 10, 2013 with a special event.

The "Houdini Plaza Grand Re-Opening" will start at 4:30pm with an address by Appleton Mayor, Tim Hanna. Matt Carpenter of the History Museum at the Castle will then give a talk on Houdini. The official ribbon cutting will take place at 5:15pm with a magical illusion performed by Rondini.

Following the official dedications there will be a concert with music by RPM. The event will include food and beverage vendors and roaming magic as well.

Houdini Plaza was first dedicated in 1985. The original dedication plaque stated that it was the site of the Weiss family home. Plans for the new plaza were first unveiled in June 2011. Construction on the plaza started on January 22 of this year. The city posted a webcam where you could watch the construction live (and now get a sneak peek at the finished plaza).

Below is the official invitation to the July 10 re-opening, courtesy of the good folks at Appleton Downtown. The new plaza spots a beautiful fountain with a large Houdini picture box pillar. I'm hoping to get some nice pictures of the new plaza to post after the event.

Thanks to Jennifer Stephany at Appleton Downtown.

UPDATE: New Houdini Plaza opens in Appleton (video)

Rosie, Sweet Rosabelle

Here's a haunting behind the scenes shot of Evanna Lynch as Bess Houdini in the new UK production Houdini. She does make a beautiful Bess. Behind her is Stuart Brennan (who also wrote the play) in the role of Theo Weiss. Intriguing photo. Of course, we all know Bess dated Houdini's brother first, so might there be a bit of a love triangle in this play?

Houdini is set to debut September 9, 2013 at the Stoke on Trent Repertory Theatre in the UK. Click for more info.

Thanks to Oh No They Didn't! for this shot.

When Houdini escaped the belly of the beast

In the late 1990s Columbia Pictures planned to make a big-budget Houdini movie starring Tom Cruise. The film was to be directed by Paul Verhoeven (later Ang Lee) from a screenplay by Stephen Rivele and Christoper Wilkinson. Had that movie ever been made, it would have started like this:

Cape Cod, Halloween 1924: We are at a masked ball at a Cape Cod mansion. A young couple steals away from the party and walks down to the beach, holding hands. At the breakwater's edge, they kiss -- oblivious to the fact that something large and bulbous is racing towards them, its dorsal fin slicing through the surf...

Suddenly, a large wave heaves the creature onto the beach. It spills out onto the sand beside the startled couple where it lays unmoving in the moonlight. The frightened woman asks, "What is it?" As they step closer, the creature suddenly rolls over, its jaws opening with a death rattle. The woman's scream brings us...

Hippodrome Theater, Boston: The beached creature -- a narwhale -- is now center stage, flanked by men with axes. Its belly is convulsing, as if it's about to give birth. The audience watches, mesmerized, as the beast suddenly breaks open with a sucking ripping sound and THE GREAT HOUDINI emerges from within, covered in viscera and holding chains. "Liberated, commanding, radiating primal power. Like a figure from mythology. Like a god."

Not a bad way to start a Houdini movie. What makes it even better is this is all based on fact. Houdini did indeed escape from the belly of a beached sea creature at Boston's B.F. Keith's Theater on September 26, 1911. It remains one of Houdini's most famous and bizarre challenges.

The "freak sea monster" was news in New England even before Houdini became involved. The carcass had either washed up on shore or was caught by local fisherman, depending on the newspaper account. The press claimed it weighed 1500 pounds and was "estimated to be about 500 years old." Papers struggled to describe it. One called it a "turtle-tortoise-fish or whatever it is." Soon the press simply dubbed it the "What is it?"

What exactly the "What is it?' was is still a mystery today. Houdini called it a "mongrel breed of whale and octopus." Ken Silverman in Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss suggests that it could have been an elephant seal. For the purposes of their screenplay, Rivele and Wilkienson decided it was a narwhale. But Patrick Culliton in Houdini The Key says it was actually a giant leatherback turtle. From the existing photo, it does appear to resemble a turtle more than a whale or octopus.

Houdini was playing the B.F. Keith's Theater in Boston when the "What is it?" was discovered, and soon it was announced that ten prominent Boston businessmen (one of them a taxidermist) had devised a challenge in which Houdini would be shackled in "extra strong handcuffs and leg-irons from police headquarters" and sewn up inside the belly of the beast. References to Houdini as Jonah were not discouraged.

The drama of the challenge was teased out for days. Newspapers reported that "[Houdini] concedes that it will be the most difficult test he has ever attempted." One paper noted that "Houdini has received a telegram from his family in New York telling him not to enter the monster." Houdini's only condition was that he be provided ventilation inside the creature. In turn, he signed a waiver releasing the ten challangers of any responsibility.

On the day of the challenge, "several thousand people" lined the streets of Boston to watch as the "What is it?" was carried through the streets. The journey took it from Long Wharf to the Keith's stage entrance on Mason street. Originally the challenge was to have taken place during the evening performance, but was changed to the matinee because "of certain conditions which have presented themselves." (Perhaps the carcass was not going to keep until evening in a warm theater?)

Massachusetts Lieutenant-Governor Louis Frothingham was watching from the wings as Houdini took the stage at Keith's where the sea monster and his ten challengers awaited. The auditorium was said to be "choked to the doors." It's not recorded what Houdini was wearing, but one would think a bathing suit would have been his uniform for this challenge. Houdini was shackled hand and foot and then climbed with "much difficulty" into the creature, sprinkling perfume where his head would lay. The carcass was then laced up tightly with chains run through steel eyelets three inches apart. It was then wrapped entirely with chains and concealed inside a curtain cabinet.

After 15 minutes, Houdini stepped forward, "greasy but grinning." The sea monster was then revealed to be still laced and chained exactly has it had been. Houdini is reported to have asked for a window to be opened so he could take some fresh air. What the audience didn't know was that Houdini had almost been suffocated by fumes from the arsenic used to embalm the carcass. What Houdini and press had exploited as a dangerous escape turned out to be just as dangerous as they promised.

That evening the Lieutenant Governor invited the Houdinis to his home. The next day the papers delighted in pointing out that Houdini had bested Jonah himself -- "[Houdini] took only 15 minutes to gain freedom while it took the old sailor of the Bible three days to get free."

Years later Houdini claimed in an article for Colliers that he had actually escaped from the sea monster underwater. In this version, said to have taken place before the Keith's test, Houdini said that in his struggle to get free he overturned the creature and the full weight of the carcass pinned him. Quick thinking on the part of his assistants, who started raising the carcass, took the weight off, allowing Houdini to escape. It's a great story. But like Houdini's under the ice adventure, it's doubtful it really happened.

In 2010 Patrick Culliton published in Houdini The Key the method he believed Houdini used to escape from the Sea Monster at Keith's that day. It's ingenious (even obvious), but I don't reveal Houdini's secrets here.

However, I am happy to reveal Hollywood's secrets. So here are the opening two pages from the never-made Houdini movie by Rivele and Wilkinson. A little overwrought and overwritten in my opinion, but I suspect Houdini (and Mr. Cruise) would be fine with that.

Click to enlarge

Here are some other articles online about Houdini and his Sea Monster:

• Houdini and the Cape Cod Whale (Monica Faeth Myers)
• 3 Reasons Houdini Was Way More Badass Than You Think (Cracked)
• Harry Houdini's 1911 Sea Monster - a Lovecraft Influence? (Chris Perridas)
• What on Earth Was the "What-is-It" Sea Monster? (Houdini's Ghost)

Let's make this Sunday Houdini Day at Sacred Fools in Hollywood

This Sunday, June 30, I'm going to see the 2pm matinee performance of Watson and the Dark Art of Harry Houdini at the Sacred Fools theater in Hollywood. Joining me (so far) will be handcuff collector and escape artist, Joe Fox; Joe Notaro, webmaster of Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence; and the mysterious MSW. I'm hoping to also rope in the great Patrick Culliton and Tom Interval of Houdini Museum to make it a true Houdini dream team.

But I'd also love to throw this open to any and all Houdini and magic buffs. Let's all see the play together on Sunday and turn the Sacred Fools into our own Magic Castle for the day!

Tickets can be purchased online for $25 at the Sacred Fools website. You can also buy tickets for $16.50 via Goldstar (you'll have to sign-up for the site and there are a limited amount of these discount tickets available).

Again, the show we are seeing is on Sunday, June 30, 2013 at 2pm.

Hope to see you at the Sacred Fools!

UPDATE: Discovering the Dark Art of Houdini (and Jamie Robledo) in Hollywood.

Houdini + Bo Derek = huh?

Baseball card collecting is a world unto itself. It's a huge hobby with what seems like hundreds of sets released every year. Happily, Houdini seems to be a favorite card subject. Below are cards from the new 2013 Golden Age Playing Cards and 2013 Golden Age Exhibit Box Topper sets. Houdini is also included in the 2013 Panini Golden Age Baseball Cards and the Panini Golden Age mini set. (If you click here you can see Harry Houdini is card #25.)

Browsing the list of card subjects, it's amazing how popular Bo Derek is. She's in every set, sometimes more than once. She's even the Ace of Hearts to Harry's King of Spades. Bizarre. But better Bo than Kim Kardashian.

The above images come from eBay auctions running here, here and here. Not a bad way to pick these up. No Bo Derek collection is complete without them!

Link: Houdini and the history of magic

Click the headline above to watch a nice video at BBC News featuring Mike Caveney talking about the history of magic to promote the release of the new edition of MAGIC 1400s-1950s. Of course, he knocks Harry down a peg as a magician, but we can take it.