RIP Steve Jobs 1955 - 2011

PBS Houdini doc released on DVD

The PBS American Experience documentary HOUDINI is released today on DVD. It was first broadcast on January 24, 2000, and until now has only been available on VHS.

Hosted by David McCullough, the hour long documentary was made by WGBH and includes interviews with David Copperfield, James Randi, Ken Silverman, E.L. Doctorow, Dorothy Young, and even artist Al Hirschman, who knew Houdini and talks about being invited to punch him in the stomach in his dressing room (and "hurting my hand").

One thing I really like about this particular doc is it doesn't fall into the familiar narrative trap of transitioning from his mother's death to his anti-spiritualist crusade, thereby lopping out 10 years of his life and his entire movie career. This documentary tracks his career accurately. This documentary also features several unpublished photos, including a shot of Houdini standing in his Milk Can in handcuffs that I've never seen before (below).

HOUDINI can be purchased from Amazon.com or the Shop PBS website.

Joseph C. Bauera resurrects Houdini's spirit (lecture), Oct 30

Attention AMA members. The latest Magic Castle newsletter contains this exciting event among its lecture schedule for October:

October 30

JOSEPH C. BAUER

A well-known broadcaster, lecturer and University of Phoenix faculty member, Joseph brings the REAL Houdini presentation just as Harry did it — with his original material, slides and words. Joseph has added a few extras showing how the “mediums” did their “dirty deeds.” It is a fascinating trip into the world of spiritualism and a tribute of sorts to Houdini’s passion for exposing frauds. Parlour: 3:30 PM — 5:30 PM

The Magic Castle lectures are open to magician members only. Note that this is a new lecture time. You can bet I'll be attending this one!

Thanks to Joe Fox for the tip.

Link: Interview with John Gaughan

The Magic Newswire has a terrific podcast interview with illusion builder extraordinaire (and all around great guy), John Gaughan. For those who don't know, John restored the original Water Torture Cell (twice) and has a pretty formidable Houdini collection himself (some of which is currently on show at the Skirball Center's Masters of Illusion exhibition). John also recently performed a recreation of Houdini's Goodbye Winter at The Magic Castle.

Click here to have a listen at The Magic Newswire.

HOUDINI ART AND MAGIC OPENS TODAY IN SAN FRANCISCO

Houdini Art and Magic opens today at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. The exhibition will be on view there until January 16, 2012.

The CJM held a Members Only Opening Celebration and Preview event last night with magic by Patrick Martin and a book signing by Carter Beats the Devil author Glen David Gold.

The museum has announced several special upcoming events that tie-into the exhibition, including free screenings of Houdini (Nov 1), The Great Houdinis (Dec 6), Haldane of the Secret Service and The Grim Game (Jan 3), Joshua Jay's popular Tragic Magic: A History of Fatal Conjuring lecture (Oct 27), a Teen Celebration of Houdini Art and Magic (Nov 22), a talk on Houdini's Printmaking and the Publicity Machine (Dec 1 & 22) and a Magic and Mystery Family Gala (Dec 3).

For more details vist the Contemporary Jewish Museum's official Houdini Art and Magic page. I'll also keep up with with all the special events and offerings that might be coming our way during Houdini's stay in the City by the Bay.

Harry is having technical difficulties

I'm getting a lot of feedback that readers are having trouble posting Comments to my blogs. I've checked the Blogger help forums and this appears to be a wide spread problem. I've turned off word verification to see if that makes a difference. You might also try switching to another browser. Aside from that, not much more we can do but wait it out and hope that it corrects. Sorry for the inconvenience.

If you have a comment you'd like me to post for you, just email it to me and tell me on which story you'd like it to post and under what user name.

Link: The Magic Detective uncovers early photos of Houdini and Mama

Dean Carnegie over at the blog Carnegie: Magic Detective has knocked one out of the park today with two never-before-published photos of the very young "Brothers Houdini" and a family portrait of Cecilia Steiner at a young(er) age. Fan-freakin'-tastic! Like Dean, I'm just amazed at how many photos of Houdini are still waiting to be discovered. I've just offered a little tease above as Dean has the permission to publish the photos on his blog, so what are you waiting for! CLICK TO GO.

UPDATE: Both these photos have now sold at auction. Check out: Earliest known professional photo of Houdini sells for $78,000.

Houdini Flight of Time alarm clock in Potter and Potter auction, Oct 29

One of the faux alarm clocks used by Houdini in his Flight of Time illusion will be auctioned on Saturday, October 29, as part of Potter and Potter's "Salon de Magie" auction of magic memorabilia from the collection of Ken Klosterman.

Houdini performed the Flight of Time during his 1925-26 full evening roadshow. The effect has been called "the last illusion invented by Houdini." The Flight of Time was inherited by Hardeen who continued to perform it for many years, including during his engagement with the Olsen and Johnson show, Hellz-a-Poppin. Hardeen Jr. also performed the illusion as he carried the legacy of the Houdini-Hardeen show into the 1980s (click here for my look back at the career of Hardeen, Jr.).

The clock in the auction has a roman numeral IV on the underside in black lettering, possibly indicating that it was the fourth clock to appear. Unfortunately, it does not match any of the clocks we see in Houdini's hands in the one publicity shot of him "performing" the Flight of Time (from Houdini His Legend and His Magic). But maybe this is because this clock is a reappearing clock, or maybe Houdini is holding real clocks in the photo for a better effect.

The Houdini Flight of Time Alarm Clock is Lot 84. Auction estimate is $800/1,200.

The auction also includes several other Houdini related items, including some nice photos of Houdini and Margery the Medium (Lot 274), a photo of Houdini and Howard Thurston (Lot 272), and a book from Houdini's library that is inscribed three times (Lot 275).

One other item that caught my eye is a scrapbook that belonged to Murray the Australian escape artist (Lot 282). As I've noted here before, I dig Murray!

Click here for more information about the auction and to download or purchase the auction catalog.

The mystery of Carrie Gladys Weiss

We know she was almost totally blind from a childhood accident. We know she lived with the Houdinis at 278 for many years. We know that her voice is contained on one of the unreleased Houdini wax cylinder recordings. But aside from this, we know almost nothing about Carrie Gladys Weiss, Houdini's sister and the youngest Weiss sibling. We don't even know exactly when she died.

Now, professional writer and historian, Ann Etheridge, has sent me an email with what could be a major discovery. Did Houdini's sister live to age 100 and die in 1982?

Ann uncovered evidence of Gladys' long life on Ancestry.com (here's the link for those who are members). The listing shows her as being born in Wisconsin in 1882 (check), living in New York City in 1900 at age 18 (check), residing in "Manhattan Ward 12, New York, New York" in 1910 at age 28 (?), and dying at age 100 in 1982. There is no citation for her death, but Ann has sent an email to the person who provided the Ancestry entry asking about the date and the proof.

If this is accurate, it would be remarkable, but also perplexing. If Gladys Weiss was alive into the 1980s, how is it the major Houdini historians of the day, such as Sidney Radner, Milbourne Christopher, or Manny Weltman never tracked her down and interviewed her?

Dean Carnegie of Carnegie: Magic Detective also did a little digging on Ancestry and says he's turned up several profiles listing Carrie Gladys Weiss; two show her dying in 1982 and one in 1943 (same year as Bessie's death). None have documentation for the death date. In his self published book Benjilini on Houdini (1994), author The Great Benjilini, who takes a keen interest in Houdini's family and Jewish heritage, says Gladys died in 1958, but gives no source for the information and notes it with a question mark.

The real answer may lie in Bernard C. Meyer's Houdini A Mind in Chains (1976), a controversial book with provocative theories, but one that I find a remarkable source of information. On page 5 Meyer says Gladys suffered her "final illness" in January 1959. He cites hospital records in which Gladys, via dictation, says she was born in France (!) and that her profession was "ghost-writer". Meyer says the truth was Gladys had been supported by her brother Leopold for many years.

I'm prone to believe this 1959 date, not only because I respect Meyer's research, but also due to the fact that Gladys is buried in the family plot at Machpelah Cemetery. (Her undated headstone, along with Leopold's, were removed after they were damaged by vandalism and have yet to be restored.) While Gladys herself could have remained hidden from Houdini buffs for all these years, I don't think anyone would have missed a fresh interment at the Machpelah plot in 1982! Also, Gladys' headstone is very much in the same style as Leopold's, who took his own life on October 6, 1962.

Still, the idea of Gladys living undiscovered until in 1982...pretty cool.

Gladys photo from 'Houdini His Legend and His Magic' (1977) by Doug Henning and Charles Reynolds.

UPDATE: Patrick Culliton in Houdini The Key lists Gladys' death as October 1972. He got his info from the New York State death index. This should have been included in the above and was a huge omission on my part. Sorry, Patrick.

UPDATE 2: Our friend Tom Interval has solved the mystery of Gladys' death date. Looks like Meyer had it right. She died in mid January 1959. Check out Houdini Museum for the details. Thanks Tom!

Houdini bust magically reappears at his grave site

PRESS RELEASE: For the last 36 years the Houdini bust at Houdini's grave site at the Machpelah Cemetery in Queens, New York has been missing. It was destroyed by vandals in 1975. A temporary plastic bust has been used from time to time, for special events, but gets hidden in storage, misplaced, lost, stolen, etc. In the 1970's a bust was on display for many years at at the Magic Towne House on Third Avenue, in New York City. This bust was on loan from The Society of American Magicians. In 1979 it was returned to the Society of American Magicians who used it at the grave once a year for a special event on Halloween, the day Houdini died. With all the publicity, it became such a media circus that it brought more destruction tot the grave site. Because of this, the cemetery now closes on Halloween.

Before the bust was returned a mold was made by owners of The Magic Towne House, Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz, for sake of posterity. We felt we might never see it again. The mold was put in storage in case anything happened to the rare copy of the bust. Though parts of the mold rotted, it has been restored it at a cost of thousands of dollars. Five polyurethane and plaster casts were made, along with the help of craftsman and former escape artist Steve Moore, each time making improvements, then making new molds until it was right.

Three statuary cement busts were then made, much like the original bust that was destroyed. The best one was to be the one used at Houdini's grave. This has all been kept secret for all these many years. Houdini's bust has now been replaced at the grave site the way Houdini and the family wanted it. The three magicians, Dorothy Dietrich, Dick Brookz and Steve Moore, from The Houdini Museum in Scranton, PA., have been sanctioned of the Houdini family to make repairs at the site. An email and a letter from Houdini family was signed and sent to the Houdini Museum to that effect. The Houdini Museum is under the close guidance of Houdini's family. We also have the approval of the management of the cemetery as well. This has all cost well over $10,000. The Houdini Museum put up the money. In this economy, times are tough for the non profit museum, and funds are low, but this is a project that their board of directors felt was long over due. They are hoping an Houdini benefactor turns up to cover some of the costs.

When asked why now? Dorothy Dietrich said, "Houdini was known to take care of grave sites of many others while he was alive. It's only proper that he should have someone return the gesture. Magicians and Houdini fans from all over the world visit us here at The Houdini Museum who say they are also going to visit Houdini's grave. It will feel so nice to visit the site and see it the way Houdini planned it." "We are also putting together a committee of volunteers who will periodically take care of the grave site, cut the grass, etc."

The Houdini Museum...
The Houdini Museum has been visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists for the last 22 years it has been in Scranton. It is the only building in the world entirely dedicated to Houdini. Recently, The Houdini Museum has been awarded a $30,000 matching grant from the OECD of the City of Scranton for the facade of the museum. A fund raising drive is being put together to match this grant.

For more information and hi-res pictures, go to http://houdini.org/houdinibust.html.

Houdini Museum, Tour and Magic Show
(570) 342-5555, (570) 383-1821
Houdini Museum
1433 N. Main Ave.
Scranton, PA 18508
http://houdini.org

CJM will screen Haldane of the Secret Service and...The Grim Game (?)

The Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco have announced a special screening of Houdini's silent features, Haldane of the Secret Service and The Grim Game, on January 3, 2012. This is part of the CJM's special programing for Houdini Art and Magic, which opens this Sunday, October 2.

Now, I can only assume that what they mean is they will screen Haldane of the Secret Service in full and the five minute fragment of The Grim Game as seen on the Houdini Movie Star DVD collection. The hour and a half runtime of the combined screening seems to bear this out. As we all know, the only surviving print of The Grim Game is currently available to the public.

Of course, wouldn't it be a wonderful gift to the museum and the magic world to allow a screening of what is said to be Houdini's best film?

For more information on Houdini Art and Magic visit the CJM's official website. For more on Houdini's lost film, check out my post from last February: I've seen The Grim Game.

The Magic Apple conjures a Houdini card deck

The Magic Apple in Studio City, CA -- which bills itself as the "earth's largest magic shop" and just happens to be right down the street from me -- have teamed with the United States Playing Card Company to create an all new deck of cards they've christened the Houdini Deck.

The card backs features original Houdini art by graphic designer Steve Mitchell and images of Houdini on the two jokers. The deck is nicely textured, making the handling excellent.

Also included are instructions on how to perform Dai Vernon's famous "Card Trick that Fooled Houdini." Richard Kaufman and Stephen Minch consulted on the instructions which are printed on their own card. The idea for the Houdini Deck came from Anthony Gift.

The Houdini Deck is a Magic Apple exclusive and is available at the Magic Apple store, via their website, and on eBay. Tell them you heard about it on WILD ABOUT HARRY.

Thanks to Joe Fox for the tip.