Dave Koenig makes the case for Houdini's Ghost

Dave Koenig aka Professor Slim King was interviewed on the Shadow Nation podcast today. Dave takes the controversial position that Houdini really did return from the grave in the Arthur Ford seances of 1929. I'm a skeptic, but I like Dave, so have a listen and maybe you will...believe.

Click here to listen to the full interview

You can check out more at Dave's Facebook page Houdini's Ghost. Below are some links related to the Arthur Ford seances.

Related:

• LINK: The Day Houdini (Almost) Came Back from the Dead
• The Margery Files: Inside man
• August MAGIC believes in Rosabelle

'Houdini Pizza Laboratory' opens in New Jersey

A new Houdini Pizza Laboratory has opened in Fanwood, New Jersey. This is the second "Houdini" pizzeria. The first opened in 2013 not far from Houdini's grave in Ridgewood, Queens.

The new Houdini Pizza Laboratory comes to Fanwood though a partnership between Max Bartoli and Joe Mortarulo. Like the original, it features a wood-burning brick oven that produces traditional thin crust pizza.

Houdini Pizza Laboratory is located at 25 South Avenue, Fanwood, NJ 07023. For more visit the official website or Facebook page.

Thanks to Joe Posnanski for this delicious discovery.

Related:

• Houdini Kitchen Laboratory opens in Queens
• Houdini's Escape Gastropub opens in Appleton
• How to eat like a (Handcuff) King

LINK: I had a heart attack, but Houdini saved my life

Here's an article well worth reading at David Kaye's SillyMagic.com. This will appear in the August 2017 issue of Genii.

This is not a story about my heart attack. It is a story about your heart attack . . . and Houdini.

You may also want to check out this post from 2015 that seems to shed new light on Houdini's reluctance to seek medical attention for his own fatal illness: Did a contract clause kill Houdini?

Houdini, Penn's mom, and a "nut" in England

In a recent episode of the podcast Penn's Sunday School, magician Penn Jillette told a story about how his mother one day mentioned that she saw Houdini when she was 9 years old. At this point Penn had been involved in magic for some 30 years, so he was a little surprised that his mother had never thought to mention this before! So he decided to "be a smart ass and fact check my mom."

Penn contacted Ken Silverman, author of Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss--which Penn called "a serious Houdini biography" (and I certainly agree)--to see if Houdini ever performed in Turner Falls, Massachusetts as his mother claimed. Silverman referred him to someone whom Penn affectionately described as a "nut in England" who was attempting to document every day of Houdini's life. Penn does not reveal the name of this "nut," but I suspect it was the late Frank Koval, who in 1993-94 produced the phenomenal six volume The Illustrated Houdini Research Diary (which I use constantly and, being a "nut" myself, have been updating for years).

The upshot of the story is that Koval (if he was the "nut") was able to confirm that Houdini did indeed perform in Turner Falls around the time Penn's mother was 9 years old. As far as Penn's mother not telling him, co-host Michael Goudeau quipped, "This raises the question. Who does you mother truly not give a shit about; Houdini or you?"

Of course, Penn tells the story much better and much funnier that I just did here, so I'd recommend giving episode 282, "First Liar Doesn't Stand A Chance," a listen.

Below are all six volumes of Frank Koval's The Illustrated Houdini Research Diary.

Related:

• Penn wants to play Conan Doyle to Kevin Pollak's Houdini
• Penn Jillette: "Houdini was not a magician. Houdini was a superstar."
• Teller flips the bird on his 2016 holiday card 

'Harry Houdini - Nº 17' gets a 2017 refresh

Harry Houdini - Nº 17 is a 64-page French Canadian Houdini biography/comic by Johanne Ménard and Denis Poulin. It was first released in 2014 as Connais-tu Harry Houdini (Do You Know Harry Houdini?).

This refreshed edition from publisher Michel Quintin was released on February 27 of this year. It can be purchased at the Canadian Amazon.ca.

Related:

• Connais-tu Harry Houdini?
• Houdini by Danielle Vaillancourt
• Houdini le magicien

Close Encounters of the Houdini Kind

Today sees the release of a new piece of Houdini fiction with the premise that the Handcuff King was a space alien! A Small Medium At Large by Stephanie Osborn is the second book in her "Division One" series. Description below:

What if Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was right all along, and Harry Houdini really DID do his illusions, not through sleight of hand, but via noncorporeal means? More, what if he could do this because...he wasn't human?

Ari Ho'd'ni, Glu'g'ik son of the Special Steward of the Royal House of Va'du'sha'ā, better known to modern humans as an alien Gray from the ninth planet of Zeta Reticuli A, fled his homeworld with the rest of his family during a time of impending global civil war. With them, they brought a unique device which, in its absence, ultimately caused the failure of the uprisings and the collapse of the imperial regime. Consequently Va'du'sha'ā has been at peace for more than a century. What is the F'al, and why has a rebel faction sent a special agent to Earth to retrieve it?

It falls to the premier team in the Pan-Galactic Law Enforcement and Immigration Administration, Division One -- the Alpha One team, known to their friends as Agents Echo and Omega -- to find out...or die trying.

A Small Medium At Large can be purchased at Amazon.com (U.S.) and Amazon.co.uk (UK).

Below are links to a few other Houdini science fiction excursions.

Related:

• Houdini in 2079
• Houdini and Charmian London battle Martians in 'Metamorphosis'
• "A Houdini for the Millennium"

High Schoolers bringing Houdini and Doyle to life

High Schoolers in Maryville, Tennessee will perform an original play that combines the story of Houdini and Conan Doyle with a Sherlock Holmes adventure. The Game is Afoot will be presented at River Oaks Community Church in Maryville on May 5 and 6.

The play by written by Blount Home Education Association drama instructor Kate Clabough, who was inspired to write the play by last year's television series, Houdini & Doyle.

"In my play, Doyle sees Houdini do this performance, and he disappears at the end and reappears," Clabough said. "Doyle comes up on the stage and he tells them, 'This is awesome. Bravo! You have inspired me, and I am going to go home to write a new Sherlock Holmes story.' So Doyle and his wife and Houdini and his wife meet for tea, and Doyle tells them, 'I’m going to write the story of The Case of the Disappearing Brides.' So it’s a story within a story."

The cast for The Game is Afoot includes 37 high school students, ages 14-18. Each cast member has a speaking part.

Clabough encourages everyone to attend and support the talented young thespians in the group. Admission is free and the play is appropriate for all ages.

What: The Game is Afoot presented by the BHEA Players
When: 7 p.m. Friday, May 5, and Saturday, May 6
Where: River Oaks Community Church, 1220 Brown School Road, Maryville

Thanks to the Daily Times.

Related:

• The real story of Houdini & Doyle
• Class of 2015 learns from Houdini
• Houdini helps High Schoolers advance to finals

Houdini's free show for Buffalo's newsies

Houdini's good relations with the press went from top to bottom, including that staple of turn-of-the-century city streets; "newsies." On Saturday, October 24, 1925, Houdini gave free show for the newsboys of Buffalo, New York. He explained:

"Having been a newsboy in Milwaukee and living among them in New York, if affords me great pleasure to give the newsboys of Buffalo a show and at the same time impress them that loyalty will put them at the top of the ladder of success regardless of what professiona they may choose as their life's work."

The show was held at the Shubert-Teck Theater where Houdini was playing the first season of his 3 Shows In One. The Buffalo Evening News gave a remarkable account of the show that provides what might be the best description of Houdini's stage magic, right down to some of his patter. In fact, it's so good, I thought it worth reproducing in full below. How many tricks can you identify by name?

The Teck theater was filled to capacity Saturday morning when the curtain went up for a special two hour entertainment which Harry Houdini, world famous mystifier, psychic Investigator and wizard of escape, is giving for the of boys who carry the Evening News.

Admission was by ticket only, distributed to the youngsters Thursday through district agents of the News. Long before the scheduled opening of the theater doors at 8:30 o'clock, Main street in front of the theater was packed with the carriers, all eagerly awaiting one of the biggest treats of their lives.

Houdini's program was prepared especially for the newsboys. More than 28 feats of baffling magic were performed in addition to the manipulation of ordinary playing cards and sleight-of-hand in the tying and untying of knots in scarfs and streamers of silk, satin and other materials.

His opening feat was to transfer back and forth eight French coins from an ordinary water glass to a crystal cabinet suspended in midair. The glass stood on a table in full view of the audience. The boys thought it was great and applauded enthusiastically.

Then Houdini caused a lighted lamp with a flimsy shade to vanish from one table, and re-appear, still lighted, on another stand on the opposite side of the stage. He caused a large stand of artificial flowers to be transferred from a solid pot of pewter to a crystal bowl of water. From Pandora's box he brought forth a live rabbit, which he told the boys laid all the Easter eggs, then he made the bunny disappear before their eyes.

A live rooster, which crowed lustily, was produced from an apparently empty tin pan and then made to disappear from a solid wooden cabinet. Large bowls filled with water in which goldfish swam, were produced and whisked away. Pigeons fluttered from a picture frame on which only tissue paper was fixed. He changed a colored handkerchief from one water decanter to another. He did all manner of sleight-of-hand tricks with knots in kerchiefs, scarfs, etc.

One of his tricks was designed only this week for the special entertainment. He called it Noah's ark and caused figures to shift from one cylinder to another without being seen and without touching them. Then, from the ark which a moment before had been empty, a live pigeon appeared. From a huge, solid funnel, he made a pretty young girl disappear. In her place a huge bush of flowers appeared. He showed them Dr. Linn's [sic] trick, which he said was 78 years old. It was the apparent dismemberment of a human form in full view of the audience.

Houdini next cut a long strand of cheese cloth and burned the ends. But when the youngsters who assisted him in the trick pulled the cheese cloth straight again there was no sign of a cut or of the burning. He changed a big wooden dice from a hat to a box and back again and then caused it to vanish. He tied two thongs about his neck—so tightly he appeared to be choking—but when youngsters pulled opposite ends, the bands slipped from his throat.

One of the most popular of his tricks was performed with an ordinary appearing oven pan He showed it empty, covered it a fraction of a second with its own solid metal top, removed the top and it was filled with a peck of candy kisses, which he tossed into the auditorium to his guests. He made a pretty girl appear in a radio cabinet, where only a moment before there were nothing but wires and coils and tubes.

For a finale, he drew from a small crystal bowl of colored water hundreds of yards of silken streamers and lastly a string of flags of all nations—enough that when folded and packed tightly would fill and ordinary wardrobe trunk.

Notice there is no mention of the vanishing elephant, so this helps debunk earlier reports that Houdini was featuring this famous effect at the Shubert-Teck. And even though the article has a terrific photo of Houdini being bound by the newsboys (above), it sounds like this was a magic only show.

Thanks to Gary Hunt of Magic Footnotes for sharing this find.

Related:

• Did Houdini revive the vanishing elephant in 1925?
• Houdini's grand finale: 3 Shows In One
• Houdini's toughest audience

Become immersed in Houdini

A Houdini-themed combination of escape room and immersive theatre is playing at The Silos at Sawyer Yards in Houston, Texas. The Man From Beyond is a 90 minute experience created by Strange Bird Immersive. It opened in January as Houston's first permanent immersive theatre installation.

Madame Daphne cordially invites you to a private séance to contact the spirit of Harry Houdini. But all is not what it seems, and when the ghost appears, things take a dramatic turn. Unravel mysteries a century in the making, and you could find yourselves doing more than escaping a room.

Visit the Strange Bird Immersive website for more details and to book tickets.

Below are links to more Houdini-themed escape rooms and immersive attractions.

UPDATE: I just received this very kind comment from Co-Artistic Director James Cameron Cooper on Facebook:

"We found Wild About Harry to be invaluable in building The Man From Beyond. Thanks to John Cox for the notice and for keeping Houdini alive."

Related:

• The Great Houdini Escape Room in San Fransisco
• "Houdini's Hidden Workshop"
• Houdini is back in action at Six Flags

Handcuff King and The Tramp

An original photo of Houdini and Charlie Chaplin sold on eBay this week for $550. The photo shows the two men in Los Angeles in 1915 when Houdini was making a Vaudeville tour of the U.S. A great image of two entertainment giants of the time.

On page 117 of Doug Henning's Houdini His Legend and His Magic you can see a photo taken at this same time that includes Bess.

Congrats to the winner.

Related:

• Houdini in 1915
• Houdini caught by Christie Girls
• Houdini in H O L L Y W O O D

Unknown 6-sheet Master Mystery poster surfaces

Exciting news. David Haversat of David Haversat Magic has uncovered a hitherto unknown 6-sheet poster for Houdini's silent serial The Master Mystery. Details below.

David Haversat has recently located an unknown image of Houdini's Master Mystery! The lithograph is also special as it's the only six-sheet lithograph of the Master Mystery series known to be in existence. 

The Mastery Mystery was produced in [1918] with Harry Houdini starring in all 15 episodes. 

The pressbook for the series boasts an extensive list of Otis lithographs; one, three, six and twenty-four sheet posters. The image discovered by Haversat is labeled as Episode 14, yet it's totally different art from the one-sheet lithograph from the same episode. In fact the image depicted on this six-sheet is actually a scene from Episode 15, the final production of the series. 

This poster was the only magic related item among a number of antiquities including other silent film posters found in Canada. The poster's survival may be due to the fact someone had taken the time to mount the lithograph many decades ago. It will now be scheduled for modern day conservation.

In 2013 David uncovered a rare German one-sheet for Houdini's Water Torture Cell. In 2015 he uncovered an "American's Sensation" poster in California.

Congrats to David on another amazing find!

UPDATE: The Master Mystery 6-sheet restored.

Related:

• The Master Mystery posters
• Master Mystery episode 3 poster sells for $28,080
• French Master Mystery poster beats auction estimate

Did Houdini revive the vanishing elephant in 1925?

Our good friend David Charvet sends over an intriguing newspaper clipping from the Buffalo Evening News, October 21, 1925, about Houdini's engagement at the Shubert-Teck Theater in Buffalo, NY. This was during Houdini's first tour with his 3 Shows In One and the article covers familiar territory, until this remarkable paragraph:

One of the biggest mysteries of "vanishing" which Houdini offers in his performance at the Shubert-Teck is the disappearance of a mammoth elephant from the stage. Another is his East Indian Needle trick.

The vanishing elephant!? This is the first time I've ever heard of Houdini performing this outside of New York City and beyond the years 1918 and 1922. It's also the first I've heard of it being associated with his full evening show. It seems remarkable that Houdini would be able to take something this large on the road. But the Shubert-Teck was an unsually large venue which could accommodate the illusion. So did Houdini really perform the vanishing elephant here in 1925?

According to Koval (The Houdini Research Diary, Part 6: 1921 to 1926], Houdini performed at the Shubert-Teck on October 19-24. During this week Houdini gave a special performance for the city newsboys. He also performed at the School for Crippled Children on East Ferry Street.

The Shubert-Teck was converted to a movie theater in 1945 and became a Cinerama theater in the 1950s. It was abandoned in the 1960s and finally demolished in the late 1980s. You can read about the theater history HERE.

Thanks David.

UPDATE: Gary Hunt (Magic Footnotes) has uncovered a review of the free performance Houdini gave for the newsboys on October 24. The article spells out in detail many of the magic effects Houdini performed, and there is no mention of the vanishing elephant. (The article also includes a terrific photo of Houdini with the newsboys which I will feature in an upcoming post.)

It's now seems likely that the mention of the vanishing elephant came from pre-show publicity -- listing Houdini's past feats -- and that the Buffalo News reporter misunderstood and thought the effect would be performed at the Shubert-Teck. So unless we find a first hand account of the vanishing elephant in 1925, I think we should leave Houdini history as written.

Thanks Gary.

Related:

• The Vanishing Elephant
• A new vanishing elephant pic appears
• Houdini's grand finale: 3 Shows In One