Houdini on Family Guy

Harry and Bess Houdini appeared on last Sunday’s episode of Family Guy in one of the show’s trademark “cutaways.”

I can’t seem to find the name of the episode, but it was about Lois taking over the High School sex education class which results in an outbreak of ear sex.

It was a very funny episode, even by Family Guy standards.

UPDATE: Here's the clip.

Houdini posters fetch big buck$ at auction

Two original Houdini posters fetched $65,000 a piece at a Swann Gallery auction of magic memorabilia held last month in New York City.

The first was a full color poster depicting Houdini’s escape from an Amsterdam jail in 1902. Anonymous bidder #419 (who reportedly took home nearly every high-end item) got the poster for $65,000.

Next came the more familiar, but equally stunning, Europe’s Eclipsing Sensation poster. This poster also featured on the auction cover catalog. Bidder #419 battled it out with a phone bidder, but in the end claimed it for another $65,000.

So who was the mysterious bidder #419? Speculation at the auction was that it was David Copperfield. However, it turns out #419 was a private company located in India.

All I can say is, "Wow!" It seems every time a Houdini poster comes up for auction a new record is set.

You can read a terrific first-hand account of the auction at nnmagic.com.

Thanks to Joseph Holland for the tip.

Weinstein Co. acquires Death Defying Acts

The Weinstein Co. has picked up U.S. distribution rights to the new Houdini film, Death Defying Acts, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Guy Pearce as Harry Houdini.

TWC's Harvey Weinstein bought the film off a promo reel made available for the first time at the American Film Market (AFM).

Though produced for less than $20 million, sources claim that The Weinstein Co will pay somewhere near $5.5 million for the distribution rights. This amount doesn't include the territories Weinstein has rights to outside the U.S. such as Argentina, Hong Kong and China.

Myriad Pictures has already sold distribution rights for Death Defying Acts in various territories, including U.K. rights to Lionsgate.

The film is a “supernatural romantic thriller” which tells the fictional story of Houdini’s relationship with a Scottish psychic played by Zeta Jones.

Death Defying Acts will be released in 2007.

Escape artist charged in Halloween hoax

KEY WEST, Florida (Reuters) - Police arrested an escape artist on Wednesday after he led them on a fruitless underwater search for his body when he jumped into the Gulf of Mexico, clad in a straitjacket, on Halloween -- the 80th anniversary of magician Harry Houdini's death.

Coast Guard, wildlife agents, police, fire rescuers and street performers took up the hunt for Michael Anthony Patrick on Tuesday night after he jumped backward into Key West Harbor, having jokingly asked his audience if he should do a triple back-flip off the pier.

Patrick, 55, however, somehow managed to elude his rescuers and checked into a guest house. He did not reveal how he wriggled out of his straitjacket, nor how he avoided detection until Wednesday.

Police in Key West said they planned to seek monetary restitution for the search operation, estimated to have cost more than $25,000. They charged Patrick with culpable negligence, and freed him on a $50,000 bond.

"In addition, we are recommending that Michael Patrick be banned from future entertainment activities at Mallory Square," said Bill Mauldin, Key West police chief, in a news release.

Key West's Mallory Square is known for its nightly sunset celebrations with jugglers, clowns, psychics, musicians and artists.

Houdini died of peritonitis from a ruptured appendix at age 55 on Halloween 1926. The escape artist was renowned for freeing himself from handcuffs, chains, rope and straitjackets while suspended in water or hanging from a rope.

Houdini makes cover of M-U-M

Houdini is on the cover of the November 2006 issue of M-U-M, the official magazine of The Society of American Magicians (for which Houdini was President from 1917 to 1926).

The inside article by John Moehring asks "Was Houdini a Secret Agent?", the provocative theory put fourth in the new book The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero by William Kalush and Larry Sloman. 

Moehring doesn't draw a conclusion himself, but simply lays the surprisingly slight evidence that Kalush and Sloman use to build their spy narrative (namely a few diary entires by Superintendent Melville of Scotland Yard referencing someone with the initials HH).

The issue also contains excerpts from the new book, including the chapter that deals with his Film Developing Corporation and brief movie career.

Houdini Lives! in new novel

Here’s another new Houdini book released in time for the 80th anniversary of his death. Houdini Lives! by Al Blanchard and Adam Steinfeld is a fictional novel that finds Houdini alive and well and living in Miami Beach in 1966. Here’s a description from the book jacket:

Is it True? Can it Be? Alive and well in 1966. Only 40 years ago! 

FT. LAUDERDALE, FL – OCTOBER 31, 2006 --- It's 1966, and world famous magician, escape artist, Harry Houdini, did not die 40 years ago as people thought. He's has been in hiding from his political enemies and is planning a dramatic comeback. Who are these enemies from the 1920's, and why are they still trying to kill him? Can Stanford, the young, hip, up-and-coming magician, and his sultry assistant, Solea, save his life? A magician creates a world of wonder and asks people to believe in that world. It is the highest form of entertainment. What is Houdini's secret identity? Will this be his final illusion? Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare for a tall tale of murder, mystery, romance, and political drama. Houdini lives or dies is only a matter of time.

Houdini Lives! can be purchased an eBook ($5.27) or as a printed novel ($12.95) from www.houdinilives.com.

Houdini is a no show at official seance

The Official Houdini Seance was held last night at the Center for Jewish History in Manhattan. Here's a full account of the seance from The New York Times:

Houdini Declines Comment, but Not for Want of Trying
By JAMES BARRON
Published: November 1, 2006 

Harry Houdini is still dead and still not talking. Efforts to reach him yesterday failed.

The expectations were not terribly high at an annual séance held on Halloween, the day on which Houdini died in 1926. Teller, the quieter half of Penn and Teller, showed up, saying, “I’d be stunned if Houdini showed up, and so would he.”

So the question was whether Houdini — the master escape artist, the man who could slip out of handcuffs and arise from tomblike burials — would escape the afterlife.

There was an empty chair waiting for him on the stage in the auditorium at the Center for Jewish History, on West 16th Street in Manhattan. The chair was a hard wooden one provided by Anna Crankshaw, the great-granddaughter of the Boston medium known as Margery. Houdini had tangled with Margery. Maybe he would prefer one of the more comfortable padded seats in the audience.

But why would someone who was as famous as a movie star sit there? And what’s with that “famous as a” line? He was a movie star. And he appealed to women, no matter how carefully his earliest biographers airbrushed the record.

“He was always portrayed as faithful to his wife,” said William Kalush, an author of a brand-new biography, “The Secret Life of Houdini.”

Larry Sloman, who wrote the book with him, added, “The first biography was authorized by his wife, so she put out the stories she wanted.” (Their book makes the case that Houdini was a spy who tackled special projects for British intelligence and the United States Secret Service, but that is another story.)

Up on the stage, with the empty chair, were 13 magicians and Houdini experts. One of them was Dorothy Young, 99 years old, who was in the cast of Houdini’s touring show in 1925.

She said she was “the radio girl,” which meant that she never ate until after a performance. Why not? As the radio girl, she explained, “I had to fit in the radio.”

And she had talked with Houdini about this returning-from-the-dead thing. While he was still alive, of course.

“He told me, ‘It’s humanly impossible, but I’ll be there in spirit.’ That’s firsthand.”

Next to her was Thomas J. Boldt, who was identified in the program as a “Houdinite.” As the lights went down, he stood and introduced the séance director, Sidney H. Radner, who instructed the audience to turn off all cellphones. Mr. Radner did not want anyone’s concentration broken by a jazzy ring tone, and besides, he did not expect any missed calls to be from Houdini.

“I don’t think Houdini is going to come back by cellphone,” he said.

So much for the preliminaries. He introduced Jon Stetson, whom the program identified as a “renowned New England psychic medium.” His Web site, jonstetson.com, describes him as an “internationally acclaimed mind reading comedian” and a “corporate entertainer like no other.”

But Mr. Stetson sounded serious. He told the audience, “Success rests on your willingness to push aside logic.”

He told the people on the stage to join hands. The lights dimmed further. Mr. Stetson implored Houdini to make an appearance.

He tried flattery, telling Houdini that he was “a crusader, a genius.”

Mr. Stetson said there was energy in the room. But his patience began to wane. “We’re waiting for a sign, Harry,” he said. “It’s been 80 years, Harry.”

After about 20 minutes, he called a halt to the séance. “I do not feel contact was made,” he announced.

No, he said a moment later, he did not consider his efforts to have been pointless. “Personally, I don’t think the day is right.” Too much skepticism, too many people out there doing séances using fraudulent methods Houdini would have exposed.

And, he said, he wasn’t expecting to see a “bolt of lightning” because “the true manifestations are in us.”

“It all happens in our head,” he said.

But there were those who were not sure that nothing had happened.

“This was the closest yet,” Mr. Sloman said. “I felt something in the room. Maybe it was Harry sleeping here. Maybe it was having my hand interlocked with Kalush, who I’ve never done that with in three years of working on a book.”

Then a couple of people told Cathy Krugman, the director of development for the American Jewish Historical Society, that three of the tall, silvery letters that spell “Center for Jewish History” at the back of the stage — specifically, the I, the S and the H — did not go dark when the lights went down. And then they flickered.

In the end, Ms. Krugman said, “I don’t know if that was Giovanni.”

Giovanni Massa, she explained, was the technician running the lights.

Don’t forget The Houdini Principle

With all the excitement and press surrounding the release of The Secret Life of Houdini, some may have overlooked the release this Halloween of another Houdini related book, The Houdini Principle by Tim Kenning.

The Houdini Principle looks at the exploits and escapes of Harry Houdini as a catalyst for modern day creative thinking and problem solving.

A similar book, The Houdini Solution, was released earlier this year, but The Houdini Principle is, to my eye, the superior book. It’s certainly the book that will interest Houdini fans more as it deals specially with events (escape and otherwise) in Houdini’s life, and is illustrated with some nice pics. It also offers an appendix of Houdini resources; books, documentaries, museums and websites (including my own Houdini Lives!).

The Houdini Principle can be purchased from Amazon.com (U.S.) and Amazon.co.uk (UK). For more information on The Houdini Principle website.

The Secret Life of Houdini in stores today!

The eagerly anticipated The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero by William Kalush and Larry Sloman is released today.

This new biography puts forth a controversial theory that during his career Houdini worked as a spy for both the U.S. and British governments. The book also suggests that the great magician was murdered by spiritualists angered at his campaign against spiritualist fakes.

This is the first new major Houdini biography since Ken Silverman’s acclaimed HOUDINI!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss was released in 1996.

• Purchase The Secret Life of Houdini on Amazon.com
• Purchase The Secret Life of Houdini audiobook
• Purchase The Secret Life of Houdini from Amazon.co.uk (UK)

The Secret Life of Houdini official poster and website

As we count down the days to the release of The Secret Life of Houdini, The Making of America’s First Superhero, author Bill Kalush gives us a first look at a slick new promotional poster for the book.

The highly anticipated book also now has an official website, houdinithebook.com, where you can pre-order a signed copy. Sales benefit the Conjuring Arts Research Center.

The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero is due for release on October 31 (of course!).

Death Defying Acts filming in Edinburgh

The new Houdini movie, Death Defying Acts, starring Catherine Zeta Jones and Guy Pearce, is shooting in Edinburgh this week.

The film is a “supernatural romantic thriller” which tells the fictional story of Houdini’s relationship with a Scottish psychic, Mary McGregor, played by Zeta Jones.

Death Defying Acts was due to film in Edinburgh during summer, but was moved to London at the eleventh hour because Edinburgh was too busy with Festival crowds. However, the film crew are now filming a number of exterior shots around Edinburgh.

Floodlights at the landmark Edinburgh Castle were switched off last night so film crews could recreate the city in 1926. Other sights used to set the scene will be the capital from Salisbury Crags digitally re-mastered to remove modern landmarks such as the Scottish Parliament.

In the movie, Zeta Jones lives in the slums of Edinburgh with her young daughter and stars in a burlesque act which, though partly a confidence trick, delves into the occult. She comes to hear of Houdini's $10,000 reward for any psychic who can contact his beloved mother from beyond the grave, and makes contact with him. However as the pair spend more time together they begin to fall in love.

The film will be released in 2007.

MAGIC goes in search of the Houdini movie

The October issue of MAGIC magazine (with Robert-Houdin on the cover) features an article written by yours truly about the many aborted attempts to make a new big-budget Houdini movie. Here’s a preview from the MAGIC website:

It's been over 50 years since Hollywood produced a feature film about Harry Houdini, the greatest escape artist and daredevil who ever lived. On the surface, this seems remarkable. Houdini's life story is rife with theatrical drama: from his death-defying escapes, to his battle with spirit mediums, to his deathbed promise to return from the grave. So where is the big-budget Harry Houdini feature film?

Visit www.magicmagazine.com to subscribe or buy this individual issue.

New Houdini fiction: Danger in The Dark

Danger in the Dark: A Houdini and Nate Mystery by Tom Lalicki is released today by by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. The fictional book is the first in what promises to be a series.

Harry Houdini – the world’s greatest escape artist – is in need of a new hat. That is what brings him to Bennett & Son, Gentlemen’s Hatters of Fifth Avenue, where young Nathaniel G. Makeworthy Fuller is working for the summer. A surprising friendship develops between the world-famous daredevil and the boy clerk, and it comes in the nick of time. A suspicious stranger has recently wheedled his way into the confidences of Nate’s wealthy great-aunt, with whom the boy and his widowed mother live. Now their house is filled with spooky late-night gatherings, the purpose of which is kept secret from Nate. Houdini is just the man to tackle this tangled mystery – and help Nate and his family escape the grasp of an interloper more cunning and dangerous than Nate could have imagined.

A truly captivating historical adventure, Danger in the Dark launches the Houdini & Nate Mystery series with fast-paced plotting and a colorful blend of fact and fiction.

Tom Lalicki is also the author of Spellbinder: The Life of Harry Houdini, a nicely illustrated Houdini biography for children released in 2000.

Danger in the Dark: A Houdini and Nate Mystery can be purchased at Amazon.com.