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Houdini performed tricks onstage, but he never played them off as “magic” - they were simply illusions. More than a performer, Houdini was an engineer to the bone. And for any of that to make sense, we need to circle back to Houdini’s life and another one of his pet passions: debunking Spiritualism.
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Surrounding Harry Houdini’s death was a wild subplot involving spirits, séances, and a ghost named Walter. Houdini said that he didn’t think Whitehead would strike so suddenly, otherwise he would have better prepared.īy evening, Houdini was suffering tremendous pain in his abdomen. Price recalled that Houdini, “looked as though he was in extreme pain and winced as each blow was struck.” Whitehead struck at least four times until Houdini gestured him to stop in mid-punch. Houdini was reclining at the time with his right side nearest Whitehead, and the said student was more or less bending over him.” “Houdini remarked rather unenthusiastically that his stomach could resist much….Thereupon he gave Houdini some very hammer-like blows below the belt, first securing Houdini’s permission to strike him. Jack Price then recalled the following as was recorded in Ruth Brandon’s book, The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini: After some talk about Houdini’s physical strength, Whitehead asked if it was true that he could withstand even the mightiest punch to the stomach. While Smilovitch sketched Houdini, Whitehead chatted with the magician. They were later joined by a freshman student named Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead. On the appointed day at 11 a.m., Smilovitch came to visit Houdini with a friend, Jack Price. Houdini was so impressed with the drawing that he invited Smilovitch to come to the Princess Theater on Friday, October 22 to do a proper portrait. “Smiley” Smilovitch, who made a sketch of the famous magician. Wikimedia Commons Houdini prepares to escape from handcuffs - and a box thrown overboard a ship - in 1912.Īfter the lecture, he schmoozed with students and faculty, among them Samuel J. There he made appearances at the Princess Theater and held a lecture concerning spirit fraud at McGill University. He managed to push through the next several appearances against doctor’s orders and then traveled to Montreal. On October 11, Houdini broke his ankle while performing Water Torture Cell escape trick in Albany, New York. But when he toured again that autumn, everything seemed to go wrong. He toured the country in the early part of the year, performing escapes and enjoying his decades-old fame.
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In 1926 at age 52, Harry Houdini was at the top of his game. Houdini’s theatrics and charismatic persona seemed to be made for the burgeoning revolution of media in the early 20th century. He was allowed two minutes to escape, which he invariably did to the delight of audiences. His most famous escape was the “Chinese Water Torture Cell” in which an upside-down, suspended Houdini is lowered into then locked into a tank of water. Houdini became known as the “handcuff king” and marveled audiences worldwide with being able to escape from almost anything. He changed his name to Harry Houdini in honor of the famous French magician, Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. Weisz started his career with stunts early, performing trapeze at age nine before beginning a Vaudeville career in magic in 1891. Harry Houdini was born on Maas Erik Weisz in Budapest, Hungary and immigrated to the United States in 1878. Wikimedia Commons Harry Houdini performing the “Chinese Water Torture Cell” escape.