![]() ![]() ![]() He developed a passion for aviation in 1909, and bought a French-made biplane and learned to fly. Houdini gave up movies and returned to live performances for good.ĥ. Houdini went on to star in two more serials, but neither were nearly as successful, critically or commercially. The serial was a smash hit (and in an interesting side note, it was the first film to feature a robot). In the 1919’s serial, The Master Mystery, he played an undercover agent who uses his escape skills to thwart criminals. Houdini had a brief career as a silent film star in the late teens and early 1920s. He offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who could present “physical phenomena” that could not be explained rationally-a reward he was never forced to pay. In the 1920s, he became a professional skeptic and debunker of psychics, mind readers, mediums and others who claimed to be in contact with the deceased. He debunked psychics and the supernaturalĭistraught over his mother’s death, Houdini tried to contact her via séances, however he quickly discovered that the mediums conducting the séances were frauds. After achieving world-wide fame, he put magic in his act, but contemporary descriptions confirm that he was lackluster as a magician.ģ. He achieved fame by becoming an escape artist, “The King of Handcuffs”. He challenged audiences to tie him up or lock him in handcuffs, or nail him into boxes. Ironically, years later Houdini turned on his idol, and wrote a (mostly inaccurate) book called The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin, accusing him of being an imposter.Īlthough he started his career as a magician, he struggled, and was on the verge of quitting when producer Martin Beck encouraged him to make escapes the focus of his act. Young Erik named himself after his hero by adding an “i” to the name “Houdin” to create the stage name “Houdini” (there is debate about where “Harry” came from). As a teenager, he read the memoirs of French conjurer Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin (often called “The Father of Modern Magic”). Originally from Budapest, Hungary, Houdini’s real name was Erik Weisz. It is a book for would-be conjurers, for professional necromancers, for those curious about the methods and means of one of the most enchanting men of our century.As one of the most well-known names in magic for his escape tricks, there is still much about Houdini’s life that some people may not know! Here are 6 things that you probably didn’t know about Harry Houdini.ġ. This is a technical manual for magicians, complete with illustrations and diagrams, but it is also an astute analysis of the best of Houdini's magic and a readable biography of a man who turned himself into a legend. While doing so, he distinguished himself as a patriot, writer, collector of magic, aviator, movie idol, philanthropist, and crusader against fraudulent spiritualistic practices. He was a public hero who, in his own way, helped sweep out the cobwebs of nineteenth-century thinking. His impact on the world in the early years of the twentieth century was enormous. Once more, Houdini and his wife Bessie mysteriously exchange places in a locked trunk-in three seconds!Īnd Houdini the man is not ignored. Again, in this book, Houdini walks through a brick wall, vanishes a 10,000-pound elephant and is buried alive. ![]() Included are the famous escapes: escapes from a padlocked milk can filled with water from locked jail cells from a water-filled Chinese torture cell while suspended upside down from packing cases weighted under water. The spectacular highlights of Houdini's career are described-and explained-here. It is with the aid of Houdini's own scrapbooks and notes that this book was written. Walter Gibson, co-author, was in close touch with Harry Houdini for a number of years before his death and worked with the master magician in preparing material for the book. Incredible escapes, fantastic sleight-of-hand-Houdini's most challenging performances are dramatically portrayed in Houdini's Fabulous Magic. Four pieces of the Penn & Teller repertoire were directly inspired by Houdini's Fabulous Magic.” Teller of Penn & Teller ★★★★★ “ I have loved this book for sixty years. ![]()
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