Wednesday, November 7, 2018

The Forgotten Houdini Student

Poster by Alfred Choubrac
Looking through old magic magazines often reveal little gems of information. I was going through an old issue of Mahatma Magazine, the July 1902 issue, I came across a sentence about Houdini.
"Eugene Fougere has been taking magic lessons from Harry Houdini, according to an account in a German Newspaper. I think that magic is in demand as everyone wants to become a magician."

There is little chance of me finding the German newspaper, but I was curious who this 'Eugene Fougere' was. It turns out that Eugene Fougere is actually Eugenie Fougere and was a French Vaudeville and music hall star.  Her act was extremely suggestive & seductive for the time. She was called a soubrette-a flirtatious or frivolous woman. In 1891, she came to the United States to tour the Vaudeville theaters here. Her tour was met with scandalous reviews. She was really before her time. One article I read likened her to the way America looked at Elvis when he appeared on the scene. Many loved him, others were shocked by his gyrations. I'd say that Eugenie's gyrations were even more daring than anything Elvis was doing, at least for the period of time, but tame for the 21st century of course.

In 1902 she was back in Paris. Houdini, in January & half of  February of 1902, was performing at The Olympia Theatre in Paris. He started at the Olympia on November 29th, 1901. The Olympia is a 2000 seat theatre that has since hosted stars like Josephine Baker, Marlene Dietrich, Liza Minelli, The Jackson Five, The Rolling Stones, even the Beatles. But in 1901-02, the Olympia was featuring Houdini & Eugenie Fougere on their bill. It was his King of Cards Act that made him a hit in Paris, rather than his handcuff act. I would imagine it was card magic that he was teaching to Eugenie Fougere. And I've seen nothing in regards to her adding magic to her act. It is likely her sex appeal outshined any tricks she might have included.

By the way, one of Houdini's more famous non-escape promotions took place in Paris. He hired 7 bald headed men to paint the letters H-O-U-D-I-N-I on top of their heads. They would then wear a bowler hat and sit at a cafe. Then at numerous times per day, they would lean over and remove their hats, showing the name HOUDINI to passers by.

And now, for the curious, here is Eugenie Fougere presenting her 'ragtime -cake-walk' dance.




Sunday, November 4, 2018

Magic Detective Podcast Ep 7-Houdini & Congress 1926


Seeing as we are on the eve of a big congressional election, I thought I'd share a podcast about the time Houdini testified before Congress on behalf of an Anti-Fortune Telling Bill. It was quite a wild affair, with Houdini bringing in some of his top notch investigators like Remegius Weiss and Rose Mackenburg. It's clear from the transcripts that some of the congressmen were not taking this seriously. Still others were dead serious about the testimony.

My guess is that Houdini must have had a hand in crafting the bill, which was another reason he was brought in. There are a number of surprises that come up over the several days of testimony. Much of this episode comes directly from the Congressional Record. And it also comes from several articles that appeared right here, in TheMagicDetective blog!

A side note, earlier this year (2018) I actually was involved in a video documentary about Houdini's time before Congress. The video was made for a French Language TV Show, so despite my excitement, it will all get dubbed over. I don't think it's aired yet, but when it does, I'll let you know. I'm curious how some of the magic turned out as the humidity that day was wreaking havoc on some of my sleights and flourishes, including a coin roll (the coin kept sticking to my fingers)

This episode runs almost 40 minutes and will be the last FULL Houdini Episode for a while. At least, that is the plan at the moment. Because it's my podcast, I could easily go back on that, lol. But I'm hoping to make the next podcast about Harry Kellar. For now, please enjoy Episode 7!


Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Magic Detective Podcast Episode 6- Houdini's Final Days and Beyond


Episode 6 of The Magic Detective Podcast is about Houdini's Final Days and Beyond. All of this comes from previous articles here on the site, and I'm going to include the links below to the various articles. You'll be able to see a number of photos that help to illustrate the various stories.

But first, I'd like to include the names of the books that I mention in the podcast. These are all biographies of Houdini.

The Secret Life of Houdini -William Kalush and Larry Sloman
Houdini The Man Who Walked Through Walls by William Lindsey Gresham
Houdini His Life and Art by James Randi and Burt Sugar
Houdini His Legend and Magic by Doug Henning
HOUDINI!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss by Kennth Silverman
Houdini The Untold Story by Melbourne Christopher

Articles

Tracking the Body of Houdini
The Day Houdini was Buried
Last Days of Houdini
More of the Last Days of Houdini
The Manifestations of Houdini

Episode 7 should be up next Monday. It too will be about Houdini and then when I get to Episode 8, I'll explore some magicians you might not be familiar with.

And anytime you want to check out the podcast, you can always just click the link on the far right of the page. Or just go to MagicDetectivePodcast.com. You can also find the podcast in iTunes!