Harry Houdini Still Resting In Peace 86 Years Later

86 years ago at 1:26 p.m. in the afternoon, Erich Weiss aka Harry Houdini passed away. His death came as a shock to people all over the world. At the same time it was a welcome relief to fake spirit mediums across the Globe. He went from being a mortal with seemingly super human abilities to mythic or legendary status.

He was the Greatest Escape Artist to ever live. He was one of the greatest showman of all time. And he holds the status as the worlds most famous magician even to this day.

The Spirit of Houdini Lives On!!!

 Happy National Magic Day To All My Magic Friends Out There! 

And Happy Halloween to everyone else!

Contest ANSWERS Special

The First Magic Detective Contest is now officially over. Thanks to everyone who sent in answers. Seems that I may have made the contest a bit on the difficult side, lol (sorry about that). Maybe next time I'll keep it to 10 questions or less and maybe not so hard. As it was there was no one who answered all the questions correctly. The person who came the closest however was awarded the First Prize, which was the Kellar book by Gail Jarrow. Technically I didn't have to give out a second prize, but I did anyway. I took all the remaining submissions and put them in a box and drew out one and that person got the second prize.

For those of you wondering what the answers to the contest questions were, I decided to put together a special edition of The Magic Detective Show with ALL the answers included. It's a longer video than all the other episodes, it's almost 10 minutes. And it will not be available on the Magic Detective Show YouTube Channel as you need a special link to see it. The only place where you can see the video is by watching it below.

Once again, thank you to everyone who tried and thanks for continually watching my show and reading this blog!

Secret Adventures of Houdini-Guest Blogger

Today I have a first for The Magic Detective Blog, a guest blogger, Dan Robinson aka Weasel Dandaw. Dan is an escape artist from the UK and he has written a great piece about the new book, The Secret Adventures of Harry Houdini Book One. Enjoy!

The Secret Adventures of Houdini: Book One

I have just received the Press Pack for The SecretAdventures of Houdini which is to be released on November 21st 2012. It is written by Todd Hunt, illustrated by Sean Von Gorman & published by Alterna Comics.

Firstly, I would like to say that I am not a comic collector in general, but I do have a fair amount of Houdiniana which includes various comics that have there storyline based around Houdini.

What can I say…..?

This is a fantastic read! The book is well produced & the way it’s set out is great. The action starts from the off & continues throughout the book. I love the fact that it is in black & white, as this emphasises the time period in which the story is set.

The story is based on Houdini battling the evils of a group trying to bring back the spirit of Cyprian, a character that actually existed in reality in the early third century & his story is included in the back of this book.

The book starts with Houdini performing his famous Water Torture Cell escape & through the drawings & dialogue, the tension is built. It then continues in 1913 Copenhagen where Houdini’s strength is demonstrated, something that will become important later in the book. Jump to 1923 New York where the real story begins. Houdini uses his skill as a master of disguise to infiltrate a group trying to bring back Cyprian.

I will not go into the full story as I don’t want to spoil it, but I will say….I can’t wait for Book Two!!!

Todd has done a great job of mixing factual events with the fictional elements of the story. The book includes many facts relating to Houdini’s life including not only his escapes, but also his great dislike of fake mediums & spiritualists. Houdini always wanted to make contact with his deceased mother & even went to a séance with Arthur Conan Doyle & his wife to try. It was at this point that Houdini’s friendship with Doyle was ended.

The attention to detail has not been overlooked here either. The séance even includes Doyle’s wife’s spirit writings.

Sean’s illustrations are remarkable & really add to the storyline. His attention to detail is also to be commended. There are the little extra touches like fantastic recreations of Houdini’s posters on the outside of the theatre & when Doyle goes to visit an Asylum, Sean has drawn the guard reading the Hound of the Baskervilles. My favourite is a photo of Houdini with his wife & his mother, which is sitting on his dresser. This is so well drawn that it looks like a photo! It’s these touches that add to the illustrations. You need to look for them, but this adds to the book.

I love the way Todd & Sean have included various characters from Houdini’s life, including his Mother, Father, his brother (Dash) & his wife (Bess), along with his assistant Jim Collins & Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

As I said above I can’t wait for Book Two!!!

So PICK up a copy, UNLOCK the adventure & ESCAPE reality.

Dan Robinson aka Weasel Dandaw
(UK Escape Artist & Collector of Houdiniana)

Episode 5 More Details

Please be sure to watch Episode 5 before reading this....and watch AFTER the credits for the bloopers. 

Now that you've watched the episode you'll notice that I screwed up the name of J. Gordon Whitehead numerous times. In fact, the final take even had it wrong, so I had to pull it OFF the video, lol.

Houdini got punched in the abdomen on October 22nd, 1926 by J. Gordon Whitehead, a student at McGill University. He still performed in a show later that day but complained of stomach pain before and afterwards. His final day in Montreal, Max Malini and Ozzie Malini were in the audience and according to Patrick Culliton Houdini told them, "I let a college kid punch me in the stomach and he caught me wrong, and it's killing me."

When it was all over in Montreal they packed up and headed via Train to Detroit. Houdini had a temperature of 102 and at this point should have gone straight to the hospital. But he was stubborn and when he found out the house was sold out for the evening, he turned down all requests and pleas to go to the hospital. That moment was probably his last chance because he pushed himself past all physical means in order to finish the show and collapsed when the show was over.

He was still alive, but his temperature was now 104 and the damage was done. The doctors had little hope that anything they did would help. They still operated and removed his ruptured appendix, but it was too late and the medical staff did not think he would last long. However, Houdini, ever the fighter, continued to battle this and lived on for several days.

He made it to Halloween, 1926 and died at 1:26 p.m. with his family surrounding him.

A few things I had not mentioned previously, this 1926-27 Tour had Houdini presenting his 3 in 1 Show. Where he did magic, escapes and then exposed spirit mediums to conclude the show. He presented small apparatus magic like Robert-Houdin's Crystal Casket, silk productions, vanishing and appearing lamps and much more. During the escape portion he presented his signature Metamorphosis and the Water Torture Cell....but a broken ankle in Albany NY prevented him from every presenting the WTC again. The finale was exposing fake spirit mediums. This could be quite a lively affair as sometimes he would get hecklers from the audience over this portion and other times when there were no distractions this portion proved to be both fun and educational. It was a massive undertaking and required more than just Harry and Bess to perform.

But it ended in Detroit. I would encourage you to read one other blog article I wrote called "Tracking the Body of Houdini" which follows his body from the hospital all the way back to his burial in NY.

By the way, if you didn't recognize the two people in the photo at the beginning of Ep 5, it was Houdini on the left and ELVIS on the Right....and now you hopefully get the joke :)

Episode 5 of The Magic Detective Show

I can't believe it. I beat the storm! Hurricane Sandy is about to slam us and I was able to get this video uploaded before I lost my internet and the electricity here. This one is about the Death of Houdini. Be sure to watch after the credits for a couple bloopers.

By the way, The Magic Detective Contest Ends Oct 30th, and so far there is no clear winner (meaning no one has answered ALL the questions correct). SO, if you haven't submitted your answers, DO IT NOW as you might be the winner. If no one answers all the questions correct, I'll be going for the person with the MOST correct answers. It's not too late to enter, and email the answers to
carnegiemagic@aol.com

Here is the link to the contest http://www.themagicdetective.com/2012/10/magic-detective-magic-history-contest.html 

On Wednesday, Oct 31, I will have a Special Episode of The Magic Detective Show which you can only access through this website. That episode will have ALL the answers to the contest questions.

Episode 4 Additional Information

Deadly Punch??? Read comments at the end of article*

Episode 4 continues the last days of Houdini. Oct 22, 1926, Houdini, his wife Bess, her niece Julia Sawyer and her nurse Sophie Rosenblatt are about to go into the Princess Theatre. Waiting outside for them are two college students from McGill University, Jacques Price and Sam Smiley (Samuel Smilovitch). You might recall from the previous episode that Sam Smiley was the student/artist who was drawing sketches of Houdini during his lecture at McGill. He showed them to Houdini and invited him to come to see him backstage at the theater.

Houdini, along with the group headed to his dressing room, the time is a little after 11 a.m.. According to the Silverman biography, the dressing room at the Princess Theatre was about 8ft by 10ft. Houdini reclined on a couch in the back of the room while Smiley in Price sat in chairs a few feet from Houdini. Smiley was there to do another sketch of Houdini.

A few moments later there was a knock on the dressing room door and Julia Sawyer got up to answer the door and she let Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead into the room. He briskly walked over to Houdini and returned a book that he had borrowed. Houdini introduced Whitehead to the other boys, so it was more than just a first time meeting for them, which many of the older Houdini biographies make it sound like. Whitehead had met Houdini before. In fact, he met him several times before.

The Don Bell book about Whitehead says that Whitehead called on Houdini at his hotel on two occasions and mentions borrowing the latest copy of Scientific American. In this meeting, Whitehead is returning a book. When Whitehead entered he took over the conversation, irritating Smiley. Whitehead asked him about the miracles of the Bible and Houdini chose not to discuss that, but added that the stunts he did would certainly look like miracles in biblical days. Whitehead then asked if it was true that Houdini could withstand a punch to the stomach without feeling any pain. Now here is something I had missed before, Houdini tried to change the subject and pointed to his strong arms and shoulders. He even went so far as to let the students feel his arm muscles. When Whitehead again asked if Houdini could take a punch, Houdini again shifted focus to his arms.

My one question is, when did Houdini ever use punching him as a bragging point? 'Ladies & Gentleman, not only am I the greatest escape artist in the world, but you can punch me and I will feel nothing!' Really??? I don't think so. But regardless, Houdini agreed he could take the punch. Apparently Whitehead misunderstood this as an invitation to throw some punches. Houdini was still reclining when the barrage of punches flew. As I pointed out in the episode, it was not a single punch either. Whitehead hit Houdini numerous times before Price pulled him off.

There were only 4 people in that room when the incident took place. Houdini, Smiley, Price and Whitehead. The students all gave a deposition as to what they remembered. It was not viewed as a criminal act and Whitehead was never arrested.

A few minutes after the punches, Smiley finished his sketch of Houdini, and he signed it and gave it to the magician. When Houdini saw the sketch he mentioned to Smiley, "you made me look a little tired in the picture....the truth is I don't feel so well". I think if we look back at what had been taking place; Houdini had been nursing a broken ankle, he was under enormous amounts of stress over the million dollars worth of lawsuits, he was receiving death threats, he was not getting much sleep at all, and now he just got hit with a barrage of punches to the stomach. I also can't help but wonder if back in Providence R.I. just a short time before when Bess got food poisoning, if perhaps Houdini had also contracted a small case of that as well. I'm guessing of course. But we know he did not look well and here he admits to not feeling well either.

The students left around noon and Houdini prepared for the show. He still had a show that night to do and the Saturday performances before they were to leave for Detroit.

J. Gordon Whitehead after this point almost vanishes from history. Author Don Bell spent 20 years digging up information on Whitehead and discovered he lived the life of a recluse. If he were alive to see the name of the book Bell wrote, "The Man Who Killed Houdini" I imagine he would be glad he never went out in public. But is it fair to say he killed Houdini? I understand it makes an exciting story and certainly very intriguing. But according to Bell, Whitehead met with Houdini at least two times following the October 22 incident in the dressing room. So if he really had murder on the mind, you'd think Whitehead would have finished him off. I think it's very likely that someone would have attempted to kill Houdini and possibly succeeded, but his own stubborness about not going to the hospital and attending to his health issues really was his undoing.

Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead died of malnutrition in 1954. He is buried in an unmarked grave. I have a photo of the plot of grass where he is buried over at my DeadConjurers blog. It's interesting to me that of the almost 50 graves pictured on the site, the one that is most viewed is actually Whiteheads. The number of views even dwarfs that of Houdini's grave.


*The photo at the top of the page is actually a staged photo with Houdini and the fellow with the boxing gloves on is Jack Dempsey. I thought it made a pretty good picture to add to this particular article which is really about a deadly punch, but I also wanted to point out the photo is NOT from the actual event on Oct 22.

This is all thats left of the Princess Theatre today.

Houdini - Whitehead, Episode 4

Today marks the 86th Anniversary of the infamous 'punch' incident where Houdini was hit numerous times in the stomach by J. Gordon Whitehead. The Magic Detective Show Episode 4 delves into this event and shares some information about just who Whitehead was.

This episode is coming out a little early because I wanted it to try and follow the important events of Houdini's life as they unfold.

Don't forget to check out the  'Additional Information' on Episide 4 either later tonight or tomorrow. Until then, enjoy Episode 4!

Episode 3 Additional Information

Episode Three of The Magic Detective Show is about Houdini's Final Tour and gave some facts that happened on and prior to October 19th, 1926.

Let's begin. The final Houdini Tour started on September 7th 1926.  It was supposed to be a five month tour. Houdini was taking a route that he had taken many times before according to Kenneth Silverman. The tour opened at the Majestic Theatre in Boston Mass for a two week run. Houdini had a couple new features in his show this fall. He was presenting an illusion he purchased from Joe Dunninger, "Cutting a Woman in Eighths" or as one newspaper ad said "Slicing a Woman in Seven Parts". He also had another new feature that he restricted to venues that were two weeks long. This other feature is referred to in the Kalush Biography as "The Mystery of the Sphinx.  This was Houdini's Buried Alive Escape done on stage. According to the Kalush Bio, he debuted the escape in Worcester, however on John Cox's blog WildaboutHoudini.com there is an ad for the Majestic Theatre in Boston which clearly says he is doing this escape at that theatre and I found a similar ad which you can see below. It makes sense as the Boston gig was two weeks long. On Episode 3 I actually said he debuted it in Worcester because that's the information in all the books, but I think the ad shows that indeed Houdini was doing the buried alive escape in Boston.

In Patrick Culliton's book Houdini The Key, he gives a description of the effect along with method. I've seen many Houdini escapes duplicated, but this is one I would have love to have seen live!

After being being placed in a straight jacket, then into a canvas sack and into the coffin, the coffin was lowered into the large glass fronted box and covered with sand. Houdini would step out from behind the large box to take his bow! Houdini made his escape in two minutes.

How on earth they traveled with something of this size is beyond me. I'm going to guess that the dimensions of the larger outer box might not be quite as large as they appear in the poster. Certainly less sand would be required if this were the case. Also, the outer box had a front made of glass. It would be near impossible to travel with a thick piece of glass the size that is indicated on the poster, so again I think it makes sense that the outer box was not quite as large.

After Boston, Houdini headed west to Worcester MA. This was another two week run and it was here that he presented his third Underwater Coffin Test at YMCA Pool in Worcester. His run in Worcester was followed by a short 3 day run in Providence Rhode Island. This is where Bess Houdini contracted food poisoning after a dinner out with Harry and H.P. Lovecraft. The run in Providence ended on Oct 8th and Houdini sends Bess and crew to Albany NY, while he takes a detour to NYC. Houdini needed to meet with his lawyer to discuss the mounting lawsuits he was receiving. He also met up with Joe Dunninger, who served as taxi driver for Houdini while he was in town.

Houdini took the train back to Albany and arrived early in the morning. At this point, he was going on very few hours of sleep.  Opening night at the Capital Theatre in Albany Houdini had an accident as he prepared to do the Water Torture Cell Escape. However, I'm unclear on exactly what took place.
The Silverman Bio says "the cables twisted or swayed" and the resulting 'lurch'  cracked the footstock and he fractured his ankle. The Kalush bio says simply that "as he was hoisted in the air he gasped and his face twisted in pain." The Henning bio says "as he was lifted in the air one of his ankles snapped", the Gresham bio says basically the same thing. In Randi's biography it says "as he was lifted he felt a crack. The frame (footstock) had loosened and wrenched his left foot, injuring the bone." Here is what Houdini had to say in a letter he wrote on Oct 12th, two days after the accident, "The cover snapped as we were drawing it up, and I have some sort of fracture on the left leg. The left side of my body is somewhat weaker than the right, or perhaps it just struck a glancing blow. Anyway, it hit with enough force to smash the cover which is of heavy nickel-plated steel." This comes from a letter reprinted in Houdini The Key by Patrick Culliton.  The odd thing is a Doctor was reported as saying that if the stocks had not cracked Houdini's leg would have been cut off.....I'm not quite getting that part of it. I wonder if John Gaughan saw the cracked stocks when he refurbished the WTC? All the stories are similar and whatever the actually cause, the end result was a fractured bone. 

At any rate, Houdini was hurt and unable to do the WTC. A doctor put a splint on his leg and told Houdini to go to the hospital. Of course, Houdini refused because he had a show to finish. He did his Needle Trick and then went on with the exposure of fake mediums to finish the show. The remainder of his tour he was in constant pain due to the fractured left ankle.

From Albany they ventured down the road to Schenectady NY, where despite the injury he presented three days of shows. Next stop, Montreal Canada. He opened on October 18th at the Princess Theatre in Montreal (though the Gresham book says he opened on the 17th).  By all accounts Houdini looked 'sickly' and tired and frankly old. If you figure in the lack of sleep, the pain from his leg and add to that the stress of $1 Million in lawsuits being filed by ticked-off spiritualists, Houdini sure had a right to look bad.

He accepted an invitation by the head of the psychology department at McGill University to give a talk before the students. The lecture set records for attendance and it took place in the Student Union Building. Today this building is known as the McCord Museum and a photo can be seen in Episode 3 of the Magic Detective Show. Houdini's lecture took place in the ballroom at 5p.m. on Oct 19th, 1926. His talk was on Magic & Spiritualism. A stand-out moment in the lecture was when Houdini took a needle and shoved it through his cheek to demonstrate his high tolerance for pain. This is a stunt he had done for years in his talks and lectures. He finished his lecture talking about fake spirit mediums and his encounters with Lady Doyle, the wife of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and with good ole Margery the Boston Medium.

Following the lecture he met with students and one of those he talked to was Samuel Smilovitch, known as Sam Smiley. Sam had been doing sketches of Houdini during his lecture and showed them to him. He liked the artwork and invited Sam to meet with him backstage at the Princess Theatre before one of his performances over his run in Montreal. And that is where I stopped the Episode.

What takes place next is historic and tragic and will directly lead to the end of Houdini's life. Be sure to watch the next Episode of The Magic Detective for the details!

Red Marks to Tour Route. Blue is Houdini's detour to NYC

The Magic Detective Show Ep 3

Finally! What a nightmare this has been. I tried to upload this episode last evening and the power went out. Then the power came back and during the second attempt to upload, I lost my internet connection. Needless to say, Episode 3 is finally online!

This show talks a little about the Final Houdini Tour and his last lecture at McGill University in Montreal. Watch close because you'll see the building where Houdini presented his lecture. It took me a while to find this building because today the building is a museum. But 86 years ago it was the Student Union Building.

I hope you enjoy Episode 3 and this weekend I'll post the more in-depth blog article about Houdini's Final Tour.

Magic Detective Show Upcoming News

This Friday, Oct 19, another episode of The Magic Detective Show will air on Youtube. You'll want to check this one out because it's the first one to feature HOUDINI. The feedback from the two previous editions has been very positive, so thank you everyone who has contacted me about the show. The number of views is actually pretty decent at the moment too. I know it's mostly magic folk viewing the show and that's fine, as they are the target audience right now.

By the way, I found out more information on who the real George Waldo Heller was and added that to the end of the article from yesterday

See you all on Friday!

Don't forget to enter the Magic Detective History Contest going on this month! The contest ends on Oct 30th, 2012, and the answers will be revealed on a Special Edition of The Magic Detective Show!

http://www.themagicdetective.com/2012/10/magic-detective-magic-history-contest.html

Robert Heller's Nephew, Maybe

Imagine my surprise to discover a performer who claimed to be the nephew of Robert Heller. I found  him quite by accident. I was looking for posters belonging to Robert Heller and came across the one to the left thinking it was an unusual Robert Heller poster. But the picture didn't quite look like Robert and upon closer examination, I saw the name Geo W. Heller in the upper left hand corner. Who was this guy?

His name was George Waldo Heller, not be be confused with George Washington Heller, who was one of the early members of the S.A.M. and served as Vice President under Houdini. No, George Waldo Heller was very different indeed and is a bit of an enigma. He was apparently born in New York in 1860 and claimed to be the nephew of Robert Heller. Is this possible? Well, Robert Heller had two siblings, Angelo C. Palmer and a sister Fannie Palmer. According to ship records, when Robert Heller came to America the first time in 1852, be brought along a brother 'Ernest Heller' who likely was actually his brother Angelo. So perhaps George Waldo Heller was the son of Angelo/Ernest. Or it could be that there is no relation and he made it up for publicity reasons. It's impossible to tell.

One thing I do know is George left the U.S. to go to Australia in 1889 as part of Hiscock's Pavilion Company. He stayed in Australia and continued to perform until 1927. Heller helped Will Alma get his start. And when Heller had his own touring company he hired Harry Cameron, known as The Great Carmo to be one of "Heller's Entertainers".

But it's Will Alma who gives us some insight into who George Heller was. Alma say's that Heller would go overseas to do business with Conradi and Willmann, the magic dealers. I also know that he had Stanyon build apparatus for him because I found records of this in Stanyon's Magic Magazine. His act consisted of illusions and small apparatus routines. The illusions included 'The Bridal Chamber', 'Gone', 'Cannon and Boxes', and 'Black Art.' He also presented a Second Sight act and a Spirit Cabinet, both routines featured by Robert Heller. Among his smaller prop routines he used Stanyon's Billiard Ball Pedestal, Confetti Doves & Flowers, The Drum That Cannot be Beaten, And a host of Telescoping Flagstaffs which can be seen in the poster at the top of the page.

Alma mentions that George Heller toured India as well as Australia and I was able to find a record of Heller in New Zealand in 1909 also, where his entertainment was described as first class. During a tour of North Queensland, floods ravaged the area and the Heller company was forced to travel by boat. In 1927, Will Alma formed a partnership with Heller called "Alma-Heller's Wonders," but they only presented three shows. George Heller became ill and the tour was cancelled. He died of cancer 1932 and was survived by his wife Maudeena. They apparently had no children.

Heller had a number of very beautiful full color posters, but his appearances within magic literature are quite small. In fact, if it were not for Will Alma, we would know precious little about George Waldo Heller.

Of the various magic sources that mention George Heller I did find some facts to be questionable. A couple sources say that Heller in his later days became a businessman. But I can find no record of what business he went into. He did provide touring entertainment and hired other magicians as well, so he very well may have gone into producing or acting as an agent. His final tour, which lasted three shows, he only showed movies with an Edison projector. So it's also possible the 'business' that is referred to was showing movies rather than performing. Also, several sources say that Heller performed in 1930 and 1931, but according the Will Alma, Heller never recovered from his ailment in 1927.

I'd like to add one more thing about the possibility that he was related to Angelo Palmer, the brother of Robert Heller. I cannot say for sure if this is true, however, I did find that Angelo lived and died in Australia. He did not however have anything to do with the magic business, Angelo was a lawyer. The one jarring thing is that Angelo went to Australia in 1853. So he likely only stayed in the US for a year before coming to Australia. If he traveled back and forth, I have yet to find the record. He did return to England when his father died, but eventually went back to Australia. Angelo C. Palmer died August 10th, 1912 at the age of 80. It is always possible that George Waldo Heller was actually born in Australia  and later traveled to NY, rather than being born in NY. There are a lot of questions and sadly, not a lot of answers.

UPDATE
Well, George Waldo Heller was NOT related to Robert Heller. It took me a while to find the proof, but I found it. Angelo Palmer who was Robert Heller's real brother denied that George was related to the family. And another performer who had worked with George prior to his name change gave the REAL NAME as Robert Wezner. Thanks to an issue of MUM from 1923 the mystery was solved!

The Odd Dr. Slade

A friend of mine sent me information on the grave of Dr. Henry Slade, but I couldn't quite recall who he was. I thought he had something to do with 'spiritualism' but was not totally certain so the research began. His name shows up in magic periodicals and even magic books. So who was Dr. Henry Slade?

He was born in Johnson Creek New York in 1836 and at an early age showed signs of having some sort of psychic ability. The claim was he had some sort of telekinetic power and could cause objects to move and even levitate. Let's stop right there for a moment and get some historical perspective.

In 1848, two sisters, Margaret and Katie Fox of Hydesville NY began to produce spiritualistic manifestations in the way of rapping sounds. This unusual phenomenon had never occurred before and when the news got out the world of so-called spirit communication took off. By 1954, two brothers, Ira and William Davenport were presenting something they called 'The Spirit Cabinet' in which manifestations also took place. The brothers were from Buffalo NY. And guess what town sits right in the middle between Buffalo and Hydesville............Johnson Creek.

Henry Slade would have been 12 when the Fox Sisters started their 'spiritualistic work'. As I mentioned before, as a boy Henry showed 'signs' of some sort of unusual power. Quite interestingly, the two young Davenport boys also showed 'signs' of unusual powers at a young age, all of this right after the word of the Fox Sisters hit the newspapers. For the record, people who could create these manifestations were referred to as  'Spirit Mediums'.

Slade moved to Michigan when he was 20. His title of 'Dr' apparently was not a medical doctor but rather a 'spiritual doctor'. His signature spiritualist manifestation was called 'Slate Writing'. At the time a very common item was a small square or rectangular piece of chalkboard or blackboard that was used by school children, these were called slates. Dr. Slade would show the several slates to have no writing upon them and during the course of his seances, writing would appear. This writing, he claimed, were messages from the dead. And to make his 'slate writing' even more exciting, the words were often written in different languages.

The spiritualist community recognizes that Dr. Henry Slade inventing or discovering slate writing. He certainly gets credit for it's popularity. If you're wondering how this fits into magic history, well let me explain that the Fox Sisters and the Davenport Brothers all later revealed that what they were doing was fake. In other words, they used what we would call 'magical methods' to create their effects. Magicians of the time knew this and that's why many of them included 'fake spirit effects' in their shows. Others, like Harry Kellar actually exposed the methods used by fake spirit mediums in their performances.

Slade apparently made millions of dollars over the course of his career by presenting seances and slate writing exhibitions. He traveled to Europe and performed before many of the royal families. At the height of his career it was near impossible to get a sitting with Dr. Slade. Even with the exposures in the press and by magicians like Kellar and by scientific investigators, his popularity continued.

That popularity stopped when he was beaten and robbed one evening in NY. He lost $10,000 worth of money and diamonds, likely everything he had. Ten Thousand dollars in the late 19th Century would be about $250,000 today, he could have lived on that the rest of his life. But now the money was gone and on top of that he developed some sort of paralysis after his injuries. He continued to give sittings but now at the discount price of .50 cents. His frail body, lack of money and constant exposure of mediums in the press and in theatres brought his career to an end. He would up in a Sanatorium in Detroit. And died on September 9th, 1905 and was buried in a paupers grave in Battle Creek Michigan.

But the story doesn't quite end there. A number of famous spiritualists of the time found out about Slade being buried in Battle Creek and began to take up a collection to have his grave moved to Albion Michigan. It was discovered that Slade owned a plot in the Riverside Cemetery there. They did get his grave moved and now he rests beneath a very large monumental tombstone with the following inscription on it "Henry Slade, renowned throughout the world as the first spiritualist medium for the independent slate writing. Retired to spirit life September 8,1905 after an earthly visit of 69 years, 5 months and 22 days. With toil now finished, with soul set free, he now enters eternity."

So was Slade the genuine spirit medium that he claimed or was he like the Davenport Brothers, the Fox Sisters, Anna Eva Fay and others of the time, a fake? Well, he had been exposed a number of times. The most damning exposure came from Remigius Weiss who caught Slade in the act and forced him to sign a document stating that his manifestations were all done through trickery. Weiss later gave the document to Harry Houdini to be used in his book A Magician Among the Spirits.  

Episode 2 Magic Detective Show

Here is Episode 2 now online. Once you watch the episode, head over to the blog article which gives more information about Episode 2. Enjoy!

Episode 2 Additional Information

For the record, I love searching out the graves of dead magicians. Mainly because it's so darn hard to find the graves of living ones. On Episode 2, I showed three photos of graves of magic related people. The first was the grave of Anna Eva Fay Pingree. Anna Eva Fay was a phenomenon in her day. She was born Ann Eliza Heathman in 1851, just at the time that the Fox Sisters and the Davenport Brothers were making news as spiritual mediums. She apparently showed signs of having 'the gift' and was encouraged to move in this direction. Ann met a man who would become her manager and he taught her the actual gifts (the methods used by fake mediums).  They created an act where she would present 'Light and Dark Seances' on-stage for audiences. Among her interesting creations during the 'light seance' was the effect we know today as The Dancing Handkerchief.  Her 'dark seance' sequence was similar to the Davenport Brothers act, she would be tied to a chair inside a cloth cabinet and bells would ring, tambourines would play and other manifestation would occur.

Over the years she would move away from the seance aspect of the show and move more towards mentalism effects, all with a 'spirit' kind of theme to them. She retired from show business in 1924 and settled in Melrose Mass.

The next grave belonged to Mina Stinson Crandon, better known as Margery the Medium. She was the medium who The Scientific American Magazine was going to acknowledge to the world as being  a genuine medium and could really speak to the dead. Well, that is until Houdini got wind of this and he stepped in. Actually, he more than stepped in, he took over the investigation and an all out war ensued! Houdini had a special wooden box built to house Margery and prevent her from causing the manifestations to happen by her own hand. Her spirit guide 'Walter', who was her deceased brother, still spoke however and could be quite the salty tongued spirit.

Houdini successfully prevented the Scientific American Committee from awarding Margery with any sort of authenticity certificate.

She lived on Lime St in Boston and is buried in the Forest Hill Cemetery. The photo was provided to me by escape artist and investigator Norman Bigelow. Norm is currently offering a lecture about Margery and Houdini and other mediums.

Last up is a fellow who I've done a LOT of research on, William Henry Palmer, who performed under the stage name of Robert Heller. He was quite the performer. His show included not only magic, but mind reading and music. You see, Robert Heller was an accomplished concert pianist. The Library of Congress even has several of his pieces of sheet music in their collection.

Heller traveled the world presenting his magic. He actually was from England but his career really blossomed in America. One of his most popular feats was his Second Sight routine. This was an early version of what we think of today as mentalism or mind reading. Heller used multiple methods to read the mind of Haidee Heller, a woman he called his sister but apparently she was not. Incidentally, there is a wonderful story I read that happened between Robert Heller and Haidee. After the musical section of the show one night, he and Haidee got into a quarrel behind the scenes. She refused to come out for the Second Sight routine. So Robert Heller walked out and announced "Ladies and Gentleman, this is the part of the program where Ms. Haidee Heller comes out, except tonight she refuses to do so. Let's wait and see." He then quietly took a seat on the couch and began to twirl his thumbs not speaking a word. A few moments a red hot Haidee came storming out. Heller said "Ah! I thought so" and they continued with the show.

Robert Heller died unexpectedly in November of 1878. He was on tour in Philedelphia and had performed at the Concert Hall on Nov 26th, but showed clear signs of being ill. It was pneumonia and he died the next day. His body was sent to Machepelah Cemetery in Philidelphia and was placed in a vault there. Sometime later it was moved to Mt. Moriah Cemetery where he remains to this day.

Incidentally, these three folks were all connected in two ways. First they all had a connection to Houdini. Anna Eva Fay and Houdini were friends. Margery and Houdini were friendly enemies. Houdini re-discovered the grave of Robert Heller. Second connection is they all presented seances!

More Magic Detective News

Tomorrow, Friday Oct 12 my second episode of The Magic Detective Show will be up on Youtube.  This next episode  I'll be showing three different graves of magicians. For regular followers of my blog, you will have seen the graves, HOWEVER, there is something there that I teased about in one of my columns that you haven't seen. So tomorrow, go check it out.

Because my format is only 5 minutes long, I am not able to get in depth into things like I want. I do plan eventually to do longer episodes but right now I need to build the audience and get the interest going and frankly, 5 minutes seems to be about the standard for popular shows on Youtube. But I have added one feature. After the episodes, I'm adding a blog article with more in-depth information. Hopefully this will work to bring more people to the blog and also bring my blog readers to the show.

Finally, The Magic Detective Show & Blog now has an Official Facebook Fan Page. So if you are so inclined, please go over and 'Like' my page!

Don't forget to enter the Magic Detective History Contest going on this month! The contest ends on Oct 30th, 2012, and the answers will be revealed on The Magic Detective Show!

http://www.themagicdetective.com/2012/10/magic-detective-magic-history-contest.html

Episode 1 Additional Information

First, thank you to everyone who clicked over to watch my new The Magic Detective Show on Youtube! I really appreciate it. Episode 1 showed an escape gone wrong. The escape in question happened in Venezuela some time around the mid 1970s and featured escape artist Steve Baker.

Many of my younger readers and viewers may not be familiar with Steve, but from the late 1960s to the 1980s he was easily one of the most recognized and popular escape artists around. I can remember seeing him on TV all the time when I was a kid.

The escape that is featured on the video is called 'Trial By Fire'. It just so happens that another escape artist, Norman Bigelow, also has an escape that he presents called 'Trial By Fire' but though they share the same name, the escapes are very different. In Steve's version he is chained to a wooden post and surrounded by a canvas covered t-pee like structure. The t-pee is sprayed with a special flammable chemical and then set on fire. Steve has seconds to get out the chains and burst through the t-pee flames before he too is engulfed in the inferno.

He had presented the escape successfully before. But on this night in Caracas something went wrong! At this point I encourage you to watch the video if you already haven't. It's worth seeing, plus I explain what went wrong.

Now the good news, Steve still escaped. The bad news was he suffered from some pretty bad burns. There was also more bad news. He still had another escape to do. He was supposed to escape from a packing crate in front of a live audience. His hands were bandaged up, but he still submitted to the challenge and escaped! But it was such a struggle that his hands began to bleed and by the time he got out of the trunk, his bandages were soaked red with blood!

Also on the bill with Steve was another escape artist, The Amazing Randi. James Randi was another well known escape artist of the time, but he was slowly phasing out escapes and moving into the world of exposing fake psychics. His career as an investigator of fake psychics still goes on today. However, during his time in Venezuela, he too was there to present escapes. His first escape was from a locked safe on live TV, which is something he had done a number of times in his career. His second escape had him escaping from a straight jacket, but not in the normal way. They decided to hang Randi upside down from a helicopter and fly him all over the city dangling by his ankles! By all accounts it was quite thrilling.

If I'm not mistaken there is an audio recording that Randi did in the late 70s or early 80s that was put out by Martin Breese and I believe that he mentions his time in Caracas with Steve, and I know he also mentions an escape of his that almost went wrong involving a locked safe.

Now, just to keep the record straight, I mentioned Norman Bigelow and his escape also called 'Trial By Fire'. I do not know who created the name first. I have a feeling it was a name they both chose without knowing of the others creation. Bigelow was another of the big escape names in the 1970s. He was performing in colleges and went on to become a prolific writer on escapes and magic. One of his tomes had to do with the Death of Houdini and he put forth the theory that Houdini was indeed killed. I believe the name of the manuscript was 'Death Blow'. Lots of people talk about that possibility today, but it was Norm who really looked into it and developed the theory.

Norman Bigelow continues to delve into little know areas of Houdini's life even today. Though his views are sometimes controversial, he doesn't do these things to become popular but to expose the truths he thinks are still hidden in Houdini's life and truths he believes we all should know.

Now, as to Norm's version of 'Trial By Fire'. He would be handcuffed to a board. Running along the board is a trail of gunpowder which was set on fire. Underneath his hand is a large amount of gunpowder. He had only seconds to get out of the handcuffs before being badly burned. His escape was done out in the open with the audience watching him as he openly picked the handcuffs. A very original and very unique escape and presentation.

Speaking of original, his manuscripts are filled with ideas and concepts for escape artists and magicians. One of his ideas was used by David Copperfield in the 1980s and then featured on one of his Television Specials.

In the future I think I'll continue to add some additional bits of information about the various episodes because afterall, they are only 5 minutes long. Eventually, once the audience is built up, I'll move to a longer format. See you all on FRIDAY for another episode of The Magic Detective Show!

The Magic Detective Show on Youtube!

 

FINALLY!!!!!!!! After months of delays, the first episode of The Magic Detective Show is online!
There is now a MagicDetective Youtube Channel, and I'd love it if you subscribed to the channel. I think I'm going to put together a 'blooper' video after a while so you can see some of the earlier attempts of recording the show. There are things I'd like to do that I can't because of the restraints of my camera. So season 1 will keep this format and if it's popular enough and I do a second season, I'll upgrade the camera and the look of the show.

If you are a collector or historian or performer with a cool piece of magic related history who would be willing to appear on my show, please let me know that also! You can reach me at: carnegiemagic@aol.com

Don't forget to enter the Magic Detective History Contest going on this month!

http://www.themagicdetective.com/2012/10/magic-detective-magic-history-contest.html

One Day Till -The Magic Detective Show

So after months of shoots and reshoots and restarts, the first episode is in the can, as they say. Between camera problems and just simply getting the time to shoot the show, it's been a challenge. I had expected to have this done MONTHS ago (like in January) but it never happened. But now I'm glad to say that the first and actually second episodes of the show are done.

The Magic Detective Show is a 5 minute look into the amazing world of theatrical magic history. We'll cover stories like the life, death and mysteries of Houdini, the first great American Magician Harry Kellar, we'll go in search of props and artifacts that belonged to great magicians and we'll visit with magic historians and collectors and much more.

The first episode of the Magic Detective You Tube Show will debut tomorrow, Friday Oct 5th at NOON Eastern Standard Time. It features an exciting escape from the 1970s gone bad!

The address to the Youtube channel is www.youtube.com/themagicdetective

Don't forget to enter the Magic Detective History Contest going on this month!

http://www.themagicdetective.com/2012/10/magic-detective-magic-history-contest.html

Magic Detective Magic History Contest

(See Entry Rules at the bottom of the page)

1. Who was the boyhood idol of Houdini?

2. Name two famous magi-folk who died on a train.

3. Who was the Elusive Moth?

4. Many magicians have used devils or demons on their advertising. Which Houdini poster featured devils?

5. Name three performers who have used the slogan “All Done By Kindness”.

6. Name four magicians in Machepelah Cemetery.

7. Name 2 famous mind reading escape artists with a connection to Houdini.

8. This desk belonged to two authors, name them. Where is the desk today?

9. He could do a great Bullet Catch for publicity, but then chose suicide in real life. Who was this person?

10. Who was the Frito-Lay Magician?

11. Who started performing in the Asparagus Valley Cultural Society?

12. Thomas Edison designed and built an illusion for this magician.

13. What magician had a nickname on the West Coast and a nickname on the East Coast which were similar to his real name?

14. Houdini allegedly put acid in this person's water barrel.

15. Name this gift-giving magician. (below)

16. Robert Heller, Houdini and Servais LeRoy all had the same idea but only one carried through with it. What was the idea?

17. What trick did Max Malini show President Warren G. Harding that garnered front-page newspaper coverage?

18. A coin magician who later made his living as a school show performer.

19. T.Nelson Downs was the King of Koins first and for a time presented an illusion act created by this man.

20. Early card pioneer and inventor of a mirror trick.

21. He was Fredrik before he took the name of a cigar.

22. Longest Running Resident Magic Show in United States?

23. Al Wheatley is credited with this invention.

24. Who was Wanda Timm?

25. What did Houdini do that had a negative effect on Long Tack Sam?

26.  Karl Germain and Quintino Marucci both featured this trick in their act.

27. What is the #1 most popular blog article to appear on The Magic Detective blog?

Contest Rules:

1. You can send your answers via email to carnegiemagic@aol.com
1. You must include your name with your entry.*
2. You don’t need to include your mailing address at this point, but if you win, you will need to send that to receive the prize.
3. Please put the question number next to your answers :)
2. First person with all the answers correct will win Prize 1. In the event that no one gets all the answers correct, then the first person with the most correct answers will win.
3. Prize 2 will be given to the winner of a blind drawing from the group of remaining winners (if there are any).
4. Entries will be accepted till October 29, 2012.
5. The Winner(s) will be announced on October 31, 2012. 
6. You can see the prizes here: http://www.themagicdetective.com/2012/09/a-little-more-on-magic-history-contest.html

                *Your entries and emails will be strictly kept confidential. I will not share or sell your email address.