Guest Blog - Amy Brewster - The Art of Escapology

 Harry Houdini was known for his escape acts and played a huge part in the shaping of escapology routines.  We spoke to three modern day Houdini’s, Chris Cross, Rob Roy Collins and Roslyn Walker on how Harry has been a big part of their careers and how they became the performers they are today.

All three artists said Houdini played a major role in their life, not just with his routines but with his performances and ability to capture an audience. “Houdini obviously influenced me – it’s difficult for him not to have. He took a very old art form and transformed it into a massively successful performance piece,” says Roslyn. “Before him magicians would use the ability to escape from cuffs and other restraints in order to perform pseudo psychic demonstrations. He was the first to see the potential of using the escape itself to entertain.”

Rob Roy Collins too is mesmerised by Houdini’s ability to entertain, “What I love most about him is not just his ability to perform escapology stunts, but his ability to sell himself. He was the best PR guru I’ve ever come across!”

Chris Cross envies Houdini’s ability to pull a crowd, especially “his marketing skills and his ability to create hype. He got people’s attention and was a master crowd-puller.”   All three artists highlight the power of Houdini’s work and how charisma was an important element in Houdini becoming a household name.

Roslyn Walker is such a fan of Houdini he recreated some of his most famous routines, “One of his most famous stunts was the Mirror Cuff Challenge where a pair of escape-proof cuffs was created. Houdini was locked in and had to escape. It took him over an hour to get out. But he did it and the audience went mental!”

Roslyn explains how he took the challenge to escape from the same kind of cuffs: “I wasn’t allowed to see them until they were snapped on my wrists and I wasn’t allowed to have them taken off unless I admitted defeat, or I escaped on my own. The only difference was I did this in full view, so my audience of 3000 could see everything, whereas Houdini did the escape in private. Houdini took over an hour, as I said, but I took just over four minutes to free myself. I was given the cuffs as a souvenir.”

Roslyn, Chris and Rob obviously love what they do and would encourage others to get involved but with precaution, as “the world of escapology is littered with horror stories of escapes going wrong and people being injured, or worse,” says Rob. ”If the person has practiced enough and has all safety precautions thoroughly in place then this should not happen.”

Roslyn Walker thinks experience in performing arts is the key to escapology, “Most escape artists get into the art through magic. They train as magicians first and then find escapology. Personally I think it’s an advantage to also have knowledge and experience in other performance arts. My background in circus has really helped me.”

Find out more about Roslyn Walker, Chris Cross and Rob Roy Collins here.

An Early Bust from the Scranton Houdini Museum

Today's photos are a special treat from Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brooks. These show one of the early casts made during their attempt to recreate the bust to sit on Houdini's Grave. Look closely and you can see all the pits and imperfections which were later filled in for the final bust. This particular bust is made of solid polyurethane and was then coated to give the appearance of bronze.

The photos also contain a second bust much smaller. This is apparently a bust that Bess Houdini gave out. It's hollow, made of plaster and quite fragile.

Thank you Dick and Dorothy for sharing these images!

The Great Lafayette on TV

One of my favorite articles, from this blog, was called Beauty and Lafayette. It's the story of a magician and his dog and the tragedy that ends the magician's life. It's one of my favorite stories in the history of magic because it has so many interesting layers to it.

The TV show Mysteries At The Museum has done a piece on Lafayette. I don't know when it was done originally, I just heard about it. They share the story, rather briefly, of Lafayette's death and the amazing thing that happened afterwards. The fellow doing the interview is David Stahl, who just so happens to be on the cover of the December 2013 MAGIC Magazine. And you need to read the article about David because along with being a successful performer he is also a collector. There is a wonderful story about a 'chance encounter' related to Lafayette that is a must read within his MAGIC Magazine article.

Now, enjoy the video from the show Mysteries At The Museum.

A Few Magician Statues

These photos come from the Collection of Bill King. Bill passed away a while ago and his stuff has been auctioned off. I have no idea what happened to these statues sadly, as I would love to have added them to my collection.

In the photo above there are two statues and in the center is an original Robert Houdin Mystery Clock. The statue on the left is actually Robert-Houdin and I recently saw one in auction for over $1000. The statue on the right is a little more common, though it was been reproduced. Bill King told me how to spot an original versus the copy. The bottom of the top hat on the originals was rounded and it's flat on the copys. I think the copys were authorized, at least I hope so, cause I have one :)

HOUDINI Calls in Deceptive Practices

According to an article on www.Broadwayworld.com, the company Deceptive Practices has been called in to consult on the new Houdini Broadway Musical. The company, is run by magicians Michael Weber and Ricky Jay.

The musical is set to star Hugh Jackman in the title role with music by Stephen Schwartz. The last part of the article mentions that HOUDINI could hit the stage sometime between the next 12-18 months!

To read the article from click here!

A New Twist on the End of HOUDINI by Tony Curtis

 In the world of Houdini, one of the most beloved movies is the Paramount 1953 version with Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. It also happens to be one of the most frustrating because of the ending. Magicians know that Houdini died from Peritonitis after having been punched in the stomach by J. Gordon Whitehead.

The HOUDINI movie with Tony Curtis shows a different end to Houdini's life. In the movie, he dies attempting the Pagoda Torture Cell Escape. So iconic was this ending that for many years lay people thought that was the way Houdini actually died.

That brings me to this little story. A close friend related the story of meeting Tony Curtis during one of his Art Gallery showings a few years before he died. They struck up a conversation and as is probably the case, the talk turned to his movies. My friend brought up the ending of the Houdini movie and why they chose to go with a fictitious ending.

Before I tell you what he said, I have heard many reasons. One, is that the students involved in the incident (when he was punched) were still alive and the studio feared being sued.  Another was that the studio wanted a more dramatic ending to the movie.

What I never heard is what Tony Curtis told my friend. He said "We shot the ending with the punch and it didn't play very strong for test audiences. So we shot the alternate ending where I die in the attempt of escaping from the big tank of water." I have never heard that before. I totally believe that he said it, but I'm not sure if I believe that it's true. IF it is true, that means that the movie many of us came to love had the potential to be a very different movie. In fact, still shots from other scenes have surfaced over the years, like the Milk Can, and the Airpline Transfer from the Grim Game.

Again, I must say I do believe Tony Curtis said it, but I'm not sure I believe it. I'm wondering if anyone else has heard this story?

Unique Houdini Artifact

Harry Houdini died Oct 31, 1926 at Grace Hospital Room 401. Most magicians today know that Houdini died on Halloween, they might not know the particular details of his death and what followed.

Grace Hospital

Grace Hospital in Detroit MI, opened in 1888 and quickly became a leading hospital in the city. As the years went by, additions were added to the hospital around the original building. Finally, sometime in the 1970s, the original part of the hospital was torn down and replaced.

Enter magician Wayne Alan. He had read about the upcoming demolition in a magic magazine and contacted the hospital administrator. He was able to go to the very room where Houdini died and salvage items from the room. Among the items he collected were two air vents and a piece of door trim. The air vent that was above the bed where Houdini died can be seen at the top of the page. Wayne has a number of unique items that he removed from Room 401 at Grace Hospital just before it was demolished.

News From the First Annual Houdini Festival in Danville VA

This has been a whirlwind weekend. So many stories, like the car breaking down on the way to Danville and having to turn back to have the car checked out. Long story short, we arrived at the Historic North Theatre in Danville VA shortly after midnight on Friday.

Magician Wayne Alan owns the theatre where the Houdini Festival takes place.  Attached to the theatre is a bed and breakfast which is just amazing. I'm not sure how many rooms there are, but Wayne has turned them into themed rooms. Of the ones I can remember, he has the Marylin Monroe Room, the Sinatra Room, the Tonight Show Room, the Today Show room and there are others I've forgotten. You can access the theatre from the Bed and Breakfast which was great.

First thing, Saturday morning Wayne gave us a tour of the Theatre. Let me say, this place is a real treasure. At one time, Danville VA sported 5 Vaudeville Theatres. Today, the Historic North Theatre is the only one which remains. It was recently refurbished before Wayne purchased it, so it has brand new seats (500 of them) and really a brand new everything. It's an amazing place.

In the basement below the stage, Wayne has put in what he calls Houdini's Haunted House. It's a normal Haunted House with some rather interesting Houdini artifacts scattered throughout. He also keeps several of the side show style illusions down there. It's certainly clever and word was he did a really strong business over the weeks in October because of Halloween. I will write about some of the artifacts in a future blog this week.

In the balcony of the theatre, Wayne Alan has created a sort of mini-theatre and this is where the lectures took place. The first lecturer of the event was Tony Econ. Tony is a fantastic card magician with a truly amazing life story. He was a great guy and did a simply fantastic job with his lecture.

Next up was ME! I was doing my lecture on Houdini and Escapes. To be specific, it's more on escapes and only briefly covers Houdini. The reason is because you can't talk escapes without mentioning Houdini. I talked a bit about the history of escapes and then taught a number of rope escapes, thumb cuff and thumb screw escapes and finally gave them some very clever information on handcuff escapes. I finished by performing an escape called The Strong Box. I was really thrilled with the reaction to my lecture and the response that followed. I'll be presenting this lecture again in the future.

After my lecture we had a surprise guest. But I'm going to hold the information on this wonderful lady because I need to get some photos and more biographical information. So this part of the day is for a future article.

Wayne Alan prepared an interesting talk on Why Houdini Was So Famous. I must say I really

enjoyed this talk. One of the first reasons Wayne sited for Houdini's success is actually almost identical to the first chapter of my book on Houdini (yes, I have a book and no it's not done.)
Wayne gave some really wonderful examples to back up his thoughts on Houdini's success and I'd say he was pretty much right on the money.

At this point in the day, Denise, my assistant, and I had to leave to run some errands so we missed

Carnegie & Wayne Alan

some of the activities in the afternoon. Basically, we had to get to the store to buy a video tape to record the evening Gala Show. Once we returned, the evening was spent preparing for the show, loading in our props and getting on costumes.

I should mention that Wayne Alan acted as M.C.for the Gala Show. He said a few opening words, did a quick routine and then proceeded to introduce the first act. Up first was Tony Econ doing his wonderfully executed Manipulation Act. Tony was great during the day with his lecture and he proved equally strong performing Card Manipulations and Billiard Ball moves with Large Dice.

Next up was Denise and I presenting our Steampunk Illusionist Act. During the course of the act we actually presented one escape routine and closed with my signature story trick about Houdini and Charlie Chaplin.

Wayne wrapped up the last part of the show by presenting the Misers Dream, A clever Shrinking Illusion using someone from the audience and then Floating a Member of the Audience in the Air. The audience loved the show! We got to meet and talk with them in the lobby following the performance.

After the last person exited the theatre, the boring part of showbiz began, which is tearing down the props and loading them in the car. Then stripping off all the costumes and makeup and getting ready to hit the road again. 

Another thing I missed was the Friday evening Close-Up Show in the Mini-Theatre. I forgot to ask Wayne how this part of the event went over, but I'm sure it went fine.

The First Annual Houdini Festival was fun. The number of attendees was less than Wayne would have liked but it just meant that it was more of an intimate gathering. For all who attended, they got a real treat with some bonuses that I have not mentioned. Wayne Alan is already beginning work on The Second Annual Houdini Festival. I know he is looking for lecturers, speakers, performers and of course attendees. Wayne has some Houdini related artifacts that he told me about which would make any Houdini-fan very envious and I'm sure they will show up in future editions of this festival. There are already some really cool things planned for next year so it's going to be something I personally will be looking forward too!