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There is another book on Houdini coming out in a few days. There is going to be an onslaught of Houdini books this year. This time my friend Kent Cummins is the author and he's written a book called I WANT TO BE LIKE HOUDINI. The launch of the book will be Feb 17th at the Texas Magic Center.
The book is described as "a tribute to Houdini 's life and the inspiration he sparked in a generation of magicians". Kent Cummins is a full time magician, a businessman, a marketing genius and an entrepreneur, and now author.
The event on Feb 17th will be hosted by Kent, and will include a magic show, there is a Houdini museum display, close-up magic, and more. Im sure its going to be an exciting event. To learn more, visit likehoudini.com
I have been searching for a long time for a photo of Chase's Vaudeville house. A fellow historian told me it was actually Keith's Theater, but he was slightly incorrect. Chase's began on Pennsylvania Avenue and later moved to 15th and G Street. Later, B.F. Keith's bought that location. But the original was on Pennsylvania Avenue, in view of the Capital Building.
In 1906 Houdini played Chase's Theater. In fact, I wrote all about it in 2014.But I never knew what it looked like until now. I recently discovered a photo that includes Chase's theater. And just by coincidence it contains a whole lot more related to magic as well. I'm going to share them all with you.
First, Chase's Polite Vaudeville Theater, it was located at 1424 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. In the photo above, Chase's is on the right hand side #3. Here is a close up of the theater. Houdini was there from September 16th to September 29, 1906. He was heavy into his Challenge Act Days, and each day provided a new and exciting challenge for DC audiences to enjoy. I will have more on Houdini in DC in an upcoming future project. But for now I want you to see, the outside and possibly the inside.
The reason I say possibly the inside is, this location really doesn't look big enough for the auditorium for which I have a photo. Looks can be deceiving and the building may be much larger than the facade out front, which was not uncommon with theaters. But there are two things that make me think this like was in fact the right place. One, it says 'Chases Theater' at the bottom of the picture, though this could be the second location. But the other thing is that Chases was originally the Grand Opera House and this auditorium sure looks like it should be an Opera House!
That's not the end of the story. If you move left on the upper most photo you see a tall building marked with a red #2. This was the Post Office Pavillion. Built in 1892, it was originally Barton & Logan's Dime Museum. This was pre-vaudeville. In 1880, Imro Fox, the magician who would later be one of the Bosco's in LeRoy Talma And Bosco, worked at Bartons. He was working as a chef at a local hotel about a block away. The manager of the Dime Museum had hired a magician who was showing up drunk and then not showing up at all. Word reached him that there was a chef who was an amateur magician. He approached Imro Fox, the chef, who at first said no. Then he offered to pay him $50 and he said yes. Fifty dollars in 1880 had to be like crazy money.
Back to the photo at the top of the page. The red #3 is the Nation's Capital, where in 1902, a 29 year old Max Malini, bit the button off the coat on Senator Mark Hanna on the steps of the Capital, and then immediately restored it. Word reached the White House and the next day, Malini was performing for President Teddy Roosevelt!
However, there is another incident. In 1926, Houdini testified before Congress, twice, about an Anti-Spiritualism bill, which was actually an Anti-Fortune Telling Bill. I covered those exploits on this blog and also on two episodes of my podcast, one which has yet to air.
Finally, we get down to the last red number, #1. It is obscured by the trees, but it is iconic to both the magic world and DC residents. It would be the future location of Al's Magic Shop, run by Al Cohen and his son. Originally it was a gift shop that he and his father ran. Slowly, Al started adding magic tricks to the items sold and eventually the magic took over.
In 1980, Al got word that the area was going to be redeveloped and his building would be torn down. So he moved the shop. Al would move the shop from 1205 Pennsylvania Ave NW to a couple different locations, eventually ending up on Vermont Avenue, which is only a few blocks from this location.
Al's served as the go to place in the DC areas for magicians to gather and buy tricks and meet up. I remember bumping into David Williamson there once, and the Amazing Randi, and even Patch Adams. But the most ironic part of all this to me, and I didn't realize it until today. Long after the shop had been torn down, my good friend Ralph and I went down to a festival in DC that was on Pennsylvania Avenue. We went down there busking and if I might add, made quite a bit of money. Fortunately we didn't get thrown out, at least not at that one. But the spot we set up at, was the exact spot of the old Al's Magic Shop! I never realized it before, but looking over the old photo and checking locations, sure enough we stood in front of Al's location. Wild.
And I'll leave you with a bonus. Houdini was at Chase's earlier in 1906 too. Again, I'll have more on all that soon. But here is a newspaper article from his January appearance! This is from The Washington Star Newspaper, January 2nd, 1906.
My friend Denny Haney, owner of The Denny and Lee Magic Studio, magical artist known as Denny Lee, died this day, Jan 23rd in 2019. He wasn't world famous, but yet he performed Internationally. He wasn't a household name. But among magicians he was revered. The best names in magic would call him for his opinions and advice. He freely shared his knowledge and wisdom with whoever wanted to hear. I know it also frustrated him at times. Denny was highly opinionated, this came from being the real deal, an actual performing magician with thousands of shows under his belt.
He performed nearly every type of venue there was and nearly every style of magic, with the exception of mentalism. For some reason, mentalism didn't really interest him. He admired those who did it, but his forte was stage magic. He loved manipulation having been a graduate of the Chavez Course in Magic. And he loved illusion magic. He had many clever twists on existing illusions. He was from the old school of 'make it entertaining'. So whenever magic was done, he also added in plenty of bits of business.
A perfect example of Denny's style of entertainment was his version of the Bottle Trick. This was something many many magicians have done. Denny's routine was straight out of Ken Brooke's booklet. But what made it special was Denny. He was often compared to Red Skelton in his style of performing and I can see that. Watch the video below and notice his impeccable style.
As I said, Denny was opinionated, but he could always back it up. There are plenty of people with opinions, but when you press them on it, they often fall apart. Why? Their opinions are based upon what they heard someone else say and they have no real knowledge of the subject. Denny's opinions were backed by years and years of work before real world audiences. Honestly if Denny made a suggestion about something, you'd be wise to follow the masters direction. Below is a video of one of Denny's signature routines. Again, I think much of this is Ken Brooke's handling. But notice how Denny interacts with the audience members. He's funny, friendly, and his magic is top notch.
I didnt get to see Denny during his last days, which on one hand makes me very sad. He even asked about me to some friends who were up there. But on the other hand, I remember Denny as the lively old Wizard who loved magic and loved sharing it with anyone who would watch. I learned so much from that guy. I still have a hard time thinking he's gone. It was a crushing moment for anyone who knew him and for those of us who were close to him. He was one of a kind.
A quick story to finish things up. I was in his shop, back in the 90s and I asked him about a particular trick that I had seen Doug Henning perform. It was something that fooled me and I could never find out where it was in print. So I asked Denny and he said, "It's in Tarbell". This was often something Denny would say in regards to an inquiry and he was usually correct. Except this time. This time I stopped him and said, "No it's not. I know what you are referring to and that's not it" And Denny said, "Yes, that's it. Go check it out again." And I was sure he was wrong. I went home, opened my Tarbell Volume 5 and there it was...he was correct, again. I had looked at that a dozen times or more and was convinced that what Doug Henning did was NOT that trick. So the trick fooled me TWICE! Once live and once via a book.
On his gravestone, is printed his favorite saying. I found a photo of it online. RIP ole friend.
I plan to do the next podcast on Bess Houdini. Is she the forgotten Houdini? I mean, all Houdini historians, writers, biographers, write about Harry, but Bessie is always a secondary player. I would like to write this podcast where Bess is the focus, and Houdini is the secondary player.
She outlived her husband, and then outlived her business manager/companion, Edward Saint. She had 17 years without Harry, and yet in that time, she helped to make him a legend. Episode 115 will bring the life of Bess, perhaps in a way that has never been done before. The research has begun. I won't have it ready by her birthday on Friday. But I hope to get it finished before the end of the month.
Harry Laverne Anderson was born in Newport, Rhode Island at a Naval Hospital, on October 14th, 1952. His father, Harry Laverne Anderson Sr. was graduate of the US Naval Academy Class of 1950. He was soon transferred to Queens NY shortly after Harry was born. He attained the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade before being discharged around 1953. Harry’s father would then become a salesman, selling dishes. But according to a Jun 2018 article on Genii Magazine, Harry’s father real passion was betting on the ponies. He apparently gambled away most of the family fortune. They moved to Chicago next. Harry was around 7 years old. This is where his interest in magic began. And a fact often left out of his origin story, he first saw Blackstone Sr. perform in Chicago and was enthralled…mostly with the showgirls, but still enthralled. While in Chicago, His father would often rent a conference room at the Ambassador East Hotel and Harry would be left alone in the lobby. It turns out, the The Palm Room was there where Bert Allerton the magician performed. But during the day it was a place where a lot of card men hung out, gamblers and the like. Harry would learn about cards, card games, cons, even magic tricks. It was an ideal education for someone who would eventually become a budding young magician. Incidentally, I believe his parents had divorced by this time. So Harry would spend some time with Dad and other time with his mother.
Harry and his mother Suzanne, would move often during his youth. By the time he was 16 years old he had lived in 12 different states and there would be more to come. He wound up on Las Vegas where his mother took a job as a casino dealer. A People Magazine article stated, his mother worked often as a prostitute. Harry understood the hardships they encountered and did not hold this against his mother.
Another move was right around the corner. But this time, he would go by himself to live with his father. He found himself in Los Angeles. How long this lasted I’m not sure. According to the book WISE GUY by Mike Caveney, Harry left home and moved in with a friend in Fullerton CA. This friend was Eric Norby. Something to remember because only a few years later, Norby would become Harry Anderson’s manager. One of my favorite stories about Harry Anderson happened during this time. As it turned out, the Norby house where Harry lived was very close to Claude Yarbrough, who would later be known as Johnathan Pendragon.
The story comes from the pages of Genii Magazine March 1986. According to Johnathan, Harry was living in his neighbors garage and he had gone over to visit. Jonathan was admiring a small production box, when Harry asked him what he thought of it. Johnthan said he thought it was beautiful. And with that, Harry grabbed it out of his hands and threw it across the room. To quote Johnthan, “He looked at me and said, MAGIC Is an ART, not a CRAFT!. Harry Loved being dramatic”. So there is our first lesson in magic from 16 year old Harry Anderson, Magic is an ART not a craft.
Another interesting fact is that Harry became part of the Dante Magic Club that met at Rancho Dante in San Fernando Valley. This was Harry Jansen’s place and though Harry, or DANTE, had since passed away, the club and ranch was still being run by his son Al Jansen. Quite a few names came through there over the years including Paul Green and Paul Harris. Harry was about 14 at the time. The Dante Magic Club would have lectures…now keep in mind, this is 1966. Charlie Miller lectured, Kuda Bux lectures, Dai Vernon lectured
During his senior year of High School Harry made a trip to San Francisco where he happened upon a street magician, a busker as it were. And Harry’s life was forever changed! He realized he could do this same thing and make money at it. He saw a number of street performers who would go onto fame. Robert Shields who would later be a popular mime with his wifeLorene Yarnell, aka Shields and Yarnell. BTW, they would later be guests on one of the Doug Henning World of Magic Specials. There was also a comedian, you might have heard of him, Robin Williams. Harry was only in San Francisco for a couple days, but it was long enough for him to know he needed to return once he finished High School.
After HS, he had been given an English scholarship, so he went to Berkely to check it out, but found out quickly it was not for him. So he was then San Fransisco bound. As a solo busker on the streets of San Fran, one of the things he did was the Three Shell Game. The book WiseGuy says he learned from a Jack CHANIN manuscript, but Harry would say it came from Frank Garcia’s routine. Likely it was a mixture of both. Things went pretty well until the day that an irate participant broke Harry’s jaw. There was a silver lining to the accident however. He discovered a little magic nightclub and a local magician who performed there, Martin Lewis. This would be an occasional gig for Harry, and a life long friendship for him and Martin. It was Martin who encouraged Harry to start doing indoor gigs, which led him to performing in colleges.
Speaking of Martin Lewis and Harry Anderson. The first time I ever saw either of them was on the John Davidson Talk Show. Harry was up first, and he was quite young. He came out and did a quick bit and suddenly Davidson came running onto the stage picked up Harry’s props and moved them slightly and then left. Harry stood there confused. John came back on and said, “you missed your mark. You had to be on your mark or lighting would be all wrong” and then the audience laughed and harry gave a half hearted chuckle and repeated the opening gag. But it didnt stop him from having a strong set. Later in the episode, Harry introduces Martin Lewis who does some great close up magic with Dice. A few years later, Harry and Martin would team up and write and produce a satirical version of Genii Magazine called Wenii.
Next he moved to Ashland Oregon. He would soon find himself working for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 1971. Among his unique magic was a version of the Broom Suspension that he had fabricated by a local orthopedic supply builder and they were able to create something that worked. According to WISE GUY, it was a bit overbuilt, but it worked and then so did Harry.
The next season Harry was offered the job if he could come up with a new feature. His choice the deadly bullet catch. Yes, the Bullet Catch that has killed, a dozen or so magicians. The book Wise Guy lays out the entire story, and I’ll say, Harry was lucky he had a career after this adventure. Actually, he was lucky he had a life after this adventure. At moments during the development of his routine, and the development of the method, Harry really should have been seriously injured. But something always stopped it at the last moment. As you know, I don’t divulge secrets on this podcast, but rest assured, Harry’s method had a projectile heading straight at him, had he gone with his first idea. In a test run, a hole was shot through a thick wooden fence. Umm, yeah let’s reexamine this procedure.
Eventually, he came up with a quite dramatic routine that was as safe as it can be. A marked bullet shot from a gun, ends up in the mouth of the magician who is standing some distance away. Like his idol Ted Annemann, Harry spun around and hit the ground before revealing the marked bullet had arrived in his mouth!
When Harry was doing colleges, he would do a free show in the afternoon, kind of his busking material, and then later in the evening he would do a bigger show at the college for which he did get paid, and paid well. His evening show consisted of mentalism. As I mentioned, One of Harry’s magic heroes was Ted Annemann. and the mentalism that Harry used was straight out of the Jinx and Practical Mental Effects. His college tours lasted a couple years.
During the college tours, he picked up a new assistant Leslie Pollack, who would eventually become Mrs. Harry Anderson.
Leslie would take the lead role in their mentalism act. In fact, she would be the designated medium. They quickly learned that having Leslie read minds was more believable to the audience. This left Harry to do whatever dirty work was necessary to make the effect happen.
There was a gentleman in the 1970s named Kerry Ross, a young comedy magician. At the time his big claim to fame was the development of the first ever comedy straitjacket routine. No one had done this prior to Kerry. Today it’s pretty commonplace to say the least.
Well, Harry Anderson saw Kerry’s routine and according to the book Wise Guy by Mike Caveney, Harry said, “You know, that could be funny.” That’s one way of putting it. I have seen numerous people credit Kerry Ross with having the first comedy straitjacket routine. Kerry created this in 1972. He is unquestionably the originator. However, In 1977, Kerry worked with Harry at the Magic Castle and this is where Harry Anderson saw the straitjacket routine for the first time. Harry told Kerry he liked what he was doing and he was going to start doing it. Which he actually did, line for line, Kerrys routine.
In 1979, HBO was developing a special called Worlds Greatest Escapes. Steve Baker was a big part of that special. The producers asked Steve what he thought about Harry Anderson’s comedy straitjacket routine. Steve told them, “if you want a comedy straitjacket routine, you should go to the guy who originated it”, and that’s how Kerry Ross got to be part of that special. I think its important to state for the record, the guy who came up with the concept. It’s rather daunting to consider how many others have copied this act.
Later, Kerry Ross and actor, writer Larry Hovis restructured and rewrote the act so that it no longer would conflict with what Harry had stolen. I’m sure Kerry made sure to keep this away from Harry. BTW, Kerry is still a very busy working professional magician to this day.
Harry Anderson, would eventually expand and elaborate this routine to include his wife. They would be involved in a contest and she would have to free herself from 100 feet of rope tied to a chair. While Harry had to get free of the jacket. The contest, Who would free themselves first. I believe Leslie always won. Or better, Harry always just lost.
In 1980, Gallagher saw Harry and Leslie perform in Hollywood. Gallagher at the time was being represented by Ken Kragen. Ken then saw the act and asked Harry and Leslie if they would like to be the opening act for his main client, Country Music Star Kenny Rogers. Harry and Leslie would open for Kenny Rogers when he was working in Las Vegas. Ken Kragen was very pleased with the Anderson’s and offered to manage them. The Anderson’s would open for Kenny Rogers, The Gatlin Brothers, Dottie West, Robert Miller, Debbie Reynolds, the 50 rocks band Sha Na Na and frankly many others. They were a popular opening act. UNTIL, Leslie got pregnant. Basically, at that point, Harry had to replace the Escape Contest with something new. This is where his exploration of the GRAPPLER began.
The Grappler was an elaborate gambling device that Harry picked up from owens magic. At the time he had no idea what to do with it, but he knew there was something there. When Leslie wasn’t able to do the show, Harry incorporated the Grappler into another routine as sort of an absurd explanation all for laughs. It worked and became a staple in his show. Here is a video of what might be Harry's first attempt at using the Grappler.
Wait, back to the Contest one more time. So Harry and Leslie were in Reno performing. And some nights were rather slow. In fact, there was one Monday, when there was one guy in the audience. And he was drunk. But Harry was contracted to do his act, so he ddi the show for one guy. He gets the him up to tie up Leslie and then put him in the jacket. The moment he finishes getting them both secure, he leaves the theatre. There they are, Harry and his wife, all tied up with no one to watch. Was this maybe a tiny bit of Karma? Maybe.
Being managed by Ken Kragen led to Harry getting the occasional talk show, of which there were many back then. John Davidson, Dinah, Merv Griffen, Mike Douglas, and those were just the day time talk shows. The evening you had The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and the Late Show with Tom Snyder. And though it wasn’t a talk show, one of the biggest comedy shows on TV, Saturday Night Live.
Next is a great video of Harry. He is hosting the Young Comedians Special on HBO and he's doing The Pavel Walking Knot. This would be the first time I ever saw it. I had seen the version that Doug Henning did, NOT Pavel, but a more elaborate version of the Walking Knot, and Harry's version was very different.
Dick Ebersol was the new producer of Saturday Night Live and caught Harry’s act in Las Vegas and offered him a comedy spot on SNL. Harry would appear on that show nine times over the years, even hosting it at one point.
In 1957, a magician named Bruce Spangler invented a clever trick called, “You Do VooDoo.” This was a wild effect where a large hat pin could be shoved through the magicians arm. In 1975, possibly earlier, he put it out on the market. I say 1975 because that was the first time I could find an ad for it in Genii. According to the book WISE GUY, in the early 70s when Harry was working the streets in San Francisco, he visited Marvin Burger’s House of Magic and purchased the You Do Voodoo trick for a friend. Unfortunately his friend never received the gift as Harry found it to be perfect for his show.
Known as The Needle Through Arm, it took a while to develop. There is a photo of Harry doing the trick in 1974 in the book. He used it for shock value. It usually divided the audience with half liking it and half hating it. After all, it looks quite real. He eventually added comedic bits and a new attitude for the effect that put it over much better. Harry even allowed an audience member pull on the needle when it was through his arm. This became a signature trick for him. Harry presented the Needle through Arm on his fourth appearance on Saturday Night Live. His full routine appears in the book Wise Guy by Mike Caveney, though 20 years later, Harry is quoted as saying, “Why would anyone want to do this trick, even I shouldn’t be doing it anymore!”
The first time Harry Anderson was asked to HOST Saturday Night Live, he had a new routine to offer the producers. A little thing he called Skippy. This routine used a Lloyds Guinea Pig Box. The one Harry had came from Danny Dew. The standard routine involved taking a live guinea pig and tearing it to pieces. I honestly don’t know if you wrapped the animal in newspaper first or what. But Harry’s version would have him showing the LIVE guinea pig and then picking him up and visibly shoving it into his mouth and eating him, swallowing it whole on LIVE TV. The demonstration caused the NBC switchboard lit up. Untold thousands, or more were calling in to see if the Guinea Pig was harmed!!! To say it made an impact is putting it lightly. To show how strong an effect this was, many years later, Mac King would present his version of the same effect on Penn and Tellers Fool Us! And this time, in the internet age, it caused the video to go viral!
If you are familiar at all with Harry Anderson, you’ll know he got a little side-tracked in the 80s and 90s. He did a few guest spots on the TV show CHEERS, which led to him getting cast as Judge Harry Stone on the TV Show Night Court. Along the way, Harry starred in his own comedy magic special Hello Sucker, and then later, Harry Anderson Tricks of the Trade. He hosted Magician’s Favorite Magicians for CBS, and appeared on NBCs World’s Greatest Magic 5. He also hosted a special called The Science of Magic. And he appeared on Magic In the Magic Kingdom. There were many appearances on TV by Harry Anderson, both on specials and talk shows. And his acting career included two long running series, Night Court and Dave’s World, and many smaller parts on tv and in movies.
After Dave’s World ended in 1997, Harry slowed his acting roles down and began to move back towards magic. Eventually, he moved to New Orleans, where he opened his own magic shop called Spade & Archer. If you’re curious, the name comes from the movie the Maltese Falcon, it’s the name of the detective agency. Harry also had a shop of curiousities called Sideshow, and his own theater called Oswald’s Speakeasy. Here is where he presented his one man show, aptly called Wise Guy. That show was an interesting mix of material. No longer really completely Harry the Hat, the wise talking con man character. But now, more mellow, still a bit sarcastic, and reflective. He opened by telling the story of doing the Skippy routine on SNL and actually DOING the routine in the process. Skippy was the Guinea Pig eating trick if you recall. He does the Straitjacket, but now it’s something quite different. It’s not Kerry Ross’s routine. It’s not the Escape Dual. It’s now the Middle-Aged StraitJacket Escape, in which he is placed into the jacket, struggles a little, and then his hand is seen to reach out of the lower end of the jacket and removes a twenty dollar bill from his pocket. He then hands this to a spectator and says, “Let me out!”
He did something that I always wanted to see but never did. I only heard about it actually, and only recently saw photos. He did a ventriloquist act with a vent puppet that looks like Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man. And here is where that came from. Harry gets a call one day from Jay Johnson, the Ventriloquist, who says, “You have 45 minutes left, someone is selling an Elephant Man Vent Puppet on eBay!” That was it. Harry knew instantly. He won it and it went into his show.
There are other things in the show, no needle though, but he does his Monarch Monte and finishes with Chapaugraphy, the art of Folding a circle of felt into various hat like shapes. He did this on tv several times. It’s quite nostalgic and frankly artsy.
Things in New Orleans were looking up. Harry who had sadly divorced Leslie in the late 90s, Now met and married a woman named Elizabeth, who he remained married to for 18 years. He had two stores, Spade and Archer, and then Sideshow. I guess they were more like museums for his vast collection of oddities. Harry did sell a number of magic props, many of which were hand made by him. Sadly, in the mid 2000s, Hurricane Katrina came along and devastated New Orleans. The Speakeasy became a meeting place for locals and a rallying point for local organizers to try and rebuild the city. Harry and Elizabeth finally left when Harry realized the New Orleans governmental leaders, Mayor Ray Nagin especially, didnt care about fixing the city. Harry’s fears would be proven true when Nagin was convicted on charges of wire fraud, bribery and money laundering related to a city corruption scandal. He served ten years in prison.
Harry and Elizabeth moved to Asheville, North Carolina, for a quieter life. Over the years, Harry had many dear friends: Turk Pipkin who he met in Austin TX during his busking days. He and Turk would collaborate and write material for books and TV. Jay Johnson, the ventriloquist comedian was very close to Harry. Mike Caveny and Tina lenert and Martin lewis. All of these people were members of The Left Handed League. Harry was close with his cast members of Night Court, John Laroquette and Markie Post. He was NOT close to, nor ever liked to speak of or hear the name Richard Moll, the actor who played BULL on Night Court.
Harry Anderson died April 16th, 2018. He was 65 years old. Harry had been having health issues related to influenza and had several strokes. Apparently he died in his sleep of a stroke.
Harry is survived by his wife Elizabeth, his son Dashiell and daughter Eva Fay from his marriage to Leslie.
I did find a quote from Harry that i really like in regards to magic. This is from his Penguin Magic Lecture. “Good magic is something you’re never finished with. IF you’ve got something you love doing, you should always consider it half done for as long as you can”. The point of it was to always be creating, adding new lines or trying to improve it. I made a bid deal of the straitjacket earlier and rightfully so. But if you look at how he changed it over time to make it his own. Even in his 60s, he felt getting out of a straitjacket for him, was a bit silly, so he created the Middle Aged Straitjacket escape.
Make no mistake, Harry was one of the big names of the 20th Century in Magic. He's up there with Copperfield, Henning, Blackstone, Ricky Jay, Penn and Teller. He made a huge impact both in the magic world and the acting world. But we will always remember him as Harry The Hat.
Well, this is a first. I just put together my entire season 8 list of episodes. They're not written yet or recorded. That will take all year. But episode 114 is done, almost. It's written. And, it's going to have a really cool ending, IF I can get permission from the publishing company to use something that was written in a particular book. I don't want to divulge what that is yet. I hope to hear back from them this week. The moment I do, I will be recording the episode.
Here is a sample of what you can look forward to in 2026. BTW, not a complete list. I may add to it, or alter it slightly. But these are the episodes I plan to kick out: 114-Harry Anderson, 115 Harry Jansen , 116 Doug Henning, 117 Houdini Movies, 118 Herrmann The Great, 119 Steve Baker, 120 Bess Houdini, 121 Ricky Jay, 122 Theo Hardeen, 123 Richard Potter.
This is more than I had during Season 7. And it's possible there will be more to the list. Also possible I'll switch some of the numbers around, in other words they may come out in a slightly different order. But these are the ones I intend to do this year.
Remember, all my podcast episodes are written, narrated , recorded, and edited by ME. There is no artificial intelligence used.
This year marks the 100th Anniversary of the Death of Harry Houdini. All year long there will be celebrations acoss the Globe. In his hometown of Appleton Wisconsin there will be special performances throughout the year. The Society of American Magicians is holding their Annual Convention there this summer.
For me, I have several things in store. And now to reveal part 1. The Houdini Art of 2026. Every month, I will offer prints of my Houdini paintings. These will be Limited Edition Prints on premium quality high art paper. I offered the first one in December and now the second is being offered. Each month I will offer a new print. The first two prints are limited to a total of 25 each. Several of my original Houdini paintings are in private collections, so those will not be included. Instead, I will be painting brand new creations this year as well as offering some from my collection. All the offerings this year will be limited edition prints.
IF you've seen my work in the past you know I paint in many different styles. I already have several Houdini caricature paintings, one of which can be seen above. There are some highly colorized paintings, I hope to capture Houdini in other styles like Cubism, Surrealism, Impressionism and more. But for now expect to see some very interesting and unique pieces throughout the year.
OH , how can you purchase them? Easy, visit. Carnegie-Magic.myshopify.com OR, I will post the links below for the first two paintings. By the way, there are 8 other magic related prints available as well.
I think of this one as Houdini in the church window. That was my inspiration for the artwork. No religious connotation inferred. I just like the stained glass images of people and wondered what it would look like if Houdini were capture that way. It is one of my favorites and one of my most requested pieces. Now offered in limited edition prints.
Houdini in Profile is one in a series of caricatures done in profile. There are others, Blackstone, Chung Ling Soo, and more. All done in this same sort of style and similar background. With the Houdini, he has a chain and lock hanging from his neck. Each of the caricatures have some additional item that connects to them. Now offered for the first time in limited edition prints.
This is something new, but I'd like to share with you the concept of Show Notes. This is specifically for the performer, but it can be an amateur or professional or even hobbyist for that matter. Magic is a performing art. You can be a lover of magic without performing certainly. But if you do any magic at all, you want to strive for the best presentation possible. For some, that means just doing the trick the way they've seen others do it. This is problematic however. First, you never want to copy someone else's routine, yet we've all likely done it to some degree. Personally, I like to play with magic from long dead masters. It's fun to bring back routines of the past. Levant, who is a comedy magician put together a series of videos on the Linking Rings. He teaches many routines from past masters: Dai Vernon, Roy Benson, Chung Ling Soo, Professor Hoffmann, and others. It's quite revealing to see what has been done in the past and use them as the basis for your own.
But, I'm getting away from my initial thought, which is Show Notes. People, magicians specifically seem to dislike criticism. And that's the first thing you have to rid yourself of if you want to improve. Never settle for 'just ok'. Or 'it gets a response'. Or my audiences seem to enjoy it. No. Always strive to improve your performance and a great way to do that is with fresh eyes taking notes of your performance.
Here is how it works. Find a trusted friend. They can be a fellow magician, or a lay person, or someone in theater, and ask them to take notes during your show. Tell them to look for things that stand out, both positive and negative. But you really want more negative because through these notes you'll be able to tackle the negative things and remove or fix them.
I have a core group of friends. Years ago when we were always together, we would either go to each others shows or we would video the shows. Then we would critique the shows by making notes of things we saw. For example, there are many bad habits we are not aware of. We can't be, we're too close to the material. Maybe you are mispronouncing a word. Maybe you repeat a word over and over. Maybe you don't accentuate the climax of your trick properly, because you rush through it, or don't hold it long enough to get the proper applause, or you kill it with a joke at the wrong time. Trust me, I've done every one of those things. And this was AFTER I tried to clean it all up as best I could. But then a fresh set of eyes comes in and is able to point out things I never realized, or I did realize and never fixed.
NEVER take things personally. And this goes for the note writer too. Don't be personal about your critiques. For example the note says, "that's a stupid trick, why do you do it?" Not helpful. But instead, maybe ask, "is this effect registering with the audience? Or, I think the audience is seeing right through this trick the way you are currently doing it" And be willing to work on solutions.
One of the note taking rules we used to have was to be brutal. No sense taking notes and not getting anything back...unless of course your routine is perfect, and whose is? Even the best routine, can probably use a tweak or two. Maybe it's an addition of a line, maybe the removal of a line. Maybe it's standing a certain way. Maybe it's the entrance, when you first walk on stage. Maybe it's the in between stuff that needs to be worked on.
This brings to me to one of my most frustrating things, and that is when people think the SECRET is all there is to a trick. The METHOD or SECRET is one tiny part. The presentation, the audience interaction, the patter, your movement, all of these things go together. And then there are outside elements, your costuming or how you dress, your grooming, your lighting, your sound if you use it, your diction, your script. I always have a script. I work on it judiciously when I first create a routine. I don't always write it down, which is my own mistake. And I'll go on record to say you should write it down. But my point is, a magic effect, a routine, a composition, is more than the secret. Sometimes, it could be a story which is the focal point and the magic backs up the story. I'm reminded of Penn Jillette's version of the Needle Through Balloon. If you've never seen it, the routine is extremely theatrical and dramatic. It's also very well thought out and totally different from any other routine of the kind. In fact, watch the video.
Now, imagine how many notes went into that routine. I'm sure it wasn't the masterpiece you now see the very first time it was presented. It took a while to get the script down. It took a while figuring out how to deliver the lines. It took a while figuring out just what could be done to the balloon that allowed it to remain without it exploding, and yet each step had to prove a point. I'll be this routine went through a lot of show notes, and yet, look at the result. Brilliant.
This is what show notes can help you accomplish. They help you improve faster than you could do it on your own. It's that fresh set of eyes, that I keep talking about. We are often blind to things that stand out to others. Wouldn't you rather know about those things and fix them? Again, it isn't about people being critical of you, it's about fixing, tweaking, improving, your magic to bring about the best possible results.
Recently, I came across a promotional photo of a magician leaning on his motorcycle. Someone I had never heard of and I won't be repeating the name. Why? Because I've seen countless versions of this same photo by illusionists and every time I see it I think, "Really? The last person to make that photo look good was David Copperfield. And that was in the 90s." I also think, "I bet they don't even have a license to operate a motorcycle, lol"
Let's take a deeper look. The Vanishing Motorcycle popular today began with David Devant. His original illusion was called, BIFF. It appears in the book, Devant's Delightful Delusions by S.H. Sharpe. In Devant's version, a motorcycle and rider drove the cycle into a large wooden crate. The crate was then hoisted into the air. The audience could hear the engine revving and then suddenly it stopped and with that the box began to collapse into individual boards and drop on the stage floor below, leaving no trace of the motorcycle nor the rider.
There was also an illusion created by Oswald Williams called The Dizzy Limit or Cargo Net Illusion. In its original form, a large cargo net was shown hanging from the stage. One side was lifted up to make sort of a hammock. Then a woman would lay down inside the 'hammock' while the entire thing was lifted higher in the air. Upon command a flash was seen and hammock fell apart leaving the net hanging but the girl had vanished. A very effective mystery.
I am not sure when it happened, but at some point, illusionists took the Dizzy Limit idea and rather than use a cargo net, they made the 'net' out of metal instead of rope and you could see into it the entire time. This then replaced the fall apart box for the motorcycle vanish. The motorcycle was driven into the large mental net, it was lifted in the air and upon command it collapsed much like the Cargo net so that one side remained suspended but the rest laid open so you could see through the entire thing.
The first time I saw the Motorcycle Vanish was Doug Henning on one of his TV Specials. He used the Dizzy Limit version. BTW, the Vanish usually involves a vanish and transposition. So in Doug's case he reappeared inside a previously empty box. You can see that video below. You'll note that the presentation is quite dated. It was charming for the time, however.
Now contrast that with the version David Copperfield created a few years later. Same illusion to begin. When David Copperfield did the illusion, it took on bigger proportions. The entire special seemed to be themed around Harley Davidson, the shows logo used the HD Font. David wore a leather jacket. The vanish was done with the same sort of steel or metal net, but David reappearance was more dramatic. Watch.
David Copperfield took it up several notches! He made a much grander spectacle of the illusion. It's fantastic. And sadly, it is what tons of illusionists have tried to copy ever since. But I'm going to say, David was the last to make this look cool. He was believable. I honestly could see him riding his Harley around. But these other copy cat illusionists who don't bring anything new to the routine, they just look like, well cheap copies. At least try and bring something new to the routine. Look at the difference between Doug's vanish and David's. Same illusion, but David has these cool set pieces in the background that help to accentuate the 'see through' nature of the prop. He also has smoke and sparks going off before the vanish. It all blends together seamlessly. David also has an illusion with a type of Shadow box in which he appears on his motorcycle!
I guess my biggest pet peeve is the fact that no one brings anything new since the Copperfield days. With one exception, I think the Erhlich Brothers do a unique appearance. Similar to David's Shadow box but different enough to make it special. I'm not sure if they do the vanish or not. Every other illusionist I have seen do the motorcycle vanish looks like a Copperfield clone to me.
Maybe it's time to do something different? Is that the only way to make a motorcycle vanish? Obviously, appearing in the audience isn't the only way to have it reappear. Motorcycles are certainly interesting props to do magic with, but maybe try and create something different.
By the way, if you're curious what BIFF looked like. Here is a video of Lance Burton presenting the Vanishing Donkey and I believe this is BIFF, just presented with a Donkey rather than a motorcycle.
