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I received an unusual envelope in the mail with a shadow image of Houdini in the corner. I opened it and inside a very cool looking image of Houdini from what was clearly an old marketing piece once used by the master mystifier. See below...
And once I turned it over, it reveals an ad for John Cox's upcoming book, The Ultimate Houdini Chronology Volume 1, HANDCUFF KING The Conquests of Harry Houdini 1900-1909. With the words COMING IN 2026!!!
WONDERFUL GIFT!!!! VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!!!!!
ALERT: New Houdini Book, That You Don't Want To Miss! This might be my favorite kind of new Houdini book. It's called Exposing Houdini by Charles Greene. The book contains images that perhaps no one has seen since the days of Houdini. These were found in an abandoned safety deposit box, glass plates with images of a younger Harry, from the period of 1903-1911. Judging by the cover, he is in 'fighting shape' in these images!
Every time new pictures of Houdini turn up, it's exciting. And they turn up all the time! Well, not all the time, but every couple years they seem to turn up. And now to have so many of them show up at once, is huge!
Charles Greene, is a friend and fellow magic historian. He's also an excellent magician in his own right. But he has a passion for magic history that I admire. He has been trying to track down the origin of these glass plates for some time. He thinks they might have come from the Dunninger Collection, meaning from Dunninger's House in NJ. How they ended up in a safety deposit box in the middle of the country is a big mystery.
But the good news is, they have been found and are now being shared in the new book, Exposing Houdini by Charles Greene. This is a limited edition run. So you'll want to order it while you can. The book is a 10x10 coffee table book printed on the highest quality paper, 164 pages. It's going to be insanely cool!!!
To order: exposingHoudini.com
This notice above just showed up on David Copperfield's social media pages. In eight weeks, the end of April, David Copperfield will finish his run at MGM GRAND IN LAS VEGAS. He says he will be announcing what's next following that run. Frankly, I cant even imagine. Well, sure I can imagine, maybe he's doing the Moon Vanish, but that cant be all. Perhaps moving to a new casino. Maybe opening his museum to the public. Im just guessing.
Im a full time performer. I make my living doing this stuff. But I will be the first to say, I would love to see David Copperfield do anything huge! TV, NETFLIX, touring. Whatever! Bring DC to a brand new generation, THEY, and WE, need you!!!!
It has been announced that Oz Pearlman will headline this years White House Correspondants Dinner. This breaks from the tradition of having a comedian. The WHCD began in 1921as a DC Social event for journalists and some members of the government. Over time, Presidents began to attend. In 1924, Calvin Coolidge was the first President to appear. Since 1943 the dinner has included entertainment. Early on, they would feature a number of entertainers, with one main MC, the first being Bob Hope. Over time, the event would have just one comedian, though that would change when Ray Charles was brought in as the entertainer of the evening. This was a choice of President George Bush who chose a singer rather than a comedian due to the War in Iraq breaking out.
This year marks the first year a mentalist or anyone from the magic world hosted. Which is not exactly correct. Both Dick Cavettt and Larry Willmore hosted, but as comedians (both are amateur magicians). It is not the first time a magician has performed however. In March 1955 Channing Pollack performed at the dinner, along with Duke Ellington, and Tennessee Ernie Ford.
The big question is whether the President will attend, as I think he has declined the invitation to attend all his previous dinners.
Magicians are actually no strangers to Washington DC and the Federal Government. Many have performed at the White House. Many have performed for members of Congress. Magician and author Wayne Alan is publishing a book tentatively titled, 'Magicians At The White House' which covers the entire history of magicians who performed there, starting with President Polk, I think and right up until modern times.
Houdini visited both the White House and the Capital Building. I believe he did magic for Congressman at the Capital building, besides also testifying before Congress. I dont recall if he performed any magic at the White House, but knowing Houdini, it wouldn't surprise me. I do know that President Woodrow Wilson would sneak, along with his wife, over to Keiths Vaudeville Theater on 15th St in Washington to see Houdini present his Water Torture Cell.
One of the more popular stories of a magician in DC is when Max Malini bit the button off Senator Hanna's coat on the steps of the Capital Building. Malini also gave an impromptu performance in the Marble Room of the Capital.
Some of todays top names in magic have performed for Senators, Congressmen, Supremes, and members of the Executive Branch! So Oz Pearlman is in good company.
I've been painting for more than 25 years now. In that time, a number of paintings have been acquired by collectors. I know where most of the artwork resides and with whom. But, there are pieces that I've sorta lost track of. Case in point, the Ricky Jay painting. This was purchased by a friend and collector in Virginia. I was aware that this person had gotten out of magic at one point and perhaps might have passed the painting on to someone else. I had an idea who that other person might be, the only problem was, that person had since died and their collection was scattered to the winds.
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| Denny-FOUND |
The Ricky Jay is going to another collector and I'm very happy as this person seems quite thrilled to be receiving it.
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| LOST |
Then there are the ones in private collections. One collector owns: A Doug Henning, a Copperfield, the Dante w/Cigar, a Herrmann the Great, and the first Kellar painting I did. Another collector owns: the yellow Lance Burton, a Doug Henning w/Rainbow, and a Thurston Sawing in Half painting, oh and this guy also owns the Denny painting I mentioned above. There is a collector who owns my first Penn and Teller, another who owns a huge commissioned work of Cardini. There is a Thurston painting owned by a collector in Rhode Island. There are maybe a dozen more that are out there, and I know where they are. In fact, with most of them, I know the walls they hang on, lol.
All of these I mentioned are originals. The prints are a whole different story. I will say, as an artist, it's rewarding to know that my artwork brings joy to people. Nothing worse than artwork that isn't displayed for everyone to see. Trust me, I have tons of that! There but so many walls in my home. I think this is every artist's curse. Even with selling a bunch of the artwork, I still have a ton here. But the good news, if you are interested, you can own a print, and possibly an original on the rare occasion that I let them go.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is having a wonderful exhibit called Mystery & Wonder : A Legacy of Golden Age Magicians in New York City. My friends Judge Gary Brown and Charles Green were there at the opening. I had a nice chat with Charles on the phone earlier in the week. He is quite the avid magic historian. I saw photos on Facebook that Judge Gary took and the event is clearly a hit. Though in some ways it looks like my living room, lol.
Here is the description from the website: "In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a surge of magicians began to refine their art, finding larger audiences and building communities of practice, especially in New York City. This period has come to be known as The Golden Age of Magic. This history of magic and magicians has long been documented through text and image as a form of theater by the Billy Rose Theater Division at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Now, the exhibition Mystery & Wonder, curated by Annemarie van Roessel, will display our rich and historic archival materials related to the art of magic and the fascinating lives of magicians performing in New York City during the Golden Age."
To learn more about it, you can visit their website here: https://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/mystery-and-wonder-legacy-golden-age-magicians-new-york-city
This is open to the public and I believe the tour is free, though you may want to check to be sure.
Its located at:
111 Amsterdam Ave
New York, NY 10023
Feb 11th marks the anniversary of the passing of Bess Houdini. She died, this day, in 1943 in a town called Needles California. Im currently working on a podcast about Bess, and as with most of these things, have found myself going down rabbit holes looking for info. Wild goose chases and such. Its been fun, but its not finished yet. Its coming, I promise. Seems everyone wrote about her husband more, strange.
For now we take a moment to think of his charming wife, Beatrice. on the 83rd Anniversary of her passing. RIP Bessie.
I just wanted to share this because I find it interesting and revealing at the same time. I have a couple friends who call me about Houdini. But one friend in particular is writing a book on Houdini. In fairness, he has been researching this book for most of his life and has gathered a crazy amount of information. We speak fairly often. But recently, within the last 5 days, we have talked 3 times, a total of 7 hours and 45 minutes, all on Houdini.
YES, you read that correctly, nearly 8 hours and I expect to get another call this week. What on earth could two people discuss for that long ? ? ? ? Well, much of the time we were both going through our files to look up information on the topic we were discussing. Things we covered, his death, the punch, 278, the airplane, Library of Congress, various collections that are known, a few that are unknown, some of Houdinis vague associates, and more.
Usually with Houdini, there are more questions when we finish talking than there were things uncovered. Its amazing that one person could be so interesting that new information comes out on him, all the time! Here is a tiny fact that I never knew and is nothing in the bigger picture. But from a magicians point of view its kind of cool. Houdini performed the Egg Bag at one of the SAM Parent Assembly meetings. Never pictured him as an Egg Bag guy. Of course, my natural nerdy magic disposition arose and wondered what type of bag he used. More than likely he just used the classic Egg Bag which was already old in Houdinis time.
Here is a fun note. As a teen ager, I hand sewed an Egg Bag out of an old shirt. I still have it around here somewhere. I had to use glue over the seems as I wasn't confident of my sewing ability. It was rectangular in shape like the classic bag. I wish I had made it more like the one that Max Malini had because his was square in shape. I dont recall, but looking back, I probably didnt have enough fabric to pull it off.
Anyway, Houdini doing the Egg Bag is fun news. Houdini doing the Blooming Rose Bush was also something I remember learning and finding quite interesting. I learned that from Ken Klosterman, who owned one of the two Houdini Blooming Rose Bushes. Those would have been in the 3 in One Show.
In the case of Houdini, he wrote hundreds, maybe even thousands of letters. Often in those letters, he will make reference to something that will send a researcher on a wild goose chase. For example, he may mention a persons name that is unfamiliar. He may mention a particular event, that is not recorded in the usual Houdini narrative. So looking up this 'new' info can be quite the diversion, and sometimes it delivers huge results and other times, virtually nothing.
This weekend I learned a bit of Houdini information I never knew. It was so eye opening, and yet, there had been bread crumbs there for a long time. But this one comment from a letter, revealed a key to something Houdini had been doing. MORE on what that was exactly in the future.
I think the big lesson, you cant do all the research alone. Other people know things you dont. They may have had access to information you could never get. Case in point, my Grandfather met Houdini. He told me a story about him, when I was a kid. I honestly thought he was just making it all up. But imagine my surprise to learn later that story was true. My Great Great Grandfather may have helped to strap Houdini into a strait jacket in Minnesota. I say, may have, because there is no way to 100% prove family lore....except for a newspaper article I uncovered that had his name listed as one of the people who put Houdini in the jacket! The one snag is whether or not my GGGrandfather was in this part of Minnesota at the time. I did learn his son Charlie was there. So, that is a good sign. But beyond family lore, and a mention of his name in the paper, I dont have definitive proof, in other words, no photos, no back story on how he was chosen to put Houdini in the jacket, etc.. Sure makes for an interesting story.
And now I need to leave you because the phone is ringing......hour 8 is just moments away!
Ive now released the third limited edition high art print of Houdini for the Houdini Centennial, the Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Houdini's Death. This particular piece began 20 years ago. I created more than a dozen pieces in this style before I moved on. Each of the Houdini paintings that will be featured this year is quite unique in style.
To date I have offered two different caricatures, and one in a more modern style. Coming later in the year there will be some abstract images, expressionists images, cubist, and surrealistic styles as well. To date, all the original paintings have been done in acrylics. However, I may offer a water-color print at some point. None of that matters really as I am only offering the prints. If I sell the originals, it won't be until 2027 and that is IF, I decide to sell them.
You can see them and purchase the prints here: https://carnegie-magic.myshopify.com/products/houdini-blue-limited-edition-fine-art-magic-print-by-dean-carnegie
At this moment, no idea what caused this abrupt closure. But one of the most popular modern magic shops is no more. This is a major blow to the magic community. HP was putting out some very clever 3D printed items and looked to have a great future going forward. But that is no longer the case. A sad day for sure.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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