More Houdini's Real Magic

To dispell the rumor that Houdini wasn't a very good magician, I'm showcasing some of Houdini's greatest effects and posting videos of them being performed. Most of the videos are modern day performers doing the effects however. But this also goes to show the solid entertainment value in the routines and how they stand the test of time.

Walking Through a Brick Wall. This is clearly not an escape. For the time it's also more than a magic trick. It seems to be an impossible feat of super human ability. The brick wall is built on the stage by brick layers. Members of the audience check out the brick wall themselves to be sure it's legit.  The audience members stand in the back and around the sides. Houdini stands against one side of the wall and a partition or cover is placed over him and over the exact same area on the opposite side of the wall.
A short time later, Houdini steps out from the partition and is on the other side! Billboard Magazine said that the audience was often so spellbound that sat silent for two whole minutes, they were so astonished they forgot to applaud! This was one Houdini effect that warranted it's own poster but never got one.

The Walking Through a Brick Wall was not without controversy. Houdini purchased the rights to it from Sidney Josolyne. But P.T. Selbit claimed the trick was his and was stolen by Josolyne and Houdini. In "Houdini-The Key" by Patrick Culliton this story is brought to light in a way I've never heard before. It's fantastic. Regardless of the controversy, it's now history and Houdini did Walk Through A Brick Wall!

The video above of Walking Through A Brick Wall is done by the Spensers who are fantastic. However, it is VERY different from Houdini's version.  Both Doug Henning and David Copperfield presented versions of this effect on their TV Specials. Copperfield walked through the ultimate brick wall, The Great Wall of China.

The Vanishing Elephant. An incredible illusion that not many people saw, even those in the audience. But what a reputation maker! Houdini appeared in the newspapers with this elephant saying he would make it vanish on the enormous stage of the Hippodrome Theatre. The elephant stepped inside a very large box. The magic words were spoken (probably) and the front door and back door were opened to show that the elephant was GONE! From what I understand it was a killer effect if you were in the middle of the audience! The people on the sides were unable to see inside the box.

Since then, a number of methods have been developed to make an elephant vanish, but Houdini was the first. The video is of Doug Henning making an elephant vanish on Broadway. I think the best version was done by Siegfried and Roy and their method was created by Guy Jarrett.

As you can see, these effects made popular by Houdini, still hold up today. Magicians know the publicity value of these effects, which again shows that Houdini too knew which was why he used them. Still think he was a bad magician? More to come...

Houdini's Real Magic

I’ve heard it said that Houdini was not a very good magician. It always amazes me that people can come to this conclusion. I think when he did standard tricks he might not have been a very good magician, but look at his contributions to the art:

The Metamorphosis: Here was a trick trunk invented my John Nevil Maskelyne. But Houdini did something with it that made it far more amazing than any performer before him. He added the element of speed. Even in his advertisements it says "Exchanging Places In Three Seconds". Plus in Houdini's hands this effect was truly impossible. First his hands were tied behind his back, then placed a sack was lifted over his head and tied shut, then he was put in a trunk and locked and roped that shut. It seemed totally impossible, yet three seconds later there he was and Bess was gone. She ended up in the exact position he had been in, tied up inside the sack, inside the trunk. He made that trick his own and no one today calls it the Maskelyne Trunk trick, it's always associated with Houdini.

Interestingly, the next couple to modernize the Metamorphosis, were the Pendragons. How exactly did they make it more modern? They did the same thing Houdini did and made it even faster!

The East Indian Needle Trick: Here is a small trick that takes guts to do. Forget about jumping off bridges handcuffed, in this you've got to put needles into your MOUTH! Of course, after Houdini apparently swallows the needles, he also swallows some thread. Moments later the thread is pulled from the mouth and there threaded on the thread are the previously swallowed needles. Houdini didn't invent this one either but he sure made it his own. In fact, he apparently either patented or copyrighted the routine thus preventing others from performing it. This fact was brought up to Long Tack Sam, by Houdini when Sam wanted to do the trick which he had performed many times before. Houdini stopped his competition cold on this one. 

One of the best Needle stories I've ever read comes from the book "Illusion Show" by FuManchu/David Bamberg. When David was a young boy he would often play at the Houdini's house on 278 W 113th St. in NYC. One day while playing or snooping around as it were, he discovered a packet of needles and the secret to the trick. He never told Houdini that he found them, but always remembered that moment. Fast forward a couple years and Bamberg is about to join a Magic Club (I forget exactly where, I don't have the book handy) and he decides he'll do the Needle Trick as his initiation trick. As he is getting ready he hears Houdini coming in. Holy crap! What is David Bamberg to do??? You can just imagine the thoughts going through his head. Well, Houdini heads straight for the Great Raymond, the Illusionist and the two of them get into a huge argument that broke into a fistfight. Fortunately, the two resolve their issues and everyone forgets about David's initiation, so he is off the hook! Funny Stuff.

Next we have The Milk Can Escape. This is a Houdini original, though according to the Patrick Culliton Book "Houdini-The Key" the method was invented by someone else. In 1908 Houdini was having trouble selling his Handcuff Challenge Act. All the bookers 'had seen it' or seen someone else do it. It had also been exposed in the papers. So in St. Louis Houdini debuted his latest sensation with the tag line "Failure Means A Drowing Death". The escape was promoted with a slightly deceiving poster. The locks were not down on the body of the can but on the neck. Still, that hardly mattered, the dramatic routine that Houdini presented captivated his audiences. He always escaped (and probably much sooner than most of the audience realized).

The video link above is of Dean Gunnerson the escape artist presenting the Milk Can. The actual escape begins about 2 minutes in to the video.

These are just a three of Houdini's feats. Given the fact that they are still staples of modern day performers acts, I'd say Houdini' magic was rather strong. And there is more to come...

(click the name of the trick to see it being performed)

Borrowing From Houdin

It is ironic that the man who took his name from Robert-Houdin and then later wrote a book slamming his former idol would use a routine of Robert-Houdin's in his very own show.

In Chapter 9 of The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin, Houdini writes “Supreme egotism and utter disregard for the truth may be traced in all of Robert Houdin’s writings…”. I really couldn’t contain my laughter reading that line because the very same thing could be said of Houdini. On top of that Houdini referred to his former idol as ‘The Prince of Pilferers’.

Books have been written about why Houdini was wrong, and it surely wasn’t his best moment to say the least. However, we should be thankful that Houdini chose to recreate a piece from RH because that piece still survives today.

In 1913-14 Houdini was in Europe and along with performing he was buying lots of magic. One of the things he purchased was from a Parisian magic dealer, Charles DeVere. The item was a replica of The Transparent Cashbox used by RH. Houdini called it The Crystal Casket.

In Robert Houdin’s show he referred to the routine as ‘The Traveling Coins’. The routine began with Houdin borrowing eight coins from members of the audience and he made sure each person marked their coin for later identification. The coins were dropped into a glass vase that he was holding. On the stage was a second glass or crystal vase. RH would tap his wand against the vase he was holding and a coin could be heard to drop into the vase on the stage.

This continued until the eighth coin which RH apparently gave to a woman to hold, yet when he tapped her hand that coin too vanished and ended up inside the crystal vase.

At this point, RH hung a crystal cashbox, about the size of a cigar box, on two ribbons and then swung it back and forth. When the box was furthest away RH would toss the eight coins in his hand and they could be heard to appear all together inside the crystal cashbox. The coins were then removed and given to their owners.

Houdini’s routine was different. In Houdini’s routine, he would first show the cashbox empty. I’m pretty sure the crystal box would already be hanging by the ribbons on the stage as he showed it and then he swung the empty cashbox in the same way the RH had done. On a table downstage was a stand holding eight coins, no doubt what we know today as a Vanishing Coin Stand. Houdini would remove the eight coins and toss them all at once towards the Crystal Casket and the audience could hear the clinking of coins as they appeared at once inside the crystal clear box.

More than one book I read said the coins appeared one at a time inside the box, but I am not sure this is accurate. Houdini did pick up the coins ‘one at a time’ but he tossed the supposed handful at the box.

This is a beautiful piece of Victorian Age magic. The Houdini Crystal Cashbox went to Dash upon Houdini’s death and later found it’s way into the McManus Collection. From their it found it’s way in 1974 into the Salon DeMagie, better known as The Ken Klosterman Collection.

I had the good fortune to see the Crystal Cashbox live and in person. It’s a beautiful piece and coincidentally it’s surrounded by other incredibly beautiful pieces of apparatus made by Robert-Houdin. It may be the only crystal cashbox that survives because in the book “The Magic of Robert Houdin-An Artist’s Life” by Christian Fechner they use a photo of Klosterman’s Crystal Cashbox/Casket. It's a breathtaking piece of apparatus.