Houdini Coffin For Sale

This appears to be a prop made for a show or maybe a movie or tv program.  It's for sale on Ebay, http://cgi.ebay.com/Custom-Designed-Harry-Houdini-Coffin-/180690281728?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a11fae500

As of right now, there are 6 days left on the auction. There is no denying this thing is cool looking.

Essential Magic Conference 2011

In a few days the second Essential Magic Conference will begin. This is the world's only ONLINE ONLY Magic Convention. It was the brainchild of Luis DeMatos, David Britland and Marco Tempest and frankly last year was incredible!

If you have not registered yet, you should do so soon. Why? Well besides the obvious, there will be some Houdini talk. William Kalush will give a talk on Houdini on July 8th. Then on July 9th, David Copperfield will be taking the registrants of the conference on a virtual tour of his museum, which will no doubt feature quite a few of his rare Houdini items.

Also, Mike Caveney will be on hand talking about magic history as well. If you love magic, you can't go wrong with registering for this incredible conference. OH, and if you register before July 4th, you get a free months membership to The Conjuring Arts Research Library. So, go register at http://www.essentialmagicconference.com

Sidney Radner has passed on & Other News

A few days ago Sidney Radner died at the age of 91 in Holyoke Mass. He was the foremost collector of Houdini props in the world. He received the bulk of his collection from Houdini's brother Dash Hardeen, (Theo Weiss). No doubt Sid is right now sitting with Houdini trying to explain WHY he didn't burn all the props as was specified in his Will. I'm sure Sid is trying to point a finger at Theo, shifting the blame, lol. But in all seriousness, who can blame him? It was a wonderful collection while it lasted. I think it was 2004 when he sold the collection at auction.

We've witnessed the end of an era really. Today, there is a new crop of Houdini collectors. As surprising as it might seem, the interest in Houdini continues to grow and grow each year. I'm constantly amazed at the number of new Houdini photos that show up. I'm still anxiously awaiting the day when a Houdini Vanishing Elephant Poster pops up out of no where. It's going to happen ( I HOPE).

Anyone know the status of The Official Houdini Seance? Is it 'officially' over now that Sid is gone?

On a similar note, Cannon's Great Escapes is closing it's door. Mark and Sheila are very much alive, thankfully. But they've chose to close things down and are selling off EVERYTHING, and I do mean everything! Want a Water Torture Cell? Mark has one for sale! Interesting times we live in. Prior to Cannon's it wasn't always so easy to get escape equipment. Mark made it much easier with his website and conventions. The customer service they provided was just fantastic. In two days that will be gone forever as well. I do wish Mark and Sheila the best of luck in all their future endeavors. They are super nice people!

Any thoughts who might fill the gap left by Cannon's Great Escapes closing?

Speaking of closing their doors, CreativeMagic.net, aka Brian Daniel and his wife have decided to close the doors on their business, but they've done it in a very interesting way. They are selling EVERYTHING, all their products to their customers in 'bundles'. Basically for one price, you get one of everything. The website says it's $10,000 worth of items for $3600.00. That frankly is a steal. I have a number of their products and they are great! In fact, I'm using one of them this summer in every show. Sorry to see them go, but I'm sure it's not the last you'll hear from them! Best of luck to Brian and Rebecca Daniel!