Houdini: A Sharks Tale

Turns out the story of Houdini catching the coins in his mouth with sharks around was not the only shark story for Harry. During his trip to Australia in 1910, Houdini was an invited guest of the Navy on-board one of their ships. While there, he accepted a challenge from the sailors to be shackled and tossed overboard. Certainly, not the kind of thing you and I would want to do, but this is Houdini and it's just average afternoon for him.

The sailors shackled up the escape artist securely and Houdini jumped into the awaiting ocean. I could just imagine countless sailors leaning over the side of their ship watching as Houdini hit the water and sank below. They all probably were trying to get a view of what he was doing. As soon as he hit the ocean floor, some thirty feet down, he began to free himself from his confinement. This is where the story takes a turn. The moment Houdini raised his head away from his shackles and got a glimpse of the area around him, he discovered that he dropped right into the midst of a large school of sharks.  I'd venture to say there is a good chance a Great White Shark could have been among the creatures as they are known to swim & breed in the waters off the Australian coast.

He was underwater for three minutes working feverishly to extricate himself from the shackles. According to Houdini, "I never worked so fast in all my life!" Then he did something that is very out of character, he left the shackles behind on the ocean floor. His only thought was being able to push himself up off the ocean floor with enough force as to bypass all the sharks and not get attacked. That is just what he did, with all his strength he pushed off from the sandy bottom and shot past the sharks. As be burst forth out of the water, sailors standing by in a lifeboat grabbed him, apparently just as a shark was coming up out of the water after Houdini. The newspaper article says "he was pulled aboard just in time to miss the snapping jaws of the predatory sea bandits."


This story came from the January 7th,1912 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Houdini Challenge & Endorsment

I've only ever seen one company that Houdini did a product endorsement for, Zam-buk. I often wondered if there were others and recently I came upon an advertisement using Houdini's image and name. It must have been part of the terms of a Challenge, to allow the company to use Houdini's name in an advertisement.

This is the James Henley Brewery of Providence RI. They were in business from 1861 till the late 1950s. On March 1, 1915, on stage at the Keith's Theatre in Providence Rhode Island, Houdini accepted a challenge from the Henley Brewers to lock him up in a barrel full of beer. The following evening on March 2, 1915, Houdini presented his usual act of The Needles, Water Torture Cell and The Challenge. I'm not sure what order, he may have done the challenge first. In any event, on March 3rd, The Pawtucket Times recorded the following:

Houdini had been submerged for three minutes in a barrel of ale which then had four padlocks placed on it... He appeared smiling in three minutes, remarking that the ale "did not even stagger him".

The ad below appeared in the March 8th, 1915 edition of the Pawtucket Times.

Last Minute Gifts for the Serious Magician

Here are a few more last minute gifts that you can get someone who is magically inclined.

Tobias Beckwith Get Your Career in Gear Course. Tobias is the manager for both Jeff McBride and Marco Tempest. He is an extremely successful business person who gives many incredible insights into getting your own career in gear. You can purchase the whole course, or buy the lessons individually. The first two lessons are currently free.

Aaron Fisher Personal Coaching in Card Magic. Aaron is a friend of mine and he is also someone very passionate about the art of card magic. He is using technology to allow him to personally coach people all over the world without actually being there in person. You can't go wrong with Aaron's teaching if you wan to learn the right way to present card magic.

Rick Marcelli Book. If you're not interested in becoming famous with magic, skip over this. I'll tell you up front, I have a copy of this book. Mine looks like it's been through a war. I've read it 4 times at least, some chapters even more. There is a great deal of valuable information here. If you aren't truly serious about a career in magic, move on.

Our Magic by Nevil Maskelyne and David Devant. This book was published back in 1911. The first few chapters should be required reading for everyone interested in magic. If you can survive chapter two, there might be hope for you as a magician. Truthfully, most magicians wouldn't make it past chapter two. The link above is for the Lybrary.com version but do yourself a favor and try and hunt down an actual copy of the book.

Magic Castle Membership. Why not become a member of the Magic Castle? There are different levels of membership to choose from. It certainly would be helping out the Castle right now due to their recent tragedy (fire) that they are still trying to recover from.

FREEBIE: The Manifesto by Helmer Guimarães and Derek DelGaudio. Its' free at JournalofSecrets.com. Read It!