Houdini in Vancouver

Here is one I found online. This is the kind of stuff I love to find but this blogger already did all the work so I'll just post a link to their site! It contains a photo of Houdini presenting his hanging straight jacket escape that I do not recall seeing before. Enjoy. http://changingvancouver.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/137-west-pender-street/

The Amazing Long Tack Sam

Sometimes in magic a name is so intriguing you just want to learn more. Such is the case with Long Tack Sam. I first encountered Sam by seeing one of his posters in a magic book. The poster was colorful and his name just made me wonder what his act could be like. Was he another William Robinson who pretended to be oriental or was he the real deal like Ching Ling Foo? It would be a long time before I would actually have those answers because the book that showed his poster didn't really tell anything about Sam, and I couldn't find his name anywhere else in my small library of magic literature at the time.

Fast forward to 2003 when news of a documentary on the life of Long Tack Sam catches my attention. I think it was 2004 when I was able to get a copy of the documentary. It was created by Ann Marie Fleming who just so happens to be Sam's great granddaughter. What a treat this documentary was. She shows you the journey she went on to discover her great grandfather and it's amazing. Frankly, Ancestry.com should sponsor her movie and show it on their website!

Anyway, back to Sam. He was born September 16, 1884 in Northern China. There are conflicting reports of his childhood, so it's hard to know which one is true. One version of the story has a young Sam apprenticing with a Chinese Magician named Wang for six years. After that period of time, Sam had learned two tricks, the Linking Rings and the Rice Bowls. He left there and went out to work as a magician in Shanghai where we eventually joined another performing troupe. Another version of his earlier years has Sam being trained in acrobatic techniques by his brother and Sam eventually running away from home.

Whatever the case, he eventually left China probably working with a western circus. In time he would become part of The Tan Kwai Troupe and Sam became the director. The name of the show would change several times until he finally decided to use Long Tack Sam. Apparently his real name was Lung Te Shan or possibly Lu Te Shen. But he chose Long Tack Sam as the stage name for his troupe.

His performing trip were made up of acrobats, jugglers, dancers and he did the magic and also comedy. By all accounts he was a marvelous impressionist and mimic and could apparently copy the dialects of many languages including: Yiddish, French, Italian, German, American, Australian and probably more.

The magic that Sam included in the show consisted of the Burnt & Restored Turban, the Linking Rings, The Needle Swallowing Feat and Rice Bowls. But his stand out trick was one that other 'oriental acts' had presented, but not in the dramatic fashion that Sam did. This description is from MAGIC: A Pictorial History of Conjurers in the Theatre by David Price, "Long introduced his amazing bowl production. The trick performed as part of a flip sometimes called a somersault in the air performed without touching the hands to the floor. After the flip, he had the bowl of water with fish in his hands".

However, a newspaper from the times describes the act as this, "Instead of making a head-roll over before showing the bowl, Long Tack Sam did a hand-spring, which makes and causes the trick to appear to be much more difficult." So perhaps Sam had multiple ways of presenting the trick, but all included some feat of acrobatics just prior to the producing the bowl and it was more dramatic than anyone else who was presenting a bowl production which is why his stood out above all others.

On Sam's first visit to the U.S. his troupe got to open for the Marx Brothers at the Palace Theatre in NYC. Prior to coming to America, Sam had married a woman from Austria. As WW1 broke out all over Europe, it made travel to Austria impossible. It also made it impossible for his wife and daughters to come to America.

Sam has two daughters, Mina and Nepoldini, who eventually become part of his act in the later years. They go by the stage names Meena and Neesa. Neesa has a special gift of playing the violin that is incorporated into the show. Daughter Meena dances in the show and assists Sam during his presentation of the Doll's House Illusion where she magically appears from a tiny Doll's House. In 1932, Sam and his daughters performed at the now famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood California.

Long Tack Sam and his troupe are extremely successful and quite popular in America, Australia and China. Sam even invests in theatre property in China and two restaurants in London. Eventually, as age creeps up and life on the road gets to be too much, Long Tack Sam retired from show business. He was talked into coming out of retirement by Herman Hanson in 1952 to appear at the Boston Society of American Magicians Conference. He performed his fish bowl production and gave a lecture at the conference as well.

And a few years later in 1958 he did return to the stage for one last benefit show for the Society of American Magicians in NYC. Sam was the Masters of Ceromonies, he was 73 at the time. Sam was in declining health in the last few years of his life due to an unfortunate car accident. He died in Linz Austria on August 7, 1961.

Just to put Long Tack Sam into perspective, Orsen Welles considered Sam one of his mentors. Sam was friends with Dai Vernon, Max Malini, Nate Leipsig, Houdini and basically all the greats of his time. The legendary comedian George Burns said of Long Tack Sam, "The Greatest Vaudeville Act I'd ever seen."

On the DVD 'The Greater Magic Video Library Volume 29 with Charlie Miller and Johnny Thompson', Charlie Miller demonstrates the Chinese version of the Cups and Balls that he learned from Long Tack Sam himself. One of the moves appears to be the exact move that makes up one of the key elements to the Roy Benson, Benson Bowl Routine.

Finally, the DVD documentary The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam is a must watch. It's produced, directed, narrated and stars his great granddaughter Ann Marie Fleming. It is so rich with magic history and yet tells a wonderful story of her family ancestry and contains some elements that are heart breaking and some very joyous moments as well. It's amazing that Ms. Fleming made the documentary when she did because all of the magic people interviewed in the film: John Booth, Elaine Lund, Jay Marshall and Jackie Flosso are all now gone.

I've seen the documentary numerous times and enjoy every viewing. I only wish there were more documentaries like this on our brothers and sisters in the magic world. We owe a huge thank you to Ms. Ann Marie Fleming for the wonderful job she did to bring her Great Grandfathers story back to the masses where it belongs.

The Upside Down x 2 or More- Reposted

Today, September 21, 2012 marks the 100th Anniversary of Houdini's most famous escape, The Water Torture Cell. The article below was originally posted to my blog on Jan 2, 2011 and I'm reposting it now for those that missed it. My take on this is that there were more than 2 Water Torture Cells.

I would encourage you also to go visit John Cox's fantabulous website because he has a fact filled article on the history of the Water Torture Cell right up till today, www.WildAboutHoudini.com

I'm also researching a new lead for more information on this topic, so perhaps down the road I'll have some new information to share.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The USD or The Water Torture Cell or Houdini's Original Invention, whatever you call it, this is one of the most unique escape illusions in all of magic. It's also one of the most copied since the time of Houdini. Many performers have built their careers with this effect.

In the Patrick Culliton book 'Houdini-The Key' he mentions that there were two Water Torture Cells. This was something I had never known. But imagine my surprise when I heard recently that there were as many as four.  The person I heard this from said he sold the cell in the 1980s and so far the only thing I've turned up has been a fabricated mock-up and not an original cell. Being able to turn up proof of more than two Houdini cells has not worked out so well.

However, let's get back to the two cells that Pat mentioned. I think there is photographic proof of  two cells and if you look carefully in the following photos I'll point out why I think we are looking at two different Water Torture Cells.

This image is a classic. Houdini hanging in the  UP-SIDE-DOWN Water Torture Cell or USD, as he called it. Notice the stocks. Patrick Culliton points out in his book that the yale lock in the front of the stock was added for the photo. However, I don't think so. These are different foot stocks altogether. They are missing handles, they are missing the metal trim on the sides and they are even missing the four corner circles that were used to hook cables to raise the stocks and Houdini in the air.

Now look at the frame around the glass, specifically the rivets along the top. There are seven rivets and the two on the far right and far left are closer together. In every photo of the USD there are seven rivets along the top and bottom of the front framework. However, most of the the other photos of the USD the rivets are equally spaced along the top and bottom. But not here. Also, take note of the width of this USD. It appears wider than those in other photos. I think this is because originally Houdini had a cage placed in the USD and there needed to be a little extra room to move around. Take a good look at the next photo. You'll see the cage inside, I believe this is the same cell as in the first photo. But notice the difference in foot stocks in this photo as compared to the photo above. This cell is the same as the one in the above photo, the distance between the rivets helps to identify it as the same cell (look at the lower rivets as the upper ones are hardly visible in the photo)

Now check out this photo. I believe this photo was taken after the clean-up that John Gaughn did to the cell but prior to it's destruction in the fire of the Niagara Falls Museum. Notice the evenly spaced rivets along the top of the frame. Also notice that the glass in this photo is much narrower than the photos above. The glass is as wide as the cage in the upper photos. But in the cage photo the glass extends beyond the edges of the cage several inches. This cell to the right is the one that went into the Houdini museum in Niagara Falls and was later destroyed in the fire. The remnants of this USD were used to build the recreated cell that sits in David Copperfield's museum.

Next compare the foot stocks in the photo directly above and the color photo to the right. Specifically look at the space to the left and right of the handles on the stocks. You'll see in the upper photo the space is wider than the photo to the right. More proof the upper cell was a wider cell.

To me it's pretty strong photographic proof of two different cells, but trust me you've really got to stare at these things to see the differences. The two cell photos at the top are of Cell #1, the color cell photo is Cell#2.

Oh, if you are wondering what happened to the cages that went inside the Houdini USD, according to Sidney Radner (via John Cox's Site WildAboutHarry.com) they were lost while in Henry Mueller's possession.

Patrick Culliton says that the second cell deteriorated in the backyard of Bess's sisters house. Though I honestly think the cell that deteriorated  was probably 'the first/wider/original'. Sid Radner received a later version of the cell. We know that Hardeen was considering rebuilding the second cell to train Sid but that cell would have to have been slightly larger to accomodate Hardeen. There is a famous photo of Hardeen and Sidney Radner standing next to the USD and they both dwarf this small cell.

But my mind does keep going back to the idea that there might have been more than two cells. I've certainly seen photos of at least three Houdini milk cans. So maybe there is a third Water Torture Cell out there somewhere. The next question is, what on earth does someone do with one of these things if it isn't being used or on display? I know Steve Baker's Water Torture Cell is gone. Who has it? No idea. It too was unique enough that if someone else performed with it it could be identified. Other people have performed the USD over the years with their own cells, are there just dozens of these things sitting in storage units all over the country???

Third Cell? Not this one, but I'll keep searching

The supposed third Water Torture Cell I was told about was sold to a museum in Nashville and later moved to Gatlinburg TN and still sits on display. However, the only USD I could turn up in Gatlinburg is this one at the Ripleys/Guinness Museum, and it's clearly not an original. (see side photo) Take a moment and read what is printed on the card that is stuck on the upper part of the cell. The last paragraph says "Although the exact history of this water torture cell is unknown, it was built in the early 1900s and is rumored to have been used by Houdini himself."

This WTC is even smaller in height than the others. The hardware on it is clearly modern. IF for some reason it was real, only the lower portion could be as the stocks are also very obviously made of modern plywood. I want to thank my friend Terry Evanswood for his help in searching this out and for taking the pictures.

Still, I'm holding out hope that a third one shows up someday as it would be almost like the holy grail of magic props.

If anyone knows the location of ANY Water Torture cell, original or otherwise, please let me know. If there is a third Houdini cell out there I'd love to find it. I'd also like to find what happened to Steve Baker's WTC. His cell was nearly 7ft tall when the stocks were put on. It was massive compared to Houdini's and I know it's been out of his possession since the early 1990s. And where is Doug Henning's WTC today? I know Brett Daniel's owned it for a time but I don't think he has it any more.


Any leads, please email me at carnegiemagic@me.com

Now if you want to read MORE about Houdini's Water Torture Cell, please read this blog about the 'Two Torture Cells' which is different than what I covered.  visit http://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2007/02/mystery-of-two-torture-cells.html 
I have a theory on this too that I may share eventually.