Secret Adventures of Houdini-Guest Blogger

Today I have a first for The Magic Detective Blog, a guest blogger, Dan Robinson aka Weasel Dandaw. Dan is an escape artist from the UK and he has written a great piece about the new book, The Secret Adventures of Harry Houdini Book One. Enjoy!

The Secret Adventures of Houdini: Book One

I have just received the Press Pack for The SecretAdventures of Houdini which is to be released on November 21st 2012. It is written by Todd Hunt, illustrated by Sean Von Gorman & published by Alterna Comics.

Firstly, I would like to say that I am not a comic collector in general, but I do have a fair amount of Houdiniana which includes various comics that have there storyline based around Houdini.

What can I say…..?

This is a fantastic read! The book is well produced & the way it’s set out is great. The action starts from the off & continues throughout the book. I love the fact that it is in black & white, as this emphasises the time period in which the story is set.

The story is based on Houdini battling the evils of a group trying to bring back the spirit of Cyprian, a character that actually existed in reality in the early third century & his story is included in the back of this book.

The book starts with Houdini performing his famous Water Torture Cell escape & through the drawings & dialogue, the tension is built. It then continues in 1913 Copenhagen where Houdini’s strength is demonstrated, something that will become important later in the book. Jump to 1923 New York where the real story begins. Houdini uses his skill as a master of disguise to infiltrate a group trying to bring back Cyprian.

I will not go into the full story as I don’t want to spoil it, but I will say….I can’t wait for Book Two!!!

Todd has done a great job of mixing factual events with the fictional elements of the story. The book includes many facts relating to Houdini’s life including not only his escapes, but also his great dislike of fake mediums & spiritualists. Houdini always wanted to make contact with his deceased mother & even went to a séance with Arthur Conan Doyle & his wife to try. It was at this point that Houdini’s friendship with Doyle was ended.

The attention to detail has not been overlooked here either. The séance even includes Doyle’s wife’s spirit writings.

Sean’s illustrations are remarkable & really add to the storyline. His attention to detail is also to be commended. There are the little extra touches like fantastic recreations of Houdini’s posters on the outside of the theatre & when Doyle goes to visit an Asylum, Sean has drawn the guard reading the Hound of the Baskervilles. My favourite is a photo of Houdini with his wife & his mother, which is sitting on his dresser. This is so well drawn that it looks like a photo! It’s these touches that add to the illustrations. You need to look for them, but this adds to the book.

I love the way Todd & Sean have included various characters from Houdini’s life, including his Mother, Father, his brother (Dash) & his wife (Bess), along with his assistant Jim Collins & Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

As I said above I can’t wait for Book Two!!!

So PICK up a copy, UNLOCK the adventure & ESCAPE reality.

Dan Robinson aka Weasel Dandaw
(UK Escape Artist & Collector of Houdiniana)

Episode 5 More Details

Please be sure to watch Episode 5 before reading this....and watch AFTER the credits for the bloopers. 

Now that you've watched the episode you'll notice that I screwed up the name of J. Gordon Whitehead numerous times. In fact, the final take even had it wrong, so I had to pull it OFF the video, lol.

Houdini got punched in the abdomen on October 22nd, 1926 by J. Gordon Whitehead, a student at McGill University. He still performed in a show later that day but complained of stomach pain before and afterwards. His final day in Montreal, Max Malini and Ozzie Malini were in the audience and according to Patrick Culliton Houdini told them, "I let a college kid punch me in the stomach and he caught me wrong, and it's killing me."

When it was all over in Montreal they packed up and headed via Train to Detroit. Houdini had a temperature of 102 and at this point should have gone straight to the hospital. But he was stubborn and when he found out the house was sold out for the evening, he turned down all requests and pleas to go to the hospital. That moment was probably his last chance because he pushed himself past all physical means in order to finish the show and collapsed when the show was over.

He was still alive, but his temperature was now 104 and the damage was done. The doctors had little hope that anything they did would help. They still operated and removed his ruptured appendix, but it was too late and the medical staff did not think he would last long. However, Houdini, ever the fighter, continued to battle this and lived on for several days.

He made it to Halloween, 1926 and died at 1:26 p.m. with his family surrounding him.

A few things I had not mentioned previously, this 1926-27 Tour had Houdini presenting his 3 in 1 Show. Where he did magic, escapes and then exposed spirit mediums to conclude the show. He presented small apparatus magic like Robert-Houdin's Crystal Casket, silk productions, vanishing and appearing lamps and much more. During the escape portion he presented his signature Metamorphosis and the Water Torture Cell....but a broken ankle in Albany NY prevented him from every presenting the WTC again. The finale was exposing fake spirit mediums. This could be quite a lively affair as sometimes he would get hecklers from the audience over this portion and other times when there were no distractions this portion proved to be both fun and educational. It was a massive undertaking and required more than just Harry and Bess to perform.

But it ended in Detroit. I would encourage you to read one other blog article I wrote called "Tracking the Body of Houdini" which follows his body from the hospital all the way back to his burial in NY.

By the way, if you didn't recognize the two people in the photo at the beginning of Ep 5, it was Houdini on the left and ELVIS on the Right....and now you hopefully get the joke :)

Episode 5 of The Magic Detective Show

I can't believe it. I beat the storm! Hurricane Sandy is about to slam us and I was able to get this video uploaded before I lost my internet and the electricity here. This one is about the Death of Houdini. Be sure to watch after the credits for a couple bloopers.

By the way, The Magic Detective Contest Ends Oct 30th, and so far there is no clear winner (meaning no one has answered ALL the questions correct). SO, if you haven't submitted your answers, DO IT NOW as you might be the winner. If no one answers all the questions correct, I'll be going for the person with the MOST correct answers. It's not too late to enter, and email the answers to
carnegiemagic@aol.com

Here is the link to the contest http://www.themagicdetective.com/2012/10/magic-detective-magic-history-contest.html 

On Wednesday, Oct 31, I will have a Special Episode of The Magic Detective Show which you can only access through this website. That episode will have ALL the answers to the contest questions.