Happy Birthday HOUDINI

Today marks the 139th Birthday of Erich Weiss who would go on to be known around the world as Harry Houdini. He was an amazing individual and a controversial figure as well. He was born in Budapest Hungary on March 24th, 1874 to parents Rabbi Samuel Mayer Weiss and his wife Cecelia. You would think by now we would know all there is to know about Harry Houdini. But it seems that we learn new things about him each year. New photographs continue to turn up of this famous man.

He was more than a magician and much more than an escape artist. He truly was a superstar in his time and his stardom just continued to grow after his death until he grew into legendary status. There were many fellow artists in his time, people like: Fatty Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, Gloria Swanson, W. C. Fields, Rudolph Valentino and others. But stop and ask twenty to thirty year old if they recognize any of these people and they might, recognize one. But if you say the name HOUDINI, they all know who he was.

Even young kids today know the name Houdini. They don't know David Copperfield, Lance Burton, David Blaine, Penn and Teller and many have already forgotten Criss Angel, but they will know Houdini. It's a testament to his popularity and a sign that the only celebrities that really live on in the minds of the public are the legends.

Happy 139th Birthday Harry. You keep getting better with age!

Oh and as I reported here a couple years ago, born in 1887, March 24th, Rosco 'Fatty' Arbuckle

More on George-Supreme Master of Magic

Last Summer, I wrote an article about Grover George, the magician who basically got run out of town by Howard Thurston. I recently was contacted by a relative of Grover George and she was kind enough to forward the above photo and some additional details on the life of her Great Uncle.

I've learned that Grover's father A.A. George represented him during the lawsuit with Thurston. Also that a nephew went on tour with Grover and during the tour got either poked or bit by the company Lion, Ruthie. The young nephew had the scar on his finger to prove it. The lion later escaped while the company was in Chicago and apparently was shot by police.

There may be more stories coming! It's always such a pleasure to get in touch with relatives of these magicians that so many of us still admire. Because of this blog I've heard from family members related to Robert Heller, Harry & Bess Houdini, Nate Leipzig, Grover George, Harry Cooke and others. It is always an honor to speak with these folks and I'm sure I will yet meet many more as time goes on!

The original article on Grover George can be found here: http://www.themagicdetective.com/2012/07/george-supreme-master-of-magic.html

D.C. Magic History Conference UPDATE

I received a very nice email from Ken Trombly the main organizer of the Washington Symposium on Magic History that takes place April 25-27, 2013. He has just added two speakers to the list of an already superb line-up.

(screen shot of David's blog The Houdini Files)

David Saltman is going to be speaking about Jerry Andrus. David will also reveal some details about his new book 'The Escape Artist' which deals with Houdini's time in Russia. I'm very excited to hear about both of these topics. David also runs the blog Houdinifile.com which I have now put up a permanent link here on the site, and I'm sorry I didn't put it up before, I dropped the ball on that one. Not only does David cover some great historical items about Houdini and Magic History he also includes BATMAN! You can't get better than that!

Next we have the author of the new book 'Metamorphosis', Bruce McNab. This is the book about the early years of Houdini while he was in Canada. According to several of my trusted Houdini friends this book is a must read. I have not yet gotten a copy of the book, but I know it's going to be fantastic. When they put a quote on the cover by John Cox, you know the book is going to be good.

There will be plenty of other talks at the conference as well covering topics like Alexander Herrmann, the 1970 close-up magic scene, the magic of North Korea with film footage, Charles Bertram and still more! In addition the conference will honor Carl Williams and Nick Ruggerio. The last time I saw Nick, he gave a talk for our SAM group in Northern VA and we surprised him with a special appearance by Blackstone Sr.! Hmm, I've never written about that before, I guess I just found another article to write about :)

This will be my very first magic history conference and I can't tell you how excited I am. For one, I know I'll be meeting a bunch of the folks who read my blog and the many folks I've been corresponding with for quite some time. I may even have a booth there with my artwork. Here is the link for the conference! I hope to see you there.