Book Review: The Metamorphosis - The Apprenticeship of Harry Houdini by Bruce MacNab

I just finished reading Bruce MacNab's book The Metamophosis last night. I bought the book from Bruce almost a year ago and it's taken me this long to finish. But the reason it took so long is not because of the content of the book but because of my performing schedule and an eye site issue that was making it harder for me to read for long stretches.

But I'm happy to say the book has been read, cover to cover. I have to say this book was an eye opener. Very different from any other Houdini biography I've ever read. This is maybe the first bio of Houdini where he isn't 'the greatest'. In fact, he is a struggling performer during the months in 1896 that are covered in this book. He stumbles upon things that will later be iconic parts of his act in years later, but during these early days they are so new that he is testing the waters to see what works and what doesn't.

A great example is an outdoor stunt that he was promoting where he would be tied to a horse and would free himself. The stunt quickly got out of hand when the horse took off running and Houdini could do nothing but hold on for dear life until the animal tired. Eventually, it did and Houdini was able to free himself. Unfortunately, the crowd of spectators also tired and had left before Houdini was free. He learned a huge lesson this day about staying in control of his challenges. The only thing hurt was his pride thankfully.

I loved the chapters with Samri Baldwin. I had written a bit about Samri Baldwin recently and was so excited at what I thought was a real 'find'. Then one of my readers pointed at that this info and more was in the Metamorphosis book. Indeed it was and it's great to read. Apparently, Houdini and Baldwin were going to team up on a tour at one point, but sadly it never came to pass.

The book does a great job at pointing out what a real grind show business can be. From renting the hall or theatre, to promoting and then waiting to see if your hard work has paid off. Often, things beyond your control come into play to prevent a crowd from attending. Houdini faced more small crowd venues on this Canadian tour than he did large crowds. And yet, in three short years Houdini would meet a man who would help Houdini become famous. That man was Martin Beck, who told Houdini to drop the magic and stick to escapes.

Yet, during the Canadian run in 1896, Houdini was doing every kind of magic imaginable, even a levitation and mind reading! Along the journey, we get to meet other performers and artists, some famous, some not so well known. It's not often that this much new information comes out on a performer who has already been written about in dozens of biographies.  The author Bruce MacNab really did his homework and researched this topic and dug up information that no one else had seen. He even describes situations where he searched and searched for documentation on a particular event but none could be found. My hat goes off to Bruce for such a fine job.

I know by now, most of my readers have probably read this book. But if not, please get yourself a copy and enjoy the journey of Houdini and Bess on Tour in Canada in 1896. Wonderfully done! Click the link at the top of the page to order the book from Amazon!

MAGIC Magazine Great Historical Column

As promised, I wanted to give equal time to MAGIC Magazine, after my article on Genii. This month (May) the cover story is about The Magic Show on Broadway 40 Years Later. It is a great article on how The Magic Show came about, what Doug Henning was like in the very early years, how the various touring versions came about and the actor/magicians who worked in those shows. Plus in the digital version of the magazine there is a video link to the first 7 minutes of the movie version of The Magic Show. But as great as all of that is, the icing on the cake a 25 minute long video taped interview that David Charvet did with Doug Henning, it was Doug's last interview. It is a MUST WATCH!

When it comes to history and MAGIC Magazine, there is one guy who has the corner on the market and that is Mike Caveney. His column is called Classic Correspondence and it always has some interesting gem. It's a relatively short column and yet it's packed with great historical content.

As for non magic columns, I always enjoy Mark Kornhauser's column called For What It's Worth, always funny observations on his life as a performer. Loving Mentalism by Ian Rowland has had some really stunning material in it lately. But the best of the bunch is Mike Bent's column called Bent on Deception. Mike is a comedy magician, kidshow performer and a truly creative guy.

By the way, Stan Allen has just introduced a NEW digital version of the magazine which you should really check out called M360. To find out more about MAGIC and to subscribe, go to http://www.magicmagazine.com/

Genii Magazine Fantastic Historical Column

One of my favorite columns in the Genii Magazine is called The Chamber of Secrets by John Gaughan. Every month, John shares with the readers a piece of magic apparatus from his collection. In the May 2014 of Genii, he shares the Coin Casket. Back in June of 2012, I wrote a piece on the Coin Casket as well. My column included some video. I would encourage you to check out John's column because he gives a lot more historical details than my column did. But then check out my column also because I've included video so you can see the Miraculous Coin Casket in action!

While I'm at it, there is another historical column that doesn't appear every month, but when it does show up it's always a treasure. That column is called Memoirs of a Magic Dealer by Al Cohen. Al's Magic Shop was the shop I grew up going to. And Al Cohen was the coolest guy ever to demo magic tricks. He was always so captivating and entertaining and mainly because he was just being himself! Check out his column, great stuff!

While I'm at it I also need to mention three other columns that are not magic history but always superb. Jim Steinmeyer's column called CONJURING, Tom Stone's column called Lodestones and finally a new column by Jonathan Pendragon called Panmagium. Conjuring has been missing of late, probably due to Mr. Steinmeyer's schedule. But Tom Stone's column is a bit Steinmeyer-esque this month and worth checking out. And Jonathan's column is nothing short of brilliant. So please, by all means go check them out. And I'll be doing a similar thing with MAGIC Magazine soon, pointing out the historical columns! In the mean time, enjoy.

UPDATE on Coin Casket: I cannot tell you how excited I am to have just purchased a Miraculous Coin Casket!!!!! What an ingenious piece of magical machinery and to think it came out of the 19th Century. It will become part of my new show very soon! 6/13/2014