My First Experience With Blackstone Jr.

The first professional magician I ever saw was Harry Blackstone Jr.. I remember it as if it was yesterday. I had just come back from a trip to Al's Magic Shop in Washington D.C.. and I had purchased an issue of Genii Magazine. While looking through this magazine, the first one I ever bought by the way, I saw an add promoting the Blackstone touring show. I looked over the list of cities the show would be appearing in and lo and behold they would be in Washington D.C. in the not too distant future.

My Dad bought tickets for the whole family and we sat in the third row at the Warner Theatre to see

Blackstone! What a life changing moment that was. Here was a real magician with a commanding presence on stage. He walked out with his birdcage and well, you know the rest. What an incredible show that was. So many great moments, like the Dancing Hank, The Floating Lightbulb, the Buzz Saw, The Circus act with the Girl from Cannon into Nest of Boxes. I was mesmerized by the whole show.

I never expected that years into the future I would own items from that very show. I purchased a number of costumes used in that show. I also bought one of the illusions they toured with, though it was not in the show I saw that first time.

Fast forward a number of years and I'm back at the Warner Theatre, this time to see Masters of Illusion, a touring show produced by Gay Blackstone, Harry's wife. What a thrill it was to meet Mrs. Blackstone after the show. I had actually met Gay, once before at the Magic Castle, but here we had an opportunity to speak with her. It was as if life was coming full circle. Actually, full circle would be Being IN The Masters of Illusion Show produced by Gay. (and we're working on that, trust me).

Carnegie, Gay Blackstone, and my assistant Denise.

I always thought that Harry Jr. would go on to be a huge name not just in magic but in show business. Clearly, he was a big name in magic, but I'm not sure he got the notoriety he deserved in the overall world of show business. Magician's rarely do get that kind of fame. But Harry really truly did deserve it. He was the quintessential theatrical magician. He was the whole package, he had the look, he had the skill, the talent, the presence, and he had the likability factor like few before or since.

Just today I came across an audio interview of Harry Jr. that a gentleman named Bill Smith had preserved. I heard so many interviews of the years with Harry. I remember listening to an interview he did for the radio with Larry King and others. So this brought back a lot of memories. IF you would like to hear this interview, please click the link and enjoy 20+ minutes of Harry Blackstone Jr. talking Blackstone Magic History! http://www.linkingpage.com/magicnewsfeed/2012/7/6/mnw-332-harry-blackstone-jr.html

Houdini In Minneapolis

My family comes from Minneapolis. Basically, my family tree in America starts in Minneapolis and branches out from there. So, I've always been curious about Mpls. I've visited there many times, gone to the magic shops in town. I remember driving by the theaters on Hennepin Avenue years ago wondering if Houdini had performed there. Well, now I have my answers and along the way a huge shock!

Houdini's career actually begins in the other twin city St. Paul MN. In March of 1899, Houdini was working at The Palm Garden when he met Martin Beck and his career was forever changed. But his first appearance in Minneapolis (Mpls) wasn't until 1915. He was performing at the old Orpheum Theatre the week of September 26th, 1915.

Mpls Morning Tribune Paper

On Thursday, September 30th, at 12:05pm Houdini was strapped by his ankles and hung upside down in a straitjacket in front of the Minneapolis Tribune Building on 4th and Marquette Streets. The straitjacket was furnished by the Mpls. Police department. He freed himself in front of crowd that covered on city block. For this stunt he received press articles on Sept 29, 30th and October 1st. This was one of the earliest hanging straitjacket escapes that Houdini ever presented. Possibly his second hanging straitjacket.

The evening of October 1st, Houdini would face a challenge posed by the shipping department of the New England Furniture and Carpet Company. They built a packing case that they were sure he could not escape from. In the Mpls Tribune Newspaper Houdini is quoted as saying "I do not say I will definitely get out. But I have never failed in an attempt. And tonight I will give it my best." He got out! If you want to read more about his 1915 exploits across the country, check out this link WildAboutHoudini.com

The next time Mpls would see Mr. Houdini would be in February of 1923. And this is where the whole things gets personally interesting to me. It was February 7th, 1923 and Houdini was supposed to be raised 100 feet in the air above the Tribune Annex building downtown. When he arrived, he discovered that they wanted to hang him from a sign that was only 40 or so feet off the ground and Houdini refused. He said he promised to do it from 100 feet in the air, plus with 3000+ people watching, he'd need to be up higher to be seen properly. The rigging was thus moved to a higher location. Houdini was then strapped into the Police issue straitjacket. One of the two men strapping him in was Ole Berg. This is the name of my Great Great Grandfather who lived in Mpls. for a time. Was it MY Great Great Grandfather? I have no way of knowing for sure, as I know there were several Ole Berg's in that area then. It very possibly could have been. But I'm also sure that I had other relatives present at this event. Most of my relatives lived in Mpls. or nearby during this period of time.

Following his successful escape from the straitjacket, Houdini promptly headed to the Hennipin Orpheum for a matinee performance. During this performance he featured his escape from the Water Torture Cell. The photo below was from the Mpls Tribune, but I believe he was still being raised when this photo was taken because the newspaper said he was raised up to the 5th floor window level.

Photo used with permission Hennepin County Library Special Collections

A Forgotten Houdini Associate

While recently reading Dorothy Young's booklet about her time with the Houdini Show, I stumbled upon a name that did not ring a bell. In fact, when I looked him up in the Silverman book and the Kalush book on Houdini, neither of them mention this person. I eventually found a small mention of him in Houdini The Untold Story by Milbourne Christopher. Then another mention in Pat Culliton's great book Houdini: The Key. In fact, it was a piece in Pat's book that tipped off another bit of info that I'll cover here too.

The man's name is L. Lawrence Weber.  He was born in 1869 in NYC, New York. According to Wikipedia he was an American Sports Promoter, stage show producer, and theater manager. In 1915, he was involved in the founding of Metro Pictures, which years later would morph into Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

He seems to have been involved in both early motion pictures and theatrical stage shows. Then in

1925, he went into a partnership with Houdini. Weber would be the producer/promoter for the BIG 3-1 Show.  The Christopher book mentions that Houdini was in meetings with Weber almost daily. They had a tour to figure out, new promotional materials to design and approve, and a show to put together, a very big show.
The new Houdini theatre show, sometimes known as the 3 Shows in One Show,  opened August 1925 at the Maryland Theatre.  In The Untold Story, Milbourne Christopher says the show opened at the Maryland Theatre in Baltimore. This had me very excited. I was able to track down the location of that theatre and some photos. Unfortunately, The Maryland Theatre in Baltimore is long gone. AND, it turns out it's also the incorrect theatre! Christopher got that part wrong.

I knew there was a Maryland Theatre in Hagerstown MD, and that one still stands. However, after much digging I found the Hagerstown Maryland Theatre was also not the location. Thanks to something printed in Pat Culliton's book Houdini: The Key on page 398 there is a review of the very first Houdini 3-1 show. In the article it mentions Cumberland Maryland. After, more digging I finally found where there had once been a Maryland Theatre in Cumberland. It was on 37 Mechanic St. in Cumberland. The Cumberland Maryland Theatre opened on Nov 21, 1907 and had 1800 seats. It is now long gone, it was razed in 1964.

In the article printed in Houdini: The Key it says, "Opening the show last night, Houdini referred to Cumberland as marking an important epoch in his life and said that if he ever wrote an autobiography of his life, he would devote a chapter to his experiences in Cumberland inaugurating a new phase of his career as a public entertainer." In the same article on page 398, it goes on to say, that L. Lawrence Weber sent a note to Houdini following his opening at the Maryland Theatre which read, "Hope that today in Cumberland was but the dawn of a long and happy partnership between us and that future years will bring you new and greater honors which you so honestly deserve."

Here is an image of the theatre where Houdini began his big touring show in August 1925! Houdini's  big time theatrical debut took place right there on that stage. No more Vaudeville for Houdini.

Getting back to L. Lawrence Weber. He had a very successful career producing plays. His last was The Man Who Killed Lincoln which ran in 1940. Mr. Weber had one other connection to Houdini. He was one of the Honorary Pallbearers at Houdini's funeral. The others included: E.F. Albee, J.J. Murdock, Martin Beck, William Morris, Lee Shubert, Mark A. Luescher, Charles Dillingham, Richard E. Enright, Adolph S. Ochs, William Johnson, Adolph Zukor, Orson Munn, Arthur Prince, Bernard M.L. Ernst, Professor Brandon Matthews, Joseph F. Rinn, Sophie Irene Loeb, Bernard Gimbel, Francis Werner and Oscar Teale. 

*Please check out the comments below as John Cox/WildaboutHoudini.com had found out some information on L. Lawrence Weber that I missed. It adds another dimension into the Houdini/Weber relationship!