Good Bye To Another Las Vegas Icon

 

Yes, another icon of Las Vegas is going, this time it's a hotel/casino, The Mirage. Built by Vegas Mega Developer Steve Wynn back in the 90s, it was one of the 'new' hotels that helped to remake the face of Las Vegas. The hotel took two years to build and at the time was the most expensive hotel ever to be built, at a whopping $630 million dollars. It was the first of Las Vegas's Megaresorts. 

Along with the hotel, Steve Wynn hired Siegfried and Roy to be their in-house show.  A theater was built specifically for them and for 14 years they reigned supreme with their act of magic and wild animals. In November of 1996, at a cost of $15 million dollars, the casino opened The Secret Garden of Siegfried and Roy. This was an animal habitat featuring white tigers, bengal tigers, lions, a snow leopard, a panther, and an elephant. Later a dolphin habitat was added to the attraction. The habitat received 500,000 visitors per year.

In recent years, a new magic star would be featured in the casino, the wonderful card magician Shin Lim. He is there now, and I assume he'll be there right up until July when the property closes mid-month. Shin Lim was winner of America's Got Talent as well as America's Got Talent Champions and other awards. His show of close-up magic has also featured mentalist Colin Cloud. 

The Mirage is owned by the Hard Rock Casino and will be torn down to make way for a new property, which expects to open some time in 2027. 

By all accounts, Las Vegas has shifted from a Grand Show town with Gambling to a Sports town. 

Houdini Wore A Lot of Hats

 

The term, 'wearing a lot of hats' often refers to someone who has lots of different jobs or skills that they can do. But in this case, I am referring to actual HATS. Recently, I had a contest on my podcast. The question was to name the HAT that Houdini wears or holds the most often in photos. At the time, it seemed like I had the right one. Going through it again, there might have been a different winner. But suffice to say, I'll list a few of them below along with my original choice for winner of the contest. 

I suppose you'd expect Houdini, given that he was a magician, would always wear a top hat. Not really. The photo here is Houdini's top hat, owned today by his relative John Hinson. The photo at the top of the page are the only photos of Harry wearing the top hat, along with his brother Dash. Clearly a photoshoot. Not sure if he ever wore the hat in every day life. They appear slightly different to me. The lower one has a more tapered side, the top photo with Hardeen, the side is straight. And not 100% sure if the hat owned by John Hinson is the same one in the upper most photo. 

Next have have The Flat Cap. Very popular in the 1920s. Also popular today thanks to the show Peaky Blinders. Not a lot of photos of Houdini wearing this one, but clearly one of his casual hats. 

Young Houdini wearing a bowler or derby hat. This was the only one of these I could find. There might be one or two more. Again, it's a formal photoshoot, this time with Bess. Harry dressed up, looking sophisticated with his hat and walking cane. There is a separate photo of Bess which I didn't include. But I don't recall seeing any pics of them standing together, so I am going to assume there are more lost images of Houdini out there, from this photo session alone!

Houdini wearing his fedora or trilby hat. I am not 100% certain the exact name of this hat. But I think it's generally referred to as a fedora, but I saw it also listed as a trilby hat.  There are a lot of photos of Houdini with this hat. At first, I thought this hat was likely the winner. And honestly, it could be, given that I don't have access to every Houdini photo. But in my searches online and through books, it came in second to the hat below.

This is referred to as The Straw Boater Hat. And Houdini is wearing this in a lot of different pictures. The picture above is from one of his movies. But he wore Straw Hats in real life as can be seen below. In the photo of Houdini with Conan Doyle, Houdini is holding is straw hat and Doyle is wearing one! This by the way was the Answer to my Trivia Question: The Straw Boater Hat. The winner was Phil V of Texas and I really appreciate everyone who participated in the contest. 

The RETURN of SLYDINI

 

Is such a thing even possible? Well, yes apparently. Back in 1978, acclaimed french film maker and magician Christian Fechner, filmed Slydini teaching many of his classic effects. From what I gather, no one had seen this footage but him and it became somewhat questionable that it even existed today. Thanks to the efforts of George Proust and the Musee de la Magie in Paris, you can experience for yourself a Masterclass with Slydini. 

The set comes with some props, it looks like the large safety pins and the scarves for this classic Knot trick. I don't have a complete list of what is covered. There is a video which shows quite a few things. The price is rather high, but I imagine there was an incredible amount of work that went into preparing these videos for viewing. It also looks like, at least on the trailer, there may be additional footage of Slydini throughout his career. I don't know french, but I believe this set it presented on a USB drive, I think. You'll have to consult the add and the site for more information. 

Here is the link to this magnificent new offering. https://museedelamagie.com/souscription-slydini-by-slydini/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3e-CtT3P5VOLAXlkXflEVvn4TrQzN7Q-0i9NzwAqh6fIkru3NTNRKCSsQ_aem_AcFd2UEQ9QzbmzDpSwzti9wlRvRmu2wLZTDI-0RAsPRvcOtjzuOpDdd9NLvCX76RKmCkxQU-W4CevnfAFMaaNPps