HOUDINI BIRTHDAY AUCTION Announced

Haversat & Ewing Galleries, LLC announced they will be holding a Houdini Birthday Auction on March 23-24, 2016. Here is what their email says, "Handcuff Harry will celebrate his 142nd birthday this coming March 24th and in celebration, Haversat & Ewing Galleries will host a catalog auction featuring interesting items from his storied career. We have a number of great consignments from major collectors that we're sure Houdini aficionados will find inescapably interesting and desirable. In addition we have a great selection of unique photos, letters and conjuring collectibles from the greatest names in magic. The auction starts at 11:00 AM on March 23rd and ends at 5:00 p.m. March 24th. So join us as we celebrate this great magician! Preview available in March. "

Their website is http://www.haversatewing.com/ 

John Cox also mentioned another Houdini auction on via his website. 

Evanion, the Royal Conjurer and Magic Historian/Collector

I was recently going through my copy of Houdini The Untold Story when a picture jumped out at me. It's a photograph that I have seen many many times. But it occurred to me that I didn't really know anything about this individual. Unlike my previous article on Alexander the Conjurer, this fellow did not have his photo taken with Houdini. However, Houdini did meet the man and he was important in Houdini's life for a brief period of time. His name was Henry Evans-Evanion.

As I dug into his life story, I was struck by a number of things. He had a modest amount of success during his time.  He was an avid collector of anything to do with the theatre, both magic related and theatre in general.

However, the end of his life seems to have not been good. He was forced to sell off his collection in order to make ends meet. Even then, I get the impression that the funds did not really cover all the expenses. Who was Evanion? Read on...


Henry Evans was born 1832 in Kennington, South London. He became interested in magic in his youth and performed in his teens for neighborhood friends. By 1849, he presented his first full show
at the Rock Inn, Kemp Town, Brighton. He used his real name Evans as his performing name.

In 1857 he altered his performing name to Evan Ion, and then the following year, perhaps through a printing error went with Evanion. He legally changed his name to Evanion as well.

What kind of magic did Evanion perform? Well, from the illustrations used in his advertising posters I can see he did a verison of the Robert-Houdin Suspension which was copied by pretty much every working performer of that time. He presented the Inexhaustible Bottle which was another popular trick from that period. Evanion presented the production of bowls of water very likely with goldfish, a production of numerous items from a top hat, The Flags of All Nations, Production of a Firebowl, and the Growth of Flower Trees illusion. In an article by James Hagy in, The Perennial Mystics No 18 page 2.9 is states, "Evanion's performances continued to feature not only conjuring but ventiloquism, an art which gave center stage to elaborate patter and wit which was reputed to have been Evanion's pride."

I do not profess to be an authority on Ventriloquism, far from it. But I get the impression that what we think of as Ventriloquism today and what was presented in the Victorian era are two different things. That is to say, I don't think they were using Vent Dummies or puppets the kind that we are familiar with. Rather, the concept of 'throwing your voice' or making it appear your voice is off in the distance is what they likely were doing along with comedic scripts.

On the surface there doesn't appear to be anything remarkable about his show. Not to say it was a bad show, it's just very much like the programs that the other players of that time were doing. He did perform for royalty, the Prince and Princess of Wales. So that was a huge feather in his cap that he could brag about. In fact, he billed himself as The Royal Conjurer. And this royal conjurer appears to have performed right up until shortly before his death. His last recorded performance was in 1905 for a school party in the English countryside. The Annals of Conjuring does point out that his fee at this later date was a pittance compared to what he received in his heyday.

The remarkable thing about Evanion appears to be his collection of theatrical handbills and assorted ephemera. He had a huge collection of both magic and none magic theatrical papers.  He very well may have been one of the first to ever collect such things.  I've read in multiple sources that his collection may have been more because he could never throw anything away. However, in The Sphinx Magazine Vol 48 #11, it says "Evanion would miss a meal in order to purchase a programme or booklet. He was also known to buy a dozen, at least, of the same periodical in which there appeared an article on conjuring." I'd say he was a true collector.

In 1904 Houdini comes into the picture. Houdini was performing at the London Hippodrome and had come down with the grippe (the flu). He had been confined to his room by a doctor but did do a newspaper interview. The reporter mentioned the collection of handbills and clippings that Houdini had been acquiring for an upcoming book on the history of magic. The article that appeared in the paper mentioned Houdini's collection and this caught the eye of Henry Evanion. The 72 year old conjurer proceeded to contact Houdini at his hotel on the same day the article appeared in the paper. He very likely went straight to the hotel. Houdini agreed to meet him the following day.

The next day Houdini waited for the elder magician but he did not show. Later in the day Houdini decided to take a short walk. As he exited the elevator, the porter told Houdini that some old guy had been waiting in the lobby. Since early in the afternoon this man had been waiting but the hotel staff did not tell Houdini given 'the shabby appearance' of the old man. All of this comes from Houdini's book The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin. Houdini says that he spoke to the old man who had a parcel of old clippings and playbills to show Houdini. And here is where it gets truly interesting, in Houdini's own words..."I remember only raising my hands before my eyes as if I had been dazzled by a sudden shower of diamonds."  This was Houdini's reaction to seeing first hand, playbills belonging to Robert-Houdin, Phillippe, Katterfelto, Pinetti, Breslaw, Anderson and others.  He completes the description with this, "I felt as if the King of England stood before me and I must do him homage."

This really speaks to Houdini's love of magic and magic history. It's a terrible shame that his book on magic history turned into an attack on Robert-Houdin because it could have been one of the greatest books ever written.  But back to the story. The next day, Houdini, against the advice of Doctors, takes a cab to Evanion's home. Remember, Houdini had a bad case of the flu, but he was so engrossed in this world of magic history that he and Evanion lost track of time. It wasn't until an angry Theo Hardeen  and Houdini's Doctor showed up at 3:30 a.m. the next morning looking for Houdini, did he (Houdini) realize the time. They practically had to drag him out of there, not because he was too ill to walk but because Houdini was having such a great time.

Over time Houdini would purchase more and more of the collection. On June 7th, 1905, Houdini went to visit Evanion one final time, this time at the Lamberth Infirmary. Evanion was suffering from cancer of the throat and could hardly talk. Ten days later, Evanion died. Houdini helped with the funeral arrangements and set up a fund to help Evanion's ailing wife. Much is made in the magic press of Houdini's ego, but not much is made of his kindness.  This is a great example of Houdini's generosity.

Houdini did not get the entire Evanion collection, though he did get quite a bit of it. Evanion himself had been periodically selling off pieces of it even before he met Houdini. And a big section of the collection dealing with Victorian Theatre went to the British Library where it still resides today. I think Houdini, by writing of his visits to Evanion, did secure a place for the old Victorian magician in the annals of magic history!

* If you head over the WildaboutHoudini.com you can see some images of Evanion's home as it looks today!

Continued Clean-up of Robert Heller's Grave

I just received a note from Tony Selletti about a young man, Ken Biddle, from Philadelaphia who, along with his wife, have begun some additional clean-up of Robert Heller's grave. This has been a long project. I first started a push a few years back to help clean-up the grave. Thankfully, the Friends of Mt. Moriah who have been periodically cleaning up this abandoned graveyard, eventually found their way to Heller's grave and uncovered it. Let's take a look back at some of these images from Heller's site.

This first image was one was what we were up against. Underneath this brush and mix of twisted vines was Heller's grave. It sure appears to be a daunting task from the looks of it.

Next we have the first image of the grave in the 21st Century. I was told it was laying down flat on the ground when they discovered it.  This image comes from Ed Snyder.

Since the initial rediscovery of the grave, someone cleaned up the gravestone itself. Then we come to the photos I received from Tony Selletti taken by Ken Biddle. And finally, Ken standing next to Heller's grave. I'm guessing this last shot was taken before they started their work on the site as the photo above shows the area more open.

In 1878 Robert Heller died unexpectedly in Philadelphia. He was buried a few days later in Machpelah Cemetary in Philadelphia. But a few years after he was buried, all the graves in that graveyard were dug up and relocated to other locations. Thus, the search was on to find the grave of one of the great 19th Century magicians. Houdini located the grave in 1910 and the photo at the top of the page is Houdini standing near the grave.

Thankfully through the hard work of volunteers like the Friends of Mount Moriah and others, the grave of Heller and the entire cemetery is getting a gradual make-over. If you would like to contribute to the cause or be part of a future clean-up, you can click the Friends of Mount Moriah link and you can find out more information on how to help.

Who Was Alexander the Conjurer?

The photo above is of Houdini and Alexander the Conjurer. I've seen the photo before but it never occurred to me to ask, "Who was Alexander the Conjurer?". He was not Alexander The Man Who Knows. That Alexander was Claude Alexander Conlin who was a crystal gazer/mind reader during the Roaring 20s. This other Alexander, I am not familiar with, but some digging turned up some interesting details.

Alexander the Conjurer was born Dec 4, 1819* in Munster Germany. His real name was Johann Friedrich Heimberger. He was a contemporary of Robert Houdin and John Henry Anderson, the Great Wizard of the North. Houdini met Alexander on March 17th, 1903 while playing in Cologne. He records his entire visit and then some in his book The UnMasking of Robert Houdin. In fact, it appears that it may be because of Houdini that we still remember Alexander today.

From the book Annals of Conjuring I discovered that Herr Alexander got into magic in by being an

assistant to another itenerant German magician of the day F. Becker in 1839. And Becker had also started his career as an assistant to Bosco. Alexander only stayed long enough to learn all the magic and then was off on his own. Early on he presented magic combined with the exhibition of Phantasmagoria. It appears that he had a fairly short career but made quite a bit of money that allowed him to retire at and early age.

One of the reasons that Houdini records Herr Alexander is because of his claim to have invented the Suspension illusion in 1845 while on tour in America. This would be two years before Robert-Houdin if it's true. Apparently, however the only documentation is a flyer from Herr Alexander from 1850 showing the Suspension illusion. Houdini says that Alexander got the idea from reading about Indian Fakirs doing their sitting suspension which is probably the same place that Robert-Houdin got his inspiration. The The Annals of Conjuring says that Herr Alexander's version only had the person suspended upright and not at a horizontal position like Robert Houdin's version. Perhaps they both came up with a version of the same effect, but Robert-Houdin took the effect much further.

Houdini does make a small error in his chapter on Herr Alexander. He states, "I felt especially honored to stand in the presence of the only magician who, up til that date,  had ever appeared at the White House by the request of President Polk." I do know there have been others who performed at the White House, one was Wyman the Wizard who performed for Martin Van Buren, the 8th President of the United States, and thus predated the Alexander visit by several years. Still, you could count the number of magicians who performed for U.S. Presidents on one hand, so he was still in rare company.

Houdini's visit with Alexander is fascinating to read. Here was an 80+ year old gentlemen who, by

looking at the photo above and from Houdini's description, was 'bent with years'. But he came alive when talking about the history of magic. Herr Alexander knew many of the greats from his day including: Bosco, Robert-Houdin, Frikell, John Henry Anderson, Signor Blitz, Compars Herrmann, and according to Houdini, the original Bamberg of Amsterdam.

In 1904, Houdini paid a second visit to Herr Alexander and again he was greeted warmly. This time, the old magician gifted Houdini with some playbills and programs from his own collection. But this would be the final time the two would meet. At the conclusion of their meeting, Herr Alexander confided to Houdini that all preparations were made and he soon expected the Grim Reaper to come to take him. But death is often cruel and in this case, death came to take his wife rather than him. Alexander would live several more years and live to be 89. He died July 25th, 1909.

He was known professionally as Herr Alexander or as Alexander the Conjurer. In late 1843 he came to the United States to perform. The beginning of his tour left him almost penniless. Eventually, his lucked changed and the money and success began to roll in.

Some of the tricks for which he made quite a sensation included The Spirit Bell, the production of a very large bowl of water while in Chinese robes, and of course the Suspension illusion. Houdini mentions in The UnMasking of Robert Houdin, that Herr Alexander's performance of the large bowl of water production predates that of Ching Ling Foo. 

He continued to perform in the US until 1847 when he left for South America. Magicpedia states that Herr Alexander's daughter assisted him with his Second Sight routine and she died while on tour. This event is what caused him to return to his homeland of Germany. Houdini says that Herr Alexander returned to Germany in 1854, but The Annals of Conjuring puts the date at 1852. Whichever one, we know that he did not return to performing when he got home. He amassed quite a fortune in his few years performing and retired upon returning home.

He did write a book describing his early career called, Der Moderne Zauberer (The Modern Magician) which he claimed, according to Houdini, "is rated as one of the gems of German literature, as well as the best book ever written by a conjurer." However, in Annals of Conjuring it says "Der Moderne Zauberer, a book of no great interest save for its reference to the itinerant conjurers of Germany."

*In the book MAGIC-A Pictorial History of Conjurers in the Theater author David Price lists the year of Herr Alexander's birth as 1809. He also lists the 1852 or 1854 as the year he returned to Germany, so he too discovered the discrepancy.

NYPL and HOUDINI

The New York Public Library has opened their digital vaults. They have 180,000 images that are public domain and there are quite a few HOUDINI pictures. Though no where close to 180,000 Houdini images, more like 70 or so. But great photos they are. Also, there are some very clear images of a couple of the Houdini posters. The Houdini pictures come from the Billy Rose Theatre Collection. And they have a collection of magic posters and a few photos of magicians as well.

HOUDINI
http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?utf8=%E2%9C%93&keywords=Houdini#
Magic Posters
http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/collections/magic-scrapbooks-separated-posters#/?tab=about&scroll=5
Magicians
http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?utf8=%E2%9C%93&keywords=magician#

Happy New Year 2016 From The Magic Detective!

2016 is just hours away now and I'm very excited for the coming new year. I sadly fell a little behind in 2015 with keeping the blog up to date. But I'm hoping to do a better job in 2016. I get on my various 'kicks' from time to time, things that I'm very intrigued with and it seems now that I've finished The Witch of Lime Street, I'm on a big Margery kick. I just ordered another book on Margery and I need to pour over my notes from the late Norman Bigelow to see what keen insights he had shared with me.

I hope you all have a safe and Happy New Year and I'll see you in 2016!!!

The Witch of Lime Street -Book Review

The Witch of Lime Street by David Jaher is a book about the life of Margery the Medium. The subtitle of the book is ‘Séance, Seduction and HOUDINI in the Spirit World’. Houdini plays a part, but he is a secondary character even though his image and name appears on the cover of the book. Speaking of the cover, it might be the coolest book cover of ANY book with Houdini because this book cover GLOWS IN THE DARK! It’s very subtle, but I think the glowing in the dark cover and spine add to the already spooky subject matter.

When I heard that a first time author was writing this book, I had my doubts about the quality of the content. But having read the book AND listened to the audio version as well, I can tell you that Mr. Jaher did an outstanding job of research. The book is well written, entertaining and filled with history.

I had never been that big a fan of Margery until fairly recently. I think for me my interest began when I saw the actual Bell Box that was used in the Margery/Houdini Séances. I also got to see the so-called spirit-fingerprints that Walter, Margery’s spirit guide and brother, apparently created during a Séance. Shortly after this, I started to correspond frequently with the late escape artist and Houdini historian Norman Bigelow, about Margery. I wish Norm had lived long enough to read this book, I know he would have enjoyed it.

David Jaher does a great job of laying out the details for the reader of Margery’s character before becoming a medium and after and then during the last days of her life. It would seem that Mina Crandon was a fun loving individual. When she became Margery she developed a seductive air about her. She was overly flirtatious with many men on the  investigative committee. No doubt her suggestive behavior helped to take many of them off their game. Despite this she still had standards of behavior that can be seen when Malcolm Bird tried to bring a prostitute to Margery’s Lime Street home and he was abruptly chastised by Margery and turned away.

Margery was a complex woman. Early in the book, it’s apparent that she doesn’t believe in any of this ‘spirit nonsense’. Though skeptical, she still attends a séance with a friend and encounters a medium who shares a revelation with her that she has a future in the spirit business. Sure enough, she eventually becomes the best-known spirit medium in the country. Oddly, though she likes presenting séances she claimed she didn’t want publicity. She doesn’t even use her real name Mina; rather she uses a form of her middle name Margery. And though she doesn’t want the publicity, she is competing for the top prize in country, to be examined and proven to be genuine by a committee of investigators from The Scientific American Magazine. Yes, she was a complex woman.

Houdini is in the book because he plays a major part in the investigation of spirit mediums during the 1920s and he is an important player in the investigation of Margery. The author shares Houdini’s encounters with Conan Doyle and their early friendship as well as their eventual parting of ways. This helps to set-up Houdini  as an authority on fake mediums, for the reader. Even one of Houdini’s spirit debunking co-workers, Rose Mackenberg, gets featured in the book.

There really is no better person to spot a spirit faker than a knowledgeable magician. I preface that with ‘knowledgeable’ because if the magician doesn’t know anything about fake spirit work, they’ll likely be as taken in as anyone else. Houdini was not the first to expose mediums though he was arguably the most famous debunker. Magicians were involved with exposing mediums since the very early days of Spiritualism. John Wyman, known as Wyman the Wizard at one point helped to investigate the Fox Sisters. John Nevil Maskelyne, in England, went after the Davenport Brothers. So magicians have been at the forefront of investigating fake mediums from the start.

One thing that puzzles me is where Margery learned her tricks of the trade? It’s clear that she used deception. But she was creating manifestations that no one else was doing. And she continued to evolve over time adding more and more unique effects to her Séances. A great example would be the ectoplasmic arms and hands that would mysteriously protrude from her body yet no trace of them could be found after the Séance.

I really enjoyed The Witch of Lime Street. I’m not the only one, as the movie rights to the book have already been picked up. Will we see a Houdini/Margery movie? Time will tell. But what a fascinating movie it could be. It’s a very unique chapter in history and frankly I think we owe it all to Houdini. Without him, I don’t think there would have been as much press exposure.  I also think this unique confrontation would have likely been forgotten over time without Houdini’s participation.

Chung Ling Soo Model Plane Maker

One of my favorite things about this blog are the readers who contact me with various bits of information. Earlier in the year I received an email from a reader about a magazine he had in his possession, called The Model Engineer from June 1949. Within the magazine is an article written by Donald Stevenson, who worked with Soo, and it's about Soo's interest in model aeroplanes.

There are some interesting facts that come out in the article. First thing that jumps out at me is the list of machinery in Soo's workshop: "One treadle fretsaw, one treadle circular saw, a 4.5 inch screwcutting lathe, and a pillar drill and emery wheels, also treadle-driven, a wood bench with vice, metal bench with vice, large assembly bench, a small forge and a good supply of wood and metal hand tools. All the small tools were hung on the walls in their own places, and there were also shelves all around the workshop". That complete description came from The Model Engineer Magazine.

Another interesting fact was that besides magic books and periodicals, it would seem that Soo's favorite magazine was The Model Engineer, in which this article appeared.  Stevenson goes on to describe how Soo would often come to the workshop with an idea and spend hours and hours working it out. Soo's illusion ideas were built from cardboard and wire first before they would be build from wood and metal.

Soo had an interest in model aeroplanes and would build working models from time to time. In 1911, he was approached by a company that was interested in having him build model planes. After showing the company samples of his work, Soo received an order for a weekly supply of model aeroplanes. Soo hired several new employees to help with the increased workload. This made his shop one of the very first in England to produce model planes. The work continued until the outbreak of World War 1 in 1914.

Soo continued to tinker with the models even after 1914. According to Donald Stevenson, Soo's favorite place was in his workshop.  Below is an image of a model plane that William Robinson/Chung Ling Soo built.

Thanks to Martin Griffiths, for making me aware of this and for mailing the magazine to me!

The Linking Rings, A Tricks Whose Time Has Come and Gone and Come Again!

I would love to blame my sudden fascination with the Linking Ring trick on Frederick Eugene Powell, but he is only partly to blame. I was already researching this ancient mystery when I saw his video 2  weekends ago. In his routine, at the 5:50 mark on the video, he does a remarkable move where all the rings fall and cascade off of one ring onto the floor. I had read about this move before but never saw it in action. Having seen it, all I can say is WHOA! That is awesome!!!

Just so you know, I will not be revealing the methodology of this trick. I know that 90% of the people who read my blog are magicians, but I do get lay people who read it from time to time and I am from the old school, a keeper of secrets.

The trick known as the Chinese Linking Rings is said to be 2000 years old, possibly older. I am not certain of it's origins, though I have read it can be traced to Egypt and other areas of the Middle East as far back as the first century. The Annals of Conjuring mentions that it could possibly be from Ancient Rome, but it also says that evidence is slight.  And still other sources point towards India and China as the place of origin for the Linking Rings.

The trick was introduced to the European magic world via a troupe of Chinese Jugglers and Acrobats in 1830 and thus I suspect the reason the effect is known as the 'Chinese' Linking Rings.  According to the book The Annals of Conjuring, 'they were from the Court of Pekin and performed at the Savile House, #1, Leicester Square.' A number of online sources list the French conjurer Phillipe as the first magician in Europe to do the Rings after the Chinese troupe came through, but apparently, an English magician by the name of Jacobs was doing the Rings two years earlier than Phillipe. That information also comes from Annals of Conjuring.

I think it's probably safe to say we'll never know the true origin . But at least we have a good idea of when they gained popularity, in the 1800s. The early routines presented by Europeans were done with a lot of rings, 8, 10, 11, 12 and more. I'm not sure there is anyone today doing routines with large numbers of rings. About the most you'll see are six or eight, as most sets sold in magic shops come in eights. Levant, in the book Roy Benson by Starlight speculates that the reason shops started selling sets of eight rings was because Modern Magic by Professor Hoffmann contained a routine with eight and twelve. Eight was easier and less expensive to produce and thus cheaper to sell a set of eight. However, Levant says on his DVD Levent's Ultimate Guide To The Linking Rings, that magic shops probably always sold a variety of rings, from 8-12. Today however, the set seems to stay at 8 or less.

From my research on Edward Maro earlier this year I learned that he too presented the Linking Rings but he used very large rings. I suspect he was doing either Robert-Houdin's routine or one of the routines featured in Modern Magic by Professor Hoffmann.

I first learned the Rings when I was a kid. But from the research I've done over the past week, I apparently never really learned the Rings, lol. I learned a routine, but to my delight there is so much more to this little effect than meets the eye. I was surprised by the amount of magic literature that covers the rings. For example: The Robert-Houdin routine can be found in The Essential Robert-Houdin by Miracle Factory, Tarbell #4 contains a couple sweet routines, one of which was the routine of Eugene Laurant, Greater Magic by John Northern Hilliard contains several different routines, Roy Benson by Starlight by Levent has the best possible recreation of the Benson Liking Ring routine available, and there are many other sources as well.

I've recently watched over a dozen routines on video including: Chris Capehart's brilliant routine, Pop Haydn's stellar 4 ring routine, Dai Vernon's Classic Symphony, Richard Ross's 3 Ring and 4 Ring award winning routines, Cellini's Silent but deadly two ring routine and many others. One of the best variations was Mike Caveney's Linking Coat Hangers.  I have watched videos by pros and by some not so pro but still well done. And I've seen a couple routines that I did not like at all. Two that I didn't like come to mind because I could tell, both performers knew how to do the rings, both had skill with the rings, but they chose to add dance and fast movements and it got difficult to follow the magic. Confusion is not magic and speed is not needed when performing the rings, in fact, the slower you go the more mysterious the illusion. 

I believe my first real exposure to the rings was watching Doug Henning present them. Actually, my first true exposure was a theme park magician in Kentucky just a few months before the first Doug Henning Special. I desperately wanted to know how the trick worked so I bought a copy of The Amatuer Magician's Handbook by Henry Hay and found the secret, or so I thought. That's the great thing about magic, there is never one secret to any trick. A good effect has layers of secrets along with psychology and misdirection. Then there is the  magician who must interpret all those elements and bring something of himself/herself to the mix. One of the most beautiful routines I've seen with the rings is done by Tina Lenert. Her routine is so mysterious and magical and fun. Her's is done to music and she just captivates with her presence.

Having watched so many ring routines over the past week, I have a far better knowledge of the

different routines. I know that David Copperfield for example was doing Richard Ross's routine on one of his old TV specials. I know that Doug Henning and my friend Cesareo Pelaez from Le Grand David both were doing Dai Vernon's Symphony of the Rings. OH, and Dai Vernon's routine seems to have been based on Cardini's routine. I can see similarities in Chris Capehart's routine to those in the smaller Ninja Ring by Shoot Ogawa.  I would surmise that Chris developed his through the school of hard work and repetition. His routine, uses only three rings and features a repetitive link that simply looks impossible. He does the link over and over, right under people's noses and still it's impossible to see how he does it. The Capehart routine has a different feel from others, almost a more direct in your face sort of approach, and I like it.

Who has the best routine? I don't think there is a definitive answer. John Northern Hillard says in Greater Magic that Chung Ling Soo's routine was the best he'd ever seen. Many magicians point to Vernon's Symphony or Pop Haydn's 4 Ring routine as their favorites. In the 1970's, I would have to say that Richard Ross dominated the field with his beautiful Linking Ring routine. There are just so many great ring routines, it's impossible to choose a 'best'. One thing is for sure, a Linking Ring routine, well constructed and well performed is just as strong today as it was in the 1830s.

On the DVD, Levent's Ultimate Guild To The Linking Rings, Levent share's Robert-Houdin's routine with 12 rings, Chung Ling Soo's 12 Ring routine, Claudius Odin's 8 Ring routine, Cardini's 6 Ring routine, Dai Vernon's 4 ring and 6 ring routines, Paul Potassy's 8 ring routine, Jack Miller's 5 ring routine, Roy Benson's 11 ring routine, Richard Ross's 4 ring routine, and several of Levent's own ring routines that he created. He does these routines perfectly and they are all a pleasure to watch. If you want to learn the Linking Rings, Levent's DVD is a must have, but it's expensive, so the merely curious will stay away. His 4 DVDs are a college course in mastering the Linking Rings. One thing that sort of surprised me was that among all the various ring moves and sleights he displays, none of the four I created are among the bunch. Now, I did not reveal mine to Levent, but I had always kind of assumed that I was likely reinventing something someone else did, but apparently that isn't the case. So, it's nice to know I've got four Linking Ring sleights that are unique! One more think on Levent's DVD, it's FANTASTIC. I found the historical information and the recreations to be just as great as the teaching segments. He always does a stellar job.

Oh, and I was surprised to find that Houdini has a contribution to the Linking Rings. Though, it appears that Houdini's contribution may have come from Adrian Plate's notebooks that Houdini owned. The contribution appears in the book Houdini's Magic by Walter Gibson. The sequence is a very unorthodox linking of two rings that is brilliant and deceptive. I don't know if Houdini ever actually performed the Linking Rings in his show, but I'm guessing he probably did not (if I'm wrong, let me know).

UPDATE:  I had to mention this, I just watched Jonathan Pendragon's Linking Ring routine on video. I had seen it before but forgot about it. After watching so many ring routines over the past couple weeks and watching 7 hours of rings this weekend, I must say that Jonathan's routine is among the best there is. His routine is very well constructed. It's a combination of patter and music, part of the routine he interacts with the audience, part of the routine he is on stage performing to music. And his choice of music is the perfect fit for the routine as the rings act as almost a musical instrument interacting with the music. As with anything Jonathan does, it's a very physical routine and it goes to show how a performer takes a routine and makes it their own. Just great stuff.

UPDATE2: I forgot to mention I have two friends who do the rings. But they don't really 'do the rings' They make music with their rings. They're routines are a thing of beauty and you can sense the years of dedication and practice and love in every movement. They both do similar routines but yet the end results are different. My two friends are Glenn Gary and Keith Pass, two maestros with the rings.

The reason I did not personally continue with the rings many years ago was because I shifted to the Linking Hula Hoops, which is a variation of the Linking Rings. I have been doing the Hoops for 30 years and it's become my signature trick. Originally created by Dick Zimmerman in the 1960s. I took the original routine and added my own additional moves and figures. The only flaw, if there is one, to the Linking Hula Hoops is that it's a stage trick only. So now, I'm considering a return to the Linking Rings for smaller venues. I'd like to venture into one of the 11 or 12 ring routines because those are so rarely done.  For now however, I'd like to share my variation of the Linking Rings, done with Hula Hoops. This is actually a ten year old video, so my current routine is slightly different, but you get the general idea. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you liked my history of the Linking Rings!

Frederick Eugene Powell Extra!

I think I have a new favorite magician. I can't help it, I get drawn into these people when I learn about their life stories. Naturally, Houdini remains #1. But I need to add another new one to the list and that is Frederick Eugene Powell. If you read yesterday's article, you've already learned that Powell was part of Houdini's Wonder Show to help promote The Man From Beyond movie. I also mentioned that Powell was part of The Triple Alliance with Servais LeRoy and Imro Fox.

I felt so fortunate to find a list of the effects he performed when he worked for Houdini. But I never imagined that there might be video footage. I mean there is precious little video footage from some of the best names from that time period let alone the last remaining 'old timer'. But there is. In his later years, Powell lived with his friend John Petrie. Apparently, Petrie filmed Powell performing. This is not just a quick 30 second piece. This video is 11.5 minutes of material. It's very poor quality, but that's to be expected. The content is there and it's breathtaking! Powell does a number of the kerchief tricks that he did at the Wonder Show, including the barehanded production of silks which then turn into a flag! He also does the Linking Rings and there are some very unusual moves in his routine. At a later date I'll write more about the 2nd Dean of The Society of American Magicians, but for now, please enjoy his magic!!!

UPDATE: Sadly, this video appears to have been taken down. Uggggh. This was one of the coolest videos I ever saw. It was on the SAM's Vimeo page. Now gone :(

The Houdini Wonder Show

With the recent rediscovery and release of The Grim Game, I became intrigued with Houdini's movie career. While reading the Silverman bio on Houdini I came across a curious passage about something called The Houdini Wonder Show. I searched through other biographies and online sources and came up pretty much empty, with one exception, Joe Notaro's great blog called Harryhoudinicircumstantialevidence.com had a short piece on an escape artist who appeared in one of the shows.  At that point I decided to take on the task of tracking down more information on this rarely covered Wonder Show.

By 1922, Houdini had already made movies for Octagon and Paramount but he decided to go out on his own and create his own movies. The Man From Beyond was apparently written by Houdini in ten days. Houdini also produced, cut and edited the movie. And because he didn't have the backing of a big studio, he had to create his own publicity for the movie.

Houdini put together a rather unique publicity campaign. Any theater showing the movie, also got Houdini's Wonder Show. The movie debuted April 1922 at the Time Square Theatre and was a huge success.

When Houdini first started the Wonder Show he presented a straight jacket escape and the Vanishing Elephant. Then 'The Man From Beyond' was shown to the audience. The entire program of show and movie made a great night of entertainment. This concept proved to be so popular Houdini created 4 different units of his Wonder Show.

Heading up Unit #1 of the Houdini Wonder Show was Frederick Eugene Powell and mentalist Virginia Carr. Powell presented very classic magic. His effects included: The DeKolta Giant Flower Production, A multitude of handkerchief tricks with borrowed kerchiefs, The production of numerous silk cloths which transformed into a giant American Flag, and he finished with the Crystal Coin Ladder.  Virginia Carr presented a mind reading act which by all accounts was a big hit.

Unit #2 of the Houdini Wonder Show featured Genesta the Escape Artist presenting his death defying Barrel Mystery. Also in the show was manipulator Ericson and Mlle. Amelia. Ericson presented a classic card manipulation act similar to Cardini.

Heading up Unit # 3 of the Houdini Wonder Show was Prof. Demont who presented magic, the Indian Box Mystery and crystal gazing. He also added an escape from a large mahogany box.

Finally, the #4 Unit of the Houdini Wonder Show was presented by Mystic Clayton who did a mind reading act.

At some point in time Frederick Melville was also added to the tour, though I find conflicting accounts of which show he was on. He may have been with Unit #2 and he presented his 'radio operated automaton/mechanical man' that he called 'Radiac'. And I have found mention of yet another performer by the name of Benton who appeared in one of the shows.

Houdini continued to make appearances at some of the showings of The Man From Beyond but he scaled back his portion of the show. No longer was he doing the mammoth Elephant Vanish and straight jacket escape. Instead he replaced the magic altogether with a talk and exposure of fake spirit phenomenon.

All of the units presented an hour of magic and mystery along with the showing of Houdini's movie The Man From Beyond.


Who was Frederick Eugene Powell? Frederick Eugene Powell was born March 1st 1856 in Philadelphia PA. His interest in magic began when he saw the great magicians of his day, Robert Heller, Signor Blitz and Wyman the Wizard. Powell was one of the true 'old timers' in magic, having lived through the late Victorian era right into the early 20th Century. He became the 2nd Dean of the Society of American Magicians, a title bestowed upon him by the then Illustrious President Houdini.
He had a very interesting career as a full time performer that was interupted at one point when he took a position as chair of mathematics at Pennsylvania Military Academy. This regular job only last a few years before he was back on the road doing magic.

In 1899, Powell joined forces with Servais LeRoy and Imro Fox to build a show called 'The Triple Alliance'. This was the precursor to Servais LeRoy's Monarchs of Magic. Fox only remained with The Triple Alliance Show for a year.

Powell was one of the first to resurrect the Second Sight Act made popular by Robert Heller. He also presented illusions including a cremation illusion and the Noah's Ark illusion. In 1915, a fire in the Powell's home in Chester PA destroyed his entire show. He rebuilt the show and in 1921 that new larger show was destroyed by a flood in San Antonio Texas. His next stint in show business would be the Houdini Wonder Show.

Frederick Eugene Powell died in a Nursing Home just a few days short of his 82nd birthday. He was born 20 years before Houdini and lived beyond Houdini's years.

Who was Virginia Carr? Virginia Carr was a crystal gazer/mentalist. She was apparently quite the sensational performer as many of the reviews made mention of her beauty and her incredible act. She was blonde and she was married to James Colerton in 1912 and had been married once prior to that and had a son by her first marriage.

In Vaudeville, she performed as Princess Zuleka the Mystic Mindreader. It would appear that her stint with the Houdini Wonder Show helped to propel her career as she went out on the road with the Virginia Carr Extravaganza Show in 1923 produced by George MacDonald. The tour was to begin June 25 at the Strand Theatre in Newark, but the show closed the following day. The initial reason for closing down the show was bad business due to very hot weather but soon the truth came out that marital infidelity was the true reason.

Earlier in the year, Carr had been performing with the W.I. Swain Show in New Orleans. There she met a young 23 year old music director by the name of Andrew Paoli. They soon became romantically involved and before long she became engaged to Paoli. Carr claimed that her husband, Mr. Colerton, had died and the two lovers married on June 6th in NY at the Little Church Around The Corner. Mr. Colerton, who was very much alive,  had lost touch with his wife and had been searching for her. At some point he heard that she remarried and was able to track down the church records that listed her as being 23 years old and widowed. Though I don't know her actual age, I'm gathering she was much older than 23 given that her son from her first marriage was 18 at the time.

Mr. Colerton tracked down his wife and confronted her. She begged forgiveness and left Paoli to return to life with James Colerton. All of this happened prior to the June 25th Strand Theatre event. Following the closing of the show, Miss Carr vanished into the night and apparently so did Mr. Paoli leaving Mr. Colerton, the jilted husband and Mr. MacDonald, the jilted producer in the dust. This time she stayed with Paoli as I was able to find an article she penned for Billboard in 1926 under the name 'Virginia Carr Paoli'. She continued to perform as a mindreader as late as 1948, but at some point she went back to using the name Princess Zuleka.

Who was Genesta? His real name was Royden Joseph Gilbert Raison de la Genesta. He was born March 29th 1878 in Ashland Kentucky. Genesta billed himself as The Wizard of Wonders and he began his career as a hypnotist performing under the name De la Genesta, but eventually settled up being an escape artist. In 1922, he was hand picked by Houdini to head up the #2 Unit of the Houdini Wonder Show. For his appearances, he presented his death-defying escape from a barrel of water. Basically, this was an effect like Houdini's Milk Can escape, a locked container filled with water in which he would escape. One benefit of having Genesta was his car. Yes, his car. Genesta traveled around in a Ford Motor Home which helped to defer hotel costs. He also carried his own scenery which was a backdrop curtain painted with diamond eyes.

According to Billboard Magazine, April 1926, Genesta had purchased a ranch and retired to in Georgia. However, Genesta continued to grace the vaudeville stages as he appears in a news report just two years later doing his act. Genesta actually took a page from the Houdini book and used his Water Barrel Escape for challenges. In 1928 Genesta was 'challenged' by the Charlotte Coca Cola Company to escape from a 60 gallon syrup barrel. No doubt, Genesta's barrel was used for the effect, though it was still filled with water, not Coca Cola. Two years later, Genesta would actually go down in magic history for a tragedy with the Milk Can.

According to Houdini's Fabulous Magic by Walter Gibson, Genesta was to present the Milk Can escape in Frankfort KY on Nov 8th, 1930. The stage crew apparently dropped the can while loading it into the theatre. That drop caused the can to be damaged and later during the show made it impossible for Genesta to escape. He had to be cut out of the can and was rushed to the hospital. He died the next day. One note however, the Linking Ring from Nov 1930 has his obit and it says that he was doing his Water Barrel Escape rather than the Milk Can. Genesta was known for his Barrel Escape so I have a feeling that indeed it was the Barrel that he got trapped in but it got reported as the Milk Can because the can was a better known escape overall. Both the Water Barrel Escape and Milk Can are basically the same sort of escape just with different devices. The outcome is the same regardless, Genesta died tragically.

Who was Ericson? That's a good question. I believe Ericson was from England and he was a manipulator in the style of Cardini. He was known for a very classy card manipulation act and he also became famous in his time for a cups and balls routine which ended with three small glasses of wine underneath. I'm afraid I don't know much else about Ericson and his wife Mlle. Amelia.

Who was Demont? He was an Italian named Charles Demont who lived in Brooklyn. A very versatile performer who was equally good at Punch and Judy Shows, straight magic, crystal gazing and even escapes. He was known to present Shooting Thru a Woman as well as Chinese Rings and exceptional billiard ball manipulations. He headed the #3 unit of the Houdini Wonder show. In later years, he changed his stage name to Dagmar.

Who was Mystic Clayton? He was born Henri Clayton Wilbur and by all accounts was a charismatic crystal gazer/mind reader. He wore elaborate costumes which included a silk cape and jewel encrusted turban ala Alexander. He performed from 1917 to the mid 1930s. In 1919, he collaborated on a show with The Great Leon called 'The Famous Oriental Miracle Show.' In 1922 he became Unit #4 of the Houdini Wonder Show. Following the successful run of shows and movies he hired Frederick Eugene Powell to open for him. That would end up being Powell's last full time gig as a magician.  In 1923 Mystic Clayton wrote a book 30 pg book How To Converse With The Spirit World. Henri Wilbur died in 1945.

How to Converse with the Spirit World

How to Converse with the Spirit World

Who was Frederick Melville? He was known for an illusion called 'Moto-girl'.  In 1915, he presented a lecture/talk called 'The Diplodicus' which I believe was a talk about the dinosaur of the same name. In the Houdini Wonder Show he presented some sort of radio controlled automaton. The Motogirl illusion actually was played by a female, so I'm guessing the radio controlled automaton was also what is termed a false-automaton (it looks like a mechanical device but it controlled by a hidden accomplice).

Who was Benton? There is only one brief mention of Benton in all the articles I found on the Houdini Wonder Show. I have a feeling he was a quick fill in for someone who might have been ill. But I did track down Benton who was Professor Thomas Benton. In 1922 he was already past the age of 60 with a full head of gray hair and he had been in the magic business for 40 years. He presented magic as a master magician and could also present a marionette act as well as being and accomplished ventriloquist.

Over at WildaboutHoudini.com there is a picture of an item that Houdini gave away during one of the Wonder Shows. Check it out here.

To wrap things up, in all the research to uncover the details of The Houdini Wonder Show, I came across one little article that was about the movie The Man From Beyond that I found very interesting. The article basically said that Houdini filmed a second ending to the movie in the event that one of his stunts went bad and he died during production. Now this could just be hype, or it could be real. As Houdini survived the filming of the movie, he no doubt left the extra footage on the cutting room floor (if it existed at all). It's a fun fact about the movie, well fun trivia. Whether or not it's true we will probably never know.

#Houdini

The Spirit Handkerchief and It's History

There is a wonderful effect in magic that has found it's way into the acts of many performers called The Dancing Handkerchief. Probably the most iconic performer to present the effect was Harry Blackstone Sr., and then later his son Blackstone Jr.. Even David Copperfield made a hit out of this little wonder.  But you might be surprised just how many well known performers and hundreds of lesser knowns performed this effect.

I tried to track down the origins of the mystery, originally known as The Spirit Handkerchief. Magicpedia lists Nevil Maskelyene as the creator. I can find no reference in magic literature to Nevil Maskelyne having been the creator of the trick.

Anna Eva Fay

thought I had the answer but then a second source listed a different name. Originally, I thought that Anna Eva Fay created this mystery. She began her career as a fake spirit medium and this type of effect would have been ideal for her 'Light Seance' segment.

However, here is what I do know. In the 1870s, Anna Eva Fay was in England presenting her seances. She had encountered John Nevil Maskelyne, who was busy exposing all spirit mediums. There is a brief account of their altercation in White Magic by Jasper Maskelyne. Shortly after this Anna Eva Fay returned to America and for a time was thought to be English, though she was actually from Ohio.

So who created the Spirit Dancing Hank? Looks like the winner is Anna Eva Fay*. But I think I know why Maskelyne's name is connected to it. The Dancing Hank was often presented in conjunction with another effect which was sort of a mini-Spirit Cabinet. Two chairs were placed on stage. A sheet of glass was balanced upon the two chairs and then a small cabinet was placed upon the glass. Inside was a bell and a slate. This effect was the creation of Maskelyne.  And it may have been Frederick Eugene Powell who first presented these two together in the United States. This information comes from Magic: A Pictorial History of Conjurers In The Theatre by David Price.

I do know that Harry Kellar began presenting these two effects together in 1894. He called it The

Cassadaga Propaganda. And from several different accounts, his Dancing Hank routine was a big hit. It's hard to say where he got it from, though he may have seen Maskelyne present it as he was known for stealing material from the Maskelyne show.

I found an interesting article in The Linking Ring Vol 40 #8, on a lesser known magician, John Grdina. In the article it says that Grdina taught none other than Harry Blackstone Sr. the Dancing Hank and whenever Blackstone was in Cleveland, he would mention it to his audiences. Grdina, as a youth apparently saw Harry Kellar first present the effect. He later would create some kind of version of his own.

Blackstone Sr. presented the Dancing Hank so well, that he is associated with the effect. His son, Harry Jr. also made a showpiece out of the routine. Others have presented the original version including Harry Willard, John Calvert and Howard Thurston. But no one made as big a mark with it as did Harry Blackstone Sr.. Below is the video of Harry Jr. presenting the hank, exactly as his father before him had presented it. (The person who uploaded the video fast-forwards through a bit of the early section, so just ignore that.)

In the 1950s, along came Ralph Adams. He created a more elaborate version of the Dancing Hank that was different from the Blackstone version. Doug Henning later used the Ralph Adam's version in his shows for many years. Though it was still a piece of cloth becoming animated, it was a different routine from the earlier versions. Below is a shorter version of the Henning routine. Usually, Doug presented it onstage with one of his dancers.

Then in the late 1970s David Copperfield debuted a new take on this classic effect. His version was the creation of Don Wayne and it combined aspects of the original with a sort of animated 'zombie' like effect. The Don Wayne version became all the rage for a number of years. Incidentally, the Don Wayne version may have been an updated version of the Joe Karson version known as Voodoo. One reason I think the Copperfield routine became so iconic was that he created a story based routine or a vignette. The magic was an important aspect of telling the overall story.

And speaking of updating versions, the latest and most advanced version of the effect started with the Don Wayne method and flew out to the stratosphere thanks to magic creator Sean Bogunia. Sean has taken the basic effect, added multiple methods and truly brought the animated handkerchief to life in ways that no one ever thought possible. Because of his innovations, many performers present the Dancing Hank in their shows today.

I'm not certain that anyone has really gotten the notoriety with the effect that the Blackstone's did. Though Sean is sure known as Mr. Hanky these days. This is by far a complete history of the effect but it does give you a good overview of the dancing hank through the years. Others have had innovations along the way as well, like Karrel Fox and Steve Dusheck. And a multitude of performers have presented this great effect. One thing is for certain,  over 100 years later the effect of causing a bit of cloth or handkerchief to come to life and animate and dance is still an amazing and popular illusion.

*Barry Wiley, author of The Indescribable Phenomenon, a biography of Anna Eva Fay, believes that in fact it was Maskelyne who created the Dancing Hank effect. His book is extremely well researched so now I'm leaning towards Maskelyne over Anna Eva Fay.

Unknown Houdini Illusion For the 1927 Tour

While doing research earlier in the year for my Maro Project, I came upon the photo above. At the time, I didn't make the historical connection. The photo is of magician John Grdina standing with a Production Cabinet built and used by Edward Maro. He purchased the cabinet from Mrs. Maro after the death of her husband.

The photo appeared in the Linking Ring and actually has caption underneath that is incorrect. But one thing it did say was that the cabinet was sold to Houdini. Houdini was a collector, so at first I didn't think much of this other than to say it was the only connection I could find of Houdini to Maro.

But then today I discovered a very small mention of the cabinet in the May 1962 issue of MUM. In the article on John Grdina, it says "He loaned Houdini his 3-sided Maro Spirit Cabinet, which you might have seen presented had Houdini lived for another season."

I think the cabinet that Leslie Guest in the MUM article is speaking of is Maro's The Mystery of Aryan Illusion, which is the cabinet in the photo above. The cabinet above is a production box. Here is how John Grdina used it according to the Oct 1960 issue of The Linking Ring. "He opened his act by producing his wife from the cabinet after first showing it empty." In that same paragraph it says "He later sold the cabinet to Houdini."

Because of how deceptive this illusion is, it can be presented as a spirit cabinet. In fact, Maro may have presented it that way, which would explain the square fabric window in the middle of the door. Maro was known for presenting a lot of spirit effects in his shows.

I have not been able to find a photo of Houdini with the cabinet, but two different references to Houdini and the cabinet are enough for me to believe he got this for his 1927 '3 In One Show' Tour. Whether or not he purchased it or it was on loan, I don't know because there are conflicting accounts. But I do know Grdina was trying to sell it as he had placed numerous ads in magic periodicals trying to unload it. He was apparently trying to downsize his act and go to a more portable and practical type of act. Below is an ad that appeared in the Feb 1913 issue of The Sphinx.

Cool Graphic On The History of Famous Stage Illusions

Here is a very cool graphic created by Sébastien Ocana from Paris France. I had a little trouble getting the image up on my site, so I had to break it into several shorter images. I hope you like it. IF you'd like to contact Sebastien, you can reach him at sebocana75@gmail.com Here is the original link to his graphic. http://www.socana.fr/portfolio/infographie-grandes-illusions-en-magie/   This image was used with his permission.

Maro's Ghost!

 

I’ve only shared this story with one other person. Looking back, it might have been an ideal Halloween story to share. At any rate, I’ll share with you the story of my experience with Maro’s Ghost.

Back on September 19^th, I was in Leland Michigan performing at the Old Art Building, also known as the W.T. Best Theatre. I was there to present two magic shows during the day and one lecture on the Great Maro in the evening. When I had arrived one of the folks there told me the story of the ghost in the building. They jokingly wondered if it was Maro. I was even told that an outdoor video camera once captured images of mysterious orbs in the yard area one weekend. I chuckled, as I usually do at such things.

Fast forward to the afternoon performances and the first show went quite smoothly. The second show was coming up and I was busy resetting props and making sure everything was where it needed to be. Once everything was set, I looked out to see how many people were there. We held the curtain an extra minute or two to allow for more folks to come in.

At showtime I opened with one of my signature routines. A magic routine that I have been doing for well over 20 years. All was going well until near the end of the routine when something happened that never happened before. By the way, the trick was a giant version of the Linking Rings using Hula Hoops. The calamity that happened at the end of the routine was that all 4 hoops seemed to knot themselves together. I don’t know how else to describe it. They were interlocked in such a way that I couldn’t get them apart at all. I pulled and tugged and finally held them up in the clump as if that was the end. I doubt the audience knew what had happened. But in my mind I was befuddled.

After the show, I went back to the clump of hoops to figure out what had caused them to join together in such an odd fashion. But, as I picked them up, they were once again four separate hoops, not stuck together, not joined in anyway.

I have since attempted to get the hoops tied/knotted up in the same way and cannot duplicate it no matter how I try. I have a specific series of movements that are identical every time and it simply does not allow for this odd occurrence. Yet, that afternoon, something unusual did happen.

As I’ve mentioned in previous blog articles, the evening’s lecture on Maro went off without incident. Everything went perfectly. But then again, Maro was the star of that program. Do I really think it was a ghost? No. But it has left me scratching my head ever since.

I wonder if anyone read my article about Maro in the November Linking Ring? I've not seen it and would love to know how it turned out. The next episode of The Magic Detective Youtube Show will have video from Leland Michigan. And I think I've finally figured out the proper format for doing that show. The show will go up on Youtube as it has in the past and the blog will contain further information not covered on the show. And I'll include a link to the video, but I won't be embedding the video in the articles anymore. Hopefully that works out better than I've done it in the past!

Radio Interview: Houdini and the Spirits w/ The Houdini Brothers!

Ok, I say 'Houdini Brothers' jokingly, but it was great fun. John Cox and I appeared on the same show tonight, Jeff Richards: Paranormal. We were interviewed about Houdini and his Crusade Against The Spiritualists. It was a really enjoyable interview. The host did a fantastic job splitting up the questions and he came to the show knowledgeable about the subject matter. John Cox as you know runs the WildAboutHoudini.com blog site. And Dean Carnegie, well, he has a lil blog about magic history somewhere, lol.

If you missed it or weren't in Canada listening in. HERE is a link to the interview!
You'll want to pick the Nov 15th, 2015 link http://cjme.com/on-demand/jeff-richards%3A-paranormal

#HOUDINI