harry houdini born 24 march 1874

© 2014 The Weekly Plan. All rights reserved.
HARRY HOUDINI
Long before the success of today’s magicians such as
Dynamo and David Blaine, there was Harry Houdini.
Houdini is one of the most famous magicians in history.
While he could perform card tricks and traditional magic
acts, he was most famous for his ability to escape from
what seemed like impossible situations.
Houdini was born Ehrich Weisz on March 24, 1874, in
Hungary. One of seven children, Ehrich moved with his
family to the United States when he was young. During his
early years, Ehrich sold newspapers, shined shoes and ran
errands to help support his family. In his spare time, he
read books about magic tricks. Ehrich quit school when he
was 12 and moved with his father to New York City to help
support the family. Harry and his father took jobs in a
necktie factory and lived in a boarding house before the
rest of the family joined them.
At age 15, he discovered the magician’s book, Memoirs of
Robert-Houdin. Ehrich was mesmerized by this book,
staying up all night to read it, and later claiming it was what
truly sparked his enthusiasm for magic. When he was 17,
Ehrich formed the magic team ‘Brothers Houdini’ with his
friend, Jack Hayman. Ehrich renamed himself ‘Harry
Houdini’, the first name coming from his childhood
nickname, "Ehrie," and the last in honour of Robert-Houdin.
In 1892, the Brothers Houdini went out on the road. They
performed card tricks, coin swaps, and disappearing acts.
Though their magic met with little success, they soon drew
attention for their feats of escape using handcuffs. By
1894, Jack Hayman tired of the constant travel and was
briefly replaced by Houdini's younger brother, Theo. He
was soon replaced by 18 year old Wilhemina Beatrice
"Bess" Rahner. Houdini married Bess in 1894 and she
became his onstage partner and lifelong stage assistant.
It wasn’t long before work began to dry up, so Houdini and
his wife transformed themselves into spirit mediums.
Houdini was familiar with many of the spirit medium’s tricks
so he began leading séances while Bess performed as a
BORN 24 MARCH 1874
clairvoyant. They were very successful because they
always did their research. As soon as they arrived in a
new town, they would read recent obituaries and visit
graveyards to find the names of the newly dead. They
would also listen to town gossip which helped them to
piece together enough information to convince crowds
that they were the real deal. However, feelings of guilt
about lying to grief-stricken people eventually got to
them so they quit and returned to their magic tricks.
In 1899, Houdini's magic caught the attention of an
entertainment manager who advised him to
concentrate on his escapes. In 1899, Houdini was
billed as the "King of Handcuffs," and in 1900, Houdini
became the biggest draw on the European circuit.
Houdini's act involved the local police, who would
place him in shackles, and lock him in jail. Houdini
would then escape. The show became a huge
success and Houdini was soon the highest-paid
performer in American vaudeville.
Houdini kept pushing the limits with his acts. In 1907
he unveiled a dangerous stunt where, with his hands
handcuffed behind his back, he jumped from a bridge
into a river. Then in 1908, Houdini introduced the Milk
Can Escape, where he was locked inside a sealed
milk can filled with water. The performances were
huge hits. In 1912, Houdini created the Underwater
Box Escape where he was chained up, placed inside
a box, locked in, and thrown into the river. He
escaped moments later…It seemed there was nothing
Houdini could not escape from.
In 1912, his act reached its pinnacle with the Chinese
Water Torture Cell. This was a watertight wooden
cabinet, lined with metal, with a glass front. Houdini's
feet were locked into stocks on the top of the cabinet
and he was lowered into it head first. The cabinet was
filled with water requiring him to hold his breath for
more than three minutes to escape.
Houdini's
assistant stood by with an axe, just in case.
© 2014 The Weekly Plan. All rights reserved.
HARRY HOUDINI
BORN 24 MARCH 1874
The performance was so daring and such a crowdpleaser that it remained in his act until his death in 1926.
Houdini's success led to wealth which allowed him to
indulge in his dreams. He was fascinated with the
possibilities of flight and dreamed of making a midair
escape after parachuting from a plane. Unfortunately he
wasn’t able to make this happen, however he bought a
biplane and made the first successful airplane flight in
Australia. His other passion lay in film so he launched a
movie career, releasing his first film in 1901, which
documented his escapes.
At the end of World War I, the lives of millions of young
men had been lost. A huge number of grieving families
wanted to contact their loved ones from “beyond the
grave.” Psychics and spirit mediums emerged and
Houdini knew many of the fake medium’s tricks.
However, he still wanted to believe that some people
could really contact the dead, so he visited a large
number of mediums hoping to find a real psychic.
Unfortunately, he found them all to be a fake. Houdini
began to expose the tricks used by mediums and
because of this he received a number of death threats.
On October 22, 1926, Houdini was in his dressing room
preparing for a show when one of the three students he
had invited backstage asked if Houdini really could
withstand a strong punch to his upper torso. Houdini
answered that he could. The student then asked Houdini
if he could punch him. Houdini agreed and started to get
up off a couch when he was punched three times in the
stomach before having a chance to tense his muscles.
Despite being in a lot of pain, Houdini went on with the
show and then went on to do two more the following day.
The following evening Houdini grew weak and suffered
stomach pain and fever. Instead of going to the hospital,
he once again went on with the show, and collapsed
offstage. He was taken to a hospital and was diagnosed
with a burst appendix which was showing signs of
gangrene. The surgeons removed his appendix but his
condition worsened and Houdini died on October 31,
1926. He was 52-years old.
Following his death, the obituaries, and huge crowd at
his public funeral were signs that the world knew it had
lost one of the most talented and original entertainers of
the time. Houdini's props were used by his brother then
eventually sold to another magician who displayed them
at the Houdini Museum. The items were auctioned off in
2004 to magician, David Copperfield.
Discussion Questions
Factual
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Why did he call himself Harry Houdini?
What did Harry and his wife do when
work began to dry up in the mid 1890s?
Name 3 death-defying acts that Houdini
performed.
What were 2 of Houdini’s passions
other than magic?
How did Harry Houdini die?
Challenge
Just for fun, practice this mind-reading trick!
Tape a tiny piece of broken pencil lead to your
thumb using clear tape so that your audience
cannot see it. The sticky side of the tape should
face outwards so that the lead can stick to it.
Explain to your audience that you are able to
predict and write down on your pad any number
they think of between 1-100. Ask someone to think
of a number between 1-100. Do not actually write
anything on the pad. Just pretend. Now, when you
hide the front of the pad from the spectator, and
your spectator says their number, simply use your
thumb to write what they are saying.
This trick relies on good acting on your part…act
as if you are really concentrating on mind-reading
and the audience will believe it!