![]() In 1908, Houdini invited the audience to watch him as he was handcuffed and sealed in an oversize milk can filled with water. Regardless, many consider that particular escape act to be one of his most difficult tricks. He accepted the challenge, and on March 17, over 4,000 people watched the famed magician break free from the handcuff.Īfter his death, Martin Becks noted that Houdini’s wife Bess got the keys to the handcuff and slipped it in a glass of water for him. In 1904, he was challenged by a Daily Mirror reporter to escape from a handcuff that took Nathaniel Hart, a locksmith, five years to make. Houdini would up the antics each show, from using handcuffs to straight jackets and using water tanks. This caused a huge sensation in the audience, and by 1900, his shows were usually sold out. While in London, Houdini would involve the Scotland Yard police officers, who would strip search him, place him in shackles, and he would break free of the shackles. Beck booked him to perform at top vaudeville houses in America.īeck also arranged a European tour for the young magician and advised him to focus on his escape tricks. ![]() Paul, Minnesota was impressed by Houdini’s handcuff tricks. However, he started experimenting with escape acts like breaking free from handcuffs, chains and straightjackets, and slinging from skyscrapers.Įight years later, Houdini’s big break came, when an entertainment manager Martin Beck in St. He was criticized for lacking finesse by other magicians. Houdini launched his magic career with little success in 1891, he did conventional magic tricks like playing with cards, performing in a circus, and sideshows. This Hungarian-American artist read about the French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin and decided to change his name to Harry Houdini as an homage to Robert-Houdin and American magician Harry Kellar (1849-1922). Fascinated by magic as a little boy, he had to take several jobs at the circus and became a trapeze artist at the age of nine. Houdini was born Erik Weisz on March 24, 1874, in Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary but moved to the United States at the age of four. Image: Houdini and Jennie, the Vanishing Elephant, JanuBackground Harry Houdini: Biography, Escape Acts, & Death.
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