Houdini's Water Torture Cell made its last public appearance on the night of October 11, 1926, in Albany, New York. This was the night Houdini broke his ankle. Despite plans to resume the cell in Detroit, Houdini died before that happened. After that, the famed prop remained out of sight for the next 45 years. Then, in 1971, two Water Torture Cells, both claiming to be the original, returned ..read more

The mighty Arthur Moses has released Houdini Periodical Bibliography References From 1898 - 2023: Revised Third Edition. First released in 2006 and revised in 2015, this latest edition includes over 3700 citations in 40 languages.Few legendary men, real or imagined, retain their celebrity nearly 100 years after their passing. However, Harry Houdini was one such man. Covering a time period ..read more

Tonight I'll be the guest of the S.A.M. Virtual Assembly #1. We'll be talking about, what else, Houdini! While this is something that's offered to S.A.M. members specifically, non-members can join with the Zoom info, so here it is:Topic: Assembly V1.1Time: April 21, 2024. 7:30 PM Eastern / 4:30 PM PacificJoin Zoom Meeting: [This meeting is now over] Hope to see you there! Related ..read more

Houdini is one of the gang on this mural depicting famous magicians in Wauseon, Ohio. The Magic Corner building is owned and operated by Dr. Kenneth P. Ladd, a magician and Ph.D. in clinical psychology. You just never know where you'll find Harry!MAGIC IN THE MAKING … Artist Chris McDaniels – who works under the moniker “Zen Mullet” for Columbus-based business Artisan Rooms – begins putting ..read more

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of touring the Palace Theater with the Los Angeles Historic Theater Foundation. Houdini appeared here in 1915 and 1923 when it was the Orpheum. It was here that he had his famous verbal fisticuffs with heavyweight champion Jess Willard. So this is a very historic Houdini theater! Today it is used primarily as a rental for movies and television, so getting a ..read more

The new book Harry and the Highwire by Julie Carpenter and illustrated by Laura Catalan has been released in the UK by Green Bean Books. It will be released in the U.S. on May 31.As a young boy of seven, Harry is desperate to do something incredible – but what? A visit to the circus provides the answer when he sees the daring tightrope walker thrilling the audience. From that moment on ..read more

A new Community Pavilion opened in Diggers Rest, Australia, last week. Inside, you can find this mural showing Houdni's Voisin biplane. Interestingly, this doesn't commemorate Houdini's famed 1910 flight but Ian Satur's model of the plane that flew during the 2010 centenary celebrations. Either way, it's good to see Houdini is still a star in Diggers Rest. The Ian Satur model survives today ..read more

Last week I visited the SAM Hall of Fame at the Whittier Historical Society & Museum. It's a terrific exhibit with some fantastic Houdini rarities on view. I've shared 50+ photos and some thoughts on my Patreon (part of the "Adventures in Houdiniland" Collection). Click below to go.The Whittier Historical Society and Museum is open Tuesday through Friday. Parking and admission are free ..read more

One of the standout escapes in the 1953 Houdini biopic is when Houdini frees himself from a "steel straitjacket." The steel straitjacket is a one-of-a-kind piece of magic apparatus provided by Joseph Dunninger. While I've never found any account of the real Houdini doing such an escape, it has become iconic in its own right.Now, our friend Richard Sherry of Sherry and Krall Magic has manufactured ..read more

Our friend David Haversat has revealed via his newsletter that he is now the proud owner of Houdini's ultra-rare Russian pitchbook. These were created for Houdini's tour of Russia in 1903 and pre-date his America's Sensational Preplexer! pitchbook by several months. That makes this the very first (biographical) Houdini pitchbook.To my knowledge, there are only two Russian pitchbooks in existence ..read more