The "Magical" Side of Halloween
Along with the "jack-o-lanterns", spooky stories, costumed
children and candy treats that represent Halloween, October 31st
marks the date the world's greatest magician passed away in 1926
ending an entertainment career that spanned over 35 years.
Harry Houdini was undisputedly the world's greatest magician.
Born Eric Weiss in Budapest, Hungary in 1874, Houdini tackled
the impossible and enraptured audiences with hope and
determination as they watched this small man, a man barely 5
feet 4 inches tall, struggle to escape from ropes and handcuffs,
chains, jail cells, tanks filled with water . . . anything they
could think of. His legendary escapes include being chained and
nailed into packing crates which were tossed into freezing
rivers; escaping from jail cells around the world (one of which
held President Garfield's assassin); and his famous "Water
Torture Cell" -- a large aquarium-like tank filled with water
into which Houdini was lowered into head first and the stocks
binding his feet locked securely to the outside of the tank.
Houdini began his career performing in dime museums as "The
King of Cards" presenting flashy card tricks to small audiences.
With the support of theater impresario Martin Beck, Houdini
developed the "Challenge Escape" and encouraged anyone to
challenge him to release himself from whatever contraptions he
or she could devise or construct. Challenges came and crowds
filled theaters to be the first to see if Houdini would fail -
and he never did!
"Many people mistakenly believe that Houdini died inside the
Water Torture Cell." Harry Maurer, a comedy magician from
Houston, Texas admits. "The truth is, he escaped from the Water
Torture Cell regularly for 13 years! Houdini actually died from
an unexpected punch to his stomach."
Although small, Houdini was an amazingly fit individual and to
prove so, he could withstand blows to his stomach without
flinching -- even from professional boxers! After his
performance in Montreal he was visited backstage by a group of
students from McGill University. When he was asked if the story
was true, Houdini casually said, "Yes", and before he knew it, a
boxing student from the college punched Houdini without allowing
him a chance to prepare himself. The blow to Houdini's stomach
ruptured his appendix and the great Harry Houdini, the former
"King of Cards", "The Man No Jail Could Hold", died two days
later of peritonitis on October 31st, 1926 at the age of 52.
To have some magical fun this Halloween in the spirit of
Houdini, visit: www.10tricks.hmmagic.com to learn "10 Free
Tricks That You Can Do With an Ordinary Deck of Cards". And this
Halloween, when you holler "Trick or Treat" . . . you can really
mean it!
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