![]() The AJHS Library Collection holds a large number of books about Harry Houdini. When he wasn’t debunking spiritualists and mediums, Houdini wrote articles on the history of magic, served as president of the Society of American Magicians, and dabbled in amateur aviation. These activities destroyed his friendship with author and creator of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle, who believed that Houdini was, in fact a powerful spiritualist medium. Houdini got very into debunking the claims of so-called psychics and mediums, sometimes even attending seances in disguise. Excerpt from the volume “Houdini and Conan Doyle: the Story of a Strange Friendship,” by Bernard L. Spiritualism and seances were all the rage in the early 1900. This manager, Martin Beck, advised Erik to stick to escape acts, and before they knew it, his career took off on the vaudeville circuit, and soon, across the world.Īt the same time as Houdini was achieving the peak of his fame, Spiritualism was extremely fashionable moment. His big break came in 1899, when a high powered manager attended one of his shows. Erik began practicing magic in 1890 under the stage name Harry Houdini an appellation inspired by the French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin. He emigrated with his family to the United States in 1878. Harry Houdini was a legendary magician and escape artist who dazzled audiences with his death-defying tricks. Harry Houdini remains one of the most famous magicians in history. the robot from Houdinis 1919 silent film The Master Mystery. The man known as Harry Houdini was born Erik Weisz (1874-1926) to Hungarian Jewish parents in Budapest. I saw The Life and Magic of Harry Houdini, today, on 8 July 2018, at the New-York. That’s right: the legendary magician and escape artist Harry Houdini had no patience for gatherings of the spooky variety.īut let’s back up. ![]() Flyer for one of Houdini’s performances, from the AJHS Consolidated Collections. But whatever spooky fun you got up to, Harry Houdini would have hated it.īy Elizabeth Hyman and Rebeca Miller. All of us here at AJHS hope you had a lovely Halloween.
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