In the fall of 1918, Houdini starred in a new variety show at the Hippodrome, called “Everything.” Having shown himself to be very proud of being American at the break-out of the first world war, he continued his patriotic theme by buying an eagle named Young Abe, which he produced out of nowhere in a spectacular opening number. Houdini also performed his upside-down straitjacket escape, suspended high over the Hippodrome stage by wire.
Illusions
In his later career, Houdini introduced a new kind of magic, illusions. Houdini’s illusion acts differed from his past stunts which showcased his physical prowess and mental skill at beating locks, chains, and all sorts of restraints, with the exception that Houdini had briefly introduced an illusion in which he appeared to walk through a brick wall. Like everything Houdini did, he did illusions in a big way. He procured an elephant named Jenny, who was reportedly the daughter of P.T. Barnum’s circus elephant Jumbo.
Jenny weighed between four thousand and ten thousand pounds. Houdini made her disappear onstage during an eight-minute act in which the elephant appeared onstage, gave Houdini an elephant kiss, and was concealed briefly behind a screen. When the screen was lifted, two seconds later, Jenny had disappeared. Houdini purchased the international rights for this trick from its inventor, a British magician named Charles Morritt. This trick made huge news even though in actuality, only a small section of the audience in the huge Hippodrome theatre was actually positioned such that they could see the elephant and her disappearance. Houdini’s showmanship and reputation, however, was such that the trick still became hugely famous, and Houdini maintained the satisfaction of staying on top of the world of magic. The illusion is still talked about today.
Houdini finally reached Broadway in 1925, while in his early fifties. His show HOUDINI was a three-act, two and a half hour show, featuring a whole hour of new illusions. The show toured at highbrow theaters around the country, and featured young, sexily clad female assistants, as well as Bess, her niece, and her niece’s mother. Even after breaking a bone in his foot, Houdini continued to perform in HOUDINI, although unable to do the Chinese Water Torture Cell, as it involved hanging upside-down from his ankles.
Although by the mid-1920s Houdini had begun branching away from his more physically strenuous tricks, he returned to the arena when a young magician named Rahman Bey began performing a much-acclaimed show involving animal hypnotism and piercing himself with steel pins, tricks that Houdini had already revealed the methods of in his books (see Chapter VIII). Houdini resented the competition from Bey and that Bey claimed to go into a “cataleptic trance” that allowed him to perform these tricks. Another strike against Bey was that Houdini’s enemy from his battle against fraudulent Spiritualist mediums, a man named Carrington (see Chapter XI), was the announcer of Bey’s show.
But worst of all was Bey’s claim to be able to remain in a casket underwater, without air, for long periods of time. Houdini publically announced that he could beat any record that Bey set for staying in a casket underwater. Although Bey had failed to stay underwater for more than twenty minutes during an attempt in which he was lowered into the Hudson River in a casket, Bey soon managed to remain in his underwater box for an hour in a pool in New York City. Houdini immediately began training to beat this record, obtaining a casket from the same company that made Bey’s. After three weeks of training, Houdini beat Bey’s record by staying submerged in his casket at New York’s Sheldon Hotel’s pool for an hour and a half, despite the temperature in the casket rising to heights not anticipated during Houdini’s test runs. Houdini insisted that he did not use any special equipment or go into any trance to perform this feat, but rather that he had merely trained himself to breathe slowly.
VII. Houdini, the Man
Read It and Know It
After reading this chapter, you will know more about
Houdini’s ego: The magician’s need to be on top often brought him trouble.
The marriage: Houdini and Bess were private about their relationship, but most agree they had a loving, supportive marriage despite a likely affair.
The fulfilled promise: The deathbed promise Houdini made to his father to care for Cecilia was one that Houdini took pleasure in fulfilling.
The Catholic mother-in-law: Bess was reunited with her estranged mother after an illness.
Houdini’s Inner Self
Houdini’s obsession with self-promotion seemed to have started a young age. Pictures of him as a child and teenager show him posing for the camera, showing off his medals (some real, some fake) and his messenger uniform. He billed himself as “Eric, Prince of Air” at the young age of seven. By the time he died, Ehrich had turned himself into the all-powerful persona Houdini, attempting to leave behind even the first name “Harry” because he thought “Houdini” sounded more regal than “Harry Houdini.” Even when not in the public eye, this character seemed important to him; his wife and family called him Houdini, and he had his initials HH embroidered on his pajamas and other personal items. His diary entries as well as his public statements reflect a strong propensity to twist the truth to flatter his ego and sense of importance.