Houdini’s Own Mysteries Revealed
Though he died almost 90 years ago, Harry Houdini (1874-1926) remains a well-known figure to Americans of all ages. Other magicians, David Blaine, Doug Henning, David Copperfield, and Penn & Teller among them, have performed many of the magic acts originally introduced by Houdini, but Houdini lives on as a cultural icon. He performed at a time when little was documented on film so audiences flocked to theatres, street corners, or bridges, wherever Houdini promised to perform. At that time — long before the era of “special effects” — seeing was believing.
When the crowds witnessed Houdini’s escapes from handcuffs, chains, ropes, and straitjackets, or attended later performances when he perfected new feats like escaping from the Chinese Water Torture Cell or surviving a Buried Alive stunt, the people remembered Houdini and loved the new puzzles with which he presented them. Audiences were left scratching their heads and saying, “How did he do that?”
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