2019-10-26 04:00
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The Houdini File Blog
houdinifile.com
Magic fact and fiction. Original Houdini research. Magic & brain science. Illusion & reality.
2019-10-19 04:00
You might not guess it from the video, but Houdini tells us the secret to rope escapes is not so much getting slack, nor concealing a hook-knife. No, it really depends on what kind of shoes… Read More
2019-10-12 04:00
--> We ran across this video in the process of cleaning out our files, and are here to witness that we're still working on the film we mentioned at this 2007 memorial tribute to our… Read More
2019-10-05 13:51
Last week we told you about the Houdini Worm, the most evil computer virus out there. Today we alert you to the perils of 4G and 5G, the wireless pulses that make it ever so easy fo… Read More
2019-09-28 04:00
Houdini in DisguiseWe’ve written previously of Houdini’s talent for disguise, and of course his ability to worm through keyholes is the stuff of legend (see our own novel, HOUDIN… Read More
2019-08-10 04:00
Houdini Customer Reel 2016 from SideFX Houdini on Vimeo.We're taking some time off, recuperating from some lingering ailments. So we leave you for a bit with this compilation of Houdini bril… Read More
2019-08-03 04:00
When magicians perform for other magicians, special rules apply. It's no longer just about entertainment - it's war! As we've written extensively in these pages, the essence of war is d… Read More
2019-07-27 04:00
Houdini was his friend and admirer, then pre-empted his favorite trick.He was Orson Welles' third main magic teacher, after Houdini and the Bambergs.And he was a legend in his own time. The… Read More
2019-07-20 04:00
We don't know about you, but we can't get enough of this guy. He's not only a spectacular performer, he's sweet as a butterfly's kiss Read More
2019-07-13 04:00
A couple of years ago we unearthed this BBC footage in which Orson Welles makes two remarkable claims: first, that Houdini himself personally taught Welles magic; and second, that Houd… Read More
2019-07-06 04:00
On June 19, the anniversary of this charming BBC broadcast, in the rarefied upcountry of Houdiniland there arose some tart questioning of the relationship between the world's most unfor… Read More
2019-06-29 04:00
The earliest mention we can find of this marvelous little gag indicates it appeared one hundred years ago, 1919 plus or minus. Its hit performer was Gene Dennis, "The Wonder Girl." She convi… Read More
2019-06-22 15:53
Last week we told you about the brilliant and highly effective detective squads mobilized first by Houdini and then by his spiritual son, James "The Amazing" Randi, seen here camouflaging hi… Read More
2019-06-15 16:07
Houdini in one of his favorite disguises.Houdini, master of disguise, actually employed an entire detective squad, about 20 men and women, whom he called "my secret service." Rose Mackenberg… Read More
2019-06-08 04:00
A little more than one hundred years ago Houdini made his first movie, the 15-part serial The Master Mystery. It was a hit and Harry's film career was launched. That same year saw the public… Read More
2019-06-01 04:00
Merwin's Garden in Haiku"Now, all my teachers are dead, except silence."W. S. Merwin wrote that in Haiku, the name of his chosen village on the island of Maui. The former Poet Laureate, twic… Read More
2019-05-25 04:00
It's been six months since our friend Ricky Jay pulled that vanishing act from which there is no reappearance. But magicians and civilians alike can rejoice that he left us something good to… Read More
2019-05-18 04:00
This is a sensationally beautiful act, as Penn & Teller vouch. We're certain Houdini would have loved it - it echoes the famous Dr. Lynn, the guy who's responsible for our being here tod… Read More
2019-05-11 17:43
Last week we compared Houdini to Leonardo da Vinci; this week it's Tarzan and, woke as we are, Pocahontas.We're putting the burden of proof on our late friend and benefactor Ken Silverman. H… Read More
2019-05-04 04:00
Commemorating the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death, we present a Renaissance special featuring The Two Michaels:Our friend Michael Gelb has been channeling Leonardo for nearly… Read More
2019-04-27 04:00
Royal Museum, Phnom Penh, CambodiaWe're writing this on April 26, a very holy day in certain remote monasteries and sacred temples.It was November 26 when our brilliant friend Amir Aczel jum… Read More
2019-04-20 04:00
Like a witness lying to the police, one of the most potent weapons in the illusionist's arsenal is a sudden loss of memory. As demonstrated here by Paul Daniels, the self-effacing "wher… Read More
2019-04-13 04:00
We continue to be fascinated with Houdini's family connection to the Herrmanns, the magic dynasty that both preceded and succeeded Harry's own dominance of the field. Browsing Houdini's… Read More
2019-04-06 04:00
Today, on Houdini's unbirthday, we find ourselves missing our old friend Jerry Andrus. We're wistfully showcasing this compilation of his work, including his creation The Linking Pins and hi… Read More
2019-03-30 04:00
As our national debate of lies, damned lies and statistics ramps up out of control, we delve into history for solace and guidance. Alas, we learn that many great historical moments are actua… Read More
2019-03-23 04:00
--> Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, June 3, 1967HOW ISRAEL USED SMOKE, MIRRORS & ILLUSION TO REPEL VASTLY LARGER ATTACKING FORCES."He who comes to kill you, rise and kill h… Read More
2019-03-16 04:00
We're publishing on the 111th birthday of one of our heroes, Rene Daumal. Poet, warrior, magician - he remains to us today through his two novels, both masterpieces: A Night of Serious… Read More
2019-03-09 05:00
Hidden in the leaves, … Read More
2019-03-02 20:54
President Grant Tries to Hold On to a Third Term Via CorruptionYes, folks, we've been down this stinking road before. It was another Republican administration - U.S. Grant's - and the Republ… Read More
2019-02-23 21:44
Appleton, Wisconsin in Houdini's day.Our friend & co-conspirator Tom Interval has posted a "blog-cast" echoing some of our ideas about Houdini's father, Mayer Samuel Weiss, and why he go… Read More
2019-02-16 05:00
Something there is that doesn't love a wall - two-thirds of the US voting population, today's surveys tell us.So why does our Apprentice-in-Chief want one so badly? Some say it's to divert o… Read More
2019-02-09 05:00
Many Houdiniphiles think Harry was just playing mic-mac with our minds when he annotated this production still for his very first film, Merveilleux Exploits du Célèbre Hou… Read More
2019-02-02 05:00
Neuroscientists are getting more and more interested in magic and illusion and particularly what magicians know about the brain and human behavior.Beau Lotto's TED talk is full of ideas for… Read More
2019-01-26 05:00
32 rue de Bellefond, 9e, ParisWe believe these are the first pictures ever published showing Houdini's Parisian love nest. At 32, rue de Bellefond, in the ninth arrondissement of Paris, this… Read More
2019-01-19 05:00
[Full video link here.]Just when you think you really know all there is about Houdini - or anything else - something comes along and knocks you onto your sit-bones. We were amazed to run acr… Read More
2019-01-12 05:00
Brigadier Dudley Wrangel ClarkeWe’ve written earlier of the close relationship between deception and warfare, and current affairs continue to make deception the sharp edge of politics… Read More
2019-01-05 05:17
Hats off, hugs and kisses to Leonard Hevia, our new hero and, we're proud to say, a faithful reader. He unearthed the YouTube video here, which contains 30 minutes of "lost and found" Houdin… Read More
2018-12-29 22:28
Click to enlarge. From NY Houdini Museum "Ehrich Prach!"It could translate to "Ehrich the Great," or "Ehrich the Magnificent."This mysterious phrase has haunted us ever since we began o… Read More
2018-12-15 05:00
VIDEO LINK: https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/258836741453012/A brilliant combination of classical moves and modern ideas from Eric Chien, of Taiwan. He's been behind the scenes most… Read More
2018-11-27 19:36
Alas, alas, Ricky Jay has passed. We can remember our old friend only with a 900-page folio, or a medieval dream. We know which way he would go.Ye gentle swans, that haunt the brooks and Spr… Read More
2018-11-24 18:45
Invitation to 14-mile moonlight bike ride starting from Houdini Plaza, Appleton, Wisconsin.We’ve previously posted Houdini to the Rescue, which tells the remarkable tale of how Ha… Read More
2018-11-17 17:19
This letter and post, appearing on my father's fifth and 101st birthday, November 19, shows the mark of true friendship and manly behavior we can well demand from our heroes and learn from o… Read More
2018-11-10 17:32
We were working too hard over Halloween and thus were unable to make this year's Official Houdini Séance. It was held in Baltimore, at the Maryland Jewish Museum's excellent Houdini e… Read More
2018-11-03 15:45
"Was Houdini a spy?" is the question we get asked most. We've written about this at length. So for now suffice it to say that, like all good field agents and vaudevillians, he was a master o… Read More
2018-10-27 04:00
One problem with the profession of magic is that you start to believe in it. Omens, hauntings, goblins, the whole nine yards of cut-and-restored rope. We had already located and laid down a… Read More
2018-10-20 04:00
Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when good guys and bad guys were easy to tell apart, and film noir gave you a pleasant frisson as they buried the body in the back g… Read More
2018-10-13 04:00
"The Great Merlini" was not only one of the best fictional detectives of modern times, he was a top class magician, who specialized in locked-room mysteries, the gold standard of the detecti… Read More
2018-10-06 04:00
Strand magazine, London, 1927Now, having considered Houdini's inexplicable powers, let us turn to his direct relations with Spiritualism.In public, as is notorious, he posed as its uncomprom… Read More
2018-09-29 15:52
Houdini with Doyle & family, Atlantic City 1923We promised last week to provide part two of Arthur Conan Doyle's long and revealing essay on his friend Houdini. While continuing our rese… Read More
2018-09-22 04:00
The Strand, September 1927Researching the fascinating and troubling story of Houdini and his friend Arthur Conan Doyle, we came across this two-part series in The Strand magazine, published… Read More
2018-09-15 04:00
When we recount our greatest hits from a long and colorful career, our avid audience - usually consisting, like all audiences, of sons, daughters and grandchildren - never wants to hea… Read More
2018-09-08 16:48
Science & magic: separated at birth? Here are ten inventions designed to thwart - or appear to thwart - the laws of physics & chemistry Read More
2018-09-01 17:33
"It's life's illusions I recall," Judy Collins sings, "I really don't know life -- at all!"We hope that doesn't happen to Dr. Steven Macknik, the man in this visually lame video. Mackni… Read More
2018-08-25 17:31
The Siege of Yongqiu: Saved by an IllusionThe quintessential illusion is to make something appear from nothing. Rabbits from hats; birds, umbrellas and flaming torches from thin air; c… Read More
2018-08-18 20:38
By 1914, Harry Houdini had appeared in only one film, an experimental short made in France before there were any movie theaters. The film in our clip, Making A Living, made in 1914, was Char… Read More
2018-08-11 04:00
June 1982: largest non-nuclear explosion in history, orchestrated by magicians.MEMO TO PRES. TRUMP:We've been though this before with the Russians. You don't have to be their patsy. You… Read More
2018-08-04 18:45
Sun Tzu, the great Chinese philosopher, wrote “all warfare is based on deception.” Deception in the government has lately become the watchword of our troubled country, seemi… Read More
2018-07-28 04:00
Our two great loves, magic & martial art, are twined branches of the same tree. Magicians may be surprised to hear that movements in martial art, like every sleight, begin with… Read More
2018-07-21 04:00
Do you speak Japanese? Neither do we. But we all understand the video perfectly. The reactions are all expressed in that other universal language - laughter. No translation needed Read More
2018-07-07 04:00
We're in Baltimore this coming week, giving a talk and book-signing at the Jewish Museum of Maryland, which has mounted a truly sensational show on Houdini called Inescapable.So we're turnin… Read More
2018-06-30 04:00
Werner Herzog, for our money, is the embodiment of Houdini's fearless spirit. This video clip is Herzog's first on-camera interview in America. You will quickly understand why his mott… Read More
2018-06-23 04:00
Before Netflix, our popular culture was piped through the pulps. These forgotten archives of American art brought us our superheroes and monsters, our lovers and heartbreakers, and our unfor… Read More
2018-06-16 04:00
We don't really like to brag, but if we aren't out there for ourselves, who will be out there for us?That's a sneaky way of stealing some of the limelight which properly belongs to Trigg Wat… Read More
2018-06-09 13:58
Like this old footage, we got all misty reminiscing about the olden days of magic in New York while researching last week's post. One of our fondest recurring memories was of Presto, no… Read More
2018-06-02 04:00
--> Dick Brookz & Dorothy DietrichDick Brookz and Dorothy Dietrich came up through the ranks and the trapdoors: childhood magicians, cabaret owners, New York City entrepreneurs a… Read More
2018-05-26 04:00
We're working on a couple of large, labor-intensive stories. So for this holiday weekend we've decided to patch the blog together with duct tape. It has magical properties, as you learn from… Read More
2018-05-19 19:58
Illusionists and Dadaists - cut from the same silk.But thanks to an upsurge in both magic and criminality since November 2016, the original Duchamp score for Anemic Cinema has vanished.So bu… Read More
2018-05-12 14:04
First called UNDER THE PYRAMIDS, this story was considered H.P. Lovecraft's best work up to the year 1924. It was Houdini's idea and he wrote the first draft, which Lovecraft revised extensi… Read More
2018-05-05 04:00
Our friend David Roth, best coin magician alive, has nominated Jerome Murat, almost seen here, as the finest cabaret performer there ever was. Hard to disagree. As David says, "It's… Read More
2018-04-28 04:00
History of the typewriter recited by Michael Winslow from SansGil—Gil Cocker on Vimeo.[Video link: https://vimeo.com/12171944]Houdini loved typewriters and so do we. According to… Read More
2018-04-21 04:56
Our friend Joe Notaro left a hugely intelligent and well-informed comment on last week's post Houdini & Erdnase. Among other things, Joe commented on the link between Erdnase… Read More
2018-04-14 04:00
This poster was done around 1895, when the name "Houdini" had the same billing clout as Cardo, Professor Murat, Projea, Harry Raynohr and the Wizard of Shackles. Those were other stage… Read More
2018-04-07 20:43
... and we hope one of ours! Avner the Eccentric![Thanks to our dear Nina!] Read More
2018-03-31 04:00
We're in that weird fortnight between March 24 and April 6 - the days that mark Harry Houdini's birthday mystery period. And also the birthday of Ryan Hayashi, the magic master seen in the v… Read More
2018-03-24 04:00
They were both born 144 years ago today, on March 24, 1874, into prosperous families that soon plunged into poverty and discord.They both changed their names so they did not sound in… Read More
2018-03-17 16:45
HOUDINI'S AIRPLANE (?) UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT VOISIN FACTORY 1907On his excellent blog Wild About Harry, John Cox reports - with some skepticism - the factoid that Harry Houdini was the 25th… Read More
2018-03-10 23:45
Researching Houdini's connection to the infamous Davenport Brothers, we suddenly perceived a new wrinkle in the old spiritualism racket, one that we had seen but not believed in.You may reca… Read More
2018-03-03 05:00
[Video link here.]We've written before about the use of magic as therapy. In our other life, as a teacher of Tai Chi and Qi Gong, we've addressed the use of alternative therapy for sufferers… Read More
2018-02-24 05:00
via GIPHYIn performance art, everyone has to be magician. But it's only the prestidigitators who refuse to reveal their tricks. Here are some of the trade secrets of Houdini's friends… Read More
2018-02-17 05:00
We're on a thing about Houdini and coins, and it took us back to the days when, with the aid of Coco the talking parrot, we used to teach magic to the would-be-initiates of old San Francisco… Read More
2018-02-10 05:00
Our publication date today, February 10, 2018, is exactly 110 years since the U.S. Army Signal Corps signed a formal contract with the Wright Brothers for the very first U.S. military airpla… Read More
2018-02-03 20:45
In the Summer and Fall of 1909, especially in France and Germany, the world was going crazy over flying machines, according to a letter Houdini wrote to his friend and flight engineer M… Read More
2018-01-27 18:40
This video captures a major turning point both in the history of civilization and in the life of Harry Houdini. It's the first International Aviation Meet, held in Reims, France in 1909. (Do… Read More
2018-01-20 20:41
Watch this while you can! We've posted clips from this splendid film before, only to have them taken down by some hackers - Russian spies, no doubt!Released in 1949, this film is Orson Welle… Read More
2018-01-13 18:14
Harry & Bess at the controls of his Voisin "pusher."We've been looking into Houdini's exploits as an aviator, spurred on by Harry himself, who told a newspaper reporter that he had done… Read More
2018-01-06 05:00
Before we left for our New Year break we had a delightful phone conversation with Richard Kaufman, the man we've previously called one of the "Guardians of Magic." He's the world's most prol… Read More
2017-12-23 17:42
We're wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year with this beautiful illusionary Star-of-Wonder quest featuring the Three Kings of Magic: Jeff McBride, Penn and Teller. For thos… Read More
2017-12-16 05:00
We are just knocked out by the rave reviews for HOUDINI UNBOUND. In a Houdini-inspired fit of shameless self-promotion, herewith an extract from this week's prize-winning blog Improvised Lif… Read More
2017-12-09 05:00
The illusive box in the video was the inspiration for our late friend Jerry Andrus' most famous work of art: the Impossible Box, which he built for real in his front yard in Albany, Oregon.A… Read More
2017-12-02 20:56
Our friend John Cox has a fascinating piece on his Wild About Harry site commemorating the 100th anniversary of the message seen in the photo. As John notes, it was inscribed in a thesaurus… Read More
2017-11-25 05:00
Click to enlarge.We recently had the good fortune to see an original of this famous poster, depicting Houdini's fraud trial before the German high court in February 1902. It reminded us of a… Read More
2017-11-18 05:00
Copyright: Sharon KurlanskyOur friends and fellow Houdiniphiles John Cox and Kevin Connolly have recently exposed as fakes some suspicious-looking pictures of Harry's brother Dash, AKA… Read More
2017-11-11 05:00
Art by Fidel Sclavo[This is the continuation of the original "framing story" of our new novel, HOUDINI UNBOUND, now available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and fine bookstores worldwide. Th… Read More
2017-11-06 17:09
CLICK TO ENLARGE"David Saltman brings magic to the page in Houdini Unbound -- both the world of stage magic that he knows so well, and the magic of his own unbounded imagination. How could o… Read More
2017-11-04 15:36
Just got back from the delightful 2017 Official Houdini Seance in Cleveland, full of Houdini history and lore. Including -- a new take on Houdini vs. Gordon Whitehead, and a new appreciation… Read More
2017-10-28 04:00
Click to enlarge. Cover art by Fidel Sclavo.We're off to Cleveland shortly for the Official Houdini Séance on Halloween. Our historical novel, Houdini Unbound, is being published that… Read More
2017-10-21 04:00
Is Javi Benitez the best magical artist in the world? After watching this, it's hard to even dream otherwise. The charming Spanish performer has mastered the art, and presents it as an art Read More
2017-10-14 04:00
In an earlier post we introduced you to Richard Turner, an extraordinary performer who fooled the eyes off Penn and Teller. Later this month a feature documentary about Turner is breaking wi… Read More
2017-10-07 04:00
Behind the curve again, we've just seen this landmark documentary for the first time. It's really good - great interviews, excellent cover footage and - Teller talks! So does Copperfield, Si… Read More
2017-09-30 17:01
Back cover: Fidel SclavoThis extract is being published on Yom Kippur, a sad and holy day in the Jewish calendar. Harry Houdini, the rabbi's son, was not particularly observant, but was neve… Read More
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