PRESENTATION OUTLINE
ABOUT
Houdini was born on March 24th, 1874 as Ehrich Weiss. When he got into the magic business, he changed his name to Harry Houdini. The Harry came from his nickname at home, Ehrie, which with a slight change made Harry. The Houdini part comes from his role model, Robert Houdin. Someone told him that if he added an i to the end of Houdin, in French it would mean "Like Houdin."
When he was twelve years old, his family didn't have much money, so he ran away to be less of a burden. He got a job in New York as a cutter in a necktie factory, and sent money home to his family.
When he was eighteen, his father died. At almost the same time, he got married to Wilhemina Beatrice Rahner.
He brought Bess, as he called her, into the magic business. They became the Houdini's.
They were hired to a circus for a short while. The circus ran on Sunday, which since it was illegal to work on Sunday's, they were all thrown into jail. Houdini says that he felt bad for the fat lady, who was crying because of the confined space, and let them all out. There's only one problem with this; there was no fat lady in this circus! Houdini tended to make up some of his amazing feats.
When Houdini became famous, he did many shows. One show, when he was in the middle of a trick where he was hung by his ankles in a box filled with water, he cried out in pain. He had broken his ankle, but still continued on with his show. It was this sort of stubbornness that ended his life.
In the last show of his life, he had a splitting pain in his abdomen. He was pronounced to have appendicitis, but still went on with his show. When his show ended, the pain was almost unbearable, and he was rushed to the hospital. By then it was too late. His appendix had ruptured, and had gangrene. Since they had no antibiotics for it back then, he died on October 31st, 1926.
He would invent his own tricks, or change other peoples' to make them his own, and more dangerous.
When he crowned himself king of handcuffs, he was shackled at the wrists and ankles, nailed into a wooden packing case, and thrown into the New York Harbor. He emerged within MOMENTS!
The Indian Needle Trick was when he would swallow 100-150 needles, along with a long piece of thread. He would then bring it back up, needles fully threaded.
The Milk Can Escape- A milk can large enough to hold Houdini and enough water to cover him was filled with water, followed by Houdini. The top was secured with six padlocks, and a curtain was drawn around the scene. Just under 180 seconds, he popped out.
In London, men from Scotland Yard handcuffed his arms around a pillar. He cracked the handcuffs in a matter of seconds!
In Dresden, he proposed to jump off a bridge into the water, chained. Though the police told him no, he did it anyway and lived to shout about it.
In Germany, a police officer declared him fake. Houdini dragged him to court. The judge brought Houdini to a room with a safe in it. He told him to crack it, and if he did, that would aid in his decision. Houdini had never cracked safes, and was extremely scared to lose his title. But when he yanked on the door in frustration, it opened! The safe had been left unlocked! Houdini won the case.
A hole was cut in the ice in the Detroit River, and he was thrown in, heavily handcuffed. Five minutes, and a rope is thrown in, which saves him. He was able to crack the handcuffs, but hadn't counted on the current. He saw the rope, and was able to crawl out. The problem with this story is, there was no ice on the river that day. This story, however amazing, was also made up.
In 1911, a sea monster washed up in Boston. Houdini, seeing an opportunity, had himself sewed in. The fumes were strong, and choked him. He kicked, trying to signal, but that tipped over the sea monster, smothering him. His assistants quickly righted it, and he got out of there.
He was also a movie star. In his movies, he used his sleight of hand to crack cases and fool villains.
I learned much about Houdini, about his acts, tricks, and stunts. I found out how he died, and about his family.
I don't think that I would like to be an escape artist. It seems like very risky business, and you're at the mercy of your audience. It's very dangerous work, and I would not want to risk my life like that.
