Harry houdini buff1/31/2024 Linking Rings is at Jermyn Street theatre, London, until 30 January. “We’re not pretending it’s real magic,” says Zenon, “but you have to be an accomplished actor to carry it off.” “A magician is an actor playing the part of a magician,” said the man seen as the father of modern magic. He recalls a famous quote by the 19th-century performer Houdini named himself after: Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin. “There are a lot of straight actors who can’t do comedy,” he says, “whereas if you’re a comedian, you can do both.” He hopes the show will work a little magic on his career, giving it a new dimension. He has written books about classic tricks and scams, and is an expert on famous magicians – not just Houdini but faux-Chinese performer Chung Ling Soo, as well as Britain’s Jasper Maskelyne, who helped the army with camouflage techniques and other deceptions during the second world war. Harry Houdini is a name so synonymous with escape artistry, if a child is born as a result of a broken condom youre morally obligated to make Houdini their. Zenon did summer jobs in Blackpool magic shops from the age of 12, living with his grandmother in a caravan, and became obsessed by stage magic. He died in Philadelphia in 1942 at the age of 59, never having divulged the secrets of his boss’s great escapes. “He had all the skills of Houdini and then some, but was content behind the scenes.” After Houdini’s death from peritonitis in 1926, Collins went to work with Houdini’s magician brother Hardeen and did some of his own shows. “Legend has it that Collins could look at a key, memorise the shape of it, and go and cut one that would work,” says Zenon, sipping his tea we’re in his local pub, the Prince Albert in Brighton, where he is rehearsing. It made me realise that, throughout history, there have been a lot of people behind the scenes who are 50% of the action but are then forgotten.” Collins, who was a carpenter and locksmith, made all the props and was responsible for ensuring Houdini’s dangerous stunts didn’t kill him. “As I discovered more about him, I realised I was more interested in his story than Houdini’s in some respects. Zenon unearthed photographs of Collins, and found out he came from Portsmouth. According to magic history buff Martin Preston, what we consider modern. He worked for Houdini for more than 20 years, toured everywhere, left his wife and four children behind in the UK, and married again.” The marriage was probably bigamous. Nevertheless, famed illusionists like Harry Blackstone and Harry Houdini were. There’s a line in the show that his job was to be invisible. “It suddenly dawned on me, ‘Who better to tell the story than his right-hand man?’ I started doing some research on him, but it was a tough one to crack. “In 1894, Erich launched his career as a professional magician and renamed himself Harry Houdini, the first name being a derivative of his childhood nickname, ‘Ehrie,’ and the last an homage to the great French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin.” - Biography.Paul Zenon with his escapology props Photograph: David Streeterįinding Collins gave Zenon the key into Houdini’s life. Within a few months his career really took off. In 1873 he married Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner, who was afterwards at his side performing under the new name Beatrice "Bess" Houdini, throughout his career. Which magician do you admire more: Harry Houdini or David Copperfield? Harry Houdinis real name was Ehrich Weiss. The 1993 biography The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini by Ruth Brandon is maligned by Houdini buffs. The family moved to Appleton, Wisconsin, and later, he and his father moved to New York City and waited for the family to move after money was made working random jobs. WILD ABOUT HARRY Where Houdini Lives Saturday, JThe Brandon book Continuing my examination of books about Houdini using images and insights from my own collection. He was the son of a Jewish Rabbi and was one of seven children. He was thirty-four and had worked in show business for fifteen years. You may use a special sponge applicator to apply. In 1908, Harry HoudiniThe World’s Handcuff King and Prison Breakerneeded a new act. But as the Forward reported in 2013, stage magic remained associated with Jewish performers following his passing. Use a microfiber cloth or mitt to wash, a microfiber towel to dry and a microfiber cloth to buff car wax. Houdini was born Erich Weisz in Budapest, Hungary, on March 24, 1874. The name Harry Houdini still conjures up images of great escapes from impossible situations, 93 years after his death in Detroit, Michigan. In 1926, Houdini died of a ruptured appendix after being sucker-punched by a student. Houdini’s death-defying acts helped launch him to become one of the world’s most recognized magicians, even long after his death in 1926.
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