LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Harry Houdini: Escapes
built 675 days ago
Known to the world as “The Great Houdini,” Harry Houdini has gone down in history as one of the best magicians in the world. Not only because of his amazing escape stunts, but ... because of his audacity and showmanship. Houdini helped structure and define an art that is still adhered to by many practicing performers. Whether it would be holding his breath while escaping an underwater cell, or freeing himself from a straight jacket, Houdini baffled, surprised, and amazed countless audiences with his magic.
Source:
Harry Houdini's "big break" came in 1899 when he met manager Martin Beck. Impressed by Houdini's handcuffs act, Beck advised him to concentrate on escape acts and booked him on the Orpheum vaudeville circuit. Within months, he was performing at the top vaudeville houses in the country. In 1900, Beck arranged for Houdini to tour Europe.
Source:
Harry Houdini was a famous magician in the late 1800's until he died in 1926. Harry Houdini did such things as standing on top of a plane's wing as the plane went round and round. He was ... the world's most famous escape artist. He could escape from anything!
Source:
The original cell was built in England, where Houdini first performed the escape for an audience of one person as part of a one-act play he called "Houdini Upside Down." This was so he could copyright the effect and have grounds to sue imitators (which he did). While the escape was advertised as "The Chinese Water Torture Cell" or "The Water Torture Cell," Houdini always referred to it as "the Upside Down" or "USD." The first public performance of the USD was at the Circus Busch in Berlin, Germany, on September 21, 1912. Houdini continued to perform the escape until his death in 1926. Despite two Hollywood movies depicting Houdini dying in the Torture Cell, the escape had nothing to do with his demise.[13]
Source:
Harry Houdini – Though Houdini didn’t believe in spiritualism, his ghost is said to haunt a couple of locations. At Jacki Gaughan’s Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas, a magic show held here is a tribute to Houdini’s talents as an escape artist and magician. Staff believes the showroom is haunted by a ghost who likes to play pranks and move items around. Many of these same people think the ghost is none other than Houdini himself, perhaps lingering to ensure they are “doing it right.” The most common place that Houdini has been sighted is the property where his mansion once stood in Laurel Canyon. Though destroyed by fire in 1959, many people have allegedly seen his apparition lurking about the old property.
Source:
In 1908, Houdini published The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin, a sweeping history of the art of magic. It included references to spiritualism that he subsequently developed in A Magician Among the Spirits. Houdini began the year in Indianapolis. On January 27, 1908, he introduced the milk can escape in St. Louis. Then, later in the year, he took it on tour in Europe, where he appeared, in Germany, as the star of Circus Busch. From March 30 to April 4 of 1908, Houdini performed at Hammerstein's Theatre in New York in the famous Weed Tire Grip Chain Escape.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Escapes