To talk about Houdini is to enter a world of mystery. Also known as the ‘King of Wives’ or the ‘Master of Escape’, his name was actually Erik Weisz. Born on March 24, 1874 in Budapest, 150 years later his legend endures and many of his secrets have still not been revealed.
From a humble family, little Erik came to the United States with his parents when he was only four years old. They settled in Appelton, a town that he always considered his hometown. When he was young, the legendary illusionist adopted the name Harry Houdini in homage to the French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin.
Captivated by magic, he soon began experimenting and it didn’t take him long to achieve his impressive escapes. From being chained and thrown into turbulent rivers to being buried alive under tons of dirt and cement, Houdini constantly defied death with a bravery that captivated the entire world. His ability to break free from any bondage earned him a place in history as the most famous escape artist of all time. It is still unknown today how he achieved this. From what little he has revealed, he was capable of hiding keys and other tools everywhere on his body, even swallowing them and then regurgitating them.
In one of his most famous acts, Houdini was locked inside a water tank, usually handcuffed and shackled. Despite the difficulties, he managed to escape before running out of air.
The so-called ‘metamorphosis’ was also famous, in which he was handcuffed, put in a sack and then locked inside a trunk with padlocks. Houdini managed to switch places with his assistant, usually his wife Bess, who appeared handcuffed inside the trunk.
But Houdini didn’t just dazzle audiences with his skills; He was also noted for his skepticism towards paranormal phenomena. After the tragic death of her mother, Houdini sought in vain to communicate with her through mediums and spiritualists. His disillusionment led him on a personal crusade against falsehood and deception in the world of spiritualism.
He died when he was only 52 years old. And not while he was practicing any of his dangerous tricks, as is often believed. According to the official version, Houdini, who used to boast that he could withstand any blow to the abdomen, was challenged by a student named J. Gordon Whitehead. The magician accepted the challenge, like many other times, but received the impact when he was not yet ready. The blow caused his appendix to rupture, which must have already been inflamed, and, as a consequence, he ended up dying of peritonitis. Now, there are other theories about his death, such as the one that points to certain sectors of spiritualism, which preferred him dead.
Cautious, and to prevent mediums from deceiving his wife Bess after her death, he devised a ten-word code that he only shared with her. For ten years, he held different sessions without success. The real Houdini did not manifest himself. For this reason, after a decade of attempts, Bess famously uttered the phrase: “Ten years are enough to wait for any man.”
Another black legend about Houdini is the one that relates him to espionage. This would, in fact, be his biggest secret, from which he too could always have escaped. His biographers William Kalush and Larry Sloman claim in ‘The Secret Life of Houdini’ the magician’s participation in espionage activities, particularly during the First World War. The authors maintain, for example, that he would have investigated German weapons secrets when he toured Germany.
Spy or not, the truth is that Houdini took many secrets to the grave. And the spiritualists couldn’t get even one of them out of him.
