HOUDINI - A photographic story of a life
A copiously illustrated biography that is fascinating. It contains over 100 photographs of artwork, artifacts, and of Houdini himself, including photographs of his famous escapes, posters from throughout his career, and even images of his collection of handcuffs. Author Vicki Cobb describes Harry Houdini as an American success story. Born Ehrich Weiss, the kid who will become Harry Houdini leaves home at the age of 12, gets bored working in a tie factory, and starts practicing coin tricks in his spare time. Eventually the son of poor immigrants would be selling out the theaters of Europe as the greatest magician and escape artist in the world.
To set the stage for Houdini's life, Cobb begins with a prologue, "Failure Means a Drowning Death," that talks about his performance in St. Louis, Missouri, on January 27, 1908. Having escaped from the local police station the day before, Houdini performs his "Death-Defying Mystery: Escape from a galvanized iron can filled with water and secured by massive locks." By the time you get to the part where you wonder how he did it, Cobb has you interested in how Houdini became the greatest magician of all time. The book then sets the stage for his early life, with a fascinating read about how the Weiss family came to America, what Show Business was like in the 1890s, and how the young Houdini learned his trade as a magician and ended up taking his name from Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin, his childhood hero.
Cobb pays attention to how Houdini developed his career and it is fascinating to see all of the posters that document his career: they start off with lots of text and hyperbole, but by the time he becomes famous as the "master mystifier" basically he just needed "HOUDINI" in large print. So Houdini goes from "Dime Museum Harry," to "The King of Handcuffs" and then the "Self-Liberator" who conquered Europe at the end of the century. Cobb highlights a quotation from Houdini: "The whole secret is getting the first hand free; after that it is all plain sailing." The glory days of Houdini cover him as a great self-promoter, but also pay attention to his family and his work as a scholar and author in the field of magic.
The final chapters looked at how Houdini started taking risks to come up with bigger thrills for his audiences by doing dangerous things like jumping into rivers and flying an airplane. This goes hand in hand with his great creativity, including the amazing Water Torture Cell. The last stage of Houdini's career deals with not only his death defying feats, but also his debunking of mediums ("The Dead Don't Talk"), which became part of his legacy when he died on Halloween in 1926 from a ruptured appendix. Houdini had told his wife that if it were possible to speak to her from beyond the grave, he would do so, and for ten years his widow Bess attended seances on Halloween to hear the code they had agreed on as proof she was hearing from him. But it never came.
Cobb emphasizes Houdini's showmanship as well as his creativity in being important to the act so readers can better appreciate the career of somebody they will never see perform. The book includes a useful timeline of key events in Houdini's life and an excellent bibliography for further reading.
To set the stage for Houdini's life, Cobb begins with a prologue, "Failure Means a Drowning Death," that talks about his performance in St. Louis, Missouri, on January 27, 1908. Having escaped from the local police station the day before, Houdini performs his "Death-Defying Mystery: Escape from a galvanized iron can filled with water and secured by massive locks." By the time you get to the part where you wonder how he did it, Cobb has you interested in how Houdini became the greatest magician of all time. The book then sets the stage for his early life, with a fascinating read about how the Weiss family came to America, what Show Business was like in the 1890s, and how the young Houdini learned his trade as a magician and ended up taking his name from Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin, his childhood hero.
Cobb pays attention to how Houdini developed his career and it is fascinating to see all of the posters that document his career: they start off with lots of text and hyperbole, but by the time he becomes famous as the "master mystifier" basically he just needed "HOUDINI" in large print. So Houdini goes from "Dime Museum Harry," to "The King of Handcuffs" and then the "Self-Liberator" who conquered Europe at the end of the century. Cobb highlights a quotation from Houdini: "The whole secret is getting the first hand free; after that it is all plain sailing." The glory days of Houdini cover him as a great self-promoter, but also pay attention to his family and his work as a scholar and author in the field of magic.
The final chapters looked at how Houdini started taking risks to come up with bigger thrills for his audiences by doing dangerous things like jumping into rivers and flying an airplane. This goes hand in hand with his great creativity, including the amazing Water Torture Cell. The last stage of Houdini's career deals with not only his death defying feats, but also his debunking of mediums ("The Dead Don't Talk"), which became part of his legacy when he died on Halloween in 1926 from a ruptured appendix. Houdini had told his wife that if it were possible to speak to her from beyond the grave, he would do so, and for ten years his widow Bess attended seances on Halloween to hear the code they had agreed on as proof she was hearing from him. But it never came.
Cobb emphasizes Houdini's showmanship as well as his creativity in being important to the act so readers can better appreciate the career of somebody they will never see perform. The book includes a useful timeline of key events in Houdini's life and an excellent bibliography for further reading.
Beautifully produced in full color, and very reasonably priced, this book is an excellent biography of an intriguing man. It is a wonderful gift for anyone who would like to learn more about the legendary Master Mystifier.
Great summer reading! Pick up a copy for yourself, and another as a gift, at Tin City Magic today.
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