NOW AVAILABLE - The Expert at the Card Table - Drake Edition

I recently published a new edition of "The Expert at the Card Table." Considered by many the bible of card magic, this book has been in print over a hundred years and continues to fascinate and educate magicians and gamblers.

This hardcover edition is a reimagining of the Fredrick J. Drake & Co edition. The classic text has been completely re-typeset, and the original artwork has been cleaned and enhanced. This edition is hardbound and printed on cream paper stock.

No attempts at editing Erdnase's words or changing the book's layout have been made in order to retain the book's charm.

This edition is a must-have for any magician, gambler or collector of Erdnase.

Only $24.95. Get your copy on AMAZON

The HOUDINI Journal

 

I'm a big fan of journals. They are a great place to jot down ideas, sketches, and even record passwords. I have a Nikola Tesla journal that I like, but it is pretty generic. I wish there was a Houdini journal and not just one with his picture or a poster on the cover. Sadly, there isn't one. So, I decided to create one myself.

This hardcover Houdini Journal includes 75 photos of the great man himself, along with a lightly ruled blank page to jot down ideas, sketch illusions, or simply record your own magic moments. Take a look at the video below to give you an idea of the body pages.

Carry your Houdini journal around with you wherever you go, ensuring your ideas are never forgotten. This journal makes a great gift for yourself or anyone who buzzes with creativity and loves the mystique and magic of Harry Houdini.

You can get your copy on AMAZON

Houdini - Down on the Farm

Happy new year! It has been a while since I've posted anything new, but here is an interesting story I found on Houdini. I don't recall hearing it before. It's from the POUGHKEEPSIE EAGLE (Dec. 28, 1925).

HOUDINI FOUND FARMER WAS HARDEST TO FOOL

New York, Dec. 27 – Harry Houdini found farmers "harder to fool than city people,” and several times the magician's tricks nearly failed when he performed them face to face with rural audiences.

"In country parts, where men themselves perform the magic of making the soil bear harvest. I've found them less gullible.” He wrote in an article published yesterday by Farm & Fireside. “They know it’s just a trick.”

Houdini’s first training in legerdemain was in the small towns, with travelling shows and later as a magician at county fairs. As an example Houdini told of an experience in an Iowa town, where he undertook to escape from a thief-proof barn within an hour.

"Finger the locks as I would I could make no impression on them.” he said. "I exhausted myself and leaned against a door section to rest for a final spurt. To my amazement the door opened and the witnesses applauded me. I bowed with grace and-went back to the farm house to dress. The farmer came into the bedroom and explained that out of pity, he had left that section of the barndoor unlocked, unbolted!

HOUDINI will not escape!...

The headline "HOUDINI WILL NOT ESCAPE, O’BRIEN VOWS," splashed across the page in The San Francisco Examiner (Sat. March 17, 1923). The story was accompanied by a photo of the Chief "testing the ribs" of Houdini. It is a photo I had not seen before.

The newspaper article relates the conversation between Houdini and O'Brien...

 "How big is your chest contraction?" asked Chief of Police Dan O'Brien yesterday of Harry Houdini, as he felt the ribs of the "handcuff king and prison breaker."

 "What's the idea?" asked the jail-breaking wizard.

"Well, you'll need all you have after I cinch you up in that strait-jacket on Monday," said the chief. And Captain W. J. Quinn echoed his sentiments.

For they're (sic) hanging- Harry Houdini – high by his feet, over crowded Market street from the seventh floor of 'The Examiner" building at noon next Monday. He will be triced in a straitjacket, and he says he'll get out of it, right in mid-air.

Chief of police O’Brien thinks he will not. Time will tell."

All San Francisco will be there to watch the test. Houdini, on a platform high enough for all to see, will be strait-jacketed in full view. Then he will be hoisted by bis feet. The rest is up to him. And meanwhile he is preparing to open a week's engagement at the Orpheum tomorrow, unconcerned as to Monday's diversion. 

"The word "fail" never appeared but once in the bright lexicon of my career, he modestly told Chief O’Brien yesterday. "It was some years ago, in a town in Ireland. I had guaranteed to get out of a triple-locked steel jail cell. They stripped me, and searched me, and then delegated a big husky sergeant to lock me In. I heard the door bang, and I went to work. But I couldn't move the bolts. I tried every way to pet those bolts back, as I had done hundreds of times. Outside in the corridor waited the doubting officials all but the sergeant. He stood in front of the cell. Suddenly the door swung open, and he whispered: 

"What’s the matter with ye? I was sorry for ye and so I didn’t lock the door.' 

"And there I was trying to pull bolts that hadn't been set." But there’ll be no "sympathy" next Monday, says O'Brien. And Houdini says he doesn't want any. The tighter they tie him, the better.

Will he do it?

Of course, Houdini did escape, and the story became another entry in the saga of the master mystifier.

Houdini Gets Stabbed

I found an interesting bit of information about a Houdini mishap at an Orpheum Theater show in California. Thayer's The Magical Bulletin of Jan. 1916 reported, "HOUDINI met with a peculiar accident while playing at the Orpheum in this city. While doing his Turban trick, Houdini holds the cloth for a gentleman from the audience to cut. On this occasion the gentleman jabbed at the cloth with the scissors and made a severe cut in Houdini's hand. Houdini was forced to drop this trick from the act and wear a rubber glove in his escape."

Houdini wasn't the first, or the last, to have a scissor mishap. David Copperfield accidentally cut off the tip of his finger with sharp scissors while doing the Cut & Restored rope in the 1980s. The audience thought it was part of the show, but he had to be rushed to the hospital and the fingertip was reattached.

The Expert at the Card Table (Study Guide)

Looking for a high-quality copy of Erdnase that is easy to study? Look no further than this new unabridged edition that is affordable and easy to read. 

No need to hold the book down with one hand and a deck of cards in the other. This copy of The Expert at the Card Table is coil bound so it lays flat and is the perfect solution for the student. Every word and drawing is there and it is a beautiful reproduction of the original 1902 book. The book is printed on a heavy 100# paper with a 100# cover that mimics the original. 

205 pages - 5" x 7" - 101 black and white illustrations.

This is the perfect addition to any student or collector's library. Get your copy today!

$36.00 postpaid (US shipping only. No foreign orders.)

BUY NOW

Deconstructing Houdini's Grave

I really enjoy John Cox's Houdini site - WILD ABOUT HARRY. I heartily recommend it anyone interested in Houdini. Every time I visit the site I have the urge to look back at some old Houdini story or delve a little deeper into some new item John has dug up.

Recently there was an entry on Houdini's grave site in Machpelah Cemetery. I found a story in the November, 1927 issue of The Sphinx magazine that goes into some detail of the materials used to construct the Houdini monument and exedra.

The story describes how the original Houdini bust was cut from Carrara, Statuary Marble. The famous Michelangelo statue of David is carved out of white statuary marble. This type of marble is 98% calcium carbonate and often has little veining, making it ideal for sculptures and statues.

The Sphinx reporter wrote that Houdini's bust was carved by A. Merli. My research has uncovered the sculptor's full name was Amadeo Merli (shown below). Merli, along with Alex Nicolai, conducted business from a studio at 23 Macdougal Alley in New York. One of the studio's better known commissions was carving the six figures for the pediment of the New York Public Library on 5th Avenue.

The SAM emblem was a Mosaic imported from Venice, Italy, by C. Francini. Unfortunately, I couldn't find out more information on this element of the exedra.

The large monument itself is made of Barre Granite. Barre is a fine granite, composed of quartz, fedspar, and mica. This work was done by The Adler Monument and Granite Works, Inc. at 148 East 57th St. The records I found showed the firm operated until 1986.

It is well-known that Oscar S. Teale, Architect, and a Past President of the Society of American Magicians, designed the original exedra, as well as the added features after Houdini's death. Teale is shown below at the grave site.

I have never been to Machpelah Cemetery, but maybe someday I will have the experience of visiting the final resting place of the great Houdini.