Visitors can try out versions of some of Houdini’s famous magic tricks, including a card trick from early in his career when he was known as “The King of Cards,” and a miniature version of Houdini’s grandest illusion, making a five-ton elephant named Jennie “disappear.”Ī robust schedule of supplementary programming will be presented throughout the run of the show, including an interview with Holocaust survivor Werner Reich, who will talk about learning to perform magic while in a concentration camp. Al Jolson was vice president and the Howard Brothers, aka The Three Stooges, were early members. Houdini served an organizing role in many benevolent and fraternal organizations, including one he founded, the Rabbis’ Sons Theatrical Benevolent Association. One section of “Inescapable” explores Houdini’s inner life, including his commitment to friends and family, as well as to the ideas of fellowship and brotherhood. All of that was interesting, to start to understand the life that he lived outside of the show itself.” “He had an abundance of time backstage with which to engage in intellectual pursuits. “He spent his entire life performing in vaudeville which meant he was performing 20 minute shows, maybe three times a day,” says London.
London says that his research also helped him see a little bit of the man behind the myth. Houdini used the prop to debunk the many sham spiritualists and fortune tellers who were popular at the time.Ī small section explores Houdini’s visits to Atlanta when he stayed at the former Ansley Hotel downtown, spoke at the Atlanta Women’s Club and performed at the former Forsyth Theatre on the corner of Forsyth and Luckie streets. He wanted to be surround by life when he was potentially facing death.”Īmong the other artifacts visitors will encounter are a variety of handcuffs used in Houdini’s acts, posters and other promotional ephemera, Houdini’s locksmithing guide and a “spirit trumpet,” a device that supposedly amplified the voices of the deceased. “The number 18 is significant in Jewish numerology,” explains London. Visitors will also see one of Houdini’s prop lists, specifying, among other things, that exactly 18 chairs be placed on stage with him. The exhibition includes key artifacts, including Houdini’s father’s Hebrew Old Testament, signed twice by Houdini himself. Sections range from a focus on his early years as a young immigrant working odd jobs to his transformation to a world-famous magician and escape artist. In the exhibition, visitors travel through a series of themed displays revealing how Houdini’s identity influenced his career.
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