Although, since books are the forte here; have you read “Princess”, Christina?

But, honestly, other than an author interview on NPR, I know absolutely nothing about it. Have you read it?

Just my opinion, but those shows tend to detract from the effect and the pleasure of the audience. There is always someone in the audience who has to spill the beans for those enjoying the effect.
And no, I’m not bitter. much…

I can easily see him offending a group if he patronized them and then revealed them as fakes. Sounds like there were many candidates for that description.

Even if we all know its not real magic, its fun to see the tricks anyway. Have you ever watched that tv show “Magic’s Greatest Secrets Finally Revealed”; same idea as Houdini, only the trick is explained at the end of the show. I loved that when I was a kid. They did basic tricks, usually, not complicated ones.

I hadn’t heard of that group. I can pretty safely attest that Houdini was not using “magic.” I’ve seen the techniques for some of his illusions and they were just that: illusions. ALL stage magicians use scientific principals and sleight of hand.

As for his involvement in the occult. Houdini was strongly influenced by the occult. He sought to communicate with his mother for years. He consistently sought out mediums to find one that could speak with the dead. He never found one who could. When he found another fraud, he exposed them as such.

Houdini went so far as to create a secret passphrase with his wife. In the event that one of them died, the other would try to communicate using the passphrase as proof of that it was true communication with the dead.

I’ll have to dig into the controversy when I get some time. Thanks for letting me know about it.

Apparently, there was some mystic group that Houdini had run afoul of (they claimed his illusions were due to pagan/spiritual power, while he argued/admitted it was all show, thus negating the fame they were trying to achieve at the time), and they had threatened his life on numerous occaisions. At the time of his death, it wassuspected that they had actually poisoned him, but there wasn’t the technology available to test whether it was just appendix poison or also something else. It seems someone wants to do an actual autopsy on him (they’re disembalming his corpse for DNA testing anyway) to see whether or not it was just his appendix.

Its an excellent lesson in being wary of pride, presumption, and the press!

I did many moons ago read a biography on Houdini. I didn’t realize that there was a debate. According to what I’ve always read, he died of a burst appendix. The story goes that he was being interviewed by a young reporter. The reporter asked if it was true that Houdini could withstand a punch by any man. When Houdini (reading his mail) absentmindedly responded in the affirmative, the young reporter thought that this meant Houdini was prepared.

The young man punched Houdini and ruptured the appendix. Houdini was in pain, but assumed nothing. During his last performance, Houdini’s staff and wife performed the illusions for him. He died several days later from poisoning from the appendix.

What have you heard?