Harry Houdini is the most recognized magician in world history. He took the mysterious world of magic to a new level. He performed unimaginable escapes that were seemingly impossible to the human eye. He was purely amazing and he brought huge attention to magic.
Houdini was born with the name Erich Weiss on March 24, 1874. As a child he lived in Appleton, Wisconsin after moving here from Budapest, Hungary when he was four. He moved here with his four brothers, and his parents, Samuel and Cecilia. His family was very poor and they were always changing homes to avoid bill collectors. All of the children began to work at very young ages. Houdini was selling newspapers and worked as a bootblack at the age of eight. When he was about eleven years old his father took him to see Dr. Lynn, a traveling magician, this is where it all started. When he was twelve years old he ran away from home to pursue his magic career. He called himself "Eric the Great" and made a little money performing at circuses and side shows. When Houdini was about thirteen he returned home to his parents to their new home in New York City. .
Harry Houdini's father died in October of 1892. To help the family out Houdini worked many jobs in the city. He worked as a cutter in a necktie factory called Richter and Sons; he was a messenger, an electrical driller, a photographer, and an apprentice to a locksmith. This is where he learned how to pick locks, something that would make him much money in the future.
When Houdini was about fifteen years old he read a biography on Jean Robert-Houdin, a French magician. This changed Houdini's life forever. He was so fascinated with Jean that he added an "I", which means like, to Houdin and he became Houdini. Houdini began performing magic on his own and began making about twelve dollars a week doing twenty shows a day. In 1892 he started doing acts with his brother Theo, who performed under the name Hardeen.
Mystery Man Five weeks had passed, and I still felt like my heart had been ripped out and stomped on redundantly. ... As he got closer, I began to see what this mystery man looked like. ... That despicable image had disappeared like a Houdini magic trick. ...
Ranging from magic to romance, mystery to life itself, the amount of themes seems almost endless. ... To generate a mystical aura for the reader, Glen David Gold puts history and fiction into a top hat and conjures a population of characters, both real and imagined, reaching from the world-renowned Houdini, to Carter's wicked nemesis, Mysterioso. ... "Carter Beats the Devil" is a must-read for all readers as well as those who don't enjoy reading as much; for Glen David Gold has enchanted his book with magic and mystery which will enthrall all eyes who gaze upon its pages, and lure th...
The original attempts at magic were fairly crude and elementary, however displayed a level of mystery and ambiguity that could beguile many humans of lesser mental standing (www.historyofmagic.com). ... It can be argued that the powers of these gods and goddesses have influenced the modern day magicians such as Harry Houdini and David Copperfield. ... The power derived from this shroud of mystery can be seen as the earliest influence for one to perform magic. ... For example, Harry Houdini is described by Kenneth Silverman as being "a confident braggart and power-hungry" ( Kenneth Silverman...
Not even his wife, Bessie, Gary's mother, knew of his real father, Houdini, and his past or his real name. ... The shadiness that Gary exhibits in terms of his personality and the violent streaks that occur without warning may have to do with the fact that his father kept most of his life to himself, and like Gary, was very much a man of mystery. ...
