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HARRY HOUDINI - THE MAN BEHIND THE MAGIC

Posted by David Willmott, Magician


Jul 10
21

Harry Houdini is hands down one of the most famous magicians in all of history. His “tricks” are that of legend and still leave even some of the most highly-esteemed, professional magicians baffled as to how they were done. The sheer complexity and danger of some of the acts performed by Houdini are what made him one of the most talked about magicians of our time. Although there is no shortage of great performers, whether they are stage or table magicians, even today, with all of our advancements, there is still no one who comes close to the showmanship and unparalleled talent of this world-class magician.

Born in 1874 as Erik Weisz, this Hungarian-American focused much of his career on performing “real magic”. Not interested in the many fraudulent supernatural phenomena of the time, his stunts were based much more in reality than his other contemporary performers. While he started out, in typical fashion, with small sideshows and card-tricks, Harry Houdini quickly became taken with the idea of performing escape acts. Logistically, the most advanced of all types of magic, these stunts also carried with them very real safety risks, causing the majority of magicians to shy away from them.

However, the challenge of escape acts was probably what drew Harry Houdini to them in the first place. Specializing in escaping from various locations while wearing shackles, he soon became known as the “Handcuff King”. Escaping from foreign prisons, jails, and so forth, one of the most awe-inspiring elements of his act was the fact that these tricks were often performed in plain sight of his audience. Without all the smoke and mirrors of traditional types of magic, this sort of performance art gained both a domestic as well as a worldwide following in a fairly short amount of time.

Constantly wanting to further challenge himself as well as impress his audience members, Houdini moved on to develop even more technically advanced escape acts. These included such feats as escaping from locked, water-filled milk can as well as his, most famous, Chinese Water Torture Cell. In this act, he was hung, upside-down in a cabinet made of glass and steel that was filled to the brim with water. Because of this, the famed magician not only needed to escape, but also had the physical challenge of holding his breath for over 3 minutes. Eventually becoming his one and only act, Harry Houdini and his many previous magical feats still amaze magicians and non-magicians alike.

Anyway I’ve been playing around with some video projects testing things for my future showreel, so here’s a quick performance trick back stage with Stavros Flatley at the Dorchester Hotel London.

David is a resident magician at two restaurants in and around the Berkshire area and can be seen doing table magic Saturday and Sundays at these venues at lunch times. He is fast becoming the South West’s most in demand close up performer travelling all across the UK.

So if you’re getting married and need a wedding magician in Bristol or if you are organizing a Christmas party in Bath or maybe a Ball in London or any other event where you need a great sleight of hand magician mingling with your guests please get in touch.

Also available for hire across most of the UK and Wales.

Restaurant Magician, Basingstoke & Fleet, Magician Bath, Bedford & Milton Keynes, Magician Birmingham, Blackburn, Bolton & Wigan, Magician Bournemouth, Bradford, Bromley, Beaconsfield, Brighton, Magician Bristol, Cambridge, Canterbury, Magician Cardiff, West Valleys, Cookham, Chelmsford, Chester & North Wales, Chesterfield & Mansfield, Colchester, Cirencester, Magician Cheltenham, , Coventry, Corydon & Sutton, East London, Exeter, Wedding Entertainer, Magician Gloucester, Gloucestershire, Gerrards Cross, Guildford, Harlow, Harrow, Hammersmith, Uxbridge & Wembley, London Magician, Luton, Hereford, High Wycombe & Aylesbury, Ipswich, Isle of Wight, Kingston Upon Thames, London Central, Luton & Stevenage, Maidstone,Magician Manchester,Magicians Cornwall, Newport & East Valleys, Magician Nottingham, Magician Oxford, Banbury, Magician Plymouth, East Cornwall, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading & Newbury, Richmond Upon Thames, Rumford & Ilford, Sheffield, Shrewsbury, Telford, Slough, Bracknell, Maidenhead & Windsor, Marlow, Solihull, Southampton, Southend & Basildon, Stoke-on-trent, Magician Surrey, Sussex, Sutton Coldfield, Swansea & South West Wales, Swindon, Taunton, Tunbridge Wells, Uxbridge, Wembley, Wakefield, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Warrington, Runcorn, Watford, Wirral & Chester, York Harrogate & Scarborough, Christmas Party Magician

Bookings already being taken for weddings in 2011 book early to avoid disappointment.
Make sure you hire a professional magician when booking you wedding entertainment so your event is successful and memorable. Sleight-of-hand magicians are idea to enhance your next important event.

If you would like further information on how David can make your event magical, get in touch today.