Harry Houdini Research Paper

Laura Isom and Alexis McKay

American Lit After 1865

Dr. Michele Crescenzo

5 March 2018

The Magic of Houdini Harry Houdini was a renowned magician and illusionist, most commonly known for his seemingly impossible escape acts. While he is known today by the name “Harry Houdini,” he was actually born as Ehrich Weisz in Budapest, Hungary (Encyclopedia Britannica). His father moved to America, dreaming of a bright future for his family. When Ehrich was around the age of thirteen, he and his brother began to experiment with magic (Kalush). When he reached the age of seventeen, Harry Houdini left behind his family in New York to explore his passion of magic, attempting to develop a serious career in this field. He began by performing simple acts

In 1889, Houdini stunned the police force of Chicago when he repeatedly freed himself from their handcuffs. Houdini did these stunts simply just to prove his escape skills were legitimate. This story was published in the newspaper, which led him to being discovered by Martin Beck. Beck was the founder of the Orpheum Circuit (Kalush). Beck offered Houdini a four-year contract to perform on the Orpheum bill around the country, which greatly influenced Houdini and worked to boost his popularity. Beck also encouraged Houdini to forgo performing simple magic tricks and focus mainly on escape acts. According to Kalush, “within months, he had gone from cheap beer halls and dime museums to the big-time---vaudeville. In one year’s time, he had gone from literally eating rabbits for survival to making what today would equal $45,000 a week” (128). During this time, he began to truly master his escape acts. After making a name for himself, he began to tour the world, and he eventually had his own magic show (The Great Harry Houdini). Houdini also showed an interest in film and aviation. According to Kalush, “his interest in the nascent field of aviation had become almost an obsession (239). In the years leading up to his death, Houdini announced himself as a skeptic

As the boy is sitting on a porch, a car crashes into a telephone pole. The driver of the car is none other than Harry Houdini. Houdini visited with the boy and his family until a car arrived to get him. While visiting, he performed tricks for the little boy and conversed with members of the family. According to the text, “He [the father] was surprised by his colorless demeanor. He [Houdini] seemed depressed” (Doctorow). This encounter between Harry Houdini and the family in the story displays a picture of Houdini and his demeanor that differs from the usual way he is portrayed. While typically seen as a fearless and brave performer, this text depicts Houdini as having real, human emotions. Later on in the fifth chapter of “Ragtime,” like mentioned earlier in this presentation, Houdini escapes the confines of a jail cell in order to prove himself in a challenge proposed by the police force. In the novel however, as Houdini is escaping the jail cell, he encounters the murderer introduced earlier on in the novel, Harry K. Thaw. Thaw seemed to not be impressed by Houdini’s escape act, instead mocking him after he had escaped the cell. According to the text, “People who did not respond to his art profoundly distressed Houdini. He had come to