houdini question

[firegirl]

someone told me last nite over cocktails that houdini's record for the straight jacket escape isn't two minutes... which is what i've always heard everyone quote it as... but, said person didn't know what the actual record is... anyone?

it's chilly here in nola... hope everyone had a happy gnu year.

~firegirl

[Mumblepeas]

Houdini never went for speed. It simply was not an important variable in those days. The pace of life was a lot slower.

He worked to make each escape look very hard to do (and sometimes, very dangerous to do). Once, in Washington, D.C., he took 12 full minutes to escape from a straight jacket, while hanging upside down 4 stories off the pavement. Traffic came to a complete stand still as over 200 people filled the street to watch him. It was a publicity stunt for his show. Hey, try to stop traffic for even 5 minutes in Washington today!

The speed thing is something developed by today’s performers. The so called Houdini challenge is simple good theater. The MTV generation simply would not sit still for one of Houdini’s performances!

[le pire]

I read a bio of houdini a while back. Early on in his escape career he used to get all shakled up then go behind some curtains while an orchestra played and then 20 minutes later he emmerged from the curtains. He had actually gotten free in 2 minutes and just sat back there reading the paper waiting for his music que.

His brother did the same act,but was called "Hardeen." Well, one day during a show Hardeen's curtain fell over so the audience could see everything. What he discovered was that people where amazed by watching him twist and wryth to get out of a straight jacket and shackles and that (here's the important part) his ovation was bigger when they saw it all.

Hardeen told Houdini and then Houdini started to do this too.

His "challenge act" lasted only so long before the world conceded, then he moved on to debunking 'mediums' which is the most interesting part of his life, if you ask me.
An amazing man, definately worth reading about. Buster Keaton has an incredible biography, and if you want to read the biggest load of bullshit then read Chaplin's autobiography. He shamelessly lies about nearly every person and event in his life in his attempt to "set the story straight."


side note:
The book 'Lolita' by Vladimir Nabokov (brilliant writer) was inspired by Chaplin and his second wife Lilita Grey. She was 12 when they met, 14 when they married, of course they said she was a legal 16. He was in his 30's... can you say 'Cradle Robber?'

étienne

[Frisbee]

Houdini did a lot of publicity stunts to promote his show in whatever town he was in...I dont know about records that he may have had with his escapes...but I know that some cities have put up memorial placks where he did his amazing pre-show spectacles...one easily accesible one that I know if is in Boston on the Mass. Ave bridge crossing over from Boston to Cambridge.

-Frisbee