Houdini Defies Death

HISTORY This Week

The HISTORY® Channel | Back Pocket Studios

Society & Culture, History

4.5 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 25 January 2021

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

January 25, 1908. Harry Houdini is the most famous magician in America. He’s known for his escapes – from handcuffs, boxes, jail cells, even a giant football. But the escape act is getting old, and ticket sales aren’t what they used to be. And on this day, an under-capacity audience at the Columbia Theater in St. Louis is about to witness Houdini’s most dangerous escape yet… from death itself. How did a Hungarian immigrant named Erik Weisz become Harry Houdini? And when his career was fading, how did Houdini embrace death to bring it back to life?

Special thanks to our guest, Joe Posnanski (author of The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini). Additional thanks to San Diego magician Tom Interval for providing archival audio of Houdini.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The History Channel, original podcast.
0:04.3	History this week, January 25th, 1908.
0:09.9	I'm Sally Helm.
0:13.1	All month, there have been ads running in St. Louis newspapers
0:16.8	about a magician who's come to town.
0:19.5	Quote, the handcuff king has left a trail of astonishments
0:24.2	around the world.
0:25.8	No manacles or cells can hold him.
0:28.6	Kings and potentates have honored him.
0:31.7	In all the world, there is no act like his.
0:38.0	The handcuff king is none other than Harry Houdini.
0:43.0	And he is indeed one of the best in the world.
0:46.1	Everyone knows that he can escape from handcuffs,
0:48.7	from crates and boxes.
0:50.6	He wants escape from a giant football.
0:53.4	Everyone knows it.
0:54.6	And so it turns out they don't really need to come see it.
0:59.4	The famous Harry Houdini has been in St. Louis for about two weeks.
1:03.5	And he hasn't been filling seats at the Columbia Theatre.
1:07.3	He hasn't been bringing in big money at the box office.
1:10.2	Harry Houdini, it seems, is becoming old news.
1:15.1	One night, the theater manager calls him into the office and says,
	...

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