Granted, the pachyderm in question is both miniature and a toy, unlike the famous illusion that Houdini conducted in New York in 1918 with 10,000-pound Jennie in front of nearly 6,000 audience members. Oh - and visitors to the exhibit will also make an elephant disappear. The latter pursuit ruptured the magic man’s friendship with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the fictional sleuth Sherlock Holmes, when Houdini exposed Conan Doyle’s wife as a fraud. The exhibit explores Houdini’s ties to Maryland, where he performed more than 100 shows highlights his use of then cutting-edge technology (one act featured a robot) and reveals his methods for debunking spiritualists. Museum visitors will learn about Houdini the adventurer (he claimed to be the first man to fly an airplane in Australia), Houdini the entrepreneur (he founded his own movie studio and directed and starred in his own films) and Houdini the inventor (he holds a patent for a diving suit easily removed while underwater that was developed for military use around World War I).
The show includes one of Houdini’s original brown leather straitjackets and a rare recording of the magician’s voice, which was higher and lighter than might be expected from a man with such an intimidating stare. The exhibit displays about 100 artifacts - documents, photographs, his father’s Bible, a set of see-through handcuffs - culled from private collections across the U.S. “Inescapable: The Life and Legacy of Harry Houdini,” the new exhibit running for the next seven months, delves into the life of the Hungarian immigrant, rabbi’s son and celebrated escape artist who also was one of the most original minds of the 20th century.Īs Houdini himself put it: “My brain is the key that sets me free.” Those bright flames drew you in and made you venture closer despite the surrounding dark. The effect was like peering into a cave and spying a campfire at the far end. The lad peering out at viewers from the old family photograph at the Jewish Museum of Maryland had eyes set deep beneath his brows that glowed with a rare force of personality. Even at age 4, the boy who would become Harry Houdini had the mesmerizing gaze that would enthrall audiences when he was a grown man.
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