STAGE WIZARDS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 117, 20 May 1933, Page 9 (Supplement)

STAGE WIZARDS.

THE ESCAPOLOGISTS

HOTTBINI—THE MASTER BRAIN

(By WILLIAM BEESON.)

In every form of the entertainment art there inevitably arrives a stage when something new or strange is demanded, if only to freshen up the old tricks. Such a period was reached when Erich Weiss, who attained fame under the name of Houdini, brought his extraordinary intellect to bear on the magicians' craft. Houdini was lucky in his generation.

Strong men had allowed themselves to be manacled and then, to the delight of an admiring public, buret their bonds. Other turns had played with double boxes, mirrors, stage sets to aid rapid disappearances, and the like, to such an extent that the public were getting a trifle tired of the old tricks.

Houdini came on the 6cene equipped with all the virtues which go to make the great entertainer. He had good looks, marvellous dexterity, in hands and legs, powerful muscular development, an admirable knowledge of mechanics, and, above all, a brain. And his brain not only took in the requirements of the magical stage of the moment, but realised that circumstances —in his case they would be termed conditions —could be bent to h!s will. Nailed In Case. When lie offered a local packing-case maker the opportunity of boxing him (Houdini) up or a. locksmith a similar chance to padlock his arms or body, the case or the locks had to be on the stage a considerable time before the test took place. He allowed himself to he put in asylum jackets, nailed up in packing cases or coffins, handcuffed by policemen, or dropped into water chained or packed in a box, but in every instance the apparatus had to be ready some hours before the actual demonstration was given. This point is significant. Apart from a multitude of small tricks which Houdini invented or improved on his fame will rest for ever on what he termed the art of escapology. He did not break chains or locks, uut simply walked out of tie one or unlocked the other. He was placcd in the prison cell which had housed the

murderer of President Garfield, nude and with a lock on the outside only. He released himself in Ipss than ten minutes!

He was placed in a packing cause which was nailed up by a committee, hauled up by a boat derrick, swung out, and dropped into the water. In less than two minutes the case, on being brought to the surface, disclosed Houdini clinging to the top of it, • and the box was intact!"

As in the case of many other amazing tricks described to me or by the resourceful Press agent, the most marvellous of Iloudini's feats never came my way, but those I actually saw impressed me by the cleverness of their presentation much more than by any wonderment as to how they were done.

Handcuffs, for example. Many of the older patterns can be opened by a sharp blow on a table or a projecting piece of wood. The others are opened by a key which can be concealed by the escapologist—l will later explain how the thing is done by a nearly nude performer who has been by a doctor and previously by a committee — while the packing case, lowered into a river or the sea, is equally vulnerable to a man clever with his hands and able to hold his breath for a minute or two. The average lock put before Houdini was usually in the nature of a joke. When tho "Locksmiths' Union" or the "Casemakera' Society" issued a challenge to the great escapologist the period between the preparation and the actual performance gave him ample leisure to prepare hi 6 method of escape. Really Very Simple. To take first the handcuffing and manacling on the stage. Houdini is attired in the minimum of clothing. A committee is assembled, which includes a local doctor. He enters a cabinet accompanied by the medical man, who is prepared to swear that it is impossible for the magician to have anything on him in the nature of a key or lever. Houdini thanks the committee, shakes hands with all of them, entere the cabinet and —in two minutes or less is free of his shackles. The explanation is simple. The last member of the committee is an assistant who has a key concealed in his hand, and during the hand-shaking process passes it to the performer. The escape from the packing case in the water is achieved this way: During the derrick-lifting and lowering into the sea Houdini cuts the four natls which have fastened one of the side boards to the case. This is done with a pair of extremely thiii cutting pliers. At tho

moment of touching the water he slides the board along sufficiently to allow egress and, climbing out, replaces it. When tho box is drawn to the surface and dropped on the deck of the boat, his assistants remove it _ while the attention of tho onlookers is drawn to the central figure of the drama. As with Houdini so with many other conjurers. His tricks, though wonderful in presentation and cleanly done, it is true, are explainable when you see them, but not those feats which your friends tell you a friend described to them. (To be continued.)