Houdini:Father of Modern Magic

Image gotten from https://howlingpixel.com

Growing up I had heard of Houdini, world famous magician who left people perplexed by the feats he performed. Which is why I decided to make this piece about him.

Second Sight
When Robert-Houdin first opened his theatre, it was sparsely attended and he realized that he needed something quiet extraordinary to attract people to his theatre. So he thought up the idea of doing a two-person mind-reading act, fabricating a story about how his son Emile had created a game of hot and cold that resulted in Robert-Houdin using it for the stage.
He named the trick "Second Sight", a title already in use by magicians, but the effect was entirely different. Anderson had a box into which he inserted items. The medium would then describe the contents inside. In his version, he walked into the audience and touched items that the audience held up, and his blindfolded assistant, played by his son, described each one in detail. It caused a sensation that brought crowds to his shows.
In time, Robert-Houdin changed the method, so instead of asking his son what was in his hands, he simply rang a bell. This stunned those that suspected a spoken code. He would even set the bell off to the side and remain silent, and his son still described every object handed to his father.
He even made the test difficult. He placed a glass of water into his son's hands, and Emile proceeded to drink from it. He was able to perceive the taste of the liquids that spectators from the audience merely thought of.Even then, the audiences were not entirely convinced, they tried to trip Emile by bringing in books written in Greek, or odd tools.

**The Ethereal Suspension **
Image gotten from https://gettyimages.com

During Houdin's time, all of Paris was enthusiastically talking about the mysterious uses of "ether".He took advantage of this by presenting an illusion that appeared to use the pungent liquid. He told the audience that he had discovered a marvelous new property of ether. "If one has a living person inhale this liquid when it is at its highest degree of concentration, the body of the patient for a few moments becomes as light as a balloon," Robert-Houdin claimed.
He proceeded to prove just that. He placed three stools on a wooden bench. His youngest son Eugène stood on the middle one. With instructions from his father, he extended his arms. Robert-Houdin placed two canes on top of the stools and positioned them under his son's arms.
He took a vial of ether and opened it and the audience perceived it wafting through the theatre. He placed the vial under his son's nose, and he went limp. In reality, the vial was empty, the odour being produced by his son Emile pouring real ether on a hot iron shovel.
Robert-Houdin took the stool away from his son's feet, and he just hung limp as a rag. He took away one of the canes, so he was dangling by one arm, and carefully placed his head against his upraised hand. This was startling enough. What he did next was stunning. He lifted his boy upright in a horizontal position by his little finger and then let go until he was suspended in mid air.Robert-Houdin stepped away to leave his son in that suspended state, balanced only by his right elbow and no other support.
When it was apparent that the drug was wearing off, Robert-Houdin returned his son to his upright position. When he woke up, he seemed no worse for wear. Robert-Houdin built up the surprise of spectators until, "… by gradually heightening it up to the moment when, so to speak, it exploded."This brought letters of protest against Robert-Houdin, as it was thought he was putting his son's health at risk, although the ether had nothing to do with the trick.
Robert-Houdin was not the first to perform the Levitation Illusion. The first in Europe was Ching Lau Lauro in 1832 or 1833.

The Marvelous Orange Tree

On one of Robert-Houdin's side tables, he had an egg, a lemon, and an orange. He went into the audience and borrowed a lady's handkerchief that was in style then. He rolled it into a ball and rubbed the ball between his hands, and the handkerchief got smaller and smaller until it disappeared, passing through to the egg on the table.
Carefully, he picked up the egg. The audience expected him to crack it open and produce the spectator's handkerchief. Instead, he made that disappear too. He told the audience that the egg went to the lemon. This was repeated for the lemon and orange. When he made the orange disappear, all that was left was a fine powder which was placed in a silver vial. He soaked this vial with alcohol and set it on fire.
A small orange tree planted in a wooden box was brought forth by one of his assistants. The tree was barren of any blossoms or fruit. The blue flame from the vial was placed underneath it. The vapors from it caused the leaves to spread and sprout orange blossoms from it. Robert-Houdin then picked up his magic wand and waved it. The flowers disappeared and oranges bloomed.
He plucked the oranges from the tree and tossed them to the audience to prove they were real. He did this until just one was left. He waved his wand again, and the orange split open into four sections, revealing something white inside it. Two clockwork butterflies appeared from behind the tree. The butterflies grabbed the end of the corner of the white cloth and spread it open, revealing the spectator's handkerchief.

Robert-Houdin's Portfolio
Robert-Houdin brought in a large portfolio used for holding documents or art work under his arm. The portfolio was only about one and three quarters of an inch thick, too small or too thin to hold anything but pictures.
He set it on two thin trestles to hold the case with the spine facing the audience.He removed the expected drawings from it. One of those pictures was of a bareheaded woman. Then, he produced two lady's bonnets decorated with flowers; one for winter, the other for summer. He lowered the flap for each production. Then, he showed a picture of birds, followed by a stuffed bird flat as a pancake.With that, he produced from the portfolio four live turtle doves.
He showed a picture of a cartoon of two cooks fighting with pots. This was followed by three enormous copper pots. One was filled with beans, another with flames bursting forth, and the third pot was filled with boiling water. As an afterthought, he lifted the top flap of the portfolio and pulled out a large cage filled with birds.
He walked forward towards the audience with the square cage, and they applauded thinking the trick was over. "Nothing here now - neither anything, nor anybody," he said as he knocked on the upright flap. For a finale, he closed the portfolio one last time and produced his young son from it.😂😂😂

The Light and Heavy Chest

His most remarkable one was the Light and Heavy Chest. He took advantage of the infancy of the usage of electricity, especially the then-novelty of Hans Christian Oersted's discovery of electromagnetism, to his advantage. Robert-Houdin brought on a small wooden box about a foot wide. He said that he had found a way to protect it from thieves. He asked a spectator to lift it, usually a small child. The child lifted it with ease. Then, he brought an adult male up from the audience and asked him to lift the same box. The adult male was unable to lift the box.
How come?
By turning on a powerful electromagnet under the box.

After Robert-Houdin retired, he devoted himself to his inventions with electricity and his writings. His home, le Prieuré (the Priory), was a marvel in advancement.His home was run entirely by electricity.
Unbelievable right?
As in that was freaking early.
In 1856, he was asked by Louis-Napoleon to pacify the tribes in French Algeria. At this time, the French Army commanders maintained order in the newly pacified region. They supervised local Muslim administrations and the bureaux arabes. These areas were closed off to colonization by the Europeans.
Napoleon III was worried about a religious tribe called the Marabouts. The Marabouts were able to control their tribe with their faux magical abilities.They advised their leaders to break their alliance with the French. Napoleon wanted Robert-Houdin to show that French magic was stronger.
The magical mission began with an informal show at the Bab Azoun Theatre in Algeria, where he gave performances twice weekly. He used The Light and Heavy Chest during these performances, but instead of playing it for comedy as he had in Paris, here he played it straight. Robert-Houdin once invited the strongest tribesman on stage and asked the Arabian to pick up the wooden chest placed on stage. The Arabian picked it up with no problem. Then Robert-Houdin announced that he was going to sap his strength. He waved his wand and declared, "Contemplez! Maintenant vous êtes plus faible qu'une femme; essayez de soulever la boîte." ("Behold! Now you are weaker than a woman; try to lift the box.") The Arabian pulled on the handle of the chest, but it would not budge. He tried and tried until he tried to rip it apart. Instead, he screamed in pain, as Robert-Houdin had rigged the box to give the Arabian an electrical shock if he tried to rip the handles off. The Arabian let go of the handle, ran off into the aisle, and ran screaming out of the theatre.
After his performances were done, he gave a special presentation for several chief men of the tribe. He was invited to the home of the head of the tribe of the desert interior, Bou-Allem. Here, Robert-Houdin was challenged to do a special trick. He obliged by inviting one of the rebels to shoot at him with a marked bullet, which he caught between his teeth. He was given a certificate from Bou-Allem, who wore a red robe symbolizing his loyalty to France. With this scroll praising his mysterious manifestations, Robert-Houdin went back to France, mission accomplished.He was rewarded for his services of the French government by suppressing any possible rebellion.

Image gotten from https://fineartamerica.com

I recall hearing a story of how Houdini was killed by a blow from a college student who wanted to test his legendary physique. Not paying attention as he wastalking to someone else, he grunted, which the student took for his consent. That punch as the story goes landed him in the hospital where he died from abdominal pains as well as pneumonia.The story went on to say that while the doctors gave him 2 days max to die, he actually held out for more than a week.
As interest as that sounded, he actually died from pneumonia which he contracted on learning of the death of his son at war.