Harry Houdini (1874–1926)

I acquired this as a free, legal download from archive.org.

In this fascinating book, first published in 1924, Harry Houdini lays out the evidence that the Spiritualism fad is bunk. The 1920s saw a rise in this religion in the aftermath of the Great War; many families were left grieving and desperate for contact with the beyond, and as ever, grifters emerge to take advantage of their plights.

Harry Houdini considered these people beyond despicable and did everything in his power to prove seances, levitation, dematerialization, spirit photography, and other tricks of the trade were pure bunk--the same sorts of sleight-of-hand he practiced in his own shows, only he made no claim that what he did was 'magic.' His voice comes across as emphatic and genuine. He's a man who, in truth, wants Spiritualism to be real so that he can be in contact with his beloved mother again, or talk with the other deceased friends with whom he developed secrets codes with in case they could indeed communicate with him from Summerland or whatever one wishes to call the next world. He had yet to find such proof.

In this book, he discusses not only how seance tricks are done--sometimes with explanatory illustrations--but also the psychology behind the trickery. In particular, he explores how highly intelligent people can succumb to the delusion--most notably his (former) friend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle--and how Spiritualism can drive people into poverty, insanity, and suicide.

Unlike many century-old books, Houdini's text is highly readable. This is really a fast and fascinating read, and not a short one, either. It's about 300 pages. I'm left with a profound sense of respect for Houdini. His passion and concern ring true. He did good work.… (more)

This book combines excerpts from Houdini's out-of-print book 'The Right Way to Do Wrong' with articles by Houdini on the practice of magic and other entertainments in his time (late 19th and early 20th century). The book excerpts were the most interesting to me, covering criminal activities in some detail, including various forms of con game, but also burglary and sometimes elaborate heists. There are articles explaining how Sword Swallowers and other side-show attractions perform their tricks, and a bit about Houdini's own escape techniques. A surprising article gives practical advice on breaking ciphers, one of Houdini's less well known talents. Other articles discuss his encounters with some of his imitators and rivals: all prove to be frauds compared to Houdini, the self-proclaimed "Handcuff King and Prison Breaker".… (more)

This small book includes what appear to be articles written by Harry Houdini. Since Houdini had fiction written in his name by H. P. Lovecraft, these articles might also have been ghost-written. Unfortunately the editor does not provide information about when and where they were first published.

The main subject of these articles is debunking psychics, mediums, and stage magicians who make false claims regarding their 'powers'. Of course, stage magic is deceptive, but claiming supernatural ability was going too far for Houdini.

After a brief discussion of how he does his escapes, the author discusses tricks used by thieves, swindlers, and impostors. Then he circles back again to magic.

His discussion of fire-eaters reveals some of their techniques for avoiding injury: this is not exactly deception, other than making their act seem more dangerous than it is. The discussion of sword swallowing does not fit the formula of the rest of these articles because their is no deception: the performers actually 'swallow' the swords. Houdini seems to admire these performers particularly because they are like him: their act is based on will and skill, not trickery.

The payoff of the book for me (you might call it 'the prestige') is the biographical note at the end. The writer of the Foreword to this book does not note the discrepancy between the facts and Houdini's public autobiography except to mention that Houdini was born Erik Weisz. Let me pull aside the curtain and show the deception. In the autobiographical paragraphs of the article "Houdini on Houdini", Mr. H. says he was born in Wisconsin in 1873. The note at the end says correctly that he was born 'the son of a rabbi' in Budapest in 1874.

So we have the intriguing paradox that the great debunker and revealer was less than candid about himself. I am not calling Houdini a liar. Taking a stage name was a common practice and helped to avoid antisemitism. For a public figure to puff his autobiography was also common. Houdini was not in the category of the fake psychics he exposed because he actually performed his tricks and did not claim to have supernatural powers. Nonetheless, one wonders if Houdini was projecting his feelings about his own fakery on others.… (more)