HOUDINI AND THE MAGICAL ILLUSIONS.
IN SPITE of his wonderful success as an escape artist, Houdini was always very keen to build and present a number of ordinary magical illusions. It was with this end in view that he called at my office one morning about twenty years ago, and told me of his secret ambition. "What do you think of it, Will?" he asked, finally.
"Your escapes are good and the public like them," I replied cautiously.
"I know that, but I'd like a change. Can you tell me the name of an illusion inventor who can keep a secret?"
"Yes. Why not try Charles Morritt who has built stuff for Maskelyne and Devant Ltd.?"
Houdini took my tip and paid a visit to Morritt's workshop. After some discussion he agreed to buy several of Morritt's own tricks and commissioned the inventor to build them for him.
Harry decided to give his new show a trial run in the provinces. For some reason best known to himself, he left me definite instructions not to be present at the first night. Naturally I respected my friend's wishes, but I had a full account of the performance from another magician who was present.
One of Harry's best tricks consisted of producing five hundred gold sovereigns from an apparently empty bag. The audience received the programme well enough, but, in order to give if an extra fillip, Houdini thought out an extraordinary publicity stunt.
On the following day he hired a number of detectives to accompany him to the local bank. There, with a good deal of unnecessary ceremony and palaver, he paid in the five hundred sovereigns. Of course, the money was drawn out again for the next performance. This strange proceeding naturally caused a stir in the provincial town which was just what Houdini wanted. There was a long account of the affair in the newspapers next morning, and no doubt the magician felt his trouble had been worth while.
He was wrong. The magical show was an utter and complete failure. After a week's trial he wisely decided to return to his escapes. "If the English want escapes, they can have them," he explained to me afterwards. "But I'm determined to give a good magical show before I die." So he shipped all his apparatus to New York to be stored for use at some later date.