: stiff neck and spine flexible 2 
... he not only escaped but also took the trouble to change all inmates stage cells ...
III. - A new Spartacus
In 1900, he undertook an extensive European tour (pl us or less) organized by Martin Beck, both of hand u son of poor immigrant and de goal crusade: England, Scotland, Netherlands, Germany and Russia.
It challenges fonts Prussian, Bavarian, to keep him in prison hindered and agrees to undergo a thorough search before the race: each time he is released ... He plays with the terrible secret police Tsar Nicolas II toil ppant a wagon bound for cell Siberia.
There are more than prestige at stake in each of his appearances, has ith each of his exploits, Harry Houdini shows his popular audience that Man can be released from his chains if he likes it and that it pr scattered strongly - because of the lack of affection and attention than the power s Authoritative him wear.
And it is consistent, that mountebank somewhat enlightened and rather full of himself. Wherever he goes, not content to preach freedom by example, he never fails to meet, say, locksmiths most inhabitants them to keep abreast of developments in technology, study new mechanisms, disassemble and reassemble with the greatest care, in order to face any eventuality. He is also said to control his body amazed year you how: it may conceal a burglar nightingale in his mouth, swallowing es tig steel and files, will inflate his lungs his muscles, before being shackled and release them after twisting its members by pulling on his joints, etc. [1].
And in 1904, March 10 Specifically, the grand finale ...
The scene takes place in London. "A thick fog covers E the city as it should, thousands of onlookers, duly warned, are massed has ux near Tower Bridge, to await the king's escape. Soon a cab arrives, to applause. Emerges a young man, smiling, as sez thin, wearing a bathing suit. It's him! The crowd erupted in cheers. He bows.
Harry Houdini is flanked by two fellows that vigorous i pass him in handcuffs. Slowly, to allow those in front to tell what they see those who are less well placed. That done, they seize the man restrained, a raise and let go over the Ta bet.
After a few minutes - an eternity - the crowd, which held has his breath, reappearing a few hundred yards away the head min uscule hero , swimming happily in the dark and cold water and stirred by hand if reign of victory.
The crowd, good girl, screams, claps, stamps his feet. The next day, the English papers and those on the mainland display prominently the feat.
His immense reputation precedes him now, he can go home [2].
IV. - A painful rejection
He still has something to do before: to be recognized as the "father" that he has chosen and is no longer here to defend himself .. . He takes the pen and writing stepdaughter Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin, the widow of Jean-Jacques (son of former magician and himself) requesting an interview. But the family of the French master did not have much patience with the illegitimacy and paradoxical being asked to authenticate.
Frustrated in his demand for love and recognition, the son of fantasy Houdin ignites. And love becomes disappointed spite and anger. In 1908, he published a book against Robert-Houdin Old [3], o ù , thinking to settle accounts with those whose family, by his silence has returned to his "fraud" and "bastard", he exposes himself ... Thus he writes, for example, " Freed's novel woven by him, Robert-Houdin appears in the cold light of facts as a mere charlatan, a man who has appropriated the work of others, a mechanism technician who has boldly assigned inventions masters who have come before ... [4].
Where the drive, even uninformed, easily recognize the "bad faith" and the pain of the paranoid: denied its truth, he does return against the other charge, not made, of fraud more than a lie.
- In 1947, Maurice Sardina, French conjurer, preface and translator of many books devoted to Anglo-American card tricks art and magic, will undertake to defend Eugene Robert-Houdin - and national honor - against the impudent stranger, denouncing " The 'mistakes' of Harry Houdini [5] that preface Maurice Garcon. The great lawyer, caught in a feud identity when he has nothing to do but it is strangely seriously from the register in which it is expressed , wanders into platitudes. Random: "Without doubt person n'in sale all ... It is possible that multiple rounds presented by Robert-Houdin, one can find references. The fact remains that, even when he was inspired by earlier discoveries, he made changes that made his original productions ... [6].
But the "mistake" of Harry Houdini - is taking another than himself - was not correctable, and denial of paternity far from returning to his family line, going to rush into a new crusade. Wounded in his narcissism by the silence of the Robert-Houdin, heirs of the man he had wanted to imitate, equal, exceed, in the progeny of which he had wanted to slide like magic, Harry Houdini did not heal. And the lover of the truth is it will become its champion : it will track counterfeiters, merchants of illusion.
*
Before that, still in 1908, Houdini, anxious to renew themselves, complicated turn: he now escape from a closed reservoir filled with milk, sometimes when beer brewers sponsoring the show, tack trunks thrown into the water, mailbags, and even the belly of a whale stranded in Boston ...
In 1912, Houdini introduced his turn The most famous, the cell structure of twisted Chinese aquatic suspended by his feet caught in boots locked, it is slowly lowered into a tank of steel and glass full of water to overflow, it must be released - and hold his breath longer than 3 minutes - o u die [7] ...
In the process, he begins to uncover alleged real magicians and charlatans, its "unfair" competition.
Fakirs especially. Houdini, he does "faking" its not revolutions and is certainly not to be mistaken for a fakir, was embittered by their shoddy Orientalism and their attempts to pass the bladders inflated illusion of power rd lanterns are brilliant truth. It will study their numbers, to disassemble the joint and expose their fraud by reproducing them in an exaggerated way, undermining - he believes - their claim to be "authentic."
" He attacked in particular the performance of the Egyptian Raman Bey, who allowed himself trapped in a coffin and immersed in a deep basin. Raman and Bey remained nineteen minutes under water ...
After three months [Houdini] had the same attraction as the Egyptian, but he remained himself, ninety minutes under water ...
Houdini was asked by what means he had managed this feat. He replied ... that this was especially to be master of oneself, breathing on a regular basis and brief and keep the oxygen! [8].
*
In 1913, his mother dies. For weeks, Houdini will travel to the cemetery almost daily, sometimes lying on his grave power r talk to him ... "My mother was everything to me," he says in a speech at Club Magicians (qu he had founded in London). He will mourn his mother e rest of his life [9] .
painful situation, paradoxical, for this man fighting for the authenticity of his "art" and the legitimacy of the identity he has built , Crusader for a new kind of sudden " forced "to fight on two fronts: continuing to expose the fraud of" colleagues "unscrupulous, make their lives more difficult by changing the numbers in which he will be buried alive in deep soil which still escape with little visible means and a lot of brio, and because he believes can keep conta ct with his mother (!), seek the company "real" media, which may e put in touch with her ...
V. - Down the masks!
In the early twentieth century e , fashion is to magicians, fakirs, necromancers and other mediums. California by Dashiell Hammett ( The Dain Curse ) at Prague Gustave Meyrink ( The Golem, Walpurgis Night ), France Michel Zévaco ( Joseph Cagliostro, Don Juan Tenorio ) to England from Conan Doyle, the Theosophists Helena Blavatzky of the descendants of the Rosicrucians and Eliphas Levi, the dreamers, the weak, the inconsolable, tries nt to forget their limitations their troubles, their sorrows, abandoning himself to those who claim to communicate with the beyond.
Houdini became a member of a Scientific American offers a prize of $ 10 000 in any medium showing that he possesses supernatural powers ... The first to be tested is George Valentine Wilkes Barre (Pa.), a famous hunter ghosts, which follows Houdini, disguise, entertainment, accompanied by a journalist and a policeman. The most famous of his 'victims' Mina Crandon, Boston [10] .
" Thus, Houdini unveiled ... over a hundred fake mediums. He unmasked including the most famous of all, Henry Slade, who was a kind of genius in its kind ... [11].
price of $ 10 000 will never be awarded.
VI. - The illusion has die hard
of Houdini's crusade is obviously useless: neither skeptical nor "believers" can not be convinced, some still suspecting trick , others do not cease to ask for more and certainly do not wish to be undeceived [12].
Thus Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes as his positivist and obsessive, is stored in the rationalist camp, while forgetting the sinister Professor Moriarty clearly has supernatural powers - which has failed to overcome the detective-violinist and smoking opium .... Fallen into depression after the death of his wife, his son, his two step-brothers and two of his nephews, the writer finds solace in Spiritualism which assures that it is possible to enter in contact with the spirits ...
In the 1920s, Conan Doyle became friends with Houdini, while in combat against magicians and mediums. Believer put an end to his demonstration - ages and mediums are counterfeiters, con men who abuse the grief and gullibility of people claiming to be invested with occult powers - the magician gives the writer a private meeting in the presence of own lawyer and friend Bernard Ernst, during which he introduced a number extraordinarily sophisticated Conan Doyle was invited to write a sentence on a piece of paper kept in his pocket, a ball of cork dipped in encr e write word for word on the slate prepared by suspended Houdini ...
Mene, Mene, tekel UPHARSIN , sentence that appears on the wall of the room where King Belshazzar of Babylon gave a banquet, according to the Book of Daniel (Chapter 5): "counted, weighed and divided into two [13].
Houdini explained at length to Conan Doyle how he was taken but nothing will: "Sir Arthur, says Ernst, eventually concluding that Houdin i had completed his turn by the force of his mind, and could not be persuaded otherwise é " [14] . Now angry with the magician, the writer will spread publicly arguing that Houdini had used his psychic powers to block those mediums he allegedly unmasked ...
Meanwhile, Harry Houdini failed to contact his mother. However, he promised his wife and some of his friends that he would contact them if so agreed were to disappear Ave ant them ...
VII .- Alienation
The time is right in the tumult, is in great panic. Wars, revolutions and revolutions-cons are shaking Europe. Harry Houdini, too old to be enlisted, went to the front to entertain American troops. And the cinema is beginning to spread ...
The cinematography makes the illusion even more true. Harry Houdini appear in several silent films, will perform stunts, write scripts, create even a production company, the Houdini Picture Corporation but success will not be at the rendezvous. In what concerns the essential seems ever played. Interest in the wonderful in person, by the performanc e living is being eroded: it is true for him as for his colleagues more or less authentic.
It nevertheless continues to occur, with numbers of old and new numbers (including that of "the elephant disappears"), but the magic is not really there. The man who wanted to belong fully to his age [15] is about to be narrowed by him. The icon has become mere representation of itself. The adulation of early eventually give way to the success of the showman confirmed. The new heroes are Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino and Douglas Fairbanks, and they do not promise, as such, neither truth nor freedom - an "escape" of another type.
But - is this a consolation? - It is on the battlefield he was chosen as the valiant warrior will succumb.
early October 1926, in Montreal, Harry Houdini has a show in which he is supposed to stop running a cart loaded with stones with the sheer force of his abdominals. "After the show, Houdini was reclining on a sofa facing a student drawing his portrait. Gordon Whitehead [ student at McGill Unniversity ] came into the lodge and asked if Houdini could [ really ] collect any blow to his stomach [ as he often said ] . Houdini replied absently "yes." Whitehead [ probably a little drunk ] the then strikes three times, before Houdini was able to contract his muscles ... " [16] . The intestine is reached. Houdini did not care.
On October 24, 1926, Detroit (Michigan), Harry Houdini fainted on stage. He is rushed to the hospital with peritonitis was diagnosed and he underwent two operations and died a week later [17]. He is buried in New York on November 4, followed by his coffin nearly 2000 people.
It will not be felt most. Neither his friends nor his wife will never coded message from the beyond. - It should be noted that Bess Houdini, widow faithful and loving, ten years will admit that silence. 31 October 1936, she resolved to turn off the burner that burned under the portrait of the great man: " Now he will never return ... she said [18].
Harry Houdini will be remembered as a copy boy's mama , kind of a megalomaniac, a porter peerless lock [19], a unique and creative illusionist [20], d a showman notified well ahead of its time, and an enthusiastic champion of freedom.
Less known - and even more interesting to recall - is the loyalty of Ehrich Weiss to its origins: a little away from traditional Judaism, yet he has never stopped worrying about "his people" was always interested in "business" Jewish and, in particular, contributed to the establishment of the Rabbi's Sons Theatrical Benevolent Association (Association of Voluntary theatrical son of rabbis!) which were part Al Jolson and Irving Berlin , who willingly lent his support to protests in philanthropic or patriotic [21] ...
As for the springs of his art, despite the books he wrote, he won a lot with him: "My first visit to New York ... I was young, broke and hungry. I offered to reveal my 'stuff' for $ 20, the four largest newspapers in the city. They have all shown the door. The secret goes with me to the grave [22].
This clearly did not prevent the detectives seek apprentices to drill them victoriously Milbourne Christopher for example, who wrote a book in which he reveals, among other things, the springs of turn presented privately to Conan Doyle [23] - but it's a another story ...
Notes:
[ 1] Houdini himself said all this and more, in Handcuff Secrets , Published in 1907.
[2] Seldow Michel, illusionists and their secrets , op. cit ., pp. 135-136.
[3] Harry Houdini, The unmasking of Robert-Houdin , The Publishers Printing Co., 1908.
[4] Seldow Michel, illusionists and their Secrets , op. cit ., p. 135.
[5] Maurice Sardina, errors Harry Houdini: Response to "The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin" , Paris: Author, 1947.
[6] Seldow Michel, illusionists and their secrets , op. cit ., p. 135.
[7] According to Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Houdini
[8] Seldow Michel, illusionists and their secrets , op. cit ., pp. 139-140.
[9] According Adam Woog, Harry Houdini , Lucent Books, 1995, http://www.apl.org/history/houdini / biography.html
[10] He recounted his crusade in A Magician Among the Spirits , Harper & Brothers, 1924. - The publishers, without asking his opinion of the author, the manuscript having tronquèrent substantially redesigned to have ... The facsimile of the entire manuscript, with corrections in the handwriting of the author, was published in 1996 only by Richard Kaufman and Maurine Christopher. See http://www.qualitymagicbooks.com/full/magic-books-0-a-magician-among-the-spirits-harry-houdini__1878.htm
[11] Seldow Michel, illusionists and their secrets , op. cit ., p. 140.
[12] It is said that the "divine" Sarah Bernhardt, one-legged affected by gangrene in 1915, just before his U.S. tour, Houdini would have seriously asked her to reappear leg ...
[13] which was strongly Phrase "Trot" in the heavy head of Conan Doyle, Houdini was as easily "guessed", and that Daniel interprets: " God 'count' the years of your reign and has brought to an end ... You have been 'weighed' in the balance and it was found that you do not measure up ... Your kingdom has been 'split' to be delivered to the Medes and Persians . Belshazzar died that night and Darius the Mede would succeed to the throne ...
[14] Massimo Polidoro, Houdini's Impossible Demonstration , Skeptical Inquirer, July-August 2006, http://www.csicop.org/si/show/houdinirsquos_impossible_demonstration
[15] It takes passion for aviation nascent offered in 1909 biplane Voisin French brand, hired a full-time mechanic, is paint his name in bold on the wings ... and crashed at the first attempt at flight. He succeeded his first flight in November in Hamburg. In 1910, during a tour in Australia, it proves March 21, a record duration flight Diggers Rest, north of Melbourne: seven minutes thirty-five seconds to thirty meters height before witnesses (according to Michel Seldow, op. cit. pp. 140-141). Houdini will "spit" on landing. It will drive again.
[16] Testimony of Jack Price, quoted by Wikipedia.
[17] was told that the student was the executor of a conspiracy " by fanatics of spiritualism and the occult [wanting] to delete their implacable enemy ... . It also said that Florenz Ziegfield (the producer of Ziegfield Follies ) could not resist making a joke at the cemetery. Upon entering one of the handles of the coffin of Houdini, he whispered in the ear of the one before it: " I bet there is already more! " Michel Seldow, illusionists and their secrets , op. cit ., p. 140.
Houdini , the movie (1953) George Marshall (with Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh) killed the magician in his Chinese Water Torture Cell ... fans will appreciate objective chance Tony Curtis, born Schwartz (black) was chosen by the director to interpret Houdini, born Weisz (white).
[18] Seldow Michel, illusionists and their secrets , op. cit ., p. 141.
[19] Harry Houdini has certainly inspired Bruce Geller when he created the series Mission Impossible , the character of Barney Collier (played by Greg Morris), the engineer-builder who can open safes and locks, turn the tables, they convince the bad guys when they are traveling on hydraulic cylinders or they have aged twenty years without realizing it ... Similarly, Bernard Rhodenbarr (which you can read the adventures in the Black Series / Gallimard), rogue witty dandy and no locks which can resist, designed by Lawrence Block, he owes much.
[20] David Copperfield comes willingly as his heir: "The new Houdini " proclaim the posters for his shows.
[21] Nathan Ausubel, A Treasury of Jewish Folklore , op. cit ., p. 257.
[22] Same .
[23] Milbourne Christopher , Houdini: A Pictorial Life New York, Thomas Y. Crowell, 1976, cited by Massimo Polidoro , Houdini's Impossible Demonstration , on. cit .
Désillustrations:
Baie de Cannes © copyright RZ.
Berlin © copyright Alain Zimeray.
plate professional (Brussels) © copyright RZ.
Public Square (Tanneron) © copyright RZ.
Bookstore specializes (Brussels) © copyright RZ.
Plaque professionnelle (Callian) © copyright RZ.
Plaque professionnelle (Bagnols-en-forêt) © copyright RZ.
On the Town © copyright Patrick Jelin.
Harry Houdini: stiff neck and spine flexible 2 © copyright 2010 Richard Zrehen
This book collects the work of psychoanalytic Barbro Sylwan, begun in the context of a relationship friendship and working with Nicolas Abraham and Maria Torok and prosecuted alone, then together with Philippe Réfabert. 
