When one audience demanded that Hardeen escape in front of them, he obliged and received a standing ovation. Houdini’s younger brother Hardeen had his own show, and both brothers were performing escapes from straitjackets behind screens. This act was born out of sibling rivalry. Harry and Bessie practiced so thoroughly that Houdini was out and Bessie in his place in just three seconds. While he unlocked and unstrapped the box, Bessie, inside, wiggled into the sack and slipped the ropes around her wrists. On the third clap, Houdini opened the curtain. He clapped once then helped Bessie climb into the box through the rear panel (without disturbing the locks or straps). Contrary to the audience’s assumptions, Houdini clapped, not Bessie. Once Bessie drew the curtain closed, Houdini slipped out through a rear panel in the box. Houdini simply pulled on the rope from the inside to loosen it.Īfter Houdini was placed in the box, he wiggled out of the sack while Bessie locked and strapped the box lid. The sack had eyelets around the top edge that allowed the rope to feed inside and outside the bag. By the time the sack was pulled over his head, his hands were free. First, Houdini was an expert on ropes and knots, and his hands were tied by a knot easily slipped. The secret of the illusion is surprisingly simple: practice. She was found in the sack in the box, with all the locks and straps still in place and her hands bound behind her. On the third clap, Houdini drew back the curtain, and Bessie was gone. The box was placed in a cabinet with a curtain.īessie stepped into the cabinet and drew the curtain closed.

The sack was placed inside a box, locked, and strapped closed. Houdini’s hands were bound behind him, and he was placed in a sack that was knotted closed. In 1895, the circus took the Houdinis on tour. His version became a sensation, catching the attention of the Welsh Brothers Circus. Houdini didn’t invent the illusion, but earlier versions of the acts had featured two men changing places. Houdini performed the “Radio of 1950” illusion at the end of his career (and life), but he performed the “Metamorphosis” illusion at the beginning of his career, when he and his wife Bessie took their act on the road in 1894. Dorothy Young lived to be 103 and died in 2011. Hardeen purchased the radio from his brother’s estate. The image above is of Houdini’s younger brother, Theodore “Dash” Hardeen, demonstrating Houdini’s radio with assistant Gladys Hardeen. While the master magician dialed the radio station, she simply climbed back into the radio. She then opened the trap and slid into the bellowed area between two table tops and waited there as Houdini showed the radio’s empty interior. Young was inside the radio when it was set on the table. Young’s weight without going below the skirt of the tablecloth. The lower top hung from the upper by springs that dropped under Ms. The upper top had a trap door that opened upward. Called a “bellows” table, it had two table tops. “Tune in to any station and get the girl you want,” Houdini said. The radio announcer said, “And now, Dorothy Young, doing the Charleston.” The top of the radio flew off, and out popped a young assistant, who jumped down and danced the Charleston. Houdini adjusted one of the dials until a radio station tuned in. Houdini opened the doors to show that there was nothing inside except coils, transformers, and vacuum tubes. The front of the radio had huge dials and double doors. Then assistants placed on the table a giant radio approximately 2 meters (6 ft) long and 1 meter (3 ft) high and wide. Houdini walked around the table, lifting the tablecloth to show that there were no mirrors or anything else under the table.

The radio was a novelty at the time, and the act featured what Houdini said the radio would be like in 1950.Īccording to Dorothy Young, Houdini’s assistant, the great magician began by introducing a large table with a tablecloth that fell halfway down the table’s legs.

Houdini developed the “Radio of 1950” illusion for his evening shows from 1925 until his death the following year.

Harry houdini tricks