Editing Harry Houdini (section)

==Notable escapes==
===''Daily Mirror'' challenge===
[[File:HandCuffHarryHoudini.jpg|thumb|left|upright|"Handcuff" Harry Houdini, c. 1905]]
In 1904, the London ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' newspaper challenged Houdini to escape from special handcuffs that it claimed had taken Nathaniel Hart, a locksmith from [[Birmingham]], five years to make. Houdini accepted the challenge for March 17 during a matinée performance at London's Hippodrome theatre. It was reported that 4000 people and more than 100 journalists turned out for the much-hyped event.<ref name="copperfield-2021">{{Cite book |last1=Copperfield |first1=David |title=David Copperfield's history of magic |last2=Wiseman |first2=Richard |last3=Britland |first3=David |date=2021 |isbn=978-1-9821-1291-2 |location=New York, NY |oclc=1236259508 |author-link=David Copperfield (illusionist) |author-link2=Richard Wiseman}}</ref> The escape attempt dragged on for over an hour, during which Houdini emerged from his "ghost house" (a small screen used to conceal the method of his escape) several times. At one point he asked if the cuffs could be removed so he could take off his coat. The ''Mirror'' representative, Frank Parker, refused, saying Houdini could gain an advantage if he saw how the cuffs were unlocked. Houdini promptly took out a [[penknife]] and, holding it in his teeth, used it to cut his coat from his body. Some 56&nbsp;minutes later, Houdini's wife appeared on stage and gave him a kiss. Many thought that in her mouth was the key to unlock the special handcuffs. However, it has since been suggested that Bess did not in fact enter the stage at all, and that this theory is unlikely due to the size of the six-inch key.<ref>''The Secret Life of Houdini'', Kaulush & Sloman, 2006.</ref> Houdini then went back behind the curtain. After an hour and ten minutes, Houdini emerged free. As he was paraded on the shoulders of the cheering crowd, he broke down and wept. At the time, Houdini said it had been one of the most difficult escapes of his career.<ref>{{cite web |title=Houdini's Great Victory |date=18 March 1904 |url=http://www.handcuffs.org/mirror/ |publisher=Daily Illustrated Mirror}}</ref>

After Houdini's death, his friend Martin Beck was quoted in [[Will Goldston]]'s book, ''Sensational Tales of Mystery Men'', admitting that Houdini was bested that day and had appealed to his wife, Bess, for help. Goldston goes on to claim that Bess begged the key from the ''Mirror'' representative, then slipped it to Houdini in a glass of water. It was stated in the book ''The Secret Life of Houdini'' that the key required to open the specially designed Mirror handcuffs was six inches long, and could not have been smuggled to Houdini in a glass of water. Goldston offered no proof of his account, and many modern biographers have found evidence (notably in the custom design of the handcuffs) that the ''Mirror'' challenge may have been arranged by Houdini and that his long struggle to escape was pure showmanship.<ref>Silverman, pp.&nbsp;59–62.</ref> [[James Randi]] believes that the only way the handcuffs could have been opened was by using their key, and speculates that it would have been viewed "distasteful" to both the ''Mirror'' and to Houdini if Houdini had failed the escape.<ref name="randi" />{{rp|165}}

This escape was discussed in depth on the Travel Channel's ''[[Mysteries at the Museum]]'' in an interview with Houdini expert, magician and escape artist Dorothy Dietrich of Scranton's Houdini Museum.<ref name=mysteries>{{cite web |title=Keys To Houdini's Secrets |publisher=[[Travel Channel]]| series=[[Mysteries at the Museum]] |date=November 23, 2010 |access-date=November 9, 2015 |url=http://www.travelchannel.com/shows/mysteries-at-the-museum/video/the-secret-to-houdini-s-tricks}}</ref>

A full-sized construction of the same Mirror Handcuffs, as well as a replica of the [[Bramah lock|Bramah style]] key for them, are on display to the public at [[The Houdini Museum]] in [[Scranton, Pennsylvania]].<ref name=Genii>{{cite web |url=http://www.geniimagazine.com/magicpedia/Mirror_Cuffs |title=Mirror Cuffs| work=Genii Magazine |access-date=November 30, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUNaBSfO3p4| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/ZUNaBSfO3p4| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live| title=Travel Channel Dorothy Dietrich Promo Houdini Mirror Cuffs |publisher=Travel Channel| series=Mysteries at the Museum | date=November 2, 2011|access-date=November 29, 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref> This set of cuffs is believed to be one of only six in the world, some of which are not on display.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2013/03/guest-blog-replica-mirror-cuffs.html |title=The Replica Mirror Cuffs |first=Mick |last=Hanzlik |publisher=Wild About Harry |date=March 16, 2013}}</ref>

===Milk Can Escape===
In 1908, Houdini introduced his own original act, the Milk Can Escape.<ref name="randi-1976" />{{rp|175–178}} In this act, Houdini was handcuffed and sealed inside an oversized milk can filled with water and made his escape behind a curtain. As part of the effect, Houdini invited members of the audience to hold their breath along with him while he was inside the can. Advertised with dramatic posters that proclaimed "Failure Means A Drowning Death", the escape proved to be a sensation.<ref name="randi-1976">{{Cite book |author-link1=James Randi |last1=Randi |first1=James |author-link2=Bert Randolph Sugar |first2=Bert Randolph |last2=Sugar |url=http://archive.org/details/houdinihislifear0000rand |title=Houdini, his life and art |date=1976 |location=New York  |publisher= Grosset & Dunlap |isbn=978-0-448-12546-6}}</ref>{{rp|177}} Houdini soon modified the escape to include the milk can being locked inside a wooden chest, being chained or padlocked. Houdini performed the milk can escape as a regular part of his act for only four years, but it has remained one of the acts most associated with him. Houdini's brother, [[Theodore Hardeen]], continued to perform the milk can escape and its wooden chest variant<ref>{{cite book| last=Christopher| first=Milbourne| title=Houdini: A Pictorial Life| year= 1976| isbn=978-0690011524| page=[https://archive.org/details/houdini00milb/page/54 54]| publisher=Ty Crowell Co.| url=https://archive.org/details/houdini00milb/page/54}}</ref> into the 1940s.

The [[American Museum of Magic]] has the milk can and overboard box used by Houdini.<ref name="MACC-comment">{{cite web| url=http://www.marshallmi.org/attractions.taf?_function=detail&id=107| title=American Museum of Magic| access-date=April 20, 2008| publisher=Marshall area Chamber of Commerce| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011055130/http://www.marshallmi.org/attractions.taf?_function=detail&id=107| archive-date=October 11, 2007| df=mdy-all}}</ref>

After other magicians proposed variations on the Milk Can Escape, Houdini claimed that the act was protected by copyright and in 1906, brought a case against [[John Clempert]], one of the most persistent imitators. The matter was settled out of court and Clempert agreed to publish an apology.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tait |first=Derek| date=2018 |title=The Great Illusionists|location=Barnsley South, Yorkshire |publisher=Pen and Sword History |pages=260–274|isbn=978-1473890763}}</ref>

===Chinese water torture cell===
{{main|Chinese Water Torture Cell}}
[[File:Houdini performing Water Torture Cell.jpg|thumb|upright|Houdini performing the Chinese Water Torture Cell]]

Around 1912, the vast number of imitators prompted Houdini to replace his milk can act with the Chinese water torture cell. In this escape, Houdini's feet were locked in [[stocks]], and he was lowered upside down into a tank filled with water. The [[mahogany]] and metal cell featured a glass front, through which audiences could clearly see Houdini. The stocks were locked to the top of the cell, and a curtain concealed his escape. In the earliest version of the torture cell, a metal cage was lowered into the cell, and Houdini was enclosed inside that. While making the escape more difficult – the cage prevented Houdini from turning – the cage bars also offered protection should the front glass break.

The original cell was built in England, where Houdini first performed the escape for an audience of one person as part of a one-act play he called "Houdini Upside Down". This was done to obtain [[copyright]] protection for the effect, and establish grounds to sue imitators – which he did. While the escape was advertised as "The Chinese Water Torture Cell" or "The Water Torture Cell", Houdini always referred to it as "the Upside Down" or "USD". The first public performance of the USD was at the Circus Busch in [[Berlin]], on September 21, 1912. Houdini continued to perform the escape until his death in 1926.<ref name="secret"/>

===Suspended straitjacket escape===
One of Houdini's most popular publicity stunts was to have himself strapped into a regulation straitjacket and suspended by his ankles from a tall building or crane. Houdini would then make his [[Straitjacket#Escape techniques|escape]] in full view of the assembled crowd. In many cases, Houdini drew tens of thousands of onlookers who brought city traffic to a halt. Houdini would sometimes ensure press coverage by performing the escape from the office building of a local newspaper. In New York City, Houdini performed the suspended straitjacket escape from a crane being used to build the [[New York City Subway|subway]]. After flinging his body in the air, he escaped from the straitjacket. Starting from when he was hoisted up in the air by the crane, to when the straitjacket was completely off, it took him two minutes and thirty-seven seconds. There is film footage in the Library of Congress of Houdini performing the escape.<ref>"[http://lccn.loc.gov/94505242 Thousands see Harry Houdini escape from a straitjacket while hanging in mid-air, Chicago, Ill.]", International news [1923 or 1924?]</ref> Films of his escapes are also shown at The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

After being battered against a building in high winds during one escape, Houdini performed the escape with a visible safety wire on his ankle so that he could be pulled away from the building if necessary. The idea for the upside-down escape was given to Houdini by a young boy named [[Randolph Osborne Douglas]] (March 31, 1895&nbsp;– December 5, 1956), when the two met at a performance at [[Sheffield]]'s Empire Theatre.<ref name="secret"/>

===Overboard box escape===
[[File:HoudiniSubmergedCrate.jpg|thumb|left|Houdini prepares to do the overboard box escape c. 1912.]]
Another of Houdini's most famous publicity stunts was to escape from a nailed and roped packing crate after it had been lowered into water. He first performed the escape in New York's [[East River]] on July 7, 1912. Police forbade him from using one of the piers, so he hired a tugboat and invited press on board. Houdini was locked in handcuffs and leg-irons, then nailed into the crate which was roped and weighed down with two hundred pounds of lead. The crate was then lowered into the water. He escaped in 57 seconds. The crate was pulled to the surface and found still to be intact, with the manacles inside.

Houdini performed this escape many times, and even performed a version on stage, first at Hamerstein's Roof Garden where a {{convert|5500|USgal|L|adj=on}} tank was specially built, and later at the [[New York Hippodrome]].<ref>{{cite book| title=Houdini His Legend and His Magic| last=Henning| first=Doug| author-link=Doug Henning| year= 1977| publisher=[[Times Books]]| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qtMTAQAAIAAJ&q=hamerstein%27s+roof | isbn=978-0812906868}}</ref>

===Buried alive stunt===
Houdini performed at least three variations on a [[Premature burial|buried alive]] stunt during his career. The first was near Santa Ana, California in 1915, and it almost cost him his life. Houdini was buried, without a casket, in a pit of earth six feet deep. He became exhausted and panicked while trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious and had to be pulled from the grave by his assistants. Houdini wrote in his diary that the escape was "very dangerous" and that "the weight of the earth is killing".<ref>{{cite book| last=Christopher| first=Milbourne| title=Houdini: The Untold Story| url=https://archive.org/details/houdiniuntoldsto00chri| url-access=registration| date=1969| isbn=978-0891909811| page=[https://archive.org/details/houdiniuntoldsto00chri/page/140 140]| publisher=Ty Crowell Co.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2011/01/digging-into-buried-alive.html |title=Digging into Houdini's Buried Alive |access-date=January 6, 2011}}</ref>

Houdini's second variation on buried alive was an endurance test designed to expose mystical Egyptian performer Rahman Bey, who had claimed to use supernatural powers to remain in a sealed casket for an hour. Houdini bettered Bey on August 5, 1926, by remaining in a sealed casket, or coffin, submerged in the swimming pool of New York's Hotel Shelton for one and a half hours. Houdini claimed he did not use any trickery or supernatural powers to accomplish this feat, just controlled breathing.<ref>Silverman, pp.&nbsp;397–403.</ref> He repeated the feat at the YMCA in [[Worcester, Massachusetts]] on September 28, 1926, this time remaining sealed for one hour and eleven minutes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2010/01/uncovering-houdinis-forgotten-second.html |title=Uncovering Houdini's second underwater test |access-date=January 26, 2010}}</ref>

Houdini's final buried alive was an elaborate stage escape that featured in his full evening show. Houdini would escape after being strapped in a straitjacket, sealed in a casket, and then buried in a large tank filled with sand. While posters advertising the escape exist (playing off the Bey challenge by boasting "Egyptian Fakirs Outdone!"), it is unclear whether Houdini ever performed buried alive on stage. The stunt was to be the feature escape of his 1927 season, but Houdini died on October 31, 1926. The bronze casket Houdini created for buried alive was used to transport Houdini's body from [[Detroit]] to New York following his death on [[Halloween]].<ref>Silverman, p. 406.</ref>