Law and Magic Blog

Ken Trombly on Houdini and the Spiritualists @HoudiniWild

Lawyer and magic collector Ken Trombly gave a talk last year about "Houdini and the Spiritualists." It's available now on YouTube. Watch it here! Hat/tip to John Cox of Wild About Harry.

The Right Way To Do Wrong @parisreview @melvillehouse

Matt Levin reviews a collection of Harry Houdini's essays on magic history, The Right Way To Do Wrong (Melville House), here, for The Paris Review (second review in the column).

The Houdinis In the Maritimes @CanadasHistory @DeanJobb

For Canada's History, Bruce McNab tells the story of Harry and Bess Houdini's abortive tour of the Maritimes in the summer of 1896. Their hopes of success with the Marco Magic Company led instead to trouble with the law and retirement from performing (although only for a short time). 

This article originally appeared in the June-July, 2009, issue of The Beaver magazine.

 

Via @CanadasHistory @DeanJobb.

Kaplan on Houdini and Spirit Photography

Of interest:

Louis Kaplan, A Magician Among the Spirit Photographs: Reflections on Houdini's Doubt, in Photography and Doubt (Sabine T. Kriebel and Andres Mario Zervigon, eds., Taylor and Francis/Routledge, 2017).

 

Houdini, Lovecraft, and a Lost Manuscript

From the Guardian: news that a long-lost H. P. Lovecraft manuscript has surfaced. This one is of particular interest to magicians. It's a piece Harry Houdini asked Lovecraft to ghostwrite (a particularly appropriate term) for him; the subject is "The Cancer of Superstition." After Houdini died in 1926, Lovecraft abandoned the project because Houdini's widow Bess was no longer interested in pursuing it.

The 31-page manuscript lay unthought-of until a private collector came across it as s/he was examining a new purchase of magic memorabilia. Potter and Potter Auctions will offer it for sale soon; it may go for as much as $40,000. Here's a link to the auction catalog.

John Cox discusses the Houdini-Lovecraft collaboration in a 2011 post on his blog, Wild About Harry.

Houdini Comes To the Small Screen

The Hollywood Reporter's Allison Keene reviews The History Channel's miniseries Houdini, starring Adrien Brody, here. Houdini premieres Labor Day (September 1st) at 9, 8 Central time. 

Orson Welles On Houdini (and the Ladies)

Ken Trombly recommends this video of Orson Welles discussing Houdini. Excellent, although I'm not sure I agree with his gendered theory of magic. "Magic is not for the ladies. They don't like to be fooled." Most women don't like to be fooled by men. A lot of them like magic just fine.

Dedicated To Harry

Escape Artist.

Courtesy of Icanhascheezburger.com

A Little More Interest In "Carter Beats the Devil"

Phil Lord and Chris Miller ("21 Jump Street") are trying to bring "Carter Beats the Devil" to the big screen. Tom Cruise was interested in this project some time ago, but his option apparently lapsed and so did the film. Now, still snoozing at Warner Brothers, the movie project has caught the attention of Mr. Lord and Mr. Miller, whose film "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" was a huge success in 2009. More here from the Hollywood Reporter.

Houdini Film May Be Headed For the Big Screen

Gary Ross ("The Hunger Games") may direct an adaptation of William Kalush and Larry Sloman's The Secret Life of Houdini for Summit.  Meanwhile, it seems that Columbia Pictures might be planning its own Houdini flick, to be directed by Francis Lawrence, who will also direct "Catching Fire," the sequel to Mr. Ross's successful "Hunger Games." Watch closely: how many Houdinis do you see?