Law and Magic Blog

Houdini and Hallowe'en

October 31st isn't just Hallowe'en. It's the anniversary of Harry Houdini's death in 1926. He died in Detroit (I know--not a very Hallowe'eny place). His insurance policy paid "double indemnity" because his death was the result of an accident. More on Houdini's will and estate here.

Want to attend a seance to see if Houdini returns? Try The Harry Houdini Museum which hosts such an event each year. Harry has been a no-show so far, however, just as he was for his wife Bess through 1936. She gave up that year and revealed the secret word he had told her he would send her if there was an afterlife: "Believe." A link to the final seance is here. Some of Houdini's colleagues keep trying, however. Here's a link to a seance from last year, hosted by the inimitable James Randi.

More Houdini-related magic includes a Point of Inquiry discussion from D. J. Grothe and Joe Nickell, the opening of the Jewish Museum in the New York's Houdini: Art and Magic exhibit and from the Library of Congress, discussion of Houdini's work in investigating spiritualism.

Maybe, like Greta Garbo, Mr. Houdini just "vants to be alone." After all, there is such a thing as the right to privacy. And even if it doesn't survive death, a famous dead magician might just want the neighbors, the family, and colleagues to stop dropping by, especially on a busy day, like Hallowe'en.

Perry Mason Meets a Real-Life Parapsychologist

I just received and have been watching the latest volume of Perry Mason DVDs (season 5, volume 1), which includes a wonderful episode called "The Case of the Meddling Medium." In it, a wealthy woman who longs to make contact with her dead son goes through a succession of psychics and mediums, all of whom claim to be able to put her in contact with his spirit. But she doesn't believe in any of their abilies, until a young man comes along, who goes into a trance and produces copies of poems that the dead man wrote and showed, apparently to no one, before he passed away.

When the young man, who claims to be a distant relative of the family, turns up the victim of a terrible accident in the same manner as the dead son, Perry Mason steps in to defend the woman charged with the murder, who also seems to have paranormal powers. She falls into a trance also, and produces via automatic writing, more communications from the dead son.

It's up to Perry to figure out whether the murder victim actually had these powers, whether his client has them, and what's actually going on. What I find particularly interesting about this episode, written by Samuel Newman and first broadcast on October 21, 1961, is that the expert Perry calls on for assistance is none other than Dr. Andrija Puharich, played by---Dr. Andrija Puharich.

The episode features a good many of the kinds of things popular culture often associates with mediums: a dark and stormy night and a seance (opening scene), a trance and automatic writing, deception (the murder victim and the opening scene's medium), writing inspired by the dead, and attempts to test paranormal abilities scientifically, which is where Dr. Puharich comes in). Perry's law clerk, David Gideon, excitedly suggests that Perry contact Dr. Puharich "at the parapsychology laboratory." Perry agrees that might be a good idea, but he also wants information about anyone involved in the case who might have "electrical training or experience."

Dr. Puharich, who is remembered more for his experiments on parapsychology than for his work in the field of energy, agrees to discuss the paranomal with him. Eventually, Dr. Puharich becomes an expert witness in the case. Crucial to his examination of Mason's client--and to Mason's trapping of the real killer--is the use of a Faraday cage, invented by scientist Michael Faraday (1791-1867). A Faraday cage shields anything or anyone inside it against electrical current. Its use in paranormal testing is to shield someone being tested from electromagnetic signals that might give a false reading on the person being tested.

For Mason, the problem ultimately is that his client is not lying (since Mason's clients never lie, at least not so much that Mason doesn't catch them) and does not seem to be self deceived. So, is she exhibiting real paranormal abilities? Is she slightly off her rocker? Dr. Puharich actually provides some helpful clues for the lawyer, based on a psychological analysis of the client. An interesting episode, in an iconic series.

Law & Magic: A Collection of Essays Now Available

The book Law & Magic: A Collection of Essays made its debut at the AALS meeting in New Orleans. It's available at CAP's website (discount!) and also via amazon.com and bn.com.

Point of Inquiry (POI) Podcast On Houdini

An October 30, 2009 Point of Inquiry podcast on Houdini's work. Skeptic and former magician Joe Nickell conducts a seance, and discusses Spiritualism, the paranormal, and magicians. Here are prior podcasts on Houdini: October 2008, November 2007, and October 2006.

"Blithe Spirit" Back on Broadway

The New York Times's Ben Brantley really likes a new production of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, which stars Angela Lansbury, Christine Ebersole, and Rupert Everett, now at the Shubert Theater. The play features the hilarity that ensues when Charles Condomine (Everett), a novelist, is more than upset when his (dead) first wife Elvira (Ebersole) returns as a ghost. He asks Madame Arcati (Lansbury) whom he has been consulting for information for a new novel to get rid of her, since after all, Madame summoned her up during a seance in the first place. I have to admit that I've always liked this play more than some of Mr. Coward's others, including Private Lives, which seems to get a regular revival. I suppose I like the "in" jokes better in this work. The play premiered in 1941, during the period in which Spiritualism was somewhat under fire--Spiritualist Helen Duncan was prosecuted for witchcraft in 1944. It was filmed in 1945 with Rex Harrison in the role of Condomine and the wonderful Margaret Rutherford as Madame Arcati.

Americans Showing Ever More Diversity in Religious, Spiritual, Beliefs

According to a new poll conducted by researchers at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, the number of Americans who do not identify with a particular established church is increasing, as is the number of Americans who do not believe in a personal deity, and the number of Americans who do not accept the existence of any deity at all. The American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) for 2008 is out, and it makes for interesting reading. About fifteen percent of Americans say they have "no religion," up from just over fourteen percent in 2001, the last time the survey came out. Many more people are investigating NRMs (New Religious Movements). Could some of this interest and change account for the popularity of works by Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Michael Shermer, and others? At the same time, we see more and more First Amendment challenges to traditional marriages of the secular and the religious: consider the recent Summum lawsuit heard in the Supreme Court. A loss for Summum, but interesting nonetheless.

Spiritualist Convicted of Murdering Wife

An English court has convicted David Chenery-Wickens, a spiritualist minister, of murdering his wife, who made a career as a television make-up artist, in January of 2008. His motive was apparently to conceal his numerous affairs and financial problems. Ms. Chenery-Wickens worked on the series Dead Ringers and Casualty. She won a 2000 Emmy Award for Arabian Nights.

Scientific American On Evolution

The January issue of Scientific American is devoted to the topic of evolution. It includes a piece by Glenn Branch and Eugenie Scott on creationism in the classroom, and a review of the Dover case. It also includes an opinion piece by Michael Shermer, "A Skeptic's Review of Telephoning the Dead." (online title).

It's a Hit! A Palpable Hit! NYT Discusses "The Mentalist"

In today's New York Times Arts section today is a long piece on this season's break-out hit The Mentalist. Among the points the article makes are that the show's protagonist Simon Jane is "a former television psychic who confesses that he’s a fraud. Turns out he’s merely more perceptive than the average person." The show's creator and writers also take on a very real legal worry: possible defamation action. Bruno Heller, who created the show, is confident that no currently active TV psychic will sue on such a theory. Times reporter Lisa Bernhard tried to contact psychic celeb John Edward for comment but got none. Her article is worth a read, both for its comments on the Mentalist back story, and for its discussion of how a hit series faces competition from other networks.

The Trouble With Harry

Last year at this time, a faithful group of conjurors and friends asked magician Harry Houdini to manifest himself on the anniversary of his passing. Apparently, he had better things to do, because he didn't appear. Presumably, they'll make the traditional request again this year, and the odds are he won't drop by this time, either.

And for more Halloween fun, check out this pumpkin website.