THE JEWISH MUSEUM PRESENTS 'HOUDINI: ART AND MAGIC'

HANDCUFFS, SHACKLES, A TORTURE CHAMBER AND STRAITJACKET USED BY RENOWNED ESCAPE ARTIST HARRY HOUDINI WILL BE PART OF A MAJOR EXHIBIT THAT DELVES INTO THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF THE WORLD FAMOUS MAGICIAN. 'HOUDINI: ART AND MAGIC', WHICH OPENS ON 5.NOVEMBER AT THE JEWISH MUSEUM, NEW YORK, WILL FEATURE A RECREATION OF THE CHINESE WATER TORTURE CELL, WHICH HOUDINI USED TO ENTHRALL HUGE AUDIENCES WITH HIS DARING, DEATH-DEFYING ESCAPES. HARRY HOUDINI, WAS BORN EHRICH WEISS IN BUDAPEST IN 1874, IMMIGRATED WITH HIS FAMILY TO RURAL APPLETON, WISCONSIN WHEN HE WAS A CHILD. AFTER A STINT AS A CIRCUS PERFORMER IN THE 1890s HE BECAME A MAGICIAN AND CHANGED HIS NAME AS A TRIBUTE TO THE FRENCH MAGICIAN JEAN EUGENE ROBERT-HOUDIN. HE WENT ON TO BECOME THE MOST FAMOUS ESCAPE ARTIST OF HIS DAY, CAPTIVATING MASSIVE AUDIENCES BY ESCAPING DURING STAGE PERFORMANCES FROM THE GLASS CHINESE WATER TORTURE CELL WHILE SUSPENDED UPSIDE DOWN AND CONFINED BY A STRAIGHT-JACKET. IN ANOTHER FAMOUS FEAT A HANDCUFFED HOUDINI FREED HIMSELF FROM A PADLOCKED CRATE THAT HAD BEEN THROWN INTO A RIVER. PHOTOGRAPHS, ART NOUVEAU-ERA POSTERS, AS WELL AS HIS PRIVATE DIARIES, WHICH HAVE NEVER BEEN SHOWN BEFORE, AND SILENT FILMS OF HIS PERFORMANCES WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE EXHIBITION THAT WILL RUN UNTIL NEXT MARCH WHEN IT WILL TRAVEL TO SAN FRANCISCO, AND IN 2012 TO MADISON, WISCONSIN. BUT VISITORS LOOKING FOR THE SECRETS OF HOUDINI'S MAGIC AND ESCAPIST PERFORMANCES, WHICH INSPIRED OTHER ILLUSIONISTS SUCH AS DAVID COPPERFIELD, DAVID BLAINE AND DOUGH HENNING, WILL BE DISAPPOINTED. 'THE EXHIBITION IS NOT A HOW-TO SHOW. THERE IS A TRADITION IN THE MAGIC FIELD THAT PERFORMANCE SECRETS AREN'T REVEALED AND WE ARE RESPECTING THAT', A MUSEUM SPOKESPERSON SAID. HOUDINI, WHO WAS PORTRAYED BY ACTOR TONY CURTIS IN THE 1953 FILM 'HOUDINI', DIED ON HALLOWEEN IN 1926. ALTHOUGH THERE IS A COMMON BELIEF THAT HE PERISHED IN THE WATER CHAMBER, THE SPOKESPERSON SAID IT IS NOT TRUE. HIS DEATH WAS MORE LIKELY DUE TO APPENDICITIS. REGARDLESS OF HOW HE DIED, IT WAS HIS LIFE, HIS TALENTS AND HIS SHOWMANSHIP THAT INSPIRED THE PUBLIC.