![]() ![]() However, Pinkert said, “after a few years, they dismissed him. ![]() The family left for the United States in 1878 – Erik Weisz’s name was changed to Ehrich Weiss in the process – and they found a new home, and a pulpit for the rabbi in Appleton, Wisconsin. Rabbi Weisz was part of the Neolog movement – a denomination of Hungarian Jewry which evolved from the same school of thought as Conservative Judaism. “We’re a Jewish museum, we’re trying to tell a universal story of Erik Weisz the immigrant, in particular a Jewish immigrant, even more, a Jewish immigrant son of a rabbi,” said London. To London, “the most important artifact in the whole show” is the Bible belonging to Houdini’s father. London drew upon his own background in magic – including being a former editor of a magic magazine – to help acquire historic artifacts for the exhibit. “He was arguably the most famous magician ever to live.” “I had a poster of Houdini in my room as a teenager,” London said. Now, London would work a different kind of magic – as a guest curator of an exhibition on his boyhood idol. Pinkert learned that London had discussed Jews and magic in his bar mitzvah speech almost 25 years ago – and performed his first magic trick at age 7, at his cousin’s bar mitzvah, pulling a rabbit out of a hat. “Looking at David London, I thought, if he’s not Jewish, I’ll eat my hat,” said Pinkert. Several days later, according to London, he received an email from Pinkert about “magic, Judaism, and Houdini.” It stirred up a memory from college, where he had once heard that Houdini was the son of a rabbi. Pinkert enjoyed the performance, even getting called up on stage to help London at one point. He stepped inside a theater where – it just so happened – renowned contemporary magician David London was performing. Last summer, the museum’s executive director Marvin Pinkert was looking to escape the sweltering heat of Baltimore’s annual Artscape festival. The exhibit originated as a result of several appropriately mysterious coincidences. And, in a nod to the séances Houdini’s wife Bess conducted in efforts to communicate with him after his death, visitors can take selfies in which an image of the magician – or his ghost? – mysteriously appears. Visitors can try out Houdini’s magic tricks themselves, including making a five-ton elephant disappear (in this case, with a toy elephant). Other objects are of a more personal nature, such as a Hebrew Bible that belonged to Houdini’s father, Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weisz and a travel journal the budding magician kept while performing in Maryland in 1898, noting multiple evenings in which he could not afford dinner. On display are actual locks and straitjackets he was able to wiggle out of. “Inescapable” looks at both halves of Houdini’s 52-year life – 26 years of personal struggle from 1874 to 1900 and 26 years of professional success, from 1900 to 1926, ending with his mysterious death on Halloween of 1926. The Jewish Museum of Maryland provides a fuller picture of the magician it calls the first international superstar, through an exhibit June 24: “Inescapable: The Life and Legacy of Harry Houdini.” He and his family immigrated to the United States when he was 4 years old, and arguably his greatest escape was from years of early poverty. Not so remembered, however, is his life before he became – well, Houdini.Ī Hungarian Jew, Houdini was born Erik Weisz in 1874, the son of a rabbi. Scrawled on this photo of magician Harry Houdini with his mother Cecilia and wife Bess are the words, ‘My two sweethearts.’ (Library of Congress)Įven decades after his death, famous escape artist Harry Houdini remains one of the world’s most celebrated magicians. ![]()
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