Today marks the 137th birthday of one of the greatest and most innovative human beings our species has known: Erik Weisz, better known by his stage name: Harry Houdini. Although most of the information that is written about him today will likely be about his magical prowess as the greatest magician the world has known (and make no mistake Houdini was and always will be the greatest magician in history) it is of vital importance that we remember him for being so much more, because he was so much more.
Although Harry Houdini was a master of trickery and an innovator of magic and illusion, he never tried to pawn off his work as anything more than that: an illusion. Houdini freely admitted that what he did was a farce designed to trick and delight the human mind, which he always succeeded in doing. Even though he possessed a talent for magic that could have probably justified claims of being possessed by some sort of supernatural power, Harry Houdini (unlike so many before and after him) always claimed to be a normal person with a flare for the magical and seemingly amazing. In fact, many people don’t know that Houdini spent the better part of his career traveling from town to town not only to perform magic, but also to expose those who claimed to have some sort of supernatural power (ie: soothsayers, psychics or potion-mixers and other scam artists) for what they really were: charlatans taking advantage of everyday people. Harry Houdini spent his life tricking people and at the same time fighting to make sure they never got taken advantage of. In a world so devoid of heroes, I’m glad there was a man who’s talent was only surpassed by his integrity. And here we are, 100 years after Harry proved to us that psychics and mediums that “spoke to the dead” were completely ludicrous and utterly false, and yet our society still embraces their legitimacy. We owe it to his legacy to not let these disgusting, deceitful industries that prey on the vulnerability of people (and literally have no merit whatsoever) to thrive any longer.
There is some hope however. Houdini’s influence and passion for jaw dropping magic as well as exposing fraud continues on today with the likes of Penn & Teller, James Randi and others. However, it is clear that history has only known one Harry Houdini, the greatest magician, showman, escapist, debunker and skeptic, of all time. Today, we celebrate him being brought into this world, for all too short of a time.