Master Magician: Prince Valiant

The Incomparable Harry Houdini
Broken Wand ~ Woken Brand
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Date With Destiny: June 5 1975

Dear Diary,

Today I went dancing. It was tremendous. I'm rapt in this Irish kid. I don't know his name.

1954

 

 

 

For the next minute or so, the audience caught

fleeting glimpses of a wriggling bundle of

white shirt and dress clothes as it bounced and

kicked itself about the stage.... In a minute and a quarter

the white shirt "rather kicked about but a good one still"

straightened into shape and the audience found itself gazing at

a gasping Houdini.

 

 

 

Houdini opened at the New Opera House on Monday Evening, February 7th 1910. He was part of a long programme of songs, dances and comedic sketches, which all began around 8pm and lasted for almost two hours. The theatres in 1910 were more formal places than they had been forty or fifty years before. The audiences were encouraged to show their appreciation by cheering or clapping rather than throwing objects on stage. It was a time when manners and politeness mattered, and the whole of society was undergoing major technological, cultural and social changes.

Houdini was fully ensconced in this age. He was a man of formal manners, a man who projected himself as a respectable married gentleman. His act was firmly associated with the popular brand of entertainment.

 

 

When Houdini appeared at the New Opera House, he was accompanied by acts such as Fred Curran, the quaint comedian, and Teddie, Decima and Roy McClean, the Australian Dartos. Ted Kalman, the comic singer, and a host of other performers also appeared on the same bill. Houdini was due to appear in the second half of the programme, after interval, second from last, a prime headlining spot.

During his early February performances , The Donnelly family immediately preceded Houdini. They were a dance troupe. Their little daughter Kitty, was the highlight of their turn. After the orchestra had escorted them off the stage it was time for the headliner of the night.

The theatre was full. Approximately fourteen hundred people were in the audience waiting for Houdini to appear. It was late evening, they had been entertained, had laughed and cheered and were now prepared to be befuddled by the mysteriarch. [read more] - HAT: History of Australian Theatre

 

 

 

"It's a little tight across the chest"
Harry Houdini in Melbourne Australia

February 7, 1910

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