Surprised by the blows, Houdini didn't have a chance to tighten his abs, which was part of his secret.
After a performance in Montreal on October 20, 1926, a student from McGill University asked him if this was true, and when Harry said it was, the student immediately punched him three times in the gut. Houdini had long boasted of his physical prowess-and one of his claims was that he could withstand a punch from anyone. Harry Houdini probably didn't die from a sucker punch.
Houdini accepted and gave the stunt a go, but the task proved too difficult and he had to be rescued by his assistant, Franz Kokol. Perhaps building on this stunt, the folks at Joshua Tetley & Son, the brewers behind Tetley's beer, invited him to escape from a cask of their fine product. When this became too commonplace, he further encased the milk can in a wooden crate. Once in the can, he would be handcuffed and sealed inside, then left behind a curtain to make his daring escape. If you're not familiar with it, Houdini invented an oversized milk can that would be filled with water for his act. "Houdini: Art And Magic" Exhibition Press Preview / Astrid Stawiarz/GettyImages
Harry Houdini introduced his famous milk can trick in 1908. His real name was Joseph Frank Keaton, if you're curious. Joe started calling him Buster, and the nickname stuck. Houdini remarked, "That was a real buster!" In those days, according to Keaton, buster meant a spill or a fall that had the potential to really hurt someone. The story Buster tells (though some believe it's a myth) is that one day, when he was only about 6 months old, he took a tumble down a flight of stairs while he was under his dad's watch, but came out of it completely unscathed. According to legend, Harry Houdini also named Buster Keaton, although inadvertently.Īlong with Houdini, Buster's dad, Joe, was the co-owner of a traveling show called the Mohawk Indian Medicine Company. His last name, however, was definitely a tribute to French illusionist Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin. He likely took the first part of his stage name from his childhood nickname, "Ehrie," although some sources say that his first name was a tribute to magician Harry Kellar. Harry Houdini's real name was Ehrich Weiss. Read on for some interesting facts about Harry Houdini. And with performances that spectacular, it shouldn’t come as a shock that his life was just as fascinating. Whether he was escaping from a straitjacket while suspended from a crane above the streets or getting out of his famed “Chinese water torture cell” with just moments of air to spare, Houdini had a habit of leaving everyone in awe. The famed magician captured the imagination of the world with his death-defying stunts and performances, many of which still baffle modern magicians. Though Harry Houdini died nearly a century ago, his mystique has never faded.
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