Houdini In Russia

[Rodney_G.]

 I'm reading a book now about the great escape artist and magician Harry Houdini. It describes a visit he made to Moscow in early 1903  for two months. No mention of St. Petersburg. He created a sensation  and "high society of the city attend each of his performances."  GD Serge and Elizabeth perhaps?

Interestingly, he was  performing in Moscow  at the time of the notorious Kishinev pogrom/ massacre in April that year. Scores were killed, hundreds wounded, hundreds of houses burned , a real horror.
 Houdini( real name Ehrich Weiss )who was Jewish , visited Kishinev afterwards and was horrified . He thought it could only happen in Russia. He maintained there was a ban on Jews performing on  the stage of any theater in Moscow (I doubt that). His advice on avoiding the ban "This is easily overcome by simply denying your religion. .. or you can go into Russia with a license, like a dog."
Houdini was rightly sensitive to antisemitism but not overly observant himself as a Jew.

There's a neat pamphlet from the time of his tour. It's a photo of the 29 year old Houdini  looking serious and bound in multiple  handcuffs around wrists ,upper arms (around his back)  , and neck to chest.

It reads,  in Russian

                                                      Harry Houdini

            Universally Reknowned Mystery Man,

           Called " King Of Handcuffs" 

I would think there might have been some mention of his visit in the Romanov "record" somewhere . I can readily see his act , (which really was fantastic) being something some of the Grand Dukes or Duchesses would love to catch.

[Sarushka]

There's a very brief thread about Houdini's audience with the Romanovs in The Imperial Family forum. (Link here. I'm not a mod on this board, so I can't move & merge the threads.)

[Rodney_G.]

I must admit I didn't search for Houdini prior to posting and wouldn't be averse to a shifting to another board, although the subject and the occasions mentioned go beyond the Imperial Family per se. My post might serve as a "bump" at any rate.

[Olga Bernice]

Wow! I just found out something really cool. Somebody had said that Harry Houdini, magician, might have been the "Rasputin" figure had he accepted the position! Of course, this was before the Imperial family had even met Rasputin, so . . . wow. I found that so interesting! Does anybody have anything to support/disprove this statement?

[grandduchessella]

I've never heard it or remember reading about it in any Houdini books. Anyway, here's what some google research turned up:

"Bess, Rasputin, and the Czar's broach
The following is from the The Magic Castle Friday Lunch newsletter for February 11, 2011, written by Milt Larsen himself. This is pure gold. With all the reading and research I do, this is the kind of thing you only hear at The Castle. And, yes, there is a photo of the young Milt with Bess in the Seance Room (I always show it to my guests), and I have seen the broach on Arlene. Magic indeed. Enjoy.
On this date in magical history
Sorry to report the passing of Harry Houdini’s wife, Beatrice Houdini. She died on the train to New York at the age of sixty-six. The year was 1943. I had the pleasure of knowing Mrs. Houdini since she was a great friend of my parents. Dad was an attorney and handled all her legal affairs pro bono. She helped them start Genii Magazine in 1936 and joined my mother in founding Magigals, the first club for lady magicians. There is a nice photo of a little kid doing a coin trick for Mrs. Houdini mounted on the wall in the Houdini Seance Room. I think I was about eight at the time. I remember her as a very nice lady. Mrs. Houdini gave my mother a broach made from a pin the Czar of Russia gave to Houdini. Houdini historian Pat Culliton lunches with us almost every Friday so he can tell you the story of Houdini’s fascinating relationship with the Czar. Houdini was offered the job of spiritual advisor to the family which he turned down. They job went to a fake spiritualist named Rasputin. Later the Czar wanted to hire Houdini to expose Rasputin. Pat probably has the facts but according to my mother the Czar gave Houdini the emerald and ruby encrusted pin at a dinner party honoring the Houdinis. The Czar felt Houdini insulted him when Harry refused to toast the occasion. He refused to drink wine. Hey, Patrick. That’s what mom said and if you can’t trust your mother who can you trust.What happened to that broach? Mother gave it to my wife Arlene and she wears it on very special occasions."

http://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2011/02/bess-rasputin-and-czars-broach.html

[grandduchessella]

"Rasputin also met Harry Houdini when he was doing his European Tour (1900-1905), in St. Petersburg. The following is an excerpt from Orson Welles' Sketchbook Transcripts (Episode 4: May 14, 1955): 'I'd like to tell you my favorite story about Houdini, had to do with his visit to the Kremlin. The night he rang the bells in the Kremlin.

This was in a private performance for the royal family, for the tsar and the royal family, with Rasputin in the background, gnashing his teeth with jealous rage. And Houdini had asked for the various people in the small audience to write on slips of paper some impossible thing they would like to have performed. And one of them had written "ring the bells in the Kremlin, or so Houdini had arranged it so this would be chosen, apparently by free choice. And to ring the bells in the Kremlin may not sound like much, but as a matter of fact, at that time, there were no ropes connecting the bells, and for a century at least, they'd been silent. So after this command, Houdini moved to the window, raised his arm, it was a snowy night; there was moment's very dramatic pause, and then, over the snow-covered square, there could be heard first very dimly, and finally, in full chorus…the bells of the Kremlin. You could imagine the effect of that! Particularly on Rasputin. Now ordinarily, I don't explain how tricks are done, no magician, amateur or professional, likes to do that, but in this particular case I think I can tell you that since it's unlikely that anyone will be doing this particular trick again. As Houdini raised his hand, his wife, who was standing at a window in a hotel at the other side of the square, which was right near the bell tower, his wife received the signal, and with an air gun, shot the bells…bing bong bong, like that. Always struck me as a particularly ingenious miracle, and of course, those kind of tricks are the best, really.'


Recently an item has surfaced that helps us delve deeper into this encounter between Rasputin and Houdini, and what they might have exchanged. This signed letter from Harry Houdini to Governor Giles in full: "Just met our mutual friend Walter Trowbridge and gleaned from him the information that you are now in Russia. I sincerely hope that I shall have the pleasure of meeting you in Petersburg within the next 20 months. Best wishes and kindest regards sincerely yours..." Houdini adds in a postscript, "We sail for Germany August fifth." Boldly signed.

What makes this item special is the penciled note on the top right corner: "Houdini is said to have instruct Rasputin". On what? Parlor tricks? Hard to believe. Most likely, Houdini, a man with a deep interest in the supernatural, might have given Rasputin some hints on how to possibly solve the Hofesh Configuration. But what their topic of conversation really was, we will never know."

http://www.pyramid-gallery.com/FiligreeAndShadow.html

copy of the letter:

http://www.pyramid-gallery.com/houdini_letter1.jpg

[grandduchessella]

With Houdini being Jewish (born Ehrich Weiss in Budapast & his father being a Rabbi), I wonder how this story would have been reconciled in the very Orthodox Court with its often overt anti-Semitism? With this, combined with the timeline and Houdini's generally extreme skepticism of spiritualists/spiritualism,  I don't believe that there's truth in it apart from the royals being impressed with his skills. Later in his career, Houdini would becoming one of the foremost debunkers of spiritualists & mediums--something that cost him the friendship of Arthur Conan Doyle. He also collaborated with HP Lovecraft on an anti-spiritualism book.

[Olga Bernice]

Yes, I didn't think about the religion issue . . . Thank you for pointing that out to me, grandduchessella.

[Forum Admin]

Fabricated. All of it. Houdini did not perform in the Palace. The daily records are available. Nicholas may have attended a performance in a Petersburg theatre, and Nicholas would certainly have had him presented and given him a small token such as a lapel pin, as was the custom.  Nicholas certainly never would have asked a magician, a performer, to be a "spiritual advisor" rubbish!

[Rodney_G.]

 Moreover, for any Rasputin connection, the dates are all wrong.  Houdini's tour was in the Spring of 1903. At that time Rasputin was not in the picture. I think Nicholas mentions meeting him sometime in '05 and it was even later that he had any real influence or standing with Nicholas and/or Alexandra.

[Sarushka]

With Houdini being Jewish (born Ehrich Weiss in Budapast & his father being a Rabbi), I wonder how this story would have been reconciled in the very Orthodox Court with its often overt anti-Semitism?

Was Houdini's Jewish heritage common knowledge at the time? (Not to cast any doubts on your research -- I'm just curious.)

[Rodney_G.]

With Houdini being Jewish (born Ehrich Weiss in Budapast & his father being a Rabbi), I wonder how this story would have been reconciled in the very Orthodox Court with its often overt anti-Semitism?

Was Houdini's Jewish heritage common knowledge at the time? (Not to cast any doubts on your research -- I'm just curious.)

No, not really. This is true for both the US and for abroad. The name 'Houdini' is certainly no indication, and he definitely never made allusions to his Jewish heritage in his promotion, which he handled himself. (It would obviously have been controversial and counterproductive).
The question is, or would be, were Tsarist officials (or Nicholas himself) aware of it? They certainly had the resources to find out. Then the question would become: would H's being Jewish  have precluded a performance before the Tsar or others of the IF?  I don't think Houdini's Jewish heritage would have been a problem per se necessarily, though it would have been if he were widely known or promoted as "the famous Jewish magician and escape artist".

[Forum Admin]

Nicholas would not have considered H being Jewish as any sort of problem to attend a performance if he was even aware of it at all.  He was very tolerant of Jews, particularly in such a situation.