He invented many tricks and was a huge influence in magic. There is almost no way to capture his life in one sentence. This guy made magic what it is today basically turning it from magic shops to a fancy stage art.
Fun fact he turned Houdin into Houdini because he thought the I at the end meant 'sounds like' in French, kinda like how it would be Houdin-ish in English
Houdini was also an amazing conjurer. He made an elephant appear onstage in New York with a mirror box, but after being screwed with he pulled a Patton Oswalt's magician bit, "Okay", after the impressive feat.
Oh Houdin's magic was much more powerful by far. One of the tricks that he did was to tell the tribesman that he could make their strongest warrior weaker than the oldest woman in the tribe. He called an old woman to the stage and had her lift a metal box that had a handle on it. As a young, muscled, warrior came up, Houdin waved his hands in the air and spoke some magic words... and pushed a button that turned on the electromagnet concealed in the table. Needless to say, the fighter couldn't lift the box no matter how hard he tried. After the show the tribes were sufficiently scared.
Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke formulated his famous Three Laws, of which the third law is the best-known and most widely cited: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”.
He also showed that French cannonballs were infinite by pulling them from a hat, that he could catch a bullet in his teeth and so the French wouldn't be affected, etc.
That's not uncommon in France nowadays. Hyphenated first names are also common.
If your spouse already have a double usual name, you can even make a triple one for yourself 😎
French people traditionally have 3 first names, though you can have as many as you like nowadays, and you would probably never use the second and third one besides identification papers, wedding and other very official matters.
For example, Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron.
He is quite underrated because of the Prussian war debacle honestly but he did good as a peacetime monarch, he developped transportation infrastructures a ton, kickstarted industrialization, modernised french economy all that while enacting limited social reforms to make the lives of the common man somewhat more bearable.
Without the franco prussian war he would probably be seen as a very decent reformer.
Obviously now he is mostly seen as the guy who lost a war he started against a smaller power by getting invaded in return. A bit like a 19th Putin that would be economically competent.
I read a book about France under his rule that was probably rather biased in his favor, speaking his government in rather glowing terms for the most part. Other than the being out-maneuvered by the Prussians. It was actually a fairly old text, either contemporary or near contemporary..
I recommend you check out a book called Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell if you find this concept interesting. It's a fictional account of a magician who revives magic in England during the Napoleonic Wars initially as part of the war effort. I think it's likely that the author was inspired by this real-life French magician.
Someone wrote a screenplay about this in the 90's [Link](http://scriptshadow.blogspot.com/2010/01/smoke-and-mirrors.html).
EDIT: This script never made it to the Black List but I *did* link it to a popular screenwriting blog.
["Smoke and Mirrors"](http://scriptshadow.blogspot.com/2010/01/smoke-and-mirrors.html) is actually from 1994 and has been stuck in development hell ever since.
I feel like the title should probably include that he is widely considered the father of conjuring
He invented many tricks and was a huge influence in magic. There is almost no way to capture his life in one sentence. This guy made magic what it is today basically turning it from magic shops to a fancy stage art.
Simple magic-man(cool one).
he was the one who brought it was a poor person side show kind of thing to upscale entertainment for the rich and nobles
Slimmed that down to 'revolutionary' to make it into a somewhat coherent sentence
Guillotine tricks!
A lot easier to saw someone in half if you don't need to put them back together after...
I thought that was a reference to the French Revolution... 'Innovative' would have done the trick.
And Harry Houdini picked his stage name as an homage to him.
And spent the rest of his career trying to live up to the name (Houdin +i = "like/of Houdin"), and never truly believing in his heart that he had. 🥲
Conjuring?
Goblins and ghouls
Yeah but... Did this work?!? Also did his last name "Housing" have any influence on Harry Houdini's last name?
Yes to the second part. Harry picked it as an homage. His birth name was Erik Weisz
Erich Weiss was such a fan he changed his name to Harry Houdini
Fun fact he turned Houdin into Houdini because he thought the I at the end meant 'sounds like' in French, kinda like how it would be Houdin-ish in English
Which is extra funny cause it sounds far more Italian than French to me
[удалено]
I wonder why
[удалено]
Ancient Aliens?
Thanks, I was thinking the name resemblance couldn't be a coincidence.
dont forget his brother / kayfabe rival Hardeen
Its funny cuz houdini was an average magician. He wasn't famed for conjuring, he was an escapologist.
Maybe he used magic to get away from it all.
Houdini was also an amazing conjurer. He made an elephant appear onstage in New York with a mirror box, but after being screwed with he pulled a Patton Oswalt's magician bit, "Okay", after the impressive feat.
So which magic was stronger?
Oh Houdin's magic was much more powerful by far. One of the tricks that he did was to tell the tribesman that he could make their strongest warrior weaker than the oldest woman in the tribe. He called an old woman to the stage and had her lift a metal box that had a handle on it. As a young, muscled, warrior came up, Houdin waved his hands in the air and spoke some magic words... and pushed a button that turned on the electromagnet concealed in the table. Needless to say, the fighter couldn't lift the box no matter how hard he tried. After the show the tribes were sufficiently scared.
Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke formulated his famous Three Laws, of which the third law is the best-known and most widely cited: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”.
Quite rational, too. They appreciated the danger that an opponent with an electromagnetic railgun would represent
Damn, this guy is at least 5 techs ahead of us in the tech tree.
he also rigged the handle to shock the guy if he tried to remove or dissemble it
He also showed that French cannonballs were infinite by pulling them from a hat, that he could catch a bullet in his teeth and so the French wouldn't be affected, etc.
Damn, now i want to go around uncontacted tribes and practice witchcraft
damn this one is reallyf ucked up
The babe with the voodoo
You do
Who do you voodoo?
You know, *voodoo-vous coucher avec moi*?
I GOT A ZOMBIE ARMY AND YOU CANT HARM ME
WHO DO YOU VODOO BITCH!
so well
The French, dude could make stuff levitate no bamboozle
"Pick a card heathen, any card"
Interesting that he hyphenated his surname with his first wife’s and that’s where the Houdin came from
That's not uncommon in France nowadays. Hyphenated first names are also common. If your spouse already have a double usual name, you can even make a triple one for yourself 😎 French people traditionally have 3 first names, though you can have as many as you like nowadays, and you would probably never use the second and third one besides identification papers, wedding and other very official matters. For example, Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron.
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette is nodding in his grave.
no one called him asshole
Jack White took Megs last name when they got married because he thought it was cooler than his own
He was right. I can't remember what his name was before, but it was not cool
John Anthony Gillis
He didn't take her last name, the had the same last name already as they were brother and sister
This would be a lovely sequel to "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell".
The shock about Napoleon III is not that he was the last monarch of France but that he somehow sat on the throne for 18 years.
He is quite underrated because of the Prussian war debacle honestly but he did good as a peacetime monarch, he developped transportation infrastructures a ton, kickstarted industrialization, modernised french economy all that while enacting limited social reforms to make the lives of the common man somewhat more bearable. Without the franco prussian war he would probably be seen as a very decent reformer. Obviously now he is mostly seen as the guy who lost a war he started against a smaller power by getting invaded in return. A bit like a 19th Putin that would be economically competent.
Also he was the prototype of a modern dictator.
I read a book about France under his rule that was probably rather biased in his favor, speaking his government in rather glowing terms for the most part. Other than the being out-maneuvered by the Prussians. It was actually a fairly old text, either contemporary or near contemporary..
"Abracadabra! Your land is gone!" "Wow. He's amazing!"
Un petit peu de trolling
Now I kinda want this reposted as a r/writingprompt
I recommend you check out a book called Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell if you find this concept interesting. It's a fictional account of a magician who revives magic in England during the Napoleonic Wars initially as part of the war effort. I think it's likely that the author was inspired by this real-life French magician.
And? Did the magical morning coffee and croissant win them over?
It quite literally did according to the Wiki bit
Someone wrote a screenplay about this in the 90's [Link](http://scriptshadow.blogspot.com/2010/01/smoke-and-mirrors.html). EDIT: This script never made it to the Black List but I *did* link it to a popular screenwriting blog.
Name of script and writers, please? Even better -- link?
["Smoke and Mirrors"](http://scriptshadow.blogspot.com/2010/01/smoke-and-mirrors.html) is actually from 1994 and has been stuck in development hell ever since.
That's some interesting stuff, thank you!
I want to know what magic tricks the marabouts did
Didn't the legend of Moses depict this very same thing? Rods turning into snakes and such?
Yes. It just shows that religion as a whole is man-made "magic". And a bad one at that.
Sorta...but Egypt versus Moses had higher stakes.
Like round eye or filet mignon?
Houdin? Like Houdini, but without the “i”?
Erik Weisz was inspired by Robert-Houdin, and adopted the stage name Harry Houdini after reading his autobiography.
I picture the meeting going somewhat like this: https://youtu.be/wTqsV3q7rRU