BONUS: Houdini, London and the Unpickable Lock

Liam Heffernan: 00:01:46

Hello and welcome to this bonus episode of America A History recorded straight after our recently published episode. Who is Harry Houdini? I'm joined now by the guest from that episode, John Cox, to discuss this a little bit more. John, thank you for hanging on.

John Cox: 00:02:03

Sure. Thanks for having me on the bonus.

Liam Heffernan: 00:02:07

It was great to have you on the podcast as well. And I had a really fun chat about all things Houdini. And just to sort of touch on a few things that we didn't get time to cover.

Firstly, what is your favorite Houdini performance?

John Cox: 00:02:22

Well, boy, I. You know, I have a lot of favorites Houdini performance, though. You know, I'm going to. I'm going to go with something that was really probably his.

was Peak Houdini happened in: 1904

laying a London Hippodrome in: 1904

And the London Daily Mirror, which was a major newspaper, discovered that a Birmingham locksmith had created this super handcuff Brahma lock. Six tumblers, unpickable. And they challenged Houdini with this handcuff. And Houdini accepted.

And I'll tell you right now, the Mirror handcuff survives today. No one is picking this handcuff. It truly is an unpickable handcuff. But Houdini accepted the challenge.

And this was built up between Houdini and the London Daily Mares. This was built up as the championship bout between Houdini and a challenger. This is Peak Muhammad Ali facing an opponent who's probably going to win.

And there are debates in the newspaper leading up to it. It's fantastic because there are editorials. Is it un British to root for Houdini?

And then there's people who write and they say, I've got nothing against Houdini, but it's a time that we show what British workmanship is really all about and we defeat this guy. So it's absolutely becomes this sensation and it all builds up to the moment.

And the London Hippodrome, which is a huge theater, it exists today in London. It's the London. It's the Hippodrome casino. It's packed. A committee is invited on stage to make sure everything is on the up and up.

And there are photos of this. There are like 30 people up on. Up on that stage. And Houdini comes out. What I love about this is he doesn't even necessarily address the audience.

Everyone knows what they're there for. He's just like, let's get to it. And they handcuff him in this horrible handcuff. It's all one piece. It's mostly just one big, giant lock.

And the only thing he says to the audience is, you know, I've now been locked in a handcuff that took a Birmingham mechanic five years to make. I don't know if I'm going to escape from this, but I assure you all, I'm going to give my best.

He goes into his little cabinet, and he called it his ghost house. And this is where he would do his handcuff escapes. And it's just waist high. He just kneels down inside this thing. That's it. This giant theater, this.

This giant stage. He's just inside there. And people wait. And, you know, after 40 minutes, you know, he emerges, and people are excited, but he's still in the handcuff.

And he says, no, I just wanted to come out and get a better look at it. The light. Okay, he goes back in. There's a few more little moments of excitement. And after more time has passed, he comes out, still handcuffed.

And he says, can you unlock the handcuffs? Because I want to take off my coat.

He had this big frock coat that he was wearing, and there was discussion, and they decided, no, I'm sorry, we cannot do that, because if you see the handcuffs unlocked, it might give you an advantage. And so Houdini proceeds to kind of maneuver and get his coat up over his head.

Then he gets a knife out of his pocket, and using his teeth, he slices his coat away. And people are cheering, you know, And Houdini kind of holds up his handcuffed hands. He's like, I'm not done yet. He goes back in.

If there was anyone rooting against Houdini at this point, no. Now everyone is rooting for Houdini. But it clearly looks like he's stuck. He goes back into that cabinet.

Well, after an hour, he asked for a glass of water. Still working, working, working. And then it's about an hour and a half into this.

All of a sudden, with a shout, Houdini bounds free, free of the handcuff. The place goes ballistic. The 30 man Committee on stage rushes him, lifts him to their shoulders, and. And Houdini breaks down sobbing.

It was the toughest challenge of his life. It was the Greatest escape of his life. It's the absolute pinnacle of his handcuff king days and it becomes a sensation in the newspapers for days.

Here's the punchline. It's not known for sure, but it's very likely Houdini made the mere handcuffs and this whole thing was staged. But what a showman.

Liam Heffernan: 00:07:18

Yeah, well, that's it, isn't it? It's all about the show, right? And if you can, if you could put on a good show, you can forget the. You forget to falsify it. Right.

As long as you're entertained.

But on that note, because I don't want to keep you too much longer, John, but I have to ask, hypothetically, if you were an escapologist or just a magician of any sort, what would be your signature trick or performance? What would people know you for?

John Cox: 00:07:48

Well, that's tough because I'm, I'm. I'm not a escape artist. I'm not a magician, although I was as a kid and I would do. I would do my straight jacket escape.

Liam Heffernan: 00:08:01

Could you do it?

John Cox: 00:08:02

I could, I could. Back then, you know, you're 14 years old. Here's the secret. You can get out of anything when you're 14. You just squirm.

Liam Heffernan: 00:08:08

Yeah, joints pop a little bit too much now, don't they?

John Cox: 00:08:10

So it would probably be a straight jacket escape, which means, you know, I wouldn't be so successful because everyone does a straight jacket, straight jacket escapes. No, I've never aspired to be a magician or an escape artist. For me, it's all about studying Houdini.

Liam Heffernan: 00:08:25

Yeah, fair enough. And you do a fantastic job on that front, I can tell you. And for anyone listening, do check out John's website.

All the links are in the show notes as well. But John, actually remind people what is your website and where can they find you?

John Cox: 00:08:41

My website is wildabouthoudini.com and from there you can link to my Facebook, Instagram.

You know, I try and share, share my blog posts everywhere, but go to the website and from there you can branch out and go in whatever direction you want or as deep into Houdini history as you care to go.

Liam Heffernan: 00:09:01

Amazing. Yeah. And yeah, it's a great website, so I recommend anyone check that out.

And John, thank you for joining me for this and for the main episode as well. And if anyone is listening to this and you haven't heard the full episode, please do look that up.

It's on the feed a couple below this and remember to follow rate, review the podcast and if you are feeling generous, you can support the show as well from as little as $1. All the information is in the show notes. Thank you all so much for listening. John, thank you so much and goodbye.