I heard somwhere that Houdini was not Italian. Is that true? He sure sounds like he has an italian name though.

He had a weird life and his death is strange too, being killed by a blow to his midsection that he was not able to prepare for.

Originally posted by denythestatusquo
I heard somwhere that Houdini was not Italian. Is that true? He sure sounds like he has an italian name though.

He had a weird life and his death is strange too, being killed by a blow to his midsection that he was not able to prepare for.

Houdini was not Italian at all, the name is from the origin of Robert Houdin, Harry Houdini took the name from his mentor in order to make himself a bigger selling to the world stage since he was Jewish and the world was heading towards World War I and he knew that Jewish people were not widely accepted even at that time in the world stage before the beginning of World War II and the rise of Nazi Germany.

Houdin with the addition of the "i" at the end means "Like Houdin", which would mean Harry Houdini taking on his mentor's cape with a flourish to enter the world stage.

Just checking to see if anyone out there has any more comments on this topic. I really would be interested in hearing people's opinions.

This is my personal opinion, but I find it very hard to believe that Houdini dies from a punch to the stomach. The human body is stronger than that.

Originally posted by ResinLA
This is my personal opinion, but I find it very hard to believe that Houdini dies from a punch to the stomach. The human body is stronger than that.

In one account, he died of a ruptured appendix which was already inflamed at the time of the punch. Guy hit him before he could set himself. He quickly recovered and offered the guy another chance after setting his abs.

Failed to get treatment and it burst. There's no clear evidence if it burst as a direct or an indirect result of the blow.

Another account says there were several blows made to a reclining Houdini by a McGill University student, and after Houdini protested, several more. His insurance concluded it was death due to this incident and paid double.

McGill archives suggests aggravation of a pre-existing condition by the punch(es).

See: The Man Who Killed Houdini by Don Bell, Vehicule Press, 2004.

While I can see that Houdini dieing from a punch or appendicitis is somewhat on the topic of this thread, the original post was about him being a Secret Service agent and spy when during World War I, the Secret Service actually had an influence in the spy world.

Just reading today about Houdini he admitted was a Mason while he was testifying in order to influence a law to stop charlatan "pyschic's" and the spiritualists of the day. He found out that spiritualists and mediums, that would be pyschic's of the day had already invaded the White House and the majority of the Senate.

Harry Houdini being a spy, Secret Service agent, and Mason, now that explains alot about the man, the myth, the Mystifier.

Anyone else out there interested in this subject or am I wasting My time?

Just checking to see if anyone has read this post about how Houdini was a spy for the Secret Service during the time the Secret Service had intelligence agency capabilites at the turn of the century. Anyone got any thoughts on this?

Just reading today about Houdini he admitted was a Mason while he was testifying in order to influence a law to stop charlatan "pyschic's" and the spiritualists of the day. He found out that spiritualists and mediums, that would be pyschic's of the day had already invaded the White House and the majority of the Senate.

I wonder if this is true today....

I guess if I had magical powers like Houdini I would use them to thwart psychics.

Does he provide any evidence of the psychics in the government, because that would be an interesting discussion?

Have not read the book. Looks interesting though. I never read much about Houdini to begin with, as I am not too much into magicians/illusions/etc. I will research him, though

Originally posted by DINSTAAR

Just reading today about Houdini he admitted was a Mason while he was testifying in order to influence a law to stop charlatan "pyschic's" and the spiritualists of the day. He found out that spiritualists and mediums, that would be pyschic's of the day had already invaded the White House and the majority of the Senate.

I wonder if this is true today....

I guess if I had magical powers like Houdini I would use them to thwart psychics.

Does he provide any evidence of the psychics in the government, because that would be an interesting discussion?

From what I understand of the book and his life Houdini actually demonstrated all of the tactics of the pyschic's and charlatains and showed through the illusion so that they would better be able to stop them in the future. He got passed what's called the "Houdini Laws", I've got a friend who is a psychic, she explained the definition of a psychic is "All-Seeing."

It's a nice way to say that a psychic is a profiler, who then takes advantage of a dupe.

Originally posted by SpartanKingLeonidas


Just reading today about Houdini he admitted was a Mason while he was testifying in order to influence a law to stop charlatan "pyschic's" and the spiritualists of the day. He found out that spiritualists and mediums, that would be pyschic's of the day had already invaded the White House and the majority of the Senate.

Was this in the book?

Where did you read that, do you have any links?

Thats funny.

If you think THAT is interesting, you might be happy to know that Pee-Wee Herman and Bozo the Clown were KGB and MI6 agents, respectively.

Originally posted by Mr. Ree
If you think THAT is interesting, you might be happy to know that Pee-Wee Herman and Bozo the Clown were KGB and MI6 agents, respectively.

Um, you're kidding, right? Was that a joke? Because I was serious. The Houdini book is as thick as a phone book and is based from detailed letters, stories and information collected about Houdini's entire life.

Read the book or don't, but don't patronize Me. I deserve more respect than that.

Interesting theory although I think incorrect. The Secret Service has always been an organization focused toward the Treasury Department i.e. counterfeit money, fraudulent claims against the government in terms of credit card fraud land fraud etc. Later to the protection of the President later the protection of former presidents and later to foreign dignitaries. Yes they have gone "undercover" in cases to investigate a group or individual perpetrating these crimes. In 1908 some Secret Service agents were transfered into the Department of Justice to start up the FBI. I will check into this a bit more but pretty sure at this point no he was not a Secret Service Agent. Hope this helps.

edit for fat fingers

[edit on 13-3-2008 by drift393]

Interesting fact about houdini.

He spent most of his life trying to expose the fraud of psychics and paranormal phenomenon. He was a hardcore skeptic.