How A Clerical Error Changed The Course of Magic History

Jean Eugene Robert Houdin – Father of Modern Magic

Or – How A Clerical Error Changed The Course of Magic

 

If I could go back in time … And I can … One of the people I would most like to talk to is Jean Eugene Robert Houdin.

Ever heard of Houdini?  This isn’t him.   

Jean Eugene Robert Houdin was a French watch maker.  His father was one of the best watch makers in Blois, France, their hometown.  He wanted Jean to be a lawyer. Hired as a clerk for his excellent penmanship, Jean instead tinkered with gadgets until the lawyer’s office told his father he’d make a better watchmaker than lawyer.

He then apprenticed to his cousins shop, where he became a watchmaker.  In the mid-1820s he ordered a two volume set of books called Traite de L’horlogerie (Treatise on Clockmaking), and when picking them up from the shop, the clerk accidentally gave him the two volume magic set, Scientific Amusements.  The books caught his interest and he began practicing, then started taking lessons from a local magician.  His skills grew, and eventually he combined his passions.

Houdin was known for creating fantastic clock works.  Ever seen that movie The Illusionist?  The orange-tree illusion that Edward Norton’s character, Eisenheim, was largely based on Houdin.  The Orange Tree was one of Houdin’s most famous illusions.

Another very impressive feat was when Houdin stopped a war using only his quick wits and knowledge of magic.  After he had retired from magic, the French government was having some trouble with the Algerians.  A rebellion was brewing, lead by the Marabouts who claimed to use magical abilities which would allow them to defeat the French.  In 1856 Houdin was asked by Luis-Napoleon to go to Algeria and show the people that French magic was stronger than the Marabouts’ magic.

He went to Algeria and did several performances.  Generally they followed the same format and one stood out more than others.  He had a small woman lift a box on stage, then set it down.  Then he called up a strong warrior to do the same, after claiming to sap the strength of the warrior.  The warrior was unable to lift the box, and then sudden ran from the theater screaming in pain. 

He decided he needed to get to the leaders of this rebellion so he travelled into the desert looking for their main camp.  When he got there he was challenged to a duel by one of the most powerful priests.  Claiming that he needed time to rest and prepare, he asked to have 8 hours to meditate, due to the fact that he’d left his talisman in the cities.  They scheduled the duel for 8 AM the next day.  At dawn, they met.  Pistols were selected, they took the requisite number of steps, and Houdin allowed the priest to take a clean first shot.  The priest shot him in the chest.  Houdin then smiled, revealing the shining bullet held between his teeth.  He took aim, not at the priest, but at a nearby wall, and fired.  The wall began to bleed. 

With these tricks, the confidence in the rebellion was destroyed and Houdin returned home a hero of France.  

No wonder a guy named Erich Weiss decided to pay homage to this man when creating a stage name.  He combined his childhood nickname (Erry, or to an American, Harry) with a mistaken understanding of French, and came up with Harry Houdini which he thought meant “Like Houdin”.