SCRANTON, Pa., Sept. 21, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- (WITH PACKAGE) October 31, 2001 marks the 75th year after the death of legendary magician Harry Houdini. Once again the Houdini Museum will hold the annual Houdini Seance. Using WebCam software and hardware from Intel, Microsoft and others, the Official Houdini Museum Seance(tm) will be Web cast live for the first time in history on the Internet. The Houdini Museum is the only museum in the world entirely devoted to Houdini. Houdini's wife, Beatrice, conducted the seances for 10 years and then asked that friend and confidant Walter B. Gibson continue the Halloween seance tradition as a continuing tribute to Houdini. Walter B. Gibson was the author of "The Shadow," a Houdini biographer, and ghost writer for Houdini. The tradition has been carried on since 1927, on the anniversary of Houdini's death. Magicians Dorothy Dietrich and John Bravo (both currently Board members of the Houdini Museum) did them with Walter for many years in New York, Houdini's hometown, at the famed Magic Towne House. Before Walter B. Gibson passed away he passed the mantel and responsibility to magician Dorothy Dietrich to continue the annual seance as a tribute to Houdini.
Dorothy Dietrich, often called "America's #1 Female Magician," "The Female Houdini," "World's Number One Lady Magician," was an ideal choice to carry on the Houdini Seance tradition. She has appeared on countless TV shows including a Home Box Office Special, "The World's Greatest Escapes," "You Asked For It" (2 times), "Geraldo," Discovery Channel, "Exploring The Unknown," "Ripley's Believe It or Not," A Bill Cosby Special, etc. She is one of the few people and the first and only woman in history to do the Catching of a Bullet in the Mouth, and the escape from a Straight Jacket while suspended from a burning rope. Houdini said he would attempt the bullet catch after Illusionist Chung Ling Soo was killed doing it. It was the only stunt Houdini said he would do that he backed out of. He also never did the escape from a burning rope. When asked recently if she thought Houdini could escape from the beyond, she commented, "If any one could, it would be Houdini!"
Magician John Bravo operated New York City's Magic Towne House for 15 years. He edited and published Hocus Pocus Magazine for three years. He has appeared on many trade shows for major corporations, TV shows, etc. and is currently on the Board of Directors of the Houdini Museum in Scranton.
The Houdini Museum, current site of the Houdini Seances, has been located in Scranton for over 12 years in the Scranton/Pocono area. Prior to that the Houdini artifacts and seances were located at the famous Magic Towne House in New York City. The Magic Towne House was the location of the Official New York Halloween Houdini Seances for 15 years. New York City is where Houdini lived most of his life. The seances were covered yearly by much of the media.
For the past five years we have also done The Official Internet Halloween Houdini Seance. We ask everyone on the Web to attempt to contact Houdini sometime during Halloween for the 24 hours of October 31 and email us with any results and lack of results. This year, for the first time in history, the seances will be broadcast live over the Internet via WebCam. Our Web site is http://houdini.org. Before Houdini died he left a code with his wife Beatrice with the idea that she should try to contact Houdini through a seance each year on the day of Houdini's death. It was felt that this would be the final test, and that if the great Houdini could not communicate from the beyond, the world would know that no one can. Houdini felt that this way even after death he could be proving that it is not possible to talk to spirits as claimed by spiritualists. The reason for the code was ingenious. It assured that the crooked spiritualists of the day would not be able to fake contact with Houdini. Although these have been called "seances" by many, it was meant to be a scientific test between Houdini, his wife and friends. Famous lawyer Clarence Darrow was another who had joined the list.
Houdini never said he was coming back, or that he would open handcuffs, etc. He was the exposer of the very people who claimed they could get messages from the dead, make ghosts appear, ring bells, etc. He said such things were in his experience not possible. Being the greatest escape artist/magician that ever lived, Houdini said he would try to escape from the beyond. After 10 years of no results, his wife Bess sent out a letter to the Library of Congress, and all the participants, and placed an ad in many magazines, saying, "since the failure of the 10 year TEST, it is my opinion that all concerned have struck a mighty world wide blow at superstition."
Houdini loved magic and magicians. He was President of the Society of American Magicians for some 10 years until the day he died. He left a substantial amount of money for the organization in his will, and found time to put together and write for MUM, The Society of American Magicians monthly magazine each month, even with his busy schedule. As he traveled the world he asked magicians to join the SAM thereby helping the organization to grow and prosper. He even has the crest of the SAM prominently displayed on his grave site. In both MUM and his own Conjurors Magazine he would often have favorable reviews of magicians and to many people's surprise other escape artists as well.
When you do these events year after year "strange" things can happen. As the seance at The Magic Towne House began marking the 50th anniversary of Houdini's death, a picture of the Chinese Water Torture Cell fell to the floor and smashed. It was on the other side of the room that was unoccupied. Well known magician and Houdini biographer Milbourne Christopher rushed to the spot and found no evidence of foul play. Since we had the press there, The National Globe got wind of the story and printed it. The glass was soon repaired. Several years later Dorothy Dietrich was invited to the Geraldo TV Show, and while that same picture was in the hands of his staff the glass broke again. No one claimed to know how. Both these incidences are credited by Dorothy Dietrich to be coincidences.
In addition to the Houdini Seance in October, the Houdini Museum also puts on a special fund raising series of shows for the last three weeks in October entitled the "Houdini Spook-tacular Magic Show." For information on these shows use the contacts below. A portion of the proceeds to this show will be donated to the World Trade Center disaster relief.
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CONTACT: Houdini Museum
Penny Wilkes
(570) 342-5555
magicusa@microserve.net