Houdini Reappears at the Skirball

If Harry Houdini lived today, he’d be a reality TV star.

After all, he performed in front of newspaper offices to get his name in the press, a name now synonymous with “escape artist.”  

Opening Thursday at the Skirball, “Houdini: Art and Magic" is the first full-scale art exhibition exploring the life and legacy of the man who is arguably the world’s most famous magician.

His entertaining feats of escape from straitjackets, shackles, chains, packing trunks and "Chinese torture cells" set the benchmark for modern-day masters of illusion such as David Copperfield, David Blaine and Criss Angel.

But Houdini’s rise to success as the son of an immigrant rabbi wasn’t magic, and his self-made career has been the subject of several Hollywood movies, clips of which are featured at the exhibition.  

Born Ehrich Weiss in Budapest, Hungary, in 1874, Houdini joined the circus at age 9 and worked odd jobs until he started his first magic act, the Brothers Houdini, at age 17. Several years later he met fellow performer Bess Rahner, who became his wife and stage assistant. They performed in vaudeville houses across America as “The Houdinis,” eventually earning Houdini national fame and a European tour.

At the exhibit, promotional materials, photographs, film footage and memorabilia spanning his career are on display. His original props, devices and apparatuses, including the water torture cell and packing trunk from which he escaped, are displayed on pedestals with dramatic lighting as homage to his showmanship. Illusionists need not worry: The exhibition abides by the “Magicians’ Code” and doesn’t let his secrets escape.

"Houdini: Art and Magic" is complemented by “Masters of Illusion: Jewish Magicians of the Golden Age” to put a spotlight on contemporaries of Houdini who were often overshadowed by magic’s ultimate star.

“Houdini: Art and Magic” runs from April 28 to Sept. 4
Skirball Cultural Center
2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.
$10 general; $7 seniors and full-time students; $5 children 2–12; Free to members and children under 2; Free to all on Thursdays.