It’s National Magic Week…Because of Houdini!

Too Much Context Man – The Blog
by Kent Cummins
Issue Number 1
October 28, 2015

It’s National Magic Week!

For that matter, it’s also National Magic Month. And on Saturday, October 31st, it will be National Magic Day!

1976 Photo by Dan Corcoran at Fort Lee, Virginia
1976 Photo by Dan Corcoran at Fort Lee, Virginia

What’s up with all these magic designations? They were initiated by the Society of American Magicians after their famous president, Harry Houdini, died. Houdini wasn’t the first President of the S.A.M. (in fact, he was the eleventh), but he was by far the longest serving president, holding that position from 1917 until his untimely death on October 31, 1926. he was 52 years old…the number of cards in a deck of playing cards.

Yes, Houdini really did die on Halloween!

But for those of us who saw the 1953 Houdini movie starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, we have to remember that he did NOT actually die as a result of the Chinese Water Torture Cell. It may have been a dangerous escape, but he performed it successfully many times. Continue reading “It’s National Magic Week…Because of Houdini!”