Magic Circle recreates Houdini's famous 1904 handcuff challenge

Summarised from 2 outlets · 3 reports · Updated 25 Oct, 13:31 · Archive

The Magic Circle is recreating the 1904 Daily Mirror handcuff challenge that made Harry Houdini famous, 100 years after his death.

To mark 100 years since Harry Houdini's death on 31 October, the Magic Circle is hosting special events recreating the 'Daily Mirror Handcuff Challenge' that secured his international fame. On 14 March 1904, the Mirror challenged the American escapologist with a pair of custom-made solid steel handcuffs presented by reporter Frank Parker at London's Hippodrome Theatre. The cuffs were forged by a Birmingham blacksmith over five years and considered unpickable by Britain's top locksmiths.

Yorkshire-born magician Paul Zenon, aged 62 and a Gold Star member of the Inner Magic Circle, will attempt to escape from a replica of those handcuffs. According to Zenon, the original challenge was likely a mutually beneficial publicity stunt between Houdini and press baron Alfred Harmsworth, who had launched the Daily Mirror a few months earlier.

Houdini died aged 52 on 31 October 1926 from diffuse peritonitis caused by a ruptured appendix. Documentary series and radio shows will be broadcast to mark the centenary of his death, which fell on Halloween.

How it is being reported

• The mystery of Houdini's deathHarry Houdini, the greatest escape artist who ever lived, died 100 years ago on Halloween – a fact that has only burnished his image as a daredevil who often cheated death. But was there a cover-up involving the circumstances of his death?CBS News · 25 Oct, 13:19
• The mystery of Houdini's deathHarry Houdini, the greatest escape artist who ever lived, died 100 years ago on Halloween – a fact that has only burnished his image as a daredevil who often cheated death. Correspondent David Pogue examines the life, and after-life, of a man who seemingly performed the impossible while also debunking seances and fake mystics; and looks into the mystery surrounding Houdini's death at age 52.CBS News · 25 Oct, 13:17
• 100 years after Houdini's death, The Magic Circle re-enacts his greatest escapeTo mark 100 years since Harry Houdini’s death, magician Paul Zenon escape-tested a replica of the famous 1904 Daily Mirror handcuffs... but could the modern magic man free himself?The Mirror · 23 Oct, 15:47

In this story: Harry Houdini · Paul Zenon · The Magic Circle · Daily Mirror · London

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