Chicago Magic by David Witter

Author:David Witter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-04-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chicago’s Columbian Exposition, 1893. Courtesy Historical Findings .

Just after the Chicago World’s Fair, Houdini toured as the “King of Cards” before he gained fame as an escape artist. Lithograph poster, C 1895. McManus-Young Collection, Library of Congress .

Dressed in a turban and white robe, Houdini would sit cross legged on a straw mat, yogi style. With his dark complexion and curly hair, few doubted the authenticity of this performer as he spread his magical tools before him. The crowd gasped as one of his talismans looked like a baby’s arm that had been burned at one end. Just as the hoodoo merchants would on the South Side some fifty years later, Houdini explained that in order to create or change the path of life, you must possess the energy of it in some form. Taking a bottle of water, he would explain to the crowd, “These are the elements that will grow the mango tree.”

It was the orange tree illusion, created by none other than French magician Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin, the man from whom Houdini (he added the “i”) derived his stage name. As he sprinkled water on the mat, he would chant in a strange tongue. Then Houdini’s brother Theo, also dressed in eastern garb, would begin playing a melody on an exotic musical instrument such as a wooden flute or lyre. Maybe he even played the “Hoochie Coochie” song. The familiar melody—to which words like, “oh the girls in France, do the hoochie-koochie dance…” would later be added—was written by fellow Chicago magician Sol Bloom for the World’s Fair.

Bloom was the promoter behind “spicing up” the Midway, with displays of freaks, magicians (including hiring Houdini) and, to add a touch of sex, belly dancers. Needing an exotic, sensual-sounding song, he quickly composed the ditty. Little did he know that for the next century, the song would be performed in burlesque clubs across the world and its melody would be sung by generations of schoolboys who added lyrics like, “oh the girls in France don’t wear any underpants.”

As Theo continued to play his flute, Houdini would chant in a strange, nonsensical gibberish that nevertheless seemed foreign and mysterious to the crowd. Soon, both became more fervent until two small sprouts sprang from the seeds. Houdini would once again toss the shroud over the sprouts, and after sprinkling more “magic water” and “magic powder” and waving the “baby’s arm,” the chanting and playing would continue. After more time passed, the cloth would be removed and two small orange trees would appear. The amazed audience would shower the brothers with coins. For the first time in his life, Houdini was making a significant amount of money from his performances.

After the World’s Fair, Houdini was in demand. He continued to work at Kohl and Middleton’s in Chicago, working as many as twenty shows a day, mostly doing escapes. When not working, he performed card tricks in beer halls, with roaming carnivals and any other extra work he could cram in. Then Harry

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