Magicians conjure Houdini-themed shows for October

Amodei does the Needles

So if you think all it takes to get my attention and a shout-out is to somehow mention Houdini in your act...well, you're absolutely right! And as October looms, I'll do my best to keep up with the annual onslaught of Houdini-themed Halloween entertainment.

First up, magician Ivan Amodei, who performs at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA (apparently in one of the hotel suites), has announced a special series of Halloween-themed October shows in honor of Houdini.

"Harry Houdini is undoubtedly one of the most famous names in magic, but first and foremost he was an escape artist," says Amodei. "Those in attendance during one of my October shows will witness a technique done by the great Houdini that has not been attempted in a hundred years. I can't predict the outcome of summoning otherworldly forces, but I can predict great entertainment."

Amodei has earned a reputation as an illusionist to the stars and has entertained Hollywood luminaries including Ashton Kutcher, Jim Carrey, Steven Spielberg, and Larry David.

For more information and tickets visit http://www.ivanamodei.com.

Douglas Ker

Next up is master magician Douglas Ker who will conjure the spirit of Houdini during two special shows at the La Cumbre Plaza in Santa Barbara, CA on October 21.

"Houdini is still remembered today, over 75 years after his death" says Ker. "Most people remember he did fantastic escapes but just like Madonna does today, he kept re-inventing himself and his magic shows. He started out as 'The King of Cards' who could do a thousand card tricks, moved into doing fantastic escapes like Water Torture Cell and at the end of his career exposed fraudulent spirit mediums who claimed to contact dead loved ones when he realized they were doing simple tricks to take people's money."

Ker's shows, which take place at 1pm and 3pm, will feature tricks from all three of Houdini’s specialties: A playing card found in a flaming ball of fire at the end of a dagger, escapes like Houdini’s Thumb Tie and Prisoner Transport Escape, and he will re-create a Spirit Seance that Houdini would expose as fake.

Visit shoplacumbre.com for full details.

Sean-Paul

Finally, illusionist and medium Sean-Paul of Intrigue Theater will make an effort to contact Houdini during a special Halloween performance at the Crescent Hotel & Spa, "America's Most Haunted Hotel", in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The show is called The INTRIGUE of HARRY HOUDINI and takes place at 10pm.

Sean-Paul will also perform a suspended straitjacket escape from the top floor of the five-story hotel this Thursday, October 4th at Noon. The escape is being presented a Houdini-style challenge from the editor of The Citizen newspaper and is free to the public.

For more information go to americasmosthauntedhotel.com. Below is the video challenge to Sean-Paul from The Citizen.