Simon Carmel reveals the story of Houdini and the deaf

You just never know when a whole new area of Houdini's life will be uncovered by some magic historian, and that's exactly what we have in the new book Out of the Magic Cloak by Dr. Simon J. Carmel.

Dr. Carmel is a biographer-historian of 230 deaf magicians from 43 countries. He has produced two earlier works, Silent Magic and Invisible Magic (which includes the biography of deaf escape artist, John Livingston McManima).

In this new book, Dr. Carmel devotes a chapter to "Harry Houdini and the Deaf Magicians." In it he reveals that not only did Houdini perform special shows for the deaf, but he had mastered the British two-handed alphabet for conversing with the deaf. He also met and corresponded with deaf magicians in England, Scotland, and the United States from 1904 through 1920. All new to me!

Dr. Carmel's previous two books are available on Amazon (linked above), but to get Out of the Magic Cloak you'll need to reach out to him at simoncarmel13@aol.com. He is also offering all three books for a discount of $85 (postage included), signed if desired.

"It is my ultimate goal to make sure that deaf magicians will not be overlooked, neglected or forgotten in the history of magic," says Simon.

Related:

• Houdini in 1920