Timeless Houdini

Back in 2017, Houdini made an appearance on the time-traveling television show Timeless. Houdini was played by Michael Drayer. Now, you can watch one of the Houdini scenes via the YouTube channel Scene City.

This episode was called "The World's Columbian Exposition" and is set during the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. It first aired on Monday, January 16, 2017. Timeless ran for two seasons on NBC.

If you could travel back in time and see Houdini, what would you go to see? I will reveal my own choices in my year-end sign-off post at the end of this week.

Related:

• 'Timeless' Houdini episode will air January 16
• Timeless crew werk'in on Houdini episode
• Houdini will appear in 'Timeless'

Houdini's grand finale at the Bardavon

Let's wrap up the story of Houdini's 1924 spirit lecture tours by marking his last stop (as far as I know) one hundred years ago today at the Bardavon in Poughkeepsie, New York. This was also Houdini's one and only appearance in the city. A fun detail is that magician John Mulholland attended the lecture as an "escort" to 18 Vassar College girls.

 Billboard Dec. 28 1924.

The Bardavon was named for William Shakespeare (the Bard of Avon). In 1924, the theater played a mix of vaudeville, silent movies, and stage plays. The theatre survived the wrecking ball in the 1970s and still stands today as a popular live performance venue. According to its history page, the Bardavon holds the distinction of being the oldest continuously operating theater in New York State and one of the oldest in the entire country.

Houdini's 1924 lecture tours covered almost 12,000 miles. Surprisingly, these tours barely warrant a mention in most Houdini biographies. But they were filled with interesting stories and took him to many places where he had never appeared before, and Houdini was very proud of his work.

Want more? You see all the stops on Houdini's tours as a member of my Patreon below. Heads up that this is the last day of my Black Friday sale, offering 10% off all new memberships with the promo code BESS.

Related:

• Houdini's war on fake mediums began 100 years ago today
• Houdini's 2nd lecture tour began 100 years ago today
• Houdini describes his spiritualism lecture in full