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鈥淒id you know about the House of Houdini here?鈥�
And so began a fascinating, eye-opening adventure. We were on a family 鈥渂ack to the roots鈥� trip to Hungary with my three daughters, their spouses and nine grandchildren when my son-in-law who had been walking ahead of us on famed Castle Hill in Budapest surprised me with that question. I was a bit taken aback because I consider myself to be somewhat of an expert on Houdini. I knew, of course, that he had been born in Budapest and lived there till the age of four when the family emigrated to Appleton, Wisconsin where his father had found a job as a rabbi. But I had not heard of any House of Houdini. Obviously, we made a beeline.
It wasn鈥檛 hard to find since 鈥淗ouse of Houdini鈥� was emblazoned in large letters in English above the much smaller Hungarian lettering. As I quickly learned, this was the only museum in Europe dedicated to Houdini. I couldn鈥檛 understand how I had not heard of this truly remarkable collection of Houdini memorabilia. We quickly signed up for the guided tour and entered the museum, passing by a life-size wax figure of Houdini, the man whose name has become synonymous with magic and escapes. Our young guide expertly described the handcuffs, lock picks, photos, posters, Houdini鈥檚 personal letters and the remarkable family Bible signed by Houdini with his real name, Erich Weiss. There were also props used in the 2014 miniseries about Houdini filmed in Budapest starring Adrien Brody, who is also of Hungarian descent.
After having marvelled at the displays, we were guided into a small Houdini-era looking theatre where we were treated to a magic show. The performer was excellent, entertaining us with classic tricks, including the 鈥淧rofessor鈥檚 Nightmare,鈥� a rope trick I commonly perform although he did it much better with an added twist. As our visit drew to an end and we were just about to leave, the guide approached and asked if we could stay for a few minutes because the director of the museum would like to have a word. During the tour I had mentioned to the guide that about 35 years ago I had a chance to interview Sam Smilovitz, the man who had been invited to make a sketch of Houdini in the dressing room of the Princess Theatre in Montreal and witnessed the infamous punch in the stomach by 51吃瓜网student J. Gordon Whitehead on Oct. 22, 1926 that supposedly precipitated Houdini鈥檚 death nine days later. And that is how I got to meet David Merlini, the 48-year-old Houdini enthusiast behind this amazing museum. I was in for a shock.
As we started to chat, I asked David about what had spawned his passion for Houdini and learned that he had been born in Hungary but moved with his family to Italy when he was four years old (shades of Houdini). As a youngster he had become interested in playing with locks and handcuffs instead of toys. That sparked an interest in escapes that naturally led to the history of Houdini, recognized as the most famous escape artist of all time. I then innocently asked David if he had ever considered following in his hero鈥檚 footsteps, to which he remarked that he had dabbled in escapes now and then. As I was to learn, this was like someone who had never heard of Stephen Hawking asking him if he had ever dabbled in physics or someone who had never heard of Lionel Messi asking him if he had ever kicked a ball. Totally self-deprecating, David told me I might find something about his escapes on YouTube. We talked a bit more and then left with a gift of a trick deck of cards that had been used in the show we had just seen.
As we continued our walk and stopped at one of the stands to purchase 鈥渃himney cakes,鈥� the famous Hungarian confection that was a hit with the grandkids, I remarked how astonished I was that I had never heard of the House of Houdini. But that astonishment turned out to be trivial when compared with the utter bewilderment I experienced when I got back to the hotel and typed 鈥淒avid Merlini鈥� into the search bar. To this day, given that I follow magic performers closely and have quite a collection of books about magic and magicians, I cannot understand how I had not come across his name. David did not 鈥渄abble in escapes,鈥� he is the most famous escapologist in Europe! His stunts easily surpass those of David Blaine, an amazing performer himself.
I am not easily dumbfounded, but I was blown away by what I saw. David鈥檚 signature stunt 鈥淗yberna鈥� has him strapped in a straitjacket and placed in a glass container that is filled with water before being placed in a liquid helium-cooled chamber where the water quickly freezes. He is literally frozen inside a giant ice cube with no air to breathe. After some minutes, the surface of the ice is melted with flame throwers and assistants chip away at the ice until David manages to break the block open and escape, having freed himself from the straitjacket. Astounding! Holding his breath, it seems, is the least of the problems given that in 2009 he established a world record by holding his breath underwater for 21 minutes and 29 seconds. David has performed Hyberna outdoors in front of thousands as well as on live television.
How about escaping from a block of concrete? He has done that, too, in front of throngs who lined the shores of the Danube in front of Budapest鈥檚 iconic Parliament building as he was dropped into the water encased in concrete up to his neck. Minutes later, he bobbed to the surface where he grabbed a line from a hovering helicopter and was triumphantly whisked to the riverbank. How about escaping and parachuting safely to the ground from a locked capsule atop a giant privately built missile launched to a height of 2,000 metres? Yup, he did that as well. David has also escaped from a car set on fire, a straitjacket while hanging upside down and from the depths of the Baltic Sea into which he was tossed handcuffed and weighted down with chains locked around his body. I just can鈥檛 get my head around how until now I was unaware of the House of Houdini and the escapologist who outshone the man who inspired his escapes.
