The entrance to the museum and magic shop Spiritualist & medium debunking artifacts

The charred remains of the water torture cellĪ publicity poster for the water torture cell and other artifacts The bust of Houdini once on his grave in QueensĪn array of promotional materials and memorabilia from movies The museum is free, so keep an eye out next time you’re in the Penn Station area, as even streets like Seventh Avenue that seem on the surface to be far from magical often have their hidden wonders. There are also movie posters from his film career, photographs from his life, his relics of debunking spiritualists for their frauds, and an x-ray of the bullet lodged in his hand. (This bust was also later stolen and then recovered.) You can peer into the 1907 escape coffin where Houdini emerged from the lid banged down with six inch nails in 66 minutes, the burial box itself decorated with illustrations of the achievement. There’s even the 1976 replacement bust from his grave in Machpelah Cemetery in Queens on loan from Society of American Magicians, a substitute for one that was stolen. It’s hard to imagine a more inspiring array of artifacts for aspiring young magicians, with everything from framed handcuffs to remains from the water torture cell that were salvaged from a fire. On my visit to the one-room shop and museum, a child’s birthday party was just wrapping up and there were magic tricks being demonstrated at the store counter.

Most is from the private collection of Fantasma’s CEO Roger Dreyer and has rarely been on public view, although you may have seen the metamorphosis chest in the corner at the Houdini: Art and Magicexhibition at the Jewish Museum. The museum, opened in 2012, is within the Fantasma Magic shop and has a couple hundred objects on display, as well as some 1,500 items in its archives. Yet go through the nondescript Midtown lobby and take the elevator to the third floor and you’ll find yourself in the Houdini Museum. As Houdini he conquered the confines of handcuffs, strait jackets, and coffins, living much of his life in Harlem.įew who walk the busy blocks around Penn Station in New York likely notice the small signs for a magic shop below the scaffolding on Seventh Avenue. The Hungarian would later move to the United States and transform into the great escape artist named for his early idol - magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. Today marks 140 years since Harry Houdini was born as Erik Weisz in Budapest. Houdini’s escape coffin in the Houdini Museum (all photographs by the author)

Houdini's magic shop