Impressed by Houdini's handcuff act, Beck advised him to concentrate on escape acts and booked him on the Orpheum vaudeville circuit.

In 1899 he met manager Martin Beck in St.

The historic Blackpool theatre you've probably never heard ofįew people know that it was actually on the stages of British theatres that the Hungarian American found true fame.

The Moorfield Colliery explosion - the Accrington coal mine disaster that killed 68 boys and men.

He was quickly dubbed the Handcuff King but it wasn't until 1899 that he made his big break. Houdini's most famous and well known act was to escape from handcuffs. It would be several years before the escapologist developed his most famous tricks and performances which would earn him such notoriety in the 20th century. Growing up in Wisconsin, Houdini began learning card tricks before he joined a circus act in 1891. Houdini was born in the old Austro-Hungarian Empire (it ceased to exist after the fall out of the Great War) but later emigrated to the bright lights of America to make his fortune.

In 1902, Harry Houdini sold out the Burnley Empire Theatre in St James' Street, after performing shows in Blackburn. Harry Houdini would become known as the Handcuff King in the early stages of his career. Houdini performed at Empire Theatres in Sheffield and Leicester, seeing them as just as important to his success as the large and celebrity obsessed audiences which he attracted stateside. The Handcuff King later featured in several high profile Hollywood films during the 20s golden age of cinema and became the global celebrity of his age.īut few people know that he was also a fan and purveyor of small, local theatres and took to the stage in cities and towns across Britain that many in his new home of America would have never heard of. The Hungarian born Houdini would embark on a 30 year career which would see him perform some of the most incredible and death defying stunts ever recorded, wowing crowds in London, San Francisco, New York and Sydney, before bringing his show to adoring audiences in the Netherlands, France, Germany and Russia. He was the world's greatest escapologist, a pioneering magician and a man unrivalled in his time.ġ902 was a special year for Blackburn and Burnley who would both play host to Harry Houdini - one of the most famous and well known faces of modern human history.

Harry houdini