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Houdini Would Have Loved "Metamorphosis"
Controversy
by Bob
Lowe
March 30, 2004
As if the Bush presidential visit wasn't creating enough of
a stir in town, Appleton has also been in the national and
international media because of a magician who’s been
dead for nearly 78 years.
The
decision by the Outagamie Museum in downtown Appleton to reveal
the secret behind Harry Houdini’s legendary escape trick,
"Metamorphosis," has created a controversy that’s
been covered on CNN, NBC’s "The Today Show,"
The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC’s "Countdown"
With Keith Olbermann and even the BBC in London in the past
week.
Magicians,
led by Appleton performer Ron Lindberg ("Rondini"),
are upset because the museum will be featuring an interactive
display detailing the secrets behind "Metamorphosis."
The act involves a magician switching places with an assistant
after escaping from a locked trunk. The exhibit is slated
to open June 2. According to magicians, their code of ethics
prohibits them from disclosing details of the illusion.
Terry
Bergen, executive director of the museum, said the secrets
behind the trick have been available in books, the Internet
and other media for years. She said it is only part of a larger
educational display about the famous magician.Some
rogue magicians have also taken to the television airways
in recent years to disclose the secret behind this and other
magic acts.
Magicians
all over the country are crying foul. Marc Gilday of North
Province, R.I., who calls himself "New England’s
foremost magician", phoned the museum and, in effect,
bribed them. He begged the museum to keep the secret if he
promised to raise enough money to cover the cost of the exhibit.
An anonymous caller offered to hop on a plane and deliver
a cool $1 million to the museum if it agrees to keep the "Metamorphosis"
secret. Museum officials took exception to these offers. "We
cannot be bought," said Matthew Carpenter, the museum’s
curator of collections.
Houdini
was born Ehrich Weiss in Budapest, Hungary on March 24, 1874,
but claimed Appleton as his hometown. Houdini died of peritonitis
resulting from appendicitis in Detroit, Michigan on Oct. 31,
1926 – ironically, the date of Halloween. Many séances
to his memory have been held on that date since then. He was
buried at Machpelah Cemetery in Cypress Hills Street, Queens,
New York, which also contain the remains of his mother, father,
sister and brothers – but not his wife, Bess.
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