Jordan Parker
Harry Houdini, the American magician known for his sensational escape acts visited Nova Scotia in his early career.
According to Canada’s History magazine, Houdini was traveling Nova Scotia in 1896 with his wife Bess. He had just arrived on the magic scene and was trying to keep afloat.
He was a magician’s assistant touring through parts of the area, but things weren’t going well for the now-famous magician. Houdini and his wife had joined The Marco Magic Company – bankrolled by a man named Marco the Magician — their first stop was in Yarmouth, N.S. on May 28th, 1896.
Little did they know there would be another act in town. Rufus Somerby was selling out acts in Yarmouth with his Professor Wormwood’s Monkey Theatre show. Marco and the Houdini’s couldn’t draw the crowd, high-wire, trapeze monkeys could.
Houdini did two shows in Yarmouth, and managed to dazzle the small audiences with escapes, levitation, and mind-reading.
Houdini and Marco began planning mid-June shows in Halifax, but Professor Wormwood’s monkey business now had baby monkeys drawing crowds in Halifax.
Harry Houdini arrived in the city and knowing the power of publicity, had himself stripped, handcuffed, and locked in the city jail by Halifax’s Chief of Police. Within minutes, Houdini called the station from the nearby Queen Hotel, politely asking for the return of his clothes.
Houdini died on October 31, 1926, at age 52 of a ruptured appendix. He is now considered a legend and a household name. Quite a legacy for someone who spent parts of 1896 dazzling Nova Scotians.
Today, the magician appeal continues, with Haligonian ghost hunters attempting to summon Houdini’s spirit to Citadel Hill during Halloween in 2013.
