How Good Was Houdini REALLY?

This is my honest opinion. If you like this sort of thing subscribe as I do weekly videos. Thank you for watching!
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[@Mr.H-YT42]

Yeah, I gotta call foul on some of this representation. Houdini had a talent for whipping up strong emotions and publicized conflict, but these aren't the best sources for his character or magical skill. We're completely ignoring Metamorphosis, The Water Torture Cell, the Vanishing Elephant, the needle trick, Radio 1950, Buried Alive, walking through a brick wall, the dozens and dozens of prison escapes, overboard box escapes, and the whole sum total of his 1925-26 full evening program. Houdini was a vaudeville performer the vast majority of his career, usually on stage only 20 minutes or so until the last couple of years he performed. There were some reviewers unimpressed, but most were very favorable and compared him to Kellar and Thurston (the later of which spread false rumors to the press). Please don't confuse his public / stage persona with the man himself. Check out Ken Silverman's book and John Cox's blog, Wild About Houdini for the full scoop!

[@crnodete]

me watching this video naked, asking myself have i picked the shirt :

[@torresilk4277]

Obviously you did!

[@daveborn1971]

I wasn't the only one then

[@hamzahhussain6580]

This series is incredible bro. I remember being on your channel about 2 years ago. So proud of you man 😃

[@EduardTodor]

Thanks a ton!

[@MagicofKeelanWendorf]

I’ve been seeing his videos popping up a lot and they are very interesting and true.

[@Constant.Connell]

I really dig this entire series. As someone who has never been into magic, this is all informative, but digestible. Keep it up!

[@MexieMex]

Was he a good magician? OK, but not great. Was he a good human being? No, not really. Was he a good self-publicist? Oh god yes!

[@EduardTodor]

Yep!

[@MagicofKeelanWendorf]

I agree

[@pratyaybanerjee2657]

Love this guy ! Have been watching you since 2016 ! You do your research so well ! Love from India :)

[@EduardTodor]

Wow, thank you!

[@Darkraz]

Loving this series of analysing magicians - great work

[@electric_kool-aid]

This is one of your best videos for sure. Love this stuff.

[@jeffhope171]

I have always like your Channel but the stuff you put out now is even better keep up the good work man

[@NetAndyCz]

Houdini was a great performer. No one can master everything, he was just way ahead of everyone when it came to escapes. And well, showing that mediums were fakes was quite a good deed.

[@wishtribe]

He went through a phase where he called himself the king of cards and was laughed at by other magicians. This story would make a great movie. I’d love to see a dark Houdini movie.

[@HoudiniWild]

Hi Kelly. The "bad at cards" is a recent rap that really isn't true. Houdini was very skilled with cards and worked with them his entire career. But what he specialized in was card flourishes or "Cardistry". There is film of him doing very complex flourishes. I've shown this film to an audience of magicians at The Magic Castle as they gasped. David Copperfield features this film in his magic museum. Buy my favorite card story has to do with Houdini performing in Paris for the first time in 1901. He was famous as "The Handcuff King" at this time, but on arrival he discovered handcuffs were not used by the police and Parisians really had no idea what they were. And the police were not about to let him do a jailbreak. So he was screwed. So he instead did his Cardistry and was a sensation. And Paris, the home or Robert-Houdin, was a city well versed in magic. So while cards were never his main thing, when he picked up a deck he killed. BTW, I'd love to see a dark Houdini movie too. :)

[@wishtribe]

@@HoudiniWild I found this after you replied. Not bad at all. kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2W6aKuDabVoj6s

[@somecleverthing]

I mean, that's exactly what The Prestige is, right down to the "sabotaging other magicians" bit. (If you haven't seen it, it's really good.)

[@wishtribe]

somecleverthing I almost brought that up. It’s my favorite “magic” film by far and a must watch if you’re a magician.

[@FreazyTek]

@@somecleverthing Yup,The prestige is also my all-time favourite 'magician' film but close second for me is 'The illusionist' with Edward Norton.Check it out if you can and you won't regret it ;-)

[@jessejamesentertainment8630]

I love this intro, bro! vids keep getting better and better!

[@EduardTodor]

Thank you!

[@krisley5178]

Interesting. I really enjoyed your take on this. Great stuff Brutha! 👍

[@erikkappelman4266]

Well done on the trick, excellent presentation. Really like the philosophy connection.

[@sidbarret718]

Thanks for the insight/history lesson. I knew a bit about Houdini but damn I thought I was competitive. Great content keep it up.

[@garbaccino]

Love this series man 💗

[@EduardTodor]

Thanks dude!

[@legendary3952]

Damn that opening performance was mind blowing 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 😮 Good job

[@ginsan8198]

Your storytelling skill is getting better and better in each performance.

[@znebrem]

That intro trick was effing fire 🔥

[@cardmagic0513]

You are such a great magician love from Philippines. BTW love your intro.

[@Trib74]

Hey Eduard, seems like a even-handed take on Houdini to me. If I remember correctly, Houdini's campaign against mediums started after the death of his mother. In his grief, I guess he tried to contact her spirit and only found charlatans whose deceptions he easily saw through. That led to his 3-in-1 show, which involved a combination of his stage magic, his escapes, and his exposing of medium tricks. I believe this was the show he was performing when the whole unexpected punch incident occurred.

[@Alberto7tube]

He was one of the best of his TIME DONT YOU SEE ALL DOES PEOPLE ON THOSE VIDEOS he was obviously popular For Tv and all those people to go see him And maybe one of the best NOT EVEN Vernon had that fame

[@linus___546]

What an awesome series

[@FusionDeveloper]

Great video

[@niyaz3604]

Hey eduard ik this is kind of random but I’m struggling with the top change I’ve been practising it for 4 months but I jus don’t know the right speed cus I can do fast smooth or slow speed but I got caught doing it smooth but I’m jus struggling do you have anything g that might be able to help me I would appreciate it 👌

[@jeffjucciarone3719]

Wow..fun surprise! In New Jersey, no power for couple days because of tropical storm. Charged phone in my car. Candles lit, deck in hand, wine in other. Amazing as always my dude! The irony of darkness, candles, also, reading a Houdini book! First video I put in is this..Sweating my balls off, dog too, my fish have no filter, food bad but, this made my day.! Keep your name bit if you change, be The Amazing Todorskin..ya know like Kreskin😳 love ya bro

[@ethanchiu9353]

please make a video called "how good was Eduard Todor really" lol Anyways love this series a lot, thank you!

[@josefelix4152]

D: ! I can watch that intro over and over that story is so freaking cool!

[@warewuffdupree]

i think he wanted to believe in the afterlife because he missed his mother very much. he was angry at all the fakes claiming to be able to channel the dead, but really hoped to find a real one.

[@Mr.H-YT42]

Have you read the Silverman book?

[@dylancooper4993]

Bold of you to assume I’m wearing a shirt (or clothes 😋)

[@alfort6326]

that opening is so fcking good man

[@yandrifadli]

frankly speaking, all the GOATs in every category: sport, art, acting, magic performance, etc, etc,, when we go research them to the details, they're most likely be much lesser from the myth/hype that made them famous we're just human after all

[@deepanjanmudi2678]

Really felt i was listening to a nat geo documentary research 😊, Eduard u did a top 10 fav card magicians , would u like to do a top 5 or 10 FEMALE magicians , i would like to watch that vdo😊😊

[@MagicianBrendanRodrigues]

great performance in the start

[@kareem-ji8uw]

u r the best man keep it up

[@EduardTodor]

Thanks, will do!

[@lotusblack7535]

that first monologue was lost on me a bit bc i am very shirtless rn

[@jeffborowiak8992]

The legend is more important than the man?

[@HoudiniWild]

Houdini never set a circus on fire. Good topic to take on, but your information is a little slipshod. We gotta get you some better books. :)

[@EduardTodor]

Bring it up with Dai Vernon, it's a direct quote from him ;)

[@nicapunk16]

What shirt???

[@simonposfurd8807]

Derren Brown please? really appreciate this series...thanks

[@100PurpleAvenue]

Makes sense

[@grahamcox662]

Houdini ,remembered decades after his death.Who are you mister nobody.?

[@ivladf]

Me wearing just shorts: was this my decision? I think not... I think Edi persuaded me somehow to take it off... before I even started watching :) You are good Eduard. Regarding Houdini, I never think of him as a magician, but as an escapist. So, in my opinion, he was a good escapist, but no magician.

[@JoeySonal]

Didn't know about most of the stuff you said at all! It seems like the Myth Harry Houdini and the Harry Houdini who actually lived are two seperate people completely... Also interesting to see that drama and gossip/accusations/insults were making the front pages of news sources even then 😂

[@martinhill2043]

Perspectively for his time he was one of the best around complete legend no question....you cannot critique him in 2020 I’ve listened to this channel on a number of occasions now and get the distinct air of sour grapes I’m just saying

[@znebrem]

I'll give you two vastly different magicians to review, shin lim and David Roth

[@luxg7]

I always thought that houdini was the goat and he never was topped.. Interesting to hear this

[@merkazoidduff7651]

Free will is akin to swimming in a river. You can swim a bit to the left or the right, or you can swim upstream or downstream. However, the current still carries you and you are where you are. This is free will, however it is limited and highly controlled by outside influences.

[@NetAndyCz]

I think free will is kind of illusion. A nice illusion, a practical illusion but still illusion. Our brains work according to the laws of nature and you can look at it two ways. It may be a deterministic process, so it is given which neuron will fire at what time, or it may be (partially) random. Either way, one is not in control. Our consciousness and will is an emergent property of the physics that dictate how our neurons fire up.

[@merkazoidduff7651]

@@NetAndyCz I'm fully on board with emergence theory, that consciousness is the natural state of nature emerging from the infinite and unknowable fabric of reality underlying everything. However, among many philosophies there's the axiom 'as is above is as is below'. From that understanding would not the mundane physical reality be as real and influential as the underlying spiritual or emergent forces? That both nature fits into its environment from emergent forces and the environment shapes nature from physical forces? That while emergent nature and physical environment dictate effect, free will (being both emergent and physical) is real and plays some role which the conscious actor is an active participant? Of course to further advance this discussion the definition of free will would need to be expressed. Is it merely choices one makes? And if it can be predicted perfectly by a demon or super-computer, or even God himself, is there free will? Obviously in a magic trick there is no free will, the magician choses the card for you giving you only the illusion of free choice. In that sense, arguing there is no free will, does the magician play the part of God, or nature, or a super-computer? And is predictability a force, like a magician's force, making one do something? How would a predictive model fit into the idea of cause and effect? If future events could be predicted by existing situations, would it not also be the case that existing situations be caused by future events, invalidating the entire concept of cause and effect? If there is only one possible outcome out of all situations, there being no free will, then I would argue there is no cause and effect, which would be in direct conflict with Hermetic philosophy and therefore I would be likely to reject the premise. So for there to be no absolute and singular future, which a materialistic model would predict, there would need to be some underlying alternative causes. Therefore out of the emergent infinity into the finite material realm there would need to be an infinite polar opposite in the material realm to effect it, which I would then deem as free will. I hope that's legible. ;)

[@NetAndyCz]

@@merkazoidduff7651 Way too many questions for me to answer, i cannot really answer many of them. I think that we either base our choices based on our past experience in a deterministic way. Or there are instances when we make a random choice ,,that might be influenced by some quantum state no one can predict. The very nature of it is random. Either way, there is nothing free about either option. That being said, I think that free will is a useful shortcut, that may affect our deterministic behaviour.

[@eqyr7495]

Me here shirtless 😂💀

[@Cid_Hi]

Today I learn something.

[@nibiru379]

Review lennart green

[@odoetah]

This one might be interesting. How good was Dai Vernon REALLY?

[@TheFreakOnee]

Summed up, excellent showman, lame magician. Every single magician that saw him with cards recall him as an amateur

[@bobnazrul5278]

Have been watching you since 2016!! You the best. Honestly Houdini just a name and popular😂

[@EduardTodor]

Legend!

[@RichardBellars]

Infinity wallet? Lol. Also this series is incredible. Its a bit like today, you don't need to be the best to be the most famous. It's about showmanship

[@liamtideswell4990]

100%

[@alanmurray5963]

Do a show on Uri "con man" Gellar, ha

[@TheFreakOnee]

The thumbnail must be mildly offensive to some older folks lol

[@castle6660]

Houdini is legend. Houdini is also overrated. Vernon is the GOAT. Garrett Thomas is my current favorite. GT is a genius. He has made me completely rethink sleight of hand. Love your videos bruh. Keep up the good work.

[@tmg_sav209]

How could he pretend that a ripped appendix & pancreas didn’t hurt🤔😂

[@joeytulips2180]

Dai Vernon was a shit person as well.. Honestly I'm grateful for Houdini he influenced so many magicians.. Which in turn created modern magic... Which inspired myself to get into and learn magic.. He may have been an asshole in his life but from that suffering.. Many magicians were born

[@younesmohssen8158]

How good are Tom & Jerry REALLY?

[@peterpike]

Ha, joke's on you. I'm not wearing a shirt.

[@achaiah1441]

To put it shortly....houdini came back full circle. Next up daniel maddison please

[@jeffborowiak8992]

Yes how good is Houdini?

[@thaat1]

Good topic... However, a 20 something year old, who read one book about a historical figure, I dont think is uniquely qualified to expound upon the likes of a Harry Houdini. IMO this video called for a conversation with a Houdini historian. Tape for an hour, cut it up into four segments.

[@brianmoreno3]

I'm in my work uniform 🙄

[@slikric83]

His younger brother Theodore was far more skilled than him, but wasn't as much of a marketer or showman.

[@kakiumdurules]

It’s simple: Houdini was born in Hungary :) Pulitzer József was also born in Hungary :) He certainly didn't have a bad press...

[@jameskorphosy412]

Still dont see what special about him even before this vid...

[@SuperHeliboy]

No. My wife picked my shirt.

[@alexmclennan8742]

Take some time to order your thoughts and then write a script...

[@rowdyyates4273]

Eduard im a fan of yours and have watched you in your more adolecent days of magic and very much enjoyed your skills but demeaning a man who lived 100 years ago and who gave magic a real boost, his name is still talked about today dose not do him or you justice, a great showman he was and a brave one at that, how many of todays magicians would liket to dangle from a crane into the water, so for me your losing the plot and should stick to what your very good at and that is MAGIC, get your own style and be the great magician we all know you can be, and maybe be more sympathetic to those that got it all going in the first place!!!------------------------PEACE. x

[@ShatteringPerception]

He was a great showman but a mediocre magician

[@ShanksTyata]

vernon was also terrible as a person

[@thefancystache3793]

Cool it with the anti-Semitism