![]() ![]() ![]() "Houdini sent an emissary from Belfast to go and check them out," said Rua. Other connections Houdini had to Belfast involved his campaign of "debunking psychics and spiritualists", including the Goligher family from the Limestone Road in north Belfast, who he believed were frauds. "I found a few lines about that moment in his wife's memoirs, where he basically confided in her it was the toughest thing he ever had to do." "I've spent a lot of time researching him and wanted to find out more so I went to the New York Conjuring Arts Research Centre where there is the greatest collections of magic and history books in the world. Houdini challenged Harland and Wolff, who were building the Titanic at the time, to build a huge packing case around him made of wood used on the ship. He slipped out in a few minutes, leaving the chest in tact. "It was lowered under the water at Donegall Quay and he had to escape. "They built a huge packing case around him, interestingly when they were building the Titanic at the time, and used wood from the Titanic to build this case. "So during his visit to Belfast he challenged Harland and Wolff to do the same thing. "He used to do escape stunts called challenge escapes where he would ask people if they could build some kind of container around him from which he would escape. "Houdini spent a bit of time in Belfast doing shows in the Hippodrome in January 1909," he said. He said he found out much about Houdini's trips to Ireland during a visit to the New York. The previously little known details about Houdini's connections to Belfast have been brought to the fore by Irish magician Paul Gleeson, who uses the stage name Rua. One particular trick saw the Austro-Hungarian-born American escape artist encased in a large chest made from timber used by Harland and Wolff and lowered into Donegall Quay.īut the stunt proved more difficult than Houdini had expected and he later confided it was one of the hardest he ever undertook. ![]() HARRY Houdini's daring, spectacular escape acts and grand illusions made him a household name and one of the most famous magicians of all time.īut what is less known about Houdini, who died in 1926, are his numerous links to Belfast - a place where he admitted he faced one of his toughest ever challenges. ![]()
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