Houdini Empire
Magic Daybill broadside advertising a performance by the world-famous self-liberator
Harry Houdini at the Cardiff Empire theatre in Wales on Monday, January 6th, 1913. The main attraction was his renowned "Water Torture Cell" escape act.
Performance Details
Venue: The Empire Theatre in Cardiff, Wales.
Date: Monday, January 6th, 1913, with performances twice nightly.
Main Act: Houdini's "Water Torture Cell," which he privately called "the Upside Down" (USD) escape. The act involved him being suspended upside down and locked in a sealed glass and mahogany tank filled with water.
Challenge & Reward: The poster mentions a £200 reward to anyone proving it was possible to obtain air in the upside-down position, adding to the illusion of extreme danger.
Supporting Acts: The bill included other vaudeville acts such as the Caselli Sisters, Happy Tom Parker, Peter & Potts, the American Bioscope, The Great G.W. Weiland Hunter, Ferry Corwey, and Cooper & Lait.
Historical Significance
Invention: The original Chinese Water Torture Cell was built in England in 1911, and Houdini first publicly performed the escape in Berlin in September 1912. The Cardiff show was part of its early introduction to English audiences.
Ingenuity: Instead of patenting the apparatus and revealing its mechanics, Houdini copyrighted the escape as a one-act play, a clever legal maneuver to prevent imitators from stealing his methods.
Legacy: The Water Torture Cell became arguably his most famous and dangerous stunt, and he continued performing it until his death in 1926 from a ruptured appendix (not the escape itself, as sometimes mistakenly depicted in films).
Harry Houdini at the Cardiff Empire theatre in Wales on Monday, January 6th, 1913. The main attraction was his renowned "Water Torture Cell" escape act.
Performance Details
Venue: The Empire Theatre in Cardiff, Wales.
Date: Monday, January 6th, 1913, with performances twice nightly.
Main Act: Houdini's "Water Torture Cell," which he privately called "the Upside Down" (USD) escape. The act involved him being suspended upside down and locked in a sealed glass and mahogany tank filled with water.
Challenge & Reward: The poster mentions a £200 reward to anyone proving it was possible to obtain air in the upside-down position, adding to the illusion of extreme danger.
Supporting Acts: The bill included other vaudeville acts such as the Caselli Sisters, Happy Tom Parker, Peter & Potts, the American Bioscope, The Great G.W. Weiland Hunter, Ferry Corwey, and Cooper & Lait.
Historical Significance
Invention: The original Chinese Water Torture Cell was built in England in 1911, and Houdini first publicly performed the escape in Berlin in September 1912. The Cardiff show was part of its early introduction to English audiences.
Ingenuity: Instead of patenting the apparatus and revealing its mechanics, Houdini copyrighted the escape as a one-act play, a clever legal maneuver to prevent imitators from stealing his methods.
Legacy: The Water Torture Cell became arguably his most famous and dangerous stunt, and he continued performing it until his death in 1926 from a ruptured appendix (not the escape itself, as sometimes mistakenly depicted in films).
Mounted
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