By 1923, he was one of the biggest stars in the world.ĭuring his three-day visit in 1923, from Feb. before heading down to Seattle. He estimates the city had around 20,000 audience seats in total for live vaudeville theatre, which was a huge attraction.īorn in Budapest, Houdini's career started in the 1890s and broke through in the 1900s when he began performing throughout Europe. He toured across Europe, the United States and Canada, performing vaudeville - popular live entertainment shows that featured acts such as comedy, music or stunts.Īside from Houdini, other well-known vaudeville names to perform in the city include Charlie Chaplin, silent film actor Fatty Arbuckle and comedian Jack Benny, who opened for Houdini playing the violin before making his switch to comedy and eventually a long career in radio and television.Ĭivic historian John Atkin said Vancouver was a bustling hub for vaudeville at the time, with trains from the American midwest travelling through B.C. Houdini was a prominent performer in the early 1900s, known for his escape artistry. Master of escape joins Vancouver vaudeville circuit
"If he was alive today, he would be the master of social media. And people really couldn't get enough of him," said Vancouver-based writer and magic historian John Pellatt, who researched the visit for a series of articles on the website Canada's Magic. "Houdini was not just a magician, not just an escape artist, but he was perhaps the world's first superhero.
The escape - a version of which he pulled off in other major cities - was to drum up attention for his performance at the city's Orpheum Theatre, a predecessor to the building which continues to bear the same name. He performed the signature act, which usually took him between five and 10 minutes, on March 1, 1923, in front of the former Vancouver Sun building located on Pender Street. One hundred years ago, world-famous magician Harry Houdini arrived in Vancouver to pull a daring stunt: Freeing himself from a straitjacket while suspended upside down in front of thousands of Vancouverites. (City of Vancouver archives - image credit) Houdini performed one of his signature stunts in Vancouver: freeing himself from a straitjacket while suspended upside down.
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