HOUDINI'S MENTAL TELEGRAPHY

Houdini's contemporary Mark Twain, in Nikolai Tesla's lab

Houdiniphiles love to speculate on Harry’s “religious & spiritual beliefs.” We all know the outline: son of a Biblical scholar and part-time rabbi, supporter of Jewish causes, fierce debunker of spiritualists, star of a film about reincarnation -- where does this guy really stand?

Bess has contributed to the mystery by revealing that Harry was superstitious (never performed on Friday the 13th, she said) and had experienced what could only be called “genuine” psychic phenomena (revealed to an audience member the address of a long-lost relative; predicted a child would break his leg in a bike accident the next day). 

And of course there are the famous posthumous seances which proved, if nothing else, that even until death Harry and Bess had an open mind about an afterlife.

The time has come to explore the territory in the crack between the worlds. We believe Houdini took a nuanced view, very much influenced by his contemporary (and fellow debunker) Mark Twain. Twain wrote a seminal essay on this deep philosophical question, using the phrase, “mental telegraphy.” It's the nexus between tricks, half tricks and genuine psychic phenomena. If you dare to go there, click here.

Nikolai Tesla's wireless telegraphic tower