Tag: Houdini

  • The Curtain and the Key – A Fictional Conversation Between C.S. Lewis and Harry Houdini

    The Curtain and the Key – A Fictional Conversation Between C.S. Lewis and Harry Houdini

    What happens when the world’s greatest escape artist meets the mind behind Mere Christianity?

    While Harry Houdini and C.S. Lewis never met in life, I’ve often imagined what a conversation between them might have sounded like. One—a man who searched for truth by unmasking illusion. The other—a man who found truth in the heart of mystery.

    They did have a common link; Joy Davidman. Joy was originally from New York, of Jewish heritage, and a former atheist and communist who converted to Christianity. She and Lewis began as pen pals in the 1950s, developing a friendship that grew into love. They were married civilly in 1956, primarily for legal reasons due to her needing British residency. However, when Joy was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer, they had a Christian marriage ceremony at her hospital bedside in 1957.

    Though their time together was short—Joy died in 1960—their marriage profoundly affected Lewis. He chronicled his grief and spiritual wrestling in the raw and beautiful book A Grief Observed, published initially under a pseudonym.

    But it was Joy’s first husband, William Lindsay Gresham (1909–1962) that is the magical link. William & Joy married in 1942 and had two sons, David and Douglas. Their relationship was stormy and eventually disintegrated due to Gresham’s infidelity, emotional instability, and alcohol abuse. Gresham was a journalist, novelist, and former communist with a deep interest in the occult, psychology, and spiritualism—especially after witnessing suffering during the Spanish Civil War, where he served as a medic.

    In 1959 he wrote Houdini: The Man Who Walked Through Walls, Gresham paints a vivid, well-researched portrait of the legendary magician and escape artist. But this is no dry chronology—it’s a psychologically insightful look at Houdini’s life, blending historical detail with Gresham’s keen interest in the human psyche, showmanship, and spiritual hunger.

    Gresham explores not only Houdini’s feats of escapology and his rise to fame but also his deep emotional wounds, including the intense grief over his mother’s death and his crusade against fraudulent mediums—something Gresham himself resonated with.

    This unique piece of trivia has always captivated me. Which got me thinking…what would a conversation between Houdini and C.S. Lewis be like? Thanks to amazing A.I. models that can pull together actual writings of the two men, I’ve recreated a fictional conversation between them. Perhaps even a live piece of theatre will come from this experiment. Tell me what you think. So, ladies and gentlemen, may I present…

    The Curtain and the Key

    The Curtain and the Key is an imagined encounter between two giants—exploring grief, magic, faith, and wonder.

    A Short Dramatic Reading on Wonder

    Characters

    • C.S. Lewis – calm, thoughtful, British accent. A professor with soul-deep faith.
    • Harry Houdini – sharp, quick, passionate. A master of escape, full of conviction and curiosity.

    Setting
    Two chairs by a fire. A table between them. A deck of cards. Books.
    A sense of eternity pressing gently on the moment.

    [Lights up. Soft amber glow. The faint sound of a ticking clock.]

    LEWIS:
    There’s something holy about wonder, don’t you think?
    That quickening in the chest when mystery knocks?

    HOUDINI:
    Holy? Maybe. Dangerous, too. I made a career stirring it—
    and spent just as long exposing the ones who abused it.

    LEWIS:
    You mean the mediums. The séances. The false comfort?

    HOUDINI:
    Exactly. My mother died. I wanted to believe she could speak to me from beyond.
    Instead, I found smoke, mirrors, and trickery.
    I vowed I’d never let grief be a stage prop.

    LEWIS:
    You were guarding something sacred.
    The ache for more. That’s what wonder truly is—
    not an answer, but a question too beautiful to abandon.

    HOUDINI:
    And you? A scholar. A convert.
    You believe that question has a name.

    LEWIS:
    Yes. I believe the longing behind every wonder finds its answer in Christ.
    The one who not only rose—but returns.

    HOUDINI (sets cards down):
    You think wonder leads us to God?

    LEWIS:
    I do. Not always in a straight line—
    but in every sunrise, every story, every gasp of awe—
    He’s tracing His fingerprints.

    HOUDINI:
    And the illusions? The magic? What of those?

    LEWIS:
    They may not be real—but they point to something that is.
    Even false light reminds us that true light must exist.

    HOUDINI:
    I wanted to unlock every door…
    but I never escaped that longing.

    LEWIS:
    Then you’re closer than you think.

    [Pause. The clock ticks. A wind moves faintly outside the window.]

    HOUDINI:
    And what if—just once—someone passed through the curtain…
    and came back?

    LEWIS:
    He did.
    And He didn’t just come back.
    He left it open.

    [Lights fade. Silence. Curtain.]

    A Final Thought

    Wonder isn’t weakness. It’s courage.
    It’s the refusal to believe that the visible world is all there is.

    Whether you’re a skeptic, a seeker, or somewhere in between,
    I hope this short conversation leaves you with a spark of hope.

    Because behind every locked box, every aching question,
    there may just be a Key.

    What door are you knocking on today?
    Share your thoughts below—or pass this along to someone who needs to hear it.

    Sharing His Wonder,

    Scott Humston

  • Middle School Houdini

    Middle School Houdini

    At age 13, it was my full and mature intention to become a daring escape artist. And these handcuffs are just the ticket! Or so I thought.  It never entered my early adolescent mind that a 13-year-old escape artist might be a bit delusional.

    Houdini-Lite

    It all started with reading about the late uber-famous Harry Houdini and his incredible escape artistry. I mean, even Houdini had to start somewhere, right? He intrigued me enough to buy the gimmicked handcuffs at the magic shop. After all, they looked like real handcuffs! No one would ever think they were toy handcuffs. They were metal, but they had a small, almost unnoticeable lever on the side that allowed them to open without the key.  These professional-looking cuffs would be my ticket to the big time. Scott Humston, daring escape artist!

    Ah, delusions of grandeur!

    So, after giving them a few tries, I was ready to show them to my friends. Not so much as a “Watch this cool escape trick!” It was more of an “Aren’t these handcuffs cool?!”

    So there we were, in my front yard: Billy, who lived with his grandmother a few streets over, and Mike, my very best friend.  Lakeland, Florida was the perfect place to be a middle school boy in 1986.  I lived in that two-story house on Lake Holloway from sixth grade, until I moved to Nashville, to attend University. I was so blessed to have Mike Micucci just three houses down. Mike and I were indeed best friends. And still, are good friends to this day. While other boys in the neighborhood like Billy, Tim, Anthony, and Mark moved in and out over the years, Mike and I lived on that street until we grew into young men.

    More Than Just Tricks

    Our adventures weren’t just regulated to magic and escape tricks;  We collected GI Joe’s, played ninjas in the orange groves, built skateboard ramps and half-pipes! Once in the 6th grade, we made a small tank with an old wagon and a cardboard box. It even shot a small plastic missile!  When the entrepreneur streak hit, we ran a candy stand that we’d set up after school, to sell sweets to the kids as they passed our homes.

    And, it was Mike, who was over one night while my mom & dad were visiting with some friends when I dug my magic set out of the back of the closet. “I have a magic set, too,” Mike said. “Really?” I replied. “Go get it!” So, Mike ran home and returned with the coolest magic set I’d ever seen. It was from Marshall Brodien (who starred as Wizzo on the Bozo Show out of Chicago on WGN, and who sold millions of TV Magic Cards.) It was soon after that, the Mike became Marco The Magician, and I turned into Presto! The Silent Magic Clown. We, literally, went around the neighborhood door-to-door showing people magic tricks, then passing the hat. Like street performing…in reverse.

    Just around the corner was our school, Crystal Lake Elementary.  Across from the school on the corner of Galvin Drive and Haywood Street was a small child care center.  It was there that Mike and I put on our first show. We had an old toy barrel that I popped out of—and various other cheap magic set tricks that we took turns performing.

    When we first went there and solicited our show with the owner, she asked: “How much for a show?”

    “Six Dollars.” We replied.

    “How about three?” She responded.

    “Okay.”  So, three bucks it was. It was my first lesson in negotiating. Marco & Presto survived for several months.  I eventually decided not to hide behind the silence and clown make-up. After all, Houdini spoke on stage.

    “Why did you do that?!”

    So I was in the front yard with Billy and Mike, showing off my rad Houdini escape handcuffs. Billy was the most enthusiastic, holding up his wrists. “I’ll try ‘em out!” … As I showed Billy how the secret lever operated, I gave the cuffs a slight squeeze — to make them even tighter. (more…)

  • Egyptian Hall: The First Time

    Egyptian Hall: The First Time

    Circa 1990, with T. Nelson Down’s Coin Ladder

    The First Time

     

    I was on a preview visit to the University I was hoping to attend in Nashville, Tennessee. Somehow

    With David Price
    At age 17 with David Price at the Egyptian Hall in Brentwood, TN

    —not sure how—I’d heard that there was a museum of magic history in a suburb, of Nashville, called Brentwood. I had a great Uncle that lived in Brentwood so my parents were familiar with this upscale community. Perhaps that helped me as I convinced my mom and dad to take me there when we finished the University tour.

    1954 Old Hickory Boulevard.

    David Price and his lovely wife, Virginia, met us at the door. Virginia was a sweet, sweet lady—with a love of birds—and was a perfect hostess. Mr. Price—as I would come to call him was intriguing to this young seventeen-year-old magic addict. He looked like an old wizard to me. An old wizard who had traded in a magic carpet for a motorized scooter. Ever see Dick VanDyke’s portrayal of the old-old magician? That’s what it was like.

    With Kellar's Head
    With the (fake) head of Famous Magician Harry Kellar.

    As entered the modest ranch-style home, off of Old Hickory Blvd, a right turn, then left—and my eyes were transfixed on artifacts I had never seen the likeness of before! I was mesmerized. Really. We went from the front room of a residential home to a “room” that was, well, a museum of magical history. Posters covered every wall. Shelves of Scrapbooks were full of magician ephemera. Props, sculptures, mini-models of illusions, and a whole “wall” of magicians’ wands. “What’s this, Mr. Price?” “Oh, that’s T. Nelson Downs Coin Ladder.”(You mean the guy who wrote “The Art Of Magic“?? I owned the prestigious Dover paperback copy. :0))

    I was “hooked.” It was the same as when I first walked into Tom Craven’s VIP Magic Shop in Auburndale, Florida. In the Egyptian Hall I was bitten by the “magic history bug” the pharaoh David Price had cast his Egyptian Magic deep into my psyche. :0)

    I am sure that David could see that I was awestruck. The initial shock of wonder began to wear off, just a bit—and we were asked to sign the guestbook. I indeed wasn’t the first of those who had read, too, about the amazing feats of these giants whose profiles now hung “3 sheets” high all around me. Kellar, Thurston, and of course, Houdini.

    The first magic poster I purchased, (thanks to reprinting by Lee Jacobs, from the magic shop at Cypress

    Gardens Theme Park, in Winter Haven, Florida) was Houdini’s King Of Cards— a fantastic poster! That poster and the stories I had read up until that point had fueled my imagination of becoming a world-famous magician, too.

    One peculiar thing that many magicians of the golden age seemed to have on their posters–which was absent from the King Of Cards was that of Imps; Little devilish characters. They seemed to be making the magic happen for the magician. These characters intrigued my clergy father. Who, up until this point had an insufficient experience with magic, tricks, or magicians. So, when it came time to ask Mr. Price questions during this inaugural visit to the Egyptian Hall—my father enquired as to the reason that all these posters had these Imps on them. Although I don’t remember exactly what David said in answering my father’s question—I do remember Mr. Price was intrigued by the question—and gave a sufficient enough answer that my father never questioned it again.

    It was a day that would—and has—stood out in my memory for more than 29 years. And was the first—but not the last of Egyptian Hall Memories.

    (Want to know more about the history of the Egyptian Hall? Click Here to read about it from the current curator, Mike Caveney.)

    Sharing Wonder,