One of several Harry Houdini artifacts on display at the Hilton Paper Valley Hotel in Appleton during the 97th annual Society of American Magicians Convention. (WTAQ)
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) — While the nation gets ready to celebrate 250 years of America this weekend, America’s magicians are also celebrating 100 years since the passing of Harry Houdini by carrying out his legacy and working together on their magicianship.
Richard Olson is a magician from Texas in town for the Society of American Magicians convention. “Can I borrow your hand for a second here?” he asked me as he was getting ready to show me a trick. “In a second, Rachel, I’m going to cause this one [the hole of a rivet washer] to pass right through your hand, and you’ll see something you’ll never forget.”
Then, he somehow put a second hole in another washer I was holding in my hand. That’s the tiniest glimpse of what’s to come this weekend at the 97th annual Society of American Magicians Convention at Appleton’s Hilton Paper Valley Hotel.
This is the first time the annual convention has been to the home of Houdini. This year’s convention falls on the 100 year anniversary of his death.
“We said ‘We need to celebrate Houdini, lets go to Las Vegas, that’s where they all go,'” said Dan Rodriguez, Society of American Magicians Convention Co-Executive Director. “It was one of our members who said ‘Why not Appleton?’ So we came out to Appleton and met with the city and some of the folks who support the Houdini things that are here like the History Museum at the Castle, and they said ‘We want you here,’ and we were like ‘Well, that’s a done deal!'”
In addition to shows and demonstrations, the convention brings in top-notch experts to help the 400+ magicians in attendance hone their craft. Ron Lindberg, aka Rondini, is a professional magician from Appleton who attended one of the first lectures Wednesday.
“The lecture was by Mr. [Christopher] Hart. He’s the guy that was ‘Thing’ in The Addams Family, the little hand that ran around. He gave a lecture about what it was like being in that, and how to add some more tricks into your repertoire.”
On Thursday morning at 8:30, most of the magicians are attempting a world‐record escape.
“There will be 300 magicians attempting to escape from chains that are locked with padlocks,” said Rodriguez. “We’ll have sheriffs, fire department personnel and first responders certify that they are indeed locked and that there’s no way to escape without a key. Then they’ll do a countdown and they need to escape within one minute.”
The convention runs through July 4 and there are several opportunities for more jaw dropping, mystifying moments.
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