Wis. museum lets Houdini's secret out

APPLETON, Wis. -- Famed magician and escape artist Harry Houdini attracted thousands to watch him wriggle from a straitjacket while hanging upside down over a river, but even he never conjured a publicity stunt like this.

The secret behind the Metamorphosis trick Houdini made famous can now be revealed to anyone plunking down the admission price at the Outagamie County Historical Society.

The exhibit, which opened Wednesday, discloses how Houdini dumbfounded audiences by escaping shackles, handcuffs, a canvas bag, and a locked trunk secured with chains and padlocks and then switching places with his assistant, all within seconds.

But to many magicians who regard their secrets as, well, secrets, blueprinting Houdini's most famous trick is heresy. The Houdini Club of Wisconsin is among the outraged.

''We're not against the interactive Houdini exhibits," said Bob Rath, vice president of the club. ''We just thought there was a better way of having an interactive exhibit outside of using the Metamorphosis effect, which is being used by hundreds of magicians across the country. . . . It's their significant effect, so this affects their livelihood."

Organizers of the ''A.K.A. Houdini" museum display, in the city where Erich Weiss (who later took the stage name Harry Houdini) lived as a child, say it was time to change the long-running exhibit to incorporate interactive effects and reveal some of his secrets. It will be on display for 10 years.

''Exhibits cycle out, and they have life spans," said curator Kim Louagie. The old exhibit's ''life span had run out."

Surveys of museum visitors found an interest in learning a few of Houdini's secrets. Louagie said she found out the trick to Metamorphosis from a library book. The secret behind Houdini's escape from a locked milk can filled with water is also explained at the museum.

And for those who would really rather not know how magicians escape from the trunk or milk can, a spoiler alert at the museum warns visitors to stay away from that section.

For those who don't want to bother traveling to the Appleton museum, here's how the Metamorphosis works. Warning: Skip the next paragraph if you do not want to know.

Once the magician is handcuffed, tied in a canvas bag, and stuffed into the padlocked trunk, an assistant closes a curtain. A trap door on the side of the trunk allows the magician to switch places with the assistant. Houdini and his wife, Bess, could make the switch in three seconds.

First- and third-graders from the aptly named Houdini Elementary School in Appleton needed a bit more time to duplicate the escape Wednesday; the classes were the first to tour the new exhibit. They weren't handcuffed or placed in canvas bags, though.

The Metamorphosis trick was chosen because of its historical significance. Houdini incorporated it into his act in 1892, about three decades after magician John Nevil Maskelyne invented it.

Other exhibits focus on Houdini's childhood in Appleton and Milwaukee, his early years as a magician, and his crusade to debunk spiritualists. The handcuffs, tools, and picks Houdini used are on display next to explanations of how he broke out of jails. He often surreptitiously acquired keys, made copies, and then secreted them on his body.