Ah, Houdini – the magic legend with more tricks up his sleeve than a dodgy card shark!
Now, Houdini and his wife Bess may not have had any little Houdinis running around, but he did have a soft spot for his niece. Oddly enough, she didn’t get her birth name registered, so the great man took it upon himself to name her in a rather peculiar fashion.
Being a bit of a numerology buff, Houdini decided to use his grandmother's birth year to conjure up the perfect name. He had a nifty book of 100 popular girls' names from his time (because, you know, that’s what you do). After doing some maths (don’t worry, it’s magic maths), he subtracted the digits to find a page number in the book, and voilà – that’s how he named his niece!
Now, here’s where the fun begins. You invite your audience to guess his grandmother's birth year and do their own numerology magic to land on a random number. Then, the book of names is handed over to a lucky spectator to reveal the name on that page!
As if that wasn’t enough, you drop a bombshell: “Houdini gifted a pendant to his niece. Does the name MARIE ring a bell? It must’ve meant something special to Houdini – take a look...”
Finally, you open the pendant to unveil an actual photo of Houdini’s niece, along with her name MARIE!
Houdini's Niece is based on a true story, and it comes with everything you need: a full presentation script by Wayne Dobson, an antique book of 100 popular girls' names (examinable, of course), and a charming brass photo pendant that opens up to show Houdini's image and the young Marie Blood.
This is a storytelling gem that’s as strange as it is delightful! Whether you’re performing live or online, it’s bound to leave your audience scratching their heads (in a good way).
