


He was so good at this stunt, that he would set himself free after only three minutes. He became so adept at escaping the jacket that he went a notch higher by performing stunts where he would be bound in the straight jacket, while suspended upside down, with his ankles bound. After his hands came to the front, he would then proceed to use his teeth to free himself. Most times he ended up dislocating his shoulder, but this never stopped him.

In this Harry Houdini magic trick, He would wriggle around in the jacket all the while trying to get his hands to the front. However, Houdini developed an ingenious, yet painful way of escape. Since his hands were tied to his back, it was really difficult for him to escape from the jacket. It’s from here, that Houdini got this idea from. Houdini famously said that he once saw a person who was trapped in a straightjacket and was desperately trying to free himself. The straight jacket escape was one such dangerous stunt. Most of the Harry Houdini magic tricks requires a lot of courage and ability to take risks. But Houdini loved the dangerous and untested stunts. This is because some of this stunts were particularly dangerous and not advisable. Some magicians have over the years failed to successfully replicate some of Houdini’s stunts. The action of rotating the cabinet after opening it also made it extremely impossible for anyone to spot the creature. When the cabinet was reopened, it was really impossible for anyone in the audience to see the elephant, let alone its shape. When the elephant got in, the handlers put a very dark tarp over the animal. Houdini got a pair of professional handlers who were strategically positioned in the cabinet. Lo and behold, the elephant had disappeared and the closet was rotated around the audience to prove that the elephant had indeed vanished. Houdini then drew the curtains and opened the door to the cabinet. A huge curtain was then drawn over the large cabinet and a few moments passed. The elephant was directed into the closet and the closet was shut. He enlisted the services of a big elephant as well. He had a specially made closet that could spin really fast. Only Harry had the courage to attempt such a fete and he made it happen. Vanishing such a large creature was unprecedented at the time. The normal routine at the time was to make small animals like birds and rabbits disappear.

This illusion was performed by Houdini in 1918.
