Adrien Brody as Harry Houdini (Photo credit: Colin Hutton) Since her father's death in 2010, my daughter forgoes the traditional birthday party in favor of taking a trip to the Smokey Mountains. She loves the smell of the air, the traffic, horseback riding, and the magic show.
Perhaps because she's a dancer, she recognizes a kindred spirit in fellow performers, but every trip Terry Evanswood is a MUST SEE. The first time she saw it, the act involved exotic animals including a huge white tiger named Hollywood. (And yes, at age seven she spoke to the animal trainer about his training practices and only then deemed that part good.)
I always thought she'd get tired of her birthday trips or at the very least, of the magic show, but no. She started watching reruns of Breaking the Magician's Code and learning how some of these tricks were done. When I asked if that ruined the tricks, she said no. She said you always know it's a trick, it's all about making it look good.(You know, that's actually really good advice for writing too.)
Just in time for us to start planning our next trip, the History Channel will be showing a two-night event of Houdini.
Alyssa saw the commercial for it a few weeks ago and immediately she marked the calendar and began the countdown. She knew about Houdini from Terry Evanswood's magic museum at Wonder Works, having seen a few artifacts there and having seen bits and pieces about him on various other shows. (She can't wait until she's "famous enough" to attend the annual Houdini Seance.) So, much like his widow, we began our wait for Houdini.
For those of you unfamiliar with Houdini, he worked very hard not only on his illusions and escapes, but also to expose fake magicians and spiritualists. Before he died, he and his wife Bess agreed on a secret code that he would use to contact her from beyond the grave. For ten years after his death, Bess held a seance on the anniversary of his death. She then declared that "ten years was long enough to wait for any man" and refused to hold another one. Around the world, on the anniversary of his death, magicians hold seances in hopes of speaking with the man that influenced and inspired so many of them.
So tonight, I again will be competing for the "bad mommy award" by letting her stay up and watch Houdini. The illusions will be there, but somehow I know they will be less impressive than seeing magic in person, but maybe it will hold her off until we can get back to the Smokies. I also know, that for the next few days, she'll be trying out EVERY magic trick that she knows. So to everyone that encounters her after this...I'm sorry.
For me, since my next project has a magician in it...I'm going to pass this off as research.
If you want to stay up to date on my latest projects (and get all sorts of FREE stuff through the year), sign up for my newsletter.
Perhaps because she's a dancer, she recognizes a kindred spirit in fellow performers, but every trip Terry Evanswood is a MUST SEE. The first time she saw it, the act involved exotic animals including a huge white tiger named Hollywood. (And yes, at age seven she spoke to the animal trainer about his training practices and only then deemed that part good.)
I always thought she'd get tired of her birthday trips or at the very least, of the magic show, but no. She started watching reruns of Breaking the Magician's Code and learning how some of these tricks were done. When I asked if that ruined the tricks, she said no. She said you always know it's a trick, it's all about making it look good.(You know, that's actually really good advice for writing too.)
Just in time for us to start planning our next trip, the History Channel will be showing a two-night event of Houdini.
Alyssa saw the commercial for it a few weeks ago and immediately she marked the calendar and began the countdown. She knew about Houdini from Terry Evanswood's magic museum at Wonder Works, having seen a few artifacts there and having seen bits and pieces about him on various other shows. (She can't wait until she's "famous enough" to attend the annual Houdini Seance.) So, much like his widow, we began our wait for Houdini.
For those of you unfamiliar with Houdini, he worked very hard not only on his illusions and escapes, but also to expose fake magicians and spiritualists. Before he died, he and his wife Bess agreed on a secret code that he would use to contact her from beyond the grave. For ten years after his death, Bess held a seance on the anniversary of his death. She then declared that "ten years was long enough to wait for any man" and refused to hold another one. Around the world, on the anniversary of his death, magicians hold seances in hopes of speaking with the man that influenced and inspired so many of them.
So tonight, I again will be competing for the "bad mommy award" by letting her stay up and watch Houdini. The illusions will be there, but somehow I know they will be less impressive than seeing magic in person, but maybe it will hold her off until we can get back to the Smokies. I also know, that for the next few days, she'll be trying out EVERY magic trick that she knows. So to everyone that encounters her after this...I'm sorry.
For me, since my next project has a magician in it...I'm going to pass this off as research.
If you want to stay up to date on my latest projects (and get all sorts of FREE stuff through the year), sign up for my newsletter.
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