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The Wizard of Escapology: Difference between revisions
(Created page with "Thomas “Tommy” Middleton 1901 -1965 Following the death of Harry Houdini in 1926 , Thomas restyled himself as INO, The Wizard of Escapology and claimed himself to be Engl...") |
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Thomas “Tommy” Middleton 1901 -1965 | Thomas “Tommy” Middleton (b.1901-1965) | ||
Following the death of Harry Houdini in 1926 , Thomas restyled himself as INO, The Wizard of Escapology and claimed himself to be England’s only Escapologist. | Following the death of Harry Houdini in 1926 , Thomas restyled himself as INO, The Wizard of Escapology and claimed himself to be England’s only Escapologist. | ||
Revision as of 10:12, 3 May 2024
Thomas “Tommy” Middleton (b.1901-1965)
Following the death of Harry Houdini in 1926 , Thomas restyled himself as INO, The Wizard of Escapology and claimed himself to be England’s only Escapologist. Up to this point the term escapologist was not common coinage. Practitioners , including Houdini himself , tended to refer to themselves as Escape Artists. The first act to refer to himself as an escapologist seems to have been the Australian , Murray , although some texts say that Houdini did come up with the term in an earlier interview.
Whatever the truth is , in 1927 , with Houdini no longer in the picture , and Murray a newcomer to British audiences , it seemed a safe and bold step for INO to declare his USP and England’s only Escapologist. Not only that , but he embarked on a whistlestop tour of British theatres during late 1927 and 1928 , often hot on the heels of Murray with a range of illusions and escape challenges , including the upside down strait jacket escape , which Houdini had popularised.