Houdini: A Life Worth Reading (14 page)

c. Houdini sounded more regal by itself

d. There was a lawsuit that forced him to drop it

2. How did Houdini falsify his passport?

a. He changed his name to Dash

b. He changed his birthplace from Hungary to America

c. He changed his mother’s name

d. He made himself six years younger

3. Why did Houdini perform a three-hour show at Sing Sing?

a. He was prevented from leaving by the prisoners, who loved him

b. He was stuck underwater for much longer than he intended, about an hour and a half

c. He wanted to beat the last magician’s record

d. He related to the prisoners, believing that he might have been one of them if circumstances had been different

4. What was Houdini’s relationship with his mother like?

a. Very controversial: she hated magic

b. Very close: he cared for her for the rest of her life

c. Very strained: she didn’t like Bess because Bess was Catholic

d. Very supportive: she gave Houdini money whenever he needed it

1. Why did Houdini resign from SAM?

a. They told him he wasn’t a good magician

b. They tried to make him give up any tricks involving water

c. They wanted him to be president, but he wasn’t interested

d. They wouldn’t adopt his magazine,
Conjurers’ Monthly

2. Why was Houdini’s book
Handcuff Secrets
controversial?

a. Law enforcement officials worried it would help criminals

b. He claimed the book as his own even though he didn’t write it

c. It had too many pictures of Houdini naked

d. It described Houdini’s affair

3. What does M-U-M stand for?

a. Magic United Majesty

b. Magicians Unmask Magic

c. Magic Unity Might

d. Nothing, it is a meaningless acronym

4. What was
A Magician Among the Spirits?

a. Houdini’s movie supporting Spiritualism

b. Houdini’s book supporting Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

c. Houdini’s movie attempting to set himself up as a Spiritualist leader

d. Houdini’s book attempting to expose fraudulent mediums

1. Why was Houdini interested in Hollywood?

a. As always, he had a strong desire to stay relevant

b. He wanted to expose the secrets of magicians on the big screen

c. He had a bet with Dash that Hollywood would thrive

d. He thought he could get more women there

2. What did reviewers think of Houdini the actor?

a. They loved him

b. They thought he was a good actor, but a bad magician

c. They thought he was a bad actor with little range

d. They thought what he paid them to think

3. How did Houdini’s company, the FDC, do in Hollywood?

a. Very poorly: it never got past the planning stage

b. Very poorly: it was not financially sound

c. Very well: it made him rich

d. Very well: it made Dash rich

4. What was one long-term result of Houdini’s Hollywood career?

a. A lot of lawsuits

b. A long and successful stint as an actor for Houdini

c. A fan base in Australia

d. The end to his marriage

1. What collection did Houdini consider his crowning achievement?

a. His drama collection

b. His English literature collection

c. His stamp collection

d. His magic literature collection

2. Houdini claimed he spent how much time working every year?

a. Around the clock

b. Never

c. Five months

d. Five weeks

3. Where did Alfred Becks work before he began working for Houdini?

a. Yale

b. Stanford

c. Harvard

d. Cornell

4. Where is Houdini’s magic library today?

a. Bess has it

b. The Library of Congress

c. His children have it

d. Lost

1. What was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s take on Spiritualism?

a. He was skeptical and critical

b. He was skeptical but willing to have his mind changed

c. He was a cautious believer

d. He was a wholehearted believer

2. Why did Houdini’s take down of Spiritualism get him in trouble with the SAM?

a. He exposed trade secrets

b. They all loved Spiritualism

c. It didn’t

d. Houdini wanted all the glory for himself

3. Who was Nino Pecoraro?

a. Houdini’s mentor

b. A medium exposed by Houdini

c. Houdini’s sidekick

d. A rival magician

4. What was “Margery’s” take on Houdini’s exposure of her fraudulent practices?

a. She hated him for it

b. She fell in love with him after

c. She respected him for it

d. She did not really care

1. What clubs did Houdini belong to?

a. The Masons

b. The SAM

c. The London Magicians Club

d. All of these

2. Why was Houdini not drafted in World War I?

a. He was too old

b. They didn’t trust him

c. He was not a U.S. citizen

d. He never signed up

3. Which of the following was part Houdini’s effort to aid the war?

a. He stopped performing magic

b. He helped the army enlist more magicians

c. He entertained the troops

d. He donated money to the troops

4. What dangerous trick did Keller prevent Houdini from performing?

a. The Upside Down

b. Staying underwater for an hour

c. Trying to free himself while riding a bull

d. Catching a bullet from a gun

1. What word best describes the perception of Houdini amongst his peers?

a. Humble

b. Boring

c. Educated

d. Egotistical

2. What was Houdini’s reaction to imitators?

a. Tolerant

b. Aggressive

c. Passive

d. Disinterested

3. When heavyweight champion Jess Willard refused to participate in his act, Houdini

a. Tried to convince him but gave up

b. Did not try to convince him

c. Pushed Willard until Willard punched him

d. Pushed Willard until they fought and Willard was booed out of the theater

4. When Jacob Hyman claimed he had a right to the Houdini name

a. Houdini had him humiliated in front of an audience

b. Houdini bribed him to stop

c. Houdini conceded

d. Houdini rekindled their friendship and brought Hyman into his act

1. What two events marked a bad beginning to the final tour of HOUDINI?

a. Bess broke her ankle and Houdini fractured his

b. Bess caught pneumonia then gave it to Houdini

c. Houdini fell ill and Bess broke her ankle

d. Bess contracted ptomaine poisoning and Houdini fractured his ankle

2. What was Houdini’s response to Whitehead’s aggressive attack?

a. He said, “That will do”

b. He fled

c. He punched his attacker

d. He shot his attacker

3. Despite early signs of appendicitis

a. Houdini performed a five-hour show

b. Houdini went to his hotel instead of a hospital

c. Houdini went home

d. Houdini performed the Milk Can Escape

4. One of Houdini’s instructions for his funeral was

a. To be buried with both his and Bess’s wedding rings

b. To be buried upside down

c. To be buried with his mother’s letters

d. To be buried in a Catholic plot so he could be with Bess

1. Bess responded to her husband’s death initially

a. By trying to forget about him

b. By remarrying

c. By trying communicate with him

d. By never leaving the house

2. Were Bess and Dr. Saint married?

a. Yes

b. No

c. For a little while

d. It is uncertain

3. Why was Bess buried in a Catholic cemetery?

a. She had re-converted to Catholicism

b. Her mother forced her to be

c. She wasn’t

d. Houdini had wished it

4. After his brother’s death, Dash

a. Gave up magic

b. Continued to perform

c. Died after only a month

d. Married Bess

1. b

2. d

3. a

4. a

1. c

2. d

3. a

4. d

1. c

2. a

3. c

4. b

1. b

2. a

3. c

4. b

1. d

2. b

3. a

4. c

1. a

2. d

3. b

4. b

1. c

2. b

3. d

4. b

1. d

2. a

3. c

4. d

1. a

2. c

3. b

4. a

1. d

2. c

3. c

4. b

1. d

2. a

3. b

4. c

1. d

2. a

3. c

4. d

1. d

2. b

3. d

4. a