On John Cox’ blog wildabouthoudini.com, he invited readers to come hear him talk about Houdini crusade against fraudulent spirit mediums at the Homestead Museum “Ticket to the Twenties”.
So last Sunday, at the Ticket to the Twenties, I had the honor to hear John Cox talk about Houdini Among the Spirits, and as an added bonus got to meet award winning composer, Michael Mortilla, and see him conduct a live accompaniment to two Silent Film shorts.
The festivities started with me arriving at the Homestead Museum just in time to get a ticket for the 3:15 Silent Film Screening with Composer Michael Mortilla.
Michael Mortilla is no stranger to Houdini. He scored the music for The Master Mystery Video Release and was recently commissioned to score “Terror Island” live for the Catalina Island Museum (Casino Theater).
Michael was introduced and then proceeded to do what he does best.
After the two shorts, I got to chat with Michael about my involvement with the Houdini Exhibit, Terror Island Screening and our mutual friends (Julie Perlin Lee and Jessica Zumberge) at the Catalina Island Museum. We talked about him using his improvisational skills on Houdini’s Silent Movie the Grim Game in the future. I gave him my business card for my blogsite and he gave me his brochure and a copy of his Modern Piano Improvisations Volume 1 CD.
Next on the agenda (4:00pm) was John Cox first talk.
John shared the story of Houdini and his crusade against fraudulent spirit mediums in the 1920’s. He used four posters as visual aids, which was very effective. And as promised he shared publicly for the first time, something he recently discovered hiding in plain sight in the well-known spirit photograph. But to find out what that is, you will have to read about it on John’s post he did after the event:
That said, he also shared something unusual about the photo with Margery, the Witch of Lime Street, that I can share. Did you notice the numbers on the door? Margery lived at 10 Lime Street not 11 Lime Street.
John commanded the stage during the 20 minute presentation and 10 minute Q&A. It was obvious, he knew his stuff. Questions ranged from the Under the Ice story to the Magic Castle Fire on Halloween.
Afterwards, John and I took a photo with the spirit photograph, got dinner, walked around and checked out the vintage cars.
John then took the stage (6:00pm) for round 2 and he knocked it out of the park, again.
What a great day!!!
Thanks Joe! That was fun day.