THE EARLY YEARS
Houdini's idol was the great French magician Robert-Houdin. When Ehrich started performing magic, he added an "i" to the end of his Robert Houdin's name and called himself "Houdini." The "Harry" is most likely an American version of his childhood nickname Ehrie. Harry Houdini began his professional career at age 17 doing magic shows before civic groups, in music halls, at sideshows, and at New Yorks Coney Island amusement park, where he, as Harry Houdini, sometimes performed 20 shows each day. He also worked with his brother Theo as The Houdini Brothers. This changed when Harry met Beatrice Raymond, a singer and dancer who was also attempting a career in show business. They fell in love and it wasn't long before they got married.

Eventually, in 1895, the Houdinis joined the Welsh Brothers Circus for six months. Harry did magic, Bess sang and danced, and together they performed a trick called "Metamorphosis", in which they switched places in a locked trunk. Not satisfied with the small scale of the act, Harry continued to work on new tricks and to develop his speaking voice and showmanship. Harry Houdini also became an expert at handcuffs. Arriving in a new town, Houdini would claim the ability to escape from any handcuffs provided by the local police. His easy escapes provided excellent publicity for his shows. Houdini offered $100 to anyone who provided handcuffs from which he could not escape, but he never had to pay. Through his increasingly complex escapes and his shrewd use of publicity, Houdini became a headliner on the vaudeville circuit, playing in cities across the country. Not satisfied with that low level of fame, however, Houdini decided to gamble by taking his act to Europe.