Harry Houdini was a 'handcuff king' and 'extraordinary' showman. At the height of his fame, one trick left him stumped

Harry Houdini had issued a challenge to every magician, illusionist and escapologist in the world — perform any trick for him three times, he said, and he could tell you how it was done. Houdini "wasn't a card man by any stretch of the imagination", by Vernon's account. Vernon later claimed to have a letter from the great magician's wife, Bess – who would later become the godmother to his eldest son – "in which she stated that he had been fooled". Loading YouTube content Tim Ellis, founder of the Melbourne Magic Festival and the Australian Institute of Magic, says Houdini learned to copyright his tricks "as a one-act play". "And since then that's been the only way magicians can protect any of their secrets … I'm just really delighted that Houdini was the very first one to come up with that idea."