March 24th is Houdini’s 138th birthday.

Regular reader, François, sends us this news story:

To celebrate Houdini’s birthday […] a French escape artist will get through a 5.5 meter concrete dome in Northern France. Alexis Hazard, son and grandson of conjurers, will pay tribute to both Harry Houdini and La Coupole, a major site on the western front during WWII. Thousands of viewers are expected to attend this memorable feat […] Alexis Hazard, 30, will be flown to the dome in a helicopter. He will then pass through the concrete dome which resisted the shelling of 3,000 tons of bombs during the war. The event, which is to last 45 minutes, will be filmed and shown on a huge panoramic screen. A major illusion to be remembered, although not an escape, but an inscape. Nobody’s perfect.

Why not pay tribute to the Patron Saint of Escapology yourself? No need to theatrically pass through a concrete dome. Instead, resolve to shrug off another of the “mind-forged manacles”. Not that doing so would be any less of an awe-inspiring feat.

Image swiped from these good people.

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24 Mar 2012 No Comments