The Montreal Punch That May Have Killed Houdini

By the time Harry Houdini's train pulled into Montreal in October 1926, the most famous magician on earth who spent 30 years escaping from milk cans, straitjackets, and locked police cells was already falling apart. Bess, his wife and longtime stage partner, was laid up recovering from a severe case of food poisoning, and Houdini himself had fractured his ankle eleven days earlier during a performance in Albany, New York. He was 52 years old, barnstorming on what he called his farewell tour, and he had shows to do.

He was booked at the glamorous Princess Theatre on Sainte-Catherine Street—a downtown venue that would later become Le Parisien cinema before closing for good in 2007—for a week of performances beginning October 18. The show was billed as three acts in one: magic, escapes, and an exposé of fraudulent spirit mediums. Tickets ran from 25 cents to $1.25. They sold out.