The Weisz family emigrated to America in 1878 when the future magician was 4 years old. 'Our exhibit,' London said, 'takes a peek behind the curtain.' In contrast, 'Inescapable' devotes equal resources to documenting the hardscrabble first 26 years of the conjurer born Erik Weisz. London said that most exhibits focus on the headline-grabbing last half of Houdini's life.

It's impossible to overstate the impact he's had on magic.' 'I've had a poster of Houdini hanging in my bedroom since I've been a teenager. 'It almost seems as though my entire life had been leading up to this moment,' London said.

Museum visitors will learn about Houdini the adventurer (he claimed to be the first man to fly an airplane in Australia), Houdini the entrepreneur (he founded his own movie studio and directed and starred in his own films) and Houdini the inventor (he holds a patent for a diving suit developed for military use around World War I that was easily removed while underwater). The show includes one of Houdini's original brown leather straitjackets and a rare recording of the magician's voice, which was higher and lighter than might be expected from a man with such an intimidating stare. The exhibit displays about 100 artifacts - documents, photographs, his father's Bible, a set of see-through handcuffs - culled from private collections across the U.S. In celebration of the opening of the Jewish Museum of Maryland’s newest exhibit, Inescapable: The Life and Legacy of Harry Houdini, Baltimore-based entertainer and escape artist, Dai Andrews, recreates one of the international superstar’s greatest feats.

Magic of houdini