Beck urged him to really concentrate on escapes, to give up magic. Houdini wasn’t a magician. Not in his own mind, either. He called himself a mystifier, and it’s a good name for him. He did certain tricks. I mean, for a while he was performing as a card expert, calling himself King of Cards. Seems to have been pretty good at it. He could fill his mouth with needles and thread, and then pull out the thread, and all the needles would be threaded on it. Beck told him to give up the magic and to concentrate on escapes. And it was very, very good advice. Houdini followed it, and he became Houdini then.
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