How Houdini DIED (in Slow Motion) - Smarter Every Day 108

Hey, it's me Destin, welcome back to Smarter Every Day. So did you realize that Harry Houdini was the first person to fly an airplane in Australia? I didn't either, that's crazy. In fact, this guy's whole life was interesting because he lived it out daily, cheating death in front of thousands of people. Now this eventually caught up.

What's in your ear? Oh, it's a rock in your ear. Magic. So this is convenient because Harry Houdini was Jewish, and it's a Jewish custom, if you're going to honor the dead, to go and lay a rock on top of their tombstone. Why don't we do that? Let's go to Queens, New York, where he has a really cool tombstone, and we'll lay this rock there, and I'll explain to you how Harry Houdini died.

Houdini was a genius. He became famous by putting himself in seemingly impossible situations, and then he would miraculously appear as though he had just cheated death. So what put him in the ground here in New York? Since many people had a fear of drowning, Houdini often did tricks that involved being chained up underwater. His most famous trick was called the Chinese water torture trick. For some reason, I thought that he had drowned when this trick went horribly wrong, but in actuality, it was only a punch to the gut that did him in.

Houdini was famous for being able to take a punch, but on October 22nd, 1926, while he was laying on a couch backstage in Montreal, a man punched him several times before he had a chance to brace himself. According to his death certificate, he died on Halloween from something called peritonitis. So how could a punch in the stomach lead to Houdini's death when he had done it before?

OK, we're back in Alabama. To figure this out, we have come to the hospital. We're gonna meet a surgeon that I've known for a long time. He's known for his steady hand and his good bedside manner. Let's go meet Dr. Gilbert. Long time no see. How you been?

(Dr. Gilbert) Hey, it's been a long time. You look good, man. You look like you've put a bit of weight on.

Oh thanks, I appreciate that. [laugh]

Looks like she's fattened you up. [laughs]

OK, so clearly I've known Dr. Gilbert for a long time, he let me in his O.R. So I've asked you to tell me about Houdini's death, and we know it's, how do you say it? Periton..

• Peritonitis.

• Peritonitis, OK. So let's say he got punched in the guts, Houdini's laying on this table right now, and uh, what do you do?

• Well, Houdini, once he gets to this table, he's already consented to surgery. The first thing you have to do is get him.. we have to examine him, say you do have peritonitis, you have an irritation of your abdominal lining, you clearly have a surgical problem. It could have been appendicitis, but appendicitis typically doesn't happen because of trauma. It would have been a serendipitous occasion after the trauma. What he might very well have had is a rupture of his intestine.

• So when you take a punch in your guts, what's happening there? I know muscles have something to do with it.

• If you're prepared, you're gonna tense up your muscles and they are absorbing almost all of the energy of the punch, and your internal organs are seeing much less of that energy.

• So it's like distributing that load around your abdomen.

• That's right. Now, if he's caught off guard, and somebody who really knows how to throw a punch and really prepare for.. he could be hurt.

• [laughs] I punched a guy in the stomach and I recorded on high speed. Now I was trying to figure out how to transition to it, but you kind of alluded to the fact that I don't know how to throw a punch.

• Well no, I wasn't saying that. [laughs]

• [laughs] (Destin) OK, this is Mike from SixPackShortcuts

• I guess you have to hit my stomach right?

• I gotta hit your stomach. So Mike, he's that sexy guy you always see in the sidebar that really irritates people like me because I don't look like that. [crowd laughs]

• [punch to skin] Oh-hhhhhaww.

• Alright. I think we got it. Are you good?

• I'm good.

• You can take that?

• Yes.

• OK, alright, let's see. Now watch Mike's muscles absorb this punch at 3200 frames per second. [music]

• He just socked me in the stomach, and we just watched in slow-mo and it was awesome.

(Destin) And now we're about to watch your boobs bounce right?

• Yes.

• Moobies are about to bounce in high speed. [laugh] Alright.

OK, before you go watch Mike's boobs bounce, which is something I hope I never say again, and before you see Dr. Gilbert teach me how to throw a punch, I figured I'd mention this book, which was instrumental in making this video. Go to audible.com/smarter and you can download The Secret Life of Houdini. It's a pretty cool book, and it's one of the more expensive audiobooks, so you can use your free trial at Audible.com to download this thing. It's probably worth it.

Anyway, it taught me about how Houdini's personality played a factor into his death because initially, he refused surgery.

• His personality had to be a very strong personality and a man that obviously takes risks.

(Destin) He actually refused treatment and that was part of the problem right?

• That was the problem, but he needed it framed in the proper way.

• So you're saying that the bedside manner, how a patient and a doctor interact is very important, that's what you're trying to tell me.

• Yes, yes, and depending on the personality of the physician with a very strong patient such as Houdini, I could see that it may have been very difficult for the physician to have made his point.

• That's pretty crazy, isn't it?

Anyway, check out this book The Secret Life of Houdini at audible.com/smarter. Listening to audiobooks is probably something you should be doing anyway. You might as well help Smarter Every Day out by downloading one at audible.com/smarter.

Anyway, back to your uh.. The weird thing you wanna watch. OK, I must admit this is the first time I've ever focused on a man's nipple. Go. [laugh]

(Destin) This is messed up! Put your shirt on, now! [laugh] [music]

• This is Master Burwell. He is our Tae Kwon Do master.

(Destin) That's fancy. Tell me what you think.

• No hit reaction. Your wrist caved. Earlier when you did it you did this. You collapsed because you didn't lock your wrist. Wrist maintained straight. [shout]

(Destin) So your wrist didn't fold.

• Not at all. [shout]

So there you have it. Houdini was killed by a punch and possibly just a little bit of his own ego.

[music]

[Captions by Andrew Jackson] captionsbyandrew.wordpress.com Captioning in different languages welcome. Please contact Destin if you can help.