From the Editor's Desk

Houdini brings a bit of magic Up North

Dear Readers:

Three-hundred people sat silently in a back room at a casino, eyes wide with wonder, some praying for the survival of a man in a box on stage, lid closed, inside with a deadly snake.

It’s not the start of a film, it’s not a show in Las Vegas, it’s not a showing on a cruise ship. It’s an event room, lit by fluorescent lights, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan just a couple miles over the Wisconsin border.

In the box is one of our own — escape artist Aron Houdini — who by day serves as executive director of Land O’ Lakes Chamber of Commerce and on the Vilas County Board of Supervisors.

On Saturday night, he was a magician, an entertainer, performing a dangerous stunt for our viewing pleasure.

We watched a man a number of people in the audience know personally, or at least in passing, climb into a 4-foot by 4-foot box with Hera, an inland taipan snake. The stunt has been deemed “too dangerous” by national network television, by lawyers in Las Vegas. But in a small location at Northern Waters Resort Casino, northerners gathered for the spectacle.

“Hopefully you’re entertained,” Houdini said to us.

The idea that staring at a box on a stage could be entertaining, while outside of this room the slot machines are flashing and dinging, crowds are cheering as the Brewers play in the World Series, food and drinks are being hustled at the bar, seems strange.

But sitting in a tense room, wondering if the man in the box is going to get bitten and need emergency attention was the highlight of the weekend for many. It’s a spectacle that managed to shut out the clanging taking place just outside the event center doors.

Houdini set the stage by talking about his distant relative, the famous Harry Houdini, who this show was a tribute to. Talk of mediums and psychics and daring escapes, while waiting to witness his own version of the trick, transported us back to a simpler time. Before on-demand television and auto-play TikTok videos, there were just people selling tickets to small back rooms where they prepared to do wild things for others to enjoy.

The energy was palpable. Houdini started the show cracking jokes, making items disappear and reappear, doing some light mindreading. But as the final stunt of the night drew near, there was a little more urgency to his movements. The composure he kept all night was still there, but the raw edges started to show.

Everyone could feel it. His nerves were our nerves. He was the one in the box, but it was an experience shared by everyone in the room, watching the footage on screen of what was happening in the box. So quiet you could hear every sniffle, every light cough in the room, every uncomfortable shift.

He adeptly wriggled out of the straitjacket, carefully coaxed Hera into his hands, and stepped out of the box.

Seconds of silence continued after Hera was secured in her enclosure. I think everyone drew a breath of relief before the crowd erupted into applause. Houdini received a standing ovation.

“I did not get bit.”

Those were his words that closed out the show and lifted the spell. The doors opened, and we were back in a casino, the bar cheering for the Brewers, a polka band blaring from the stage. 

Maybe Houdini’s real magic trick was shutting out the world for a couple hours, forcing a connection between those who came together in the room. I think it’s an experience that will stay with us much longer than a cheap casino win.

Michelle Drew 

Editor