Word: houdini
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...magic out of life. They spoke in the jargon of the trade: there were no tricks, only "effects"; a disappearing object was a "vanish"; a suddenly appearing object was a "production"; a nimble-handed move was a "sleight." The masters of all these effects and sleights had vanished. Houdini, who could get out of a steel coffin, could not escape from his wooden one; Cardini, who commanded the attention of a jammed theater with nothing but a deck of cards and a pack of cigarettes; Thurston, Dunninger, Blackstone, Dante: all, all were gone or retired. People wanted facts, not illusions...
...announcer for the Rucker summer basketball tournament in Harlem was groping for the best way to express his enthusiasm over the new court phenomenon. The youngster heard himself called "Houdini," "The Claw," "Black Moses"-and none of the nicknames pleased him. He took the announcer aside. Softly but deliberately he said, "Call me The Doctor.' " Julius Winfield Erving Jr., 21, was already demonstrating that he would...