He recalls a famous quote by the 19th-century performer Houdini named himself after: Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin. “There are a lot of straight actors who can’t do comedy,” he says, “whereas if you’re a comedian, you can do both.” He hopes the show will work a little magic on his career, giving it a new dimension. He has written books about classic tricks and scams, and is an expert on famous magicians – not just Houdini but faux-Chinese performer Chung Ling Soo, as well as Britain’s Jasper Maskelyne, who helped the army with camouflage techniques and other deceptions during the second world war. Zenon did summer jobs in Blackpool magic shops from the age of 12, living with his grandmother in a caravan, and became obsessed by stage magic. He died in Philadelphia in 1942 at the age of 59, never having divulged the secrets of his boss’s great escapes. “He had all the skills of Houdini and then some, but was content behind the scenes.” After Houdini’s death from peritonitis in 1926, Collins went to work with Houdini’s magician brother Hardeen and did some of his own shows. “Legend has it that Collins could look at a key, memorise the shape of it, and go and cut one that would work,” says Zenon, sipping his tea we’re in his local pub, the Prince Albert in Brighton, where he is rehearsing.
It made me realise that, throughout history, there have been a lot of people behind the scenes who are 50% of the action but are then forgotten.” Collins, who was a carpenter and locksmith, made all the props and was responsible for ensuring Houdini’s dangerous stunts didn’t kill him. “As I discovered more about him, I realised I was more interested in his story than Houdini’s in some respects.
Zenon unearthed photographs of Collins, and found out he came from Portsmouth. He worked for Houdini for more than 20 years, toured everywhere, left his wife and four children behind in the UK, and married again.” The marriage was probably bigamous. There’s a line in the show that his job was to be invisible. “It suddenly dawned on me, ‘Who better to tell the story than his right-hand man?’ I started doing some research on him, but it was a tough one to crack.
Paul Zenon with his escapology props Photograph: David Streeterįinding Collins gave Zenon the key into Houdini’s life.
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