105:." The original Houdini séances were done by Houdini's wife Beatrice (Bess) for ten years after Houdini died. She found doing the Houdini séance each year very stressful, possibly hoping against hope that if anyone could escape from the other side and return in a séance, it would be Houdini. At the end of ten years she passed the honor, legacy and tradition of doing the Houdini seances to friend, confidant and Houdini ghost writer
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seance. Once the audience is inside the performance space, however, the performer's primary responsibility is to create a convincingly realistic theatrical experience, just as in other forms of theater. Additionally, the ambiguity of whether every manifestation is the result of deception or not may be part of the enjoyment that a theatrical seance provides.
109:. She announced "ten years is long enough to wait for any man!" Gibson was also writer of The Shadow series that became a series of pulp novels, comic books, a radio show, a TV show and a movie that starred Alec Baldwin. From the 1970s on Gibson would attend the Houdini seances at New York's Magic Towne House, run by
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According to
Houdini, if the séance leader is honest and admits his trickery, he is a theatrical performer; if not, he is a charlatan and a fraud. Ethically, a paying audience should be notified beforehand that they will be experiencing a work of interactive theater rather than an actual Spiritualist
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offers theatrical séances year round. Its production of "Haunted! Mysteries of THE Beyond!" is one of the longest running performances of its type having started in 2003. The Fall 2008 issue of the
Pennsylvania Pursuits Magazine put out by the Pennsylvania Tourism Office of the Commonwealth of
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and Harry
Houdini. First presented in 1995, it was designed for presentation in two versions: the larger, and more family-friendly stage version, and the smaller (somewhat "scarier" version), presented in private homes and in club settings. The larger, stage version of the show included the
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Another popular theatrical séance, this one touring theatrical stages and smaller venues, entitled
Phantoms, was presented by mentalist Gregory Bishop (Edmonds). Phantoms employed items associated with, and actually belonging to, Sir
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and Vince Wilson. Vince Wilson has performed thousands of seances since 1998 and lectures on the topic regularly, often appearing on television, radio, and podcasts as an authority on the topic.
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Pennsylvania picked the location of
Psychic Theater at 1433 N. Main Avenue in Scranton, Pennsylvania as one of the 10 most haunted places in Pennsylvania, placing it at number 9.
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Their evening séance program entitled, "Demons" is a recreation of a
Victorian-era séance replete with mediumistic staples such as
38:, to set the mood for the performance, and to hide the methods of the performer. Performance-goers may be treated to a variety of
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and Dick Brookz. Before Walter died, he passed on the tradition to
Dietrich, who continues to do the Houdini Séance each year.
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that purports to give its audiences the feeling of contacting the spirits of the dead, as might be experienced in a successful
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during the last week of
October to commemorate the late magician's death; Houdini helped found the Chicago Assembly in 1919.
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Theatrical séances are usually performed in either total or partial darkness to replicate the atmosphere of a traditional
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Theatrical séances are not intended to be "real" séances and should only be seen as entertainment; hence the adjective,
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and are often offered for fright value. Private magic cabarets may offer this type of performance, including:
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offers yearly
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demonstrations during a theatrical séance, including examples of
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Houdini in The New York Times, Hints of Seances at White House
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and various other mainstays of the Victorian séance scene.
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has a separate room dedicated to theatrical séances.
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72:Halloween
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453:Exposure
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91:Poconos
89:in the
790:Tricks
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632:(1902)
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616:(1584)
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