In fact, a review of The Houdinis act at the Moncton Opera House singled out the effect for praise: So when The Houdinis performed their act in several Maritime cities, along with handcuff escapes and Metamorphosis, audiences saw "Mysterious Harry" and "Le Petite Bessie" doing a classic Trilby levitation as part of their show. Many of Marco's props had been confiscated for non-payment of bills, but somehow Houdini was able to salvage a few pieces of equipment, including his own Metamorphosis trunk and the Trilby levitation. It's possible Houdini, who doubled as an assistant in the troop, might have operated the complex levitation apparatus behind the scenes.īut when the Marco show failed and folded and Dooley went home to the U.S., Harry and Bess continued the tour with their own act.
On Marco/Svengali's command, the chairs would be removed and Bess with remain suspended in mid air. Bess/Trilby would be laid on a plank across two chairs. Onstage "Marco", aka Edward James Dooley, played the part of Svengali with Bess as his hypnotic subject, Trilby. At the time, it was fashionable to tie-in the levitation with the popular novel Trilby by George du Maurier (as Alexander Herrmann had done). When Harry and Bess set out as part of the Marco Magic Company's tour of the Canadian Maritimes in 1896 (the subject of Bruce's book), one of the headline effects of the show was a levitation.
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