'Houdinizing' Peter Pan: The Magical Exploits of J.M. Barrie & Harry Houdini

Adam McLean once wrote that, "Magical thinking is the ability to see ideas as part of a whole, to see the interconnections, the correspondences between seemingly diverse events, things and ideas" (McLean, 1995, p7). In this paper, I will attempt to engage in magical thinking by considering connections between the enigmatic illusionist and escapologist, Harry Houdini and the equally enigmatic novelist and playwright extraordinaire, Sir James Matthew Barrie. In so doing, I hope to suggest that the connection between the two is much more than mere illusion.I also heed the advice of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a significant player in this paper as will soon become clear. In A Scandal in Bohemia he writes, "It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts" (Conan Doyle, 1891, p3). To unmask Houdini and reveal the truth is tricky. Although the data is somewhat hard to find and the information scattered, I believe there is sufficient evidence to factually base this theory.