Houdini Museum, Tour & Magic Show WEEKENDS, Pennsylvania, United States

4arthur n 5:00 PM Mar 20, 2020

Group Mystery Bus Tour to Scranton,Pa
We were not told of the destination until the bus departed. Frankly we were not so excited to discover it was Scranton, Pa. known only as a place we passed through on our way to N.Y. In one respect the Houdini Museum was like most except more cluttered. To fully appreciate it one must search for items that stand out looking them over carefully before transferring attention to something else. To see the water tank leading to his death and hearing the true details was a high point particularly when told by someone that knew him personally. The rest is as enjoyable as you make it looking at show advertisements, photographs and props. The tour is capped off with a show performed by a magician that is said to be among the 10 highest rated in the world. True or not the show was very entertaining and well worthwhile. I personally judge visits like this one by how frequently I look at my watch. At the juncture I could not tell you how long we were there. Well worth seeing magic buff or not. For me, maybe even again if we are in the Scranton area.

4thewestchestarian 5:00 PM Feb 17, 2014

Like if your aunt and uncle did magic at their house.
Lovers of clutter and old-timey magic tricks (floating woman, balls and cups, pulling the rabbit out of the hat, etc.) you have found your Eden. Two eccentric magicians with an obsession around the founding father of escape acts, Harry Houdini vamp, do tricks, do shtick, and sell their odd little hearts out. The opening presentation of a video (on what must be on televisions bought in the 1980s) from the Travel Channel visiting the very museum you are sitting in get points for sheer ballsy-ness and meta-ness. After that comes the short walk around two medium-sized rooms chock-a-block with Houdini bric-a-brac most of it unlabeled in no particular order and a lot of it frustratingly sitting behind other stuff. Here's a tip: just because you own it doesn't mean you have to display it (also maybe dust once in a blue moon). The saving grace of the experience comes from the female half of the proprietors - Dorothy Dietrich. Specifically her magic act rises out of the general mediocrity of the proceedings not from the tricks - which include just the well-worn classics - but her willingness to drag audience members into the fray charming and vamping her way into their hearts. Given the small audience drawn, you're likely to wind up as one of them. The male half of the team, the unlikely named "Jonny Bravo" presents like of the junior version of the same tricks interposed with an overly earnest attempt to sell inexpensive magic-related trinkets. Another tip: if children came with audience members, they pretty much were going to wind up in the gift shop (or "gift corner" more accurately) anyway so no need to push so hard (also the "I'm psycho" thing is a little offputting - maybe dial it down a notch). In short, for a price less than a movie with popcorn you may get to watch your husband get pretend stabbed in the neck - how you gonna beat that?