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Was Houdini a Spy? (2021)
The world’s most famous magician, Harry Houdini, was known as a celebrity conjurer, a practitioner of escape magic, and a master illusionist. He’s had an enduring legacy on the magical arts since his untimely demise on Halloween Day, 1926.
This book, created from two long-lost training guides designed to teach Agency officers how to integrate elements of the magician’s craft into clandestine operations, revealed that the CIA’s connection to the world of magic was decades old. In the 1950s, as part of the MKULTRA project, the Agency hired magician John Mulholland to teach young officers techniques of deception suitable for the field, such as smuggling assets out of East Germany during the Cold War in vehicles that resembled the magic boxes used in stage illusions. According to the Trickery and Deception book, concealment devises like magic coins and the hollow Mokana shoe used by Houdini for hiding escape tools became popular among spies throughout the Cold War era.
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