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The complicated relationship between magician Harry Houdini and author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a popular one for Edinbugh Fringe content. After all, Conan Doyle is from Edinburgh, and the Fringe attracts a large number of magicians who are interested in Houdini. What could be more apt? The twist on this particular show, however, is that the actor playing Houdini is also a professional magician himself, and integrates actual magic effects in Houdini’s quest to disprove Spiritualist tricks Conan Doyle has fallen for.

Houdini Speaks to the Living does not make mention of this (likely to keep their script timeless), but we are quickly approacing the 100 year annivesary of Houdini’s death. He passed on Halloween of 1926, and as the play makes clear though including the recording of his wife Bess, attempts were made for many years to communicate with him from beyond the grave through seances. While Houdini was open to the idea of communicating with the dead, due to his career he was more aware than anyone the tricks that were used to fake such content. This infuriated him, and he made it a personal mission to bring these con artists to justice. On the other hand, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a proud believer in the Spirituaist techniques, most certainly through the desire to communicate with his son who had been killed in World War 1. He insisted first that Houdini must be underestimating mediums, and when disproved on that front, then that Houdini must himself have mediumistic capabilities he was lying about.

Through conversation between Houdini as played by Patrick Terry and Conan Doyle as played by Robert Matney, we learn the preceding information and have a glimpse into an imagined showoff between the two, where Conan Doyle insists there are skills mediums have that Houdini is incapable of replicating through stage magic, and Houdini shuts down each of these suggestions one at a time by doing just that. Accordingly, the tricks performed are ones that a medium would attempt, so include slate writing, floating tables, and so on. As Houdini does each trick, he includes audience participation just like a “real” magic show, creating an immersive experience for the audience. Terry is a skilled magician and most certainly does justice to Houdini’s reputation.

This is not just a magic show, of course, but magic within a theatrical performance. While the magic tricks are a delightful inclusion and heighten the intensity of the showoff, the acting itself is absoluteley strong enough to stand on it’s own. Terry’s Houdini is shocking well aligned with what we know from recordings of Houdini’s unique manner of speaking and even way of holding himself. But in terms of pathos, Matney’s Conan Doyle steals the show. His pain when exploring his need to believe in Spiritualism is leigitmately moving, and may bring tears to some eyes.

Depending on the level of one’s interest in magic history, the story of Houdini and Conan Doyle may be very familar to you. But even if you know the story by heart, seeing it played out by Terry and Matney will steal your heart.