See Houdini here: the Hippodrome and Alhambra sites in central London.

The word was that American magicians were doing alright in Europe, so Harry and Bess set sail for England, and they arrived in London in May 1900 — with zero prospects. Houdini went to see the manager of the Alhambra Theatre in Leicester Square, which stood where the Odeon cinema is now.

The Odeon is an impressive movie house, but still a shadow of the vast Alhambra with its Moorish architecture. It opened in 1858 in what had been the Panopticon of Science and Art and quickly became one of the capital’s most successful theatres. The famous aerialist Blondin performed here, as did Jules Leotard, inventor of the flying trapeze, and there were magnificent ballets, the dancers persevering through generous clouds of lamp gas, cigar smoke and liquor fumes.

The Alhambra’s manager told Harry that handcuff artists were a dime a dozen, so Houdini had to show him he was worth considerably more than that. He took him to Scotland Yard and talked a chief inspector (Melville by name — remember it) into locking him up. The inspector had barely turned around by the time the American newcomer was free of his manacles.

The Houdinis caused a sensation at the Alhambra that July with a stage act that combined singing, sleight of hand, a lecture on “curiosities” and a clairvoyance routine, culminating with the show-stopping trunk trick. The bill of fare for July 2, 1900, is reproduced below. Click on the image for a closer view, and you can see “Houdini, King of Handcuffs” scheduled as the 10th attraction, after a showing of evidently animated “photos from the front” and in between May & Flora Hengler and some Australian dancers.

Opening night came with an unexpected blessing. A magician known as the Great Cirnoc called from the audience insisting that he was the true Handcuff King, and a battle of the manacle monarchs ensued. Houdini finally produced “the Bean Giant”, a huge handcuff he travelled with. Its inventor, a Captain Bean of Boston, had offered $500 to anyone who could get out of it. Houdini had had no trouble doing so, although since he wouldn’t say how he got free he couldn’t claim the cash. But at the Alhambra, the Great Cirnoc was buffaloed by the rig.

The management kept them on right through August and would have held them longer except they’d meanwhile been booked at the Central Theatre in Dresden, Germany.