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1. Find your motivation

Derren Brown explores how a runaway immigrant named Eric Weisz first found the motivation to morph into the ultimate showman, Harry Houdini

One hundred years after his death, how did an ordinary immigrant child transform himself into the most famous magician in history?

In episode one of How Houdini Made Magic, psychological illusionist Derren Brown traces the early life of Eric Weisz.

In 1878, Eric’s family voyaged from Budapest to the American promised land of Appleton, Wisconsin. What awaited him was the unforgiving Gilded Age America. But Eric turned hardship and personal tragedy into a motivation that would become the driving force of his life: to keep his ageing mother comfortable.

Presenter: Derren Brown
Writer/Producer: Calum McCrae
Additional research: Alice Homewood
Sound designer: David Crackles
Executive producer: Sophie Ellis
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor: Daniel Clarke

A Strawberry Blond production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4

14 minutes

On radio

Mon 19 Oct 202613:45
BBC Radio 4

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2. Find your voice

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  • Mon 19 Oct 202613:45
    BBC Radio 4

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