A couple years ago I read a biography of Harry Houdini. I wanted to learn about showmanship because I’m far from a natural showman. And who better to learn from than one of the greatest showmen of the 20th century?
One curious thing kept catching my eye throughout the book. The background:
The background:
Houdini built his career on accepting public, grand, and spectacular challenges.
He’d perform on stage and offer audience members the chance to tie him in the thickest of ropes from head to foot, twice over, however they pleased, to see if they could keep him from freeing himself.
He’d challenge secret service agents to cuff him with their most modern handcuffs, to see if these cuffs were the ones that could finally hold him.
He’d accept when police chiefs publicly announced they would lock him inside their most secure cells, because those cells were impossible to get out of.
Now here’s the curious thing that caught my eye:
Each time Houdini accepted such a public challenge, rather than boasting that this would be a cakewalk because of his supernatural skills, he would rather highlight the possibility that he would fail.
For example, one time, after Houdini had just escaped from handcuffs in a police station, the police chief joked he will lock Houdini in a cell to keep him from escaping. Houdini replied:
“Getting out of a cell isn’t in my contract and I don’t guarantee it, but if you won’t laugh too much if I fail, I’ll try it.”
I’ve been thinking about this as I prepare for my upcoming “I endorse YOU” auction.
As I wrote a few days ago, this auction is the riskiest offer I’ve ever made, for myself personally.
If nobody ends up bidding or the winning bid ends up too low, I will look incompetent, foolish, and very probably unskilled in this thing I claim to be good enough to teach, namely, making offers that people want to pay me good money for.
On the other hand, the more successful the auction becomes, the more obligation I am taking on, and the more risky it becomes that I will fail on the delivery side. After all, I am promising that the winning bidder will make back all of his or her investment, and that becomes progressively more difficult the higher the bid goes.
But I’ll try it nonetheless, for your entertainment.
If you won’t laugh too much if I fail, I’ll put my reputation and wellbeing on the line for you.
Here are the details of the spectacle:
Time: This Wednesday, Dec 10, at 6pm CET/12 noon EST/9am PST.
Place: My Skool community, Daily Email House
What to bring: Popcorn, binoculars, and possibly smelling salts in case the person next to you faints from the suspense
If you wanna get your seats to the most daring, most risky, possibly most lethal challenge of my career: