Harry Houdini a boarding house on East 79th Street. He was joined by the rest of the family once Rabbi Weiss found permanent housing. As a child, Ehrich Weiss took several jobs, making his public début as a 9-year-old trapeze artist, calling himself "Ehrich, the Prince of the Air". He was also a champion cross country runner in his youth. When Weiss became a professional magician he began calling himself "Harry Houdini", after the French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, after reading Robert-Houdin's autobiography in 1890. Weiss incorrectly believed that an "i" at the end of a name meant "like" in French. In
The Illusionist (2006 film) loosely on "Eisenheim the Illusionist", a short story by Steven Millhauser from Millhauser's 1990 collection "The Barnum Museum". Together with "The Prestige" and "Scoop", "The Illusionist" was one of three films in 2006 to explore the world of stage magicians. Magic consultancy and technical advice during the production was supplied by James Freedman, Ricky Jay, Michael Weber and Scott Penrose. Director Neil Burger wrote, "Starting in pre-production, James (Freedman) became a major collaborator; brainstorming, designing and refining everything from small sleight of hand tricks to major narrative set pieces. He worked with Edward Norton preparing him for his stage performances