Events

Get a taste of the jaw-dropping magic that made Houdini famous with roving magicians, imbibe a signature Houdini cocktail from the mixologists at Central Standard Distillery, and break out of our specially curated escape room created by Breakout Games. Experience guided tours of Inescapable including information on Houdini's youth spent in Wisconsin.

Explore the history of Jewish Milwaukee through our permanent exhibit for FREE! Highlights include sections on Golda Meir, the Settlement Cookbook and the wall-sized Marc Chagall tapestry. Admission is required to view our new special exhibit, Inescapable: The Life and Legacy of Harry Houdini, which reveals the man behind the world's most famous magician. 

Explore the history of Jewish Milwaukee through our permanent exhibit for FREE! Highlights include sections on Golda Meir, the Settlement Cookbook and the wall-sized Marc Chagall tapestry. Admission is required to view our new special exhibit, Inescapable: The Life and Legacy of Harry Houdini, which reveals the man behind the world's most famous magician. 

Join a Forest Home historian and JMM curator, Molly Dubin, for a haunted tour of Milwaukee’s most important movers and shakers who lived during Houdini’s time in Milwaukee. Learn about our forefathers and mothers on this Houdini-inspired walk in Milwaukee’s only garden cemetery.

We will be screening the entire "Master Mystery" series throughout the run of 'Inescapable: The Life and Legacy of Harry Houdini;' the film will be shown in three parts on consecutive 'Thirdsdays' starting in October. Join us to view the first five parts of this important piece of film and Houdini history. 

Houdini died on Halloween of 1926. Every year since his death, a séance has been held to see if he could cross the veil and prove the spiritual afterlife existed. This year, Jewish Museum Milwaukee will try to connect with Houdini in the state where he learned the literal tricks of his trade, and perhaps he will once again make an appearance! Compete for "Best-In-Show" and "Best Houdini Look-Alike" costumes as you learn your fortune from roving tarot card readers and get your spook on with a moody museum tour.

Explore the odyssey of American Jews including the Weisz family (Houdini’s family name) through the immigrant experience with Tony Michels, Director of the Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies at the UW-Madison. Why did Jews like the Weisz family come to the US? What kinds of challenges confronted them? How did America shape them and how did they shape America? Sponsored by Felicia & James Miller.

We will be screening the entire "Master Mystery" series throughout the run of 'Inescapable: The Life and Legacy of Harry Houdini;' this "Thirdsday' we will screen parts 6-10 and finish the film on December 'Thirdsday.' Join us to view this important piece of film and Houdini history.  

Join magician and Houdini historian, Glen Gerard, for this family-friendly combination magic show and history lesson featuring some of Houdini’s original magic tricks including Metamorphosis and the East Indian Needle Trick. Be entertained by mystery, comedy and a great opportunity to discover things you never knew about the amazing life of legendary Milwaukee illusionist, Harry Houdini.

Houdini was the last of the steam-age celebrities, whose fame grew from many of the same developments that transformed American life in the industrial age. Explore how the notion of celebrity has evolved between Harry Houdini’s time and today with Rick Popp, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Journalism, Advertising and Media Studies at UWM.