By Tom Interval
Mick Hanzlik
Mick Hanzlik, master locksmith, Houdini expert, and magician, died on November 1 of cancer.
I met Mick six years ago in Ontario, California, during Mark and Sheila Cannon‘s escape-artist convention. Although he and I were not friends, we were in contact on and off since the convention, and I regret not communicating with him more often.
Mick Hanzlik
A member of the Master Locksmiths Association and The Magic Circle, Mick operated a locksmith shop for 34 years on the south corner of Lutterworth Rd. and Covington St. in Northampton (Northamptonshire, England).
Armed with a brilliant locksmith’s mind—no doubt inherited from his father Josef, also a locksmith—Mick created one of perhaps only seven replicas of the famous Mirror handcuffs Houdini escaped from in 1904 at the London Hippodrome.
Mick’s death is a huge loss to the locksmith, escapology, magic, and Northampton communities. All the very best to his family and friends.
Mick Hanzlik
To learn more about Mick, you can browse his website, listen to his 2014 interview on BBC Radio Northampton, watch a 2008 Documentally video podcast, or peruse some of his YouTube videos, including one showing the Mirror-cuff reps in action! (See embedded media below.)
BBC Radio Northampton Interview:
Documentally Video Podcast:
Mick Hanzlik’s Replica Houdini Mirror Handcuffs:
Houdini Museum 