While they were traveling with the circus, they worked long hours.But they also made good friends,including a young couple named the Keatons who did a comedy act with their young son.Houdini gave him the nickname Buster that he used later in his films. Another friend was an elderly Japanese acrobat. He taught Harry a skill that he probably used later for his escape acts:how to swallow things, keep them in his throat, and then bring them back up to his mouth.