[HARRY HOUDINI]
I'm buried alive
I hang by a thread
And people pay money
To see if I'm dead
Like Mama once said
"That's the showbiz"

[EVELYN NESBIT]
I'm packin' 'em in
From summer to fall
Come May and I'm playin'
A half-empty hall
Well, you said it all

[HARRY HOUDINI & EVELYN NESBIT]
That's the showbiz

[EVELYN NESBIT]
It's sad

[HARRY HOUDINI]
It's strange

[HARRY HOUDINI & EVELYN NESBIT]
Times change and change and change
[HARRY HOUDINI]
And still I'm on top

[EVELYN NESBIT]
I'm third on the bill

[HARRY HOUDINI]
I'm ready to stop

[EVELYN NESBIT]
I'm nervous, I will

[HARRY HOUDINI & EVELYN NESBIT]
And both of us still
In showbiz

[HARRY HOUDINI]
I'm out on a ledge
Wrapped up in a chain
And starting to think
As it's starting to rain
My life is insane

[EVELYN NESBIT]
That's the showbiz
My partner's a dud
My gown doesn't fit
The band is demanding
A grand, or they'll quit
My lawyer does shit
[HARRY HOUDINI]
That's the showbiz

[HARRY HOUDINI & EVELYN NESBIT]
It's sad
It's strange
Times change and change and change

[HARRY HOUDINI]
I'm losing my hair

[EVELYN NESBIT]
I'm losing my voice

[HARRY HOUDINI]
I'm using a chair

[EVELYN NESBIT]
I lost the Rolls Royce

[HARRY HOUDINI & EVELYN NESBIT]
But what other choice
Than showbiz

[HARRY HOUDINI]
I'm only a sham
Well, that's my appeal
The people need sham
'Cause the world is too real
[EVELYN NESBIT]
I know how they feel

I sit and reflect
Up there on my swing
Stenography lessons
Might just be the thing
I wish I could sing
Ah, ah

[HARRY HOUDINI, spoken]
A hundred years from now, the name Houdini will be gone and forgotten. And it wasn't even my real name!

(sung)
And Mama is gone

[EVELYN NESBIT]
My Stanny was shot

[HARRY HOUDINI]
But we carry on

[EVELYN NESBIT]
For like it or not

[HARRY HOUDINI & EVELYN NESBIT]
We're lucky we've got
The showbiz
Where if you are down

[HARRY HOUDINI]
Or dead on your feet

[EVELYN NESBIT]
Or hear from some elderly dear
On the street
That you're obsolete

[HARRY HOUDINI & EVELYN NESBIT]
That's okay
'Cause sad or strange
There's one thing that will never change—

[HARRY HOUDINI]
Like Mama would say

[HARRY HOUDINI & EVELYN NESBIT]
That's the showbiz
The showbiz
The—

[A crowd rushes in, recognizing HOUDINI and ignoring EVELYN.]

[HARRY HOUDINI & EVELYN NESBIT]
—Showbiz