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Sometimes fact is
stranger than fiction! The world of magic has its share of odd facts and quirky
information. Fascinating!
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| Enjoy the
trivia below- but please don't copy this information and post it on
your own web site. It took many hours of research to compile and we thank you for
not stealing our work. |
| The woman pictured in the Howard Thurston
"She Floats" levitation poster was the mother of actress Imogene Coca; she was
one of Thurston's main assistants. |
| Okito (Theo Bamberg) developed his silent
Oriental act to compensate for the fact that he was totally deaf. |
Washington Irving Bishop (1856-1889) was a
famous magician/mentalist who suffered from a condition that would
spontaneously put him into a coma that could last for days. On May 12, 1889, while
performing for members of New York's prestigious Lambs Club, he suddenly became faint and
lapsed into a coma. Two doctors in the audience rushed to his side, and after careful
examination, pronounced him dead. The doctors decided that an autopsy should be performed,
and since the brain was believed to hold a clue to Mr. Bishop's sudden death, the doctors
launched the procedure "before the brain cooled". While the body was still warm,
the top of the head was sawed open, the brain removed and examined. Since no cause of
death was apparent, the death certificate noted "Hysterocatalepsy" as the cause
of death. Of course, it was the autopsy itself that killed him. When Mr. Bishop's mother
was notified that her son had collapsed, and that an autopsy had been performed without
her permission, she was enraged. She pointed out that a slip of paper was in her son's
pocket at all times, detailing his tendency to slip into comas, and containing
instructions to prevent "premature autopsies or treatment by ice or electricity while
he is in a trance state". Mrs. Bishop's complaints caused the doctors to be brought
to trial, where their high station in New York society helped acquit them. She spent the
remaining twenty-nine years of her life, and all of her money, trying to bring her son's
murderers to justice. In 1890 she wrote a book called A Mother's Life Dedicated and an
Appeal for Justice to All Brother Masons and the General Public, A Synopsis of the
Butchery of the Late Sir Washington Irving Bishop. As a frontispiece, the book
contained the reprint of an actual photograph depicting Mrs. Bishop lovingly leaning over
the open casket of her son, gazing at the line on his forehead where the top of his skull
had been sawed off. |
| Eliaser Bamberg, Holland's court magician and
great-great grandfather of Theo Bamberg, was considered to be a most incredible magician,
performing seemingly impossible miracles. The truth was that he had lost a leg in a war,
and had his artificial limb fitted with secret compartments, allowing him to perform
amazing magic effects. |
| Today's "Masked Magician" was
certainly not the first. A Peruvian-born illusionist had great success in France in the
late 1800's performing as L'Homme Masque, or "The Masked Man". Jose Antenar de
Gago not only wore his mask during his performances, but he always appeared disguised in
public as well. |
| Long before he became one of America's greatest
magicians, Howard Thurston began his career as a jockey at the tender age of nine. He
earned a living as a bellboy, a potato peeler pitchman (apparently having invented this
particular design of peeler) and even a professional pickpocket before setting his sights
on magic. |
| Pulling a rabbit from a hat is a classic symbol
of magic, yet in truth has rarely been a part of any magician's show. By some accounts,
the idea of pulling a rabbit from a hat was part of a publicity stunt. Created by a
British magician, the effect capitalized on the public's interest in a woman who claimed
to have given birth to a litter of rabbits. |
| Nicola and
Von Arx
were brothers, as were
Houdini and Hardeen, Howard Thurston and Harry Thurston, Ira Davenport and William
Davenport. |
| Harry Houdini's brother,
Hardeen, was a Leap
Year Centennial baby- he was born on February 29, 1876. |
| Kuda
Bux, the mentalist most famous for his
Blindfold Drive and other blindfolded feats, eventually lost his sight to glaucoma. |
| Some magicians have gained fame even while
physically challenged. Eliaser Bamberg had only one leg (and he used his false leg to hide
magic items). George Kirkland, blind since birth, entertained Britons in the late 1800's.
Admiral Tom Thumb was a midget magician who worked for Ringling Brothers circus, and who
sold his own magic sets, complete with tiny cards. Today, Argentina's Rene Levante is
famous for his amazing card magic, even though he has only one arm. |
| The stage name "Alexander" has been
used by no less than nine professional magicians, not counting the great
Alexander Herrmann. The name has been used by Alexander Heimburger,
Claude Conlin, Alexander Victor,
Loring Campbell, Leon Mandrake, James Gordon Alexander, Carl Alexis Rhodin and Augusta
Krocs. |
| Magicians also have their
share of bad luck. John
Calvert, Von Arx and Thurston all lost shows
in shipwrecks. |
|
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