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| Jasper Maskelyne, grandson of John Nevil
Maskelyne, was an invaluable resource to his native Britain during World War II. Maskelyne
became an integral part of a special unit focused on the action along the Suez Canal. With
his great knowledge of illusion, Maskelyne was able to devise ingenious- and very large
scale- illusion systems that virtually made tanks invisible from the air, hid whole
buildings full of ammunition and supplies, and even made an entire city vanish and
reappear several miles away. When the war ended, he was unable to gain success as a
magical stage performer, so he turned his attention to a career with the
Kenya Police. In later years, Maskelyne operated a driving school in
Nairobi. Until his death in 1973, he continued to amaze and amuse
those around him with his magical talents, giving magic lessons to a
lucky few, and entertaining at children's parties. His wartime exploits were featured in the recent A&E television special, The
Story of Magic. David Fisher wrote The War Magician in 1983
(the book is now out of print) about him, and a new book
was due to be
published in the fall of 2001. (Sorry, we have no
further information on the book, but there has recently been a great
deal of interest in Maskelyne's life story, so it will not be surprising
to see a book, a TV program or even a movie made about this fascinating
man.) |
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Magic Shop Guide:
The Magician Who Won a
War