by Jon Racherbaumer | Jun 2, 2016 | Articles, Magic News
ON:WORDS Jon Racherbaumer PARASITES, PRECURSORS, THE RELATIVITY OF ORIGINALITY, AND THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS? “Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I’ve ever known.” -Chuck Palahniuk Consider the word “origin,” including its origin. Some back-trackers have tracked this word’s origin to early 16th century. Derived from the French origine or the Latin orfiri, it basically means, “to rise.” As a handy-dandy noun, though, it refers to the point or place where something begins, arises, or is derived. If this is the case, where do ideas and tricks begin, arise, or are derived? I also mention this because cyclic topics (originality, provenance, and plagiarism) recently and momentarily made the news. I’m speaking here about the in-house blowback prompted by Richard Jones winning Britain’s Got Talent. Perhaps the reason this lit up Magicdom’s Blogosphere is two-fold…or should we say, two-edged? For one thing, Jones is the first illusionist to win this British television show, which at first blush should cause most magicians to cheer. Doesn’t such a win suggest that “magic,” if properly done in today’s media, is good enough to be richly rewarded? [1] Reaction in the blogosphere, however, was quick and effete. (Tweets in a teapot?) Most of the blowback emanated from outspoken protectors and agitprops in the magic community. However, contest judges and the public-at-large differed. If they considered Jones’ presentation worthy and wondrous, squawks to the contrary from a not-so-silent minority falls onto deaf ears. Do protestations and gripes by rival professionals really make a difference? The Guardian reported, “Magicians have been overjoyed at the win, with the Magic...
by John Lovick | May 17, 2016 | Articles, Artifacts, Curious and New, Exhibitions, Magic News, Magicians
Will Nicola (seen on the right) was another globe-trotting illusionist from America. Young Will learned the magic business as an assistant in his father’s magic act and his older brother, Charles, who would gain his own fame as Von Arx, also mentored Will in the mysterious arts. Will’s first performance on his own occurred at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition held in Omaha, Nebraska in 1898. During the run of the Fair he became friends with the great Chinese magician, Ching Ling Foo, who was visiting America for the first time. Twelve years later, with his own full-evening show, Will had set forth on his first world-tour. While appearing in Tientsin, China, a familiar face turned up at the theater. It was Ching Ling Foo. This photo was taken in front of the theater to commemorate their reunion. In 1938 Nicola was on his fourth world tour working very successfully through Australia and New Zealand. From there they sailed to Java and then on to Singapore. It was during this engagement in November of 1939 that WW II broke out in Europe. Nicola thought it best to suspend the rest of his tour and cancelled his bookings in India. The show, as well as a large quantity of Chinese silk that he hoped to turn into costumes and backdrops, was loaded on board a British ship named Sirdhana. With the entire company onboard they set off for Honolulu but before clearing Singapore harbor the ship struck a submerged mine. The passengers safely scrambled into the lifeboats and then, from a safe distance, watched Nicola’s entire show disappear under the ocean’s surface....
by John Lovick | May 17, 2016 | Articles, Conjuring Arts University, Curious and New, Exhibitions, Magic News, Magicians
During the early morning of December 17, 1896 Adelaide Herrmann suddenly found herself not the co-star of the Herrmann the Great touring show but simply as the widow Herrmann. Her husband, Alexander Herrmann, had reigned supreme as America’s foremost magician for many years and she had lived a life of luxury. Now, just forty-three years of age, Adelaide needed to make a living and magic was all she had known throughout her adult life. Immediately following Alexander’s death she cabled her nephew in France instructing him to sail for America. Leon Herrmann was already an accomplished magician and perhaps even more important, he looked like his uncle with a black mustache and goatee. This new iteration of The Herrmann the Great show toured America for three seasons but a clash of temperaments finally doomed the enterprise. Leon further antagonized his aunt by retaining the title Herrmann the Great, which he used for his own full-evening show. Another nephew, Felix Kretschmann, the son of Adelaide’s sister, decided that he too would become a magician. He purchased enough of Alexander’s magic equipment, costumes, and curtains from Adelaide to produce an act, grew the required goatee and mustache, and then, much to his aunt’s chagrin, legally changed his name to Felix Herrmann. Taking this as an affront to her deceased husband, Adelaide never forgave Felix to the point that she removed his name from her will. Adelaide carried on as a magician, a domain that was inhabited almost exclusively by men. During her long career she appeared at the Wintergarten in Berlin, the Folies-Bergere in Paris, and the Hippodrome Theatre in...
by John Lovick | May 17, 2016 | Articles, Curious and New, Magic News, Magicians
This exotic looking wizard did not travel to America from the mysterious East. His name was Charles Joseph Carter, born in New Castle Pennsylvania in 1874. As a teen-ager he was already performing as Carter –The Boy Magician and what he lacked in artistic ability and creativity he more than made up for with ambition and fortitude. Attending law school in Chicago provided him with skills that served him well throughout a long career. He formed a booking agency called The National Theatrical Exchange; he started a theatrical magazine called The Chicago Footlights and for a few short years he owned the famous New York magic company (Martinka’s Magical Palace) before selling it to Harry Houdini. In 1921 Carter lost a fortune filming The Lion’s Bride in South Africa, a movie that was written, produced, directed and starring Charles Carter. Orson Welles he was not. In 1933 he lost another fortune when his Temple of Mystery at the Chicago World’s Fair closed after just two months of miserable business. But over the course of three decades Carter the Great made seven long trips around the world where he presented a three-hour show of magic and illusions. The secret to his success was that rather than appearing in major cities where he would be competing with the greatest magicians in the world, he played the far corners of the globe where audiences rarely saw anything like what Carter had to offer. His world tours could easily last more than two years and during those circumnavigations of the earth he lived like a king, staying in fine hotels, eating in the...
by Conjuring Arts | May 11, 2016 | Magic News
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by Conjuring Arts | Apr 5, 2016 | Magic News
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