Lives of the Conjurers Volume One by P Rofessor Solo Mon
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Professor Solomon’s .. s! an ici ag t m ea gr he f t o ies ph gra Bio Lives of the Conjurers, Volume One • Was he a medium or a magician? • The Mystery Man of Europe • Lecturer, conjurer, and quack • He levitated a pianist and her piano • .. His vanishing act was for sheriffs • His greatest illusion was himself • What he pulled from a hat one night kept a family together • His masterpiece was the Disappearing Donkey • How was he going to jump into a bottle? • There was more to his Chess- playing Automaton than met the eye • His mindreading act mystified audiences • Both the spirits and the police visited their parlor • His magic shop in a Bowery basement was spooky • What was the secret of his psychic powers? • He bewitched the Emperor’s pen—and was appointed Court Conjurer • With his Horologium, he could read minds from miles away • - He hosted the Phantasmagoria • , , and . Professor Solomon is a magician and author. His books include How to Find Lost Objects, Japan in a Nutshell, and Coney Island. They are available at www.professorsolomon.com. ISBN 978-0-912509-15-0 9 0 0 0 0 9 780912 509150 Lives of the Conjurers Volume One by P rofessor Solo mon Illustrated by Steve Solo mon Copyright © 2014 by Top Hat Press http://www.professorsolomon.com Hocus Pocus . The Famous Mr. Fawkes . The Bottle Conjurer . Cagliostro . Katterfelto . Robertson . Comus . Torrini . Signor Blitz . Maelzel . Robert Heller . Henry Box Brown . Bellachini . Henry Slade . Otto Maurer . The Bangs Sisters . Servais Le Roy . Bert Reese . Charles Morritt . C.W. Starr . Hocus Pocus - owy figure. He is mentioned in a work published Tin by Thomas Ady, an English physician. Its full title is A Candle in the Dark: OR, A TREATISE Concern - ing the Nature of Witches & Witchcraft: BEING Advice to Judges, Sheriffes, Justices of the Peace and Grand-Jury-men, what to do, before they passe Sentence on such as are Arraigned for their Lives, as WITCHES . In his treatise Ady denounces the prosecution of persons accused of witchcraft. He insists that there is no biblical precedent for such prosecution. Even in ancient times, he says, there were no witches or magicians with supernatural powers—only practitioners of the “craft of Jugling [conjur - ing].” These practitioners deceived the “silly people” who beheld their trickery. They pretended to have “done great Wonders, which were only delusions.” And he likens the wonder-workers of old to the conjurers of his own day. Skill at deception “is profitably seen in our common juglers, that go up and down to play their Tricks in Fayrs and Markets.” Ady then gives an example of these itinerants: a conjurer known as Hocus Pocus. I will speak of one man more excelling in that craft than others, that went about in King Jame s his time, and long since, who called himself, The Kings Majesties most excellent Hocus Pocus , and so was he called, because that at the play - ing of every Trick, he used to say, Hocus pocus, tontus talon - tus, vade celeriter jubeo , a dark composure of words, to blinde the eyes of the beholders, to make his Trick pass the more currantly without discovery, because when the eye and the ear of the beholder are both earnestly busied, the Trick is not so easily discovered, nor the Imposture dis - cerned; the going about of this Fellow was very useful to the wise, to see how easily people among the ancient Heathen were deceived. Thus, a treatise on witchcraft provides a brief description of a seventeenth-century conjurer. And while the conjurer’s claim of royal patronage (“the Kings Majesties most excel - lent Hocus Pocus”) sounds like puffery, it has in fact been confirmed—by the discovery of a royal warrant. In one William Vincent was granted a license “to exercise the art of Legerdemaine in any Townes within the Relme of England & Ireland.” And who was William Vincent? In a court record from , he is described as “alias Hocus Spocus, of London.”* Hocus Pocus was an author as well as a performer. In a pamphlet was published entitled The Anatomie of LEGERDEMAIN, OR The Art of Jugling set forth in his proper colours, full y, plainl y, and exactl y, so that an ignorant person may thereby learn the full perfection of the same, after a little practise. The author, identified as “Hocus Pocus Junior,” is believed to have been Vincent. The pamphlet contains instructions for tricks, in partic - ular the Cups and Balls. And it lists the basic attributes of a conjurer: First, hee must be one of an impudent and audacious spirit, so that hee may set a good face upon the matter. Secondly, he must have a nimble and cleanly conveyance [i.e., his furtive moves must be light-fingered and adroit]. Thirdly, he must have strange termes, and emphaticall words, to grace and adorne his actions, and the more to astonish the beholders. Fourthly, and lastly, such gesture of body as may leade away the spectators eyes from a strict and diligent behold - ing his manner of conveyance. * The record was of a legal proceeding in Leicester. Vincent (Hocus Pocus) was accused of having cheated another player in a game of backgammon. He denied the charge, and seems to have escaped punishment. Surely a description of Hocus Pocus himsel f! In the poet John Cleveland published these lines, referring apparently to one of Hocus’s tricks: Before a Sco t can properly be curst, I must (like Hocus) swallow daggers first. And finally, an epitaph for him is found in the miscellany Wit’s Recreations ( ): On Hocas Pocas Here Hoca s lyes with his tricks and his knocks, Whom death hath made sure as a juglers box; Who many hath cozen’d by his leiger-demain, Is presto convey’d and here underlain. Thus Hoca s he’s here, and here he is not, While death plaid the Hocas , and brought him to th’pot [grave]. For Death too is a conjurer. He had waved his wand and intoned “strange termes.” And presto! Hocus was conveyed to the Grave. The Famous Mr. Fawkes , cloth and other commodities, and a carnival. Held Beach summer at West Smithfield, in north-west London, it lasted four days and drew large crowds. A variety of entertainment was offered. There were acrobats, pup - peteers, musicians, fire-eaters, wild animals, peep shows and mechanical rides. And there were conjurers—or jug - glers, as they were then called. The most popular of these was a performer known as Fawkes.* Fawkes performed in an enclosed theatrical booth. Half- a-dozen shows were presented daily. A banner outside the booth depicted Fawkes—dressed like a gentleman, in a powdered wig—producing eggs from his Egg Bag. And there was more to the show than the celebrated Egg Bag— as promised by an ad that appeared in newspapers: is to give Notice, That the famous Mr. at his Booth in West-Smithfield, performs the following most surprizing Tricks, after a new Method, viz. He takes an empty Bag, lays it on the Table, and turns it several Times inside out, then commands Eggs out of it, and several Showers of real Gold and Silver; then the Bag beginning to swell, several Sorts of wild Fowl run out of it upon the Table. He throws up a Pack of Cards, and causes them to be living Birds flying about the Room. He causes living Beasts, Birds, and other Creatures to appear upon the * His full name remained unknown until Houdini—researching a book on the history of magic—set out to learn it. Houdini and the clerk of St . Martin-in-the-Fields Church searched through the parish records, and found the will of Isaac Fawkes. He had died in , and had bequeathed a sizeable sum—earned as a conjurer—to his wife. . Table. He blows the Spots of the Cards off or on, and changes them to any pictures. Fawkes was a pioneer of advertising; and newspaper notices such as this, along with his handbills and broad - sides, drew a steady stream of patrons. He set up his booth at fairs—offering “curiosities no person in the Kingdom can pretend to show like himself”—and prospered. The London Journal reported: The Famous Mr Fawks, as he modestly stiles himself, has since Bartholomew and Southwark-Fairs, put seven hun - dred Pounds into the Bank: He may certainly challenge any Conjurer of the Age to do the like. His popularity at fairs allowed him to move on to the - atres. Beginning in , he performed regularly at the Old Tennis Court playhouse, which became known at Fawkes’ Theatre. His show now included mechanical wonders— automata built by Christopher Pinchbeck, a clock-maker with whom he had become partners. Increasingly, Pinch - beck’s automata and other creations were featured. Among them was a “Musical Clock, that plays Variety of Tunes, on Organ, Flute and Flageolet; with birds Whistling and Sing - ing as Natural as Life itself.” That Fawkes was both a savvy showman and a masterful performer is evidenced by an article that appeared in the Weekly Journal. The writer describes his reception at the theatre: I was tempted the other Day to go and see the Performance of the famous and learned Mr , the famous Master in Legerdemain. He is a Person of singular good Breeding, for knowing me to be a Virtuoso, he caused the Door keep - er to return me my Money, and at the same Time compli - mented me with the Liberty of the House .…It put me into a high good Humour to find that Mr Fawke s understood himself so well, and made me relish his Entertain ment the better.