Thursday, February 22, 2018

David Devant's Anniversary


David Devant was born 150 years ago Feb 22, 1868. He was known as England's Greatest Magician. For some reason, his name is not as well known in the United States. I think a certain segment of magicians know him, mostly the illusionists, and magic historians. But other branches of the art aren't  so familiar with his name.

I first became familiar with the name by seeing his magic posters. The one at the top of the page is probably the most iconic Devant poster. And does this poster ever speak volumes.  In a single poster, the artist has captured, people of all ages laughing. There are children in the image, women, men of all shapes and sizes, even a wounded soldier is depicted. I should point out, there are a couple people in the audience with a scowl on their face, that's pretty typical too. And Devant's catchphrase, "All Done By Kindness." Wow, does that speak volumes. Today, in our super cynical society, kindness seems to be a thing of the past. But Devant clearly had command of this group of people.

David Devant was born in 1868, as David Wighton in Holloway, London. He became interested in magic as a boy after seeing a traveling magician.  It's said that his choice of the name 'Devant' came about during a visit to an art gallery with his father. There was a painting with the title "David devants Goliath. Right then and there he chose that name, Devant. Devant was a triple threat,  he was an inventor of illusions, a performer of magic, and one of the early demonstrators of film. In the invention department, there are many. For example, The Artists Dream Illusion(1893), The Inexhaustible TeaKettle, Biff-The Vanishing Motorcycle(1913), The Golliwog Ball, and his crowning achievement, The Mascot Moth(1905). In regards to The Golliwog Ball, this was his interpretation of Harry Kellar's Demon Globe trick. Kellar's version was very complicated and difficult to perform. Devant worked out a deal with Kellar that if he could find a simpler method, he would share it with Kellar on the grounds he had Kellar's blessing to perform it. Needless to say, the Devant method was far easier and far more mystifying. I wonder if Teller's Red Ball illusion is his version of the Devant trick?

In the performing department, well he was already a successful entertainer by the time he partnered with J.N. Maskelyene. It doesn't hurt having your own magic theatre to present magic and in Devant's case, magic plays. The Artist's Dream is an perfect example. I can't recall where I first heard or read about The Artist's Dream, but it captivated my attention from the start. I've seen several modern day recreations of the illusion, some are quite good, some are not. In the effect, the magician plays the part of a painter. He has just painted his recently deceased wife on canvas. He covers the magic in order to step down and nap. As he sleeps, the image comes to life and steps from from the canvas.

I mentioned that Devant was an early demonstrator of films. David Devant was in the audience when the Lumiere Brothers first presented the Cinematograph in London. Being a showman, he instantly recognized the value of this new medium and wanted to get onboard. He was unable to acquire a Cinemtagraph, but soon was able to get a film projector from another gentleman. Immediately thereafter,  David Devant was showing movies to his LIVE audiences. Other magicians would follow suit and show films, but Devant was the first magician in England to do so. Devant also is captured a couple times on film. Below is an example of Devant performing actual magic and then camera tricks....(wow, even back then they used camera tricks)



Devant was a prolific author and on occasion co-author. For example, he cowrote the excellent book, OUR MAGIC with Nevil Maskelyne. On his own he wrote: Lessons in Conjuring, The Woes of a Wizard, Secrets of My Magic, My Magic Life, Magic Made Easy, and more. Apparently, The Secrets of My Magic, got Devant expelled from The Magic Circle for exposing methods. Kind of ironic, considering Devant had been the very first president of The Magic Castle. He was actually expelled twice for exposing methods.

In 1919, at the height of his career, David Devant received some dreadful news. He had acquired some sort of debilitating disease that forced him to be institutionalized for the remainder of his life. What a tragic ending to a gifted and talented individual. He passed away October 13th, 1941 at the age of 73.





Wednesday, February 21, 2018

The Great Nicola Magic Festival


This is exciting news, that I just found out about. There is going to be Magic Festival in Illinois celebrating The Great Nicola! In fact, it's called The Great Nicola Magic Festival and takes place in his hometown, Monmouth Illinois. The festival is April 21st 2018, from 11am to 9pm. According to the website there are two sets of tickets, daytime and nighttime. There are various activities during the day and it's hard to tell if this is geared to the general public or magicians or both. I kind of think it is more towards the general public, which is great actually! It looks like it will be fun.

Hearing this brought back a bunch of memories, as I few years ago I was thinking of writing a biography of Nicola. I had gathered a bunch of information, notes and such and then.......well, not sure what happened. It may have been back when I was having some health issues which caused me to get sidetracked. And looking over this blog, there is nothing here about Nicola. Which means, watch this blog in the next few days for a Nicola article!

I know I had written a couple of them in my old blog, but I didn't get everything moved over, and that blog is now gone.

I see that David Charvet is going to be there, and I assume he is performing and probably doing the lecture as well. I would LOVE to go to this, heck, I'd love to speak there as well! But I'm not sure I can swing it. That week is already a busy week of shows and it's a 15+ hour drive from me. Still...

They have a facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/events/617720035088558/
And the webpage for the Festival is http://www.wchistorymuseum.com/magicfestival.html


Thursday, February 8, 2018

Book on Great Britain's Magic History, Coming Soon


Looks like there is a new magic history book on the horizon. This is by Derek Tait. You might recall his name from his most recent work, The Great Houdini: His British Tours. I've yet to finish my article, so watch for an upcoming review of that book. But Derek, now has another great book, this time covering the illusionists and magic acts that appeared in the music halls of Great Britain.

From the Amazon.com site, "This book includes the stories of some of the best illusionists as well as specialty acts such as Datas and The Human Fly. Some are still well-known names today, while others will be unheard of by many. Marvel at the feats and lives of the Davenport Brothers, the Great Raymond, David Devant, Carl Hertz and Harry Kellar. Relive the tragedies such as the deaths on stage of Chung Ling Soo and the Great Lafayette."
I for one love these types of books. It was books, just like these that kept me going as a young kid in magic. I would devour these books on magic history. I didn't have easy access to magic shops years ago, so the local book store was my go-to place. Thankfully, I found quite a few books there. I soon discovered, as I met other magicians, that I knew a lot more about magic history than the average magician. Of course, these were mostly amateurs. Though I recall stumping a few pros along the way too, come to think of it.

At any rate, the book is called The Great Illusionists, and will come out July 3rd, 2018. You can pre-order a copy of the book now on Amazon.com