New Harry Kellar Documentary

 

I just finished watching a new Harry Kellar Documentary called Harry Kellar : The Greatest American Magician. Produced and narrated by Bobby Borgia of the Kellar Magic & Comedy Club in Erie PA. All the old guard are interviewed, Caveney, Gaughan, Steinmeyer, Burton, as well as a few others. It tops out around 59 minutes. 

If you know me, you know I am a huge Kellar devotee. Second only to Houdini. My podcast features three episodes strictly about Kellar himself. My blog featured 46 articles either about Kellar or which mentions Kellar. 

In my personal collection, I have an original photo of Kellar and his dog (see above). I've done several paintings of Kellar in different styles, one of which is in a private collection. I owned a Kellar 3 sheet poster that I just sold recently. I owned it for 10 years and didn't have space to display it, so I decided it was time to allow someone else to enjoy it. Now I understand the appeal of the one sheet posters, lol, (easier to display)

I have theater programs that feature Kellar in them. And a few other Kellar related items. So yes, I am a HUGE fan of Harry Kellar. 

Maybe 20 years ago there was a documentary being filmed on Kellar which to my knowledge, never made to the air. I was so excited when I first heard about it, but I dont know what happened to it. I've seen shorter presentations on Kellar. But this new documentary is an hour of Kellar stories and interviews and wonderful information about this oh so interesting character. Simply put, it is superb!

I'm going to post the video below for you to watch. But then, I also will leave a link for the 46 articles on this blog about Kellar for you to check out.  https://www.themagicdetective.com/search?q=kellar

My Magic Art-Print Site is On Hiatus

 

For the moment, I’ve temporarily suspended my Magic Art Print site while I reconfigure several things behind the scenes. The current integration between the website, social media, and the printer simply wasn’t working the way I wanted it to. Rather than keep patching it together, I decided to pause it and rebuild it properly.

That said, I am still offering select limited-edition prints.

Some prints have already been retired because they simply weren’t moving, so a few pieces may never be offered again. However, all of the Houdini prints will be returning shortly, along with several brand-new Houdini-inspired works that I’m excited to release.

I know a number of people had expressed interest in different pieces over the past several months. If there’s a particular print you were hoping to get, email me at info@carnegiemagic.com   and put “ARTWORK” in the subject line. I’ll personally let you know what is currently available, pricing, and how to order while the new system is being built.

Now for the good news.

Over the coming weeks, I’ll also be releasing several original paintings from my private collection — pieces I’ve rarely shown publicly, and in some cases, never offered for sale. Among them are a Kellar-inspired piece, a highly abstract work of magic art, and possibly one of the Criss Angel paintings as well.

None of these works will be reproduced as prints. These are true one-of-a-kind originals.

In addition, I am officially opening the door for a very limited number of commissioned works.

At this stage, I’ll probably only accept two or three commissions total. These will be entirely hand-painted original works created by me personally — no AI-generated shortcuts, no mass production, just authentic artwork crafted over time and with intention.

I’ve been painting for more than 20 years, and recently I’ve seen my artwork begin achieving strong prices at auction. Whether you acquire an existing original or commission a custom piece, this is an opportunity to own something genuinely unique.

If you’re interested in available artwork, upcoming originals, or commissioning a custom piece, contact me directly at  with “ARTWORK” in the subject line.

The next phase of the collection is going to be much more exclusive — and once these originals are gone, they’re gone.

Lost ART Has Been Found

 

I've been painting for more than 25 years now. In that time, a number of paintings have been acquired by collectors. I know where most of the artwork resides and with whom. But, there are pieces that I've sorta lost track of. Case in point, the Ricky Jay painting. This was purchased by a friend and collector in Virginia. I was aware that this person had gotten out of magic at one point and perhaps might have passed the painting on to someone else. I had an idea who that other person might be, the only problem was, that person had since died and their collection was scattered to the winds.

Denny-FOUND

Imagine my surprise when this painting turned back up a few days ago. Indeed, the original owner had either gifted or sold the painting to Denny Haney of Denny and Lee's Magic Studio. But as I said, Denny had died. Now, back in the day, I was commissioned to paint Denny himself, and that painting showed up in an auction a year or so ago. That was another painting I never expected to see. It has a good home today.

The Ricky Jay is going to another collector and I'm very happy as this person seems quite thrilled to be receiving it.

LOST

Are there other paintings? Yes. There are two David Bull paintings, he is the guy from the Le Grand David Magic Show (see left). There are two Cesareo Pelaez paintings, again, he is from le Grand David. There is a Houdini that I sold but lost the information of who bought it when my computer crashed. There is a Slydini painting which went to a collector who has since died. There is a Blackstone Sr painting that also went to a collector who has since passed away. Ken Klosterman owned a Thurston, which has never appeared in any of the auctions, that I know of, so it's lost. There might be more that I don't recall at the moment.

Then there are the ones in private collections. One collector owns: A Doug Henning, a Copperfield, the Dante w/Cigar, a Herrmann the Great, and the first Kellar painting I did. Another collector owns: the yellow Lance Burton, a Doug Henning w/Rainbow, and a Thurston Sawing in Half painting, oh and this guy also owns the Denny painting I mentioned above. There is a collector who owns my first Penn and Teller, another who owns a huge commissioned work of Cardini. There is a Thurston painting owned by a collector in Rhode Island. There are maybe a dozen more that are out there, and I know where they are. In fact, with most of them, I know the walls they hang on, lol. 

All of these I mentioned are originals. The prints are a whole different story. I will say, as an artist, it's rewarding to know that my artwork brings joy to people. Nothing worse than artwork that isn't displayed for everyone to see. Trust me, I have tons of that! There but so many walls in my home. I think this is every artist's curse. Even with selling a bunch of the artwork, I still have a ton here. But the good news, if you are interested, you can own a print, and possibly an original on the rare occasion that I let them go.

Newest Houdini Bust by Spectral Motion

 

I just love the work that Spectral Motion does. I love their movie work. But especially, love their magic work. They have a collection of very high end busts of various magicians. Kellar, Thurston, Houdini, Houdin, Dante and more. But now they are offering a smaller bust of Houdini, at a price that is a bit more affordable in these tough times.

He is a 6.4 inch resin 3-D printed HOUDINI. He looks exactly like the larger version. It's a young Houdini, ready to burst forth on the show biz scene. You can get them from the Spectral Motions Etsy site. Here is the link...

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1877602279/harry-houdini-mini-bust-by-spectral?ref=shop_home_active_2&logging_key=4c2b96730f6054995b17a34dbe5d960a7cfe5705%3A1877602279

Carnegie Paintings of Various Magicians Available for Sale in April

 

This month I have two new wonderful paintings for sale, as well as several others that were listed last month. The new one is a very large painting of Alexander Herrmann painted in acrylics on finished edge stretched canvas. The size is 24x30. It was part of a series of paintings of magicians wearing hats. It was painted in 2007, and this is the first time I've ever offered it for sale.

The next is Harry Kellar wearing a hat, also in acrylics on stretched canvas. This is slightly smaller size at 20x24. The next painting of Dante in a Hat, is also 20x24 and is also acrylics on stretched canvas.

The bottom row of caricatures starts with a new reveal, Cesareo or Marco The Magi from Le Grand David Show in Beverly MA.  The second is a Houdini caricature. This is called Houdini Blue, for obvious reasons. There is a much larger version in different color scheme if anyone is interested. Finally, the last is Herrmann As The Devil/Herrmann the Great. All three are the same size at 16x20 on stretched canvas.

If you are interested in any of these, contact me at info@CarnegieMagic.com and please put 'paintings' in the subject heading. Serious inquiries only. These are not prints, these are originals.  

I have more in my collection. I will probably offer one or two new ones next month. In June, I will likely discontinue offering any original artwork. 

The Devil and Harry Kellar Is Back Again!

 

Season 4 Episode 72 of The Magic Detective Podcast, I did an episode called, "The Devil and Harry Kellar Radio Drama".  It was basically a short story I wrote, that I converted into a script to use as an old style Radio Drama. It had special sound effects, unique voices, narration and so forth. And it was a huge episode. 

Well, the NEMCA Magazine Discoveries, has now published my script in their magazine this month. Of course, this was with my permission. It's certainly a fun read, as long as you know up front it's a fictional radio drama and not a real story. I think when the first line is, "My name is M, short for Mephistopheles" then you've got a good idea it's fiction, lol.

The funny thing is, the majority of the story is true, the parts that are not are all the devilish claims. But the events in the story mostly did take place. I took the idea of Kellar having all these devilish characters on his posters and putting them INTO his life story. It worked out quite well, I thought. 

And I left room for a sequel, if you listen closely. I have written that part as of yet, but it's coming. For now, if you're a member of NEMCA, you should have received an email with a link to the magazine. I hope you enjoy the article!

The Life of Paul Valadon

 

In the summer months of 1867, Adolph Waber was born. At a young age he saw a magician, and eventually went to work for him as assistant and likely apprentice. 

Paul Valadon was born Adolph Waber in Cologne Germany on June 17th 1867. 

That magician was Ernest Basch who performed out of Hamburg Germany. Basch came from a family of magicians, three of his brothers were also magicians at some point in their lives. Eventually, Adolph, who would change his name to Paul Valadon,  learned enough that he went out on his own. He started in Germany but ventured out to all of Europe. From there he toured the major cities of South Africa. 

Valadon was known for his manipulative skill and high talent. He was a master of billiard ball manipulations. He was adept at card manipulations. Some of his moves can be found in The Modern Conjurers book by C. Lang Neil. He even created a Second Sight act with his wife Catherine.

Over at Egyptian Hall, David Devant had just departed and the Maskelynes were looking for a new magician to bring on board. They heard the accolades about Valadon and offered him a job at the famed Hall. Paul Valadon would accept the position and over a five year span present over 1600 performances.

Valadon would perform his own act, as well as assist in others. He was one of the cast members for the Will, The Witch and the Watchman routine for example. He also created original routines while at Egyptian Hall.

The Drum that Can’t Be Beat was a creation of Valadon’s. He would show a cylindrical drum, missing the drum heads. Then he would place the drumheads on and suspend the drum from two chains on the stage. He then poked a hole in one of the drum heads and slowly removed large scarves, one after another, filling the stage with silk. Another of his creations was an illusion called “Well I’m”. This he built with the help of the Maskelynes. It was a table, maybe 3 feet off the ground. He would have his wife stand on top of the table. He would walk around the table and then step up on the table with her. Then he would take a large cloth and cover her. It would flow over her showing only the outline of her body. After a few magical gestures, he would dramatically yank the cloth away and his wife would vanish into thin air. 

I can attest to the beauty of both of these affects. I believe The Drum that Can’t Be Beat went on to be sold by dealers and was featured in many performers shows over the year. Mike Caveney recreated both of these effects for one of the LA Magic History Conferences and then later presented them via video at the Essential Magic Conference in Portugal. I was able to see the video version and I can say both were wonderful effects.

Now, we must introduce Harry Kellar into the picture. During the summer months when artists routinely took a break, Kellar would go to England and specifically Egyptian Hall to see the latest creations of Maskelyne. Somehow these creations would later turn up the following year in Kellar’s show. Much has been made of Kellar’s stealing these effects. I’m starting to wonder. And here is why. Kellar fell in love with the Levitation. He offered to buy it from Maskelyne but he turned down the offer. Kellar would return show after show trying to solve the mystery. There is one anecdote that said, Kellar actually climbed on stage during a performance to look under the floating girl. And just as one of Maskelyne’s assistants was going to stop him, Mr. Maskelyne himself prevented the stage hand from interfering. THAT is odd on many levels. Would Kellar be so rude as to jump onstage during a show? Why would Maskelyne not want such audacity to be prevented. OH and then add to this there are stories of both the Maskelynes and the Kellar’s having dinner together. I find all of this quite strange. Im not sure I believe the story of him getting on stage. I do tend to believe the dinner story, but then why would John Neville Maskelyne have dinner with a man who was stealing his material? Unless…

well, I’ll leave that for you to figure out. Some Maskelyne letters would probably help solve this mystery, which I don't have access to. 

One thing is for sure in 1904 Kellar went to England and stayed a very short time. But when he returned he came back having hired Paul Valadon for his fall tour. Valadon clearly loved working at Egyptian Hall. In fact, Valadon would later say one of his prized possessions was a letter of recommendation from John Neville Maskelyne. So why could he be persuaded to leave? This piece I found in the pages of the book Kellar’s Wonders by Mike Caveney and Bill Miesel. Apparently, it turns out that 1904 was going to be the final year for Egyptian Hall. This was due to the fact that the building was going to be demolished that year. So now Im wondering, who approached who? Did Valadon, knowing he’d soon be out of work approach Kellar, or did Kellar, as the popular story goes, hire Valadon to get the secret to the levitation?

This is where the popular story begins. Kellar, desperately wanting the secret to the Maskylne levitation, hires Paul Valadon, partly with the promise of including him in the show and potentially turning the show over to him when he, Kellar, retires. Did they speak of the secret to the levitation at this time? It sure would seem a breach of protocol, and ethics for Valadon to do such a thing. Especially given the fact he held Maskelyne in such high regard.

Then there was the note Houdini wrote about talking to Kellar and being “awfully hurt to think that people said he had hired Valadon for the purpose of stealing the levitation secrets” That doesn’t mean he didn’t do it, but it just makes the whole thing more confusing. 

The official record says that Kellar had the Maskelyne levitation in 1904. However, I have in my files a program from the Providence Opera House dated April 6th, 1903. On page 6, the program reads, “And the Great Hypnotic Scene, “The Levitation of Princess Karnac”. That’s a full year before he even meets with Valadon. Confused yet? Whether he stole it, acquired the secrets from Valadon, or had a third party help work it out, I just don’t know for sure. Certainly the third party, who shall remain nameless had much to do. Kellar’s version allowed for the illusion to move from theater to theater. Maskelyne’s levitation was built into the theater. Obviously some issues had been solved or remade in order for the illusion to be transportable.

Let’s look at what Paul Valadon did when he worked for Kellar. Thanks to what has turned out to be a rather controversial review by John Northern Hilliard, we have much information. All the secret and method info is withheld from this podcast.

The beginning of his act, Valadon remove’s his gloves, tosses them in the air where they transform into a dove. Next we have the popular Soup Plate illusion created by DeKolta. 

Next we have Aerial treasury, or Misers Dream as we know it. From here Valadon goes into Billiard Ball manipulation. Next up, some fun manipulation of raw eggs, eventually pulling eggs from a spectators mouth. 

The next feat received praise from multiple sources. IT’s a small effect but a stand out. A strip of blue paper, 30 inches long and one inch wide is torn into multiple pieces….and then restored. By all accounts it was a beautiful piece of magic. The Sphinx in a later issue mentioned Valadon removed this piece from his show and the commentator said, ’its was one of the most beautiful effects Valadon did, and he hoped it would return to the show at some point.    This effect is now followed by Card Manipulations. This is a fairly brief sequence because though Valadon was an expert, the card manipulations were a new genre.

Now we come to the Watch Trick.  A borrowed watch is made to vanish and reappear in an impossible location. And the final trick, at least in the beginning was the drum that can’t be beat which I described earlier. Eventually on the tour Valadon would present his illusion, “Well I”m” Kellar had posters made to the effect, with an image of Valadon performing the effect. The title ‘Well I’m’ is also on the poster. The top of the poster reads, “Kellar’s Mysteries” and then the lower right third says, Presented by PAUL VALADON.  Incidentally AFTER Valadon eventually leaves the Kellar show, Harry Kellar would continue to present Well Im in his show, but it would be rechristened “ His Latest and Created Wonder, “GONE”. The Maskelyen’s would also continue presenting Well I’m on their stages as well, but also claiming they were the creators.

The Kellar tours featuring Paul Valadon received great press reviews. The one exception was John Northern Hilliard who would go out of his way to bash Kellar whenever possible. In 1905, Paul Valadon suggested to Kellar they add the Maskelyne trick, The Will the Witch and the Watchman to the show. It would require adding some cast members and the first attempts were atrocious. One thing about Harry Kellar, he was a genial old man but when he lost his temper he went off like a cannon. He was furious at how the new routine was coming along. Kellar’s version would be titled. “The Witch, the Sailor and the Enchanted Monkey”. He fired the newly fired the newly hired members. Eventually the routine was worked out enough to make to playable. BTW, if you read Jim Steinmeyer’s blog, you can watch a video of the original Maskelyne version of Will the Witch and the Watchman featuring John Carney in one of the title roles.   Kellar must not have been too fond of the illusion because at some point he sold it to a magician in the midwest. 

Back to Kellar and Valadon. According to the earlier agreement, Valadon was to take over the show when Kellar retired. There was only one small problem, actually two. One of the issues was Eva Kellar, Harry’s wife. The other was alcohol, of which Eva and Paul Valadon were known to partake in to excess. Eva was a mean drunk and hated the Valadons. Mostly Paul tried to hold his tongue, but one afternoon, after hearing Mrs. Kellar badmouth them, Paul Valadon came out and ripped the wife of Harry Kellar to shreds verbally. And just like the vanish in his illusion ‘Well I’m’ Valadon was OUT as far as being a successor. He finished the tour, but after that, he was no longer part of the company.

Paul Valadon ran a small space ad in the back of The Sphinx in 1909, which read “Paul Valadon” Late of England’s Home of Mystery, the Egyptian Hall., London. Now touring in vaudeville with entire new act. All communications address care of Edward Beadle 1193 Broadway NY, NY. “  What’s interesting here, no mention of touring with Kellar. The fall out left an ever lasting rift between the two men.

After the Kellar show, Valadon went to perform in vaudeville across the United States. And by all accounts he was a big success in vaudeville. He would change his act often. But the reviews of his shows were great. In the magic press, they still expected Valadon to move up to the TOP of the showbiz ladder. 

There is an interesting anecdote that comes from the pages of The CREST Magician, March 1908. Apparently, Valadon was performing somewhere in America and needed to borrow someones tall high hat, top hat in other words. But none was forthcoming. So he instructed his assistant to fetch his brand new hat that was in his dressing room. This was in immaculate condition and a thing of pride for Valadon. He asked for a gentleman to examine the hat and gave it to someone who then handled his hat rather coarsely and then tossed it back onto the stage. Valadon was short of furious, but held his temper. He stepped over to retrieve his now mangled hat and said, “And now is there a gentleman (long pause) who could examine the hat”. And the audience of course understood the gentle rebuke of the ruffian and laughter. There’s a word we don’t hear any more ruffian, lol. 

In April 1909 tragedy struck the Valadon’s. While appearing in Chicago, Catherine Valadon, Paul’s wife got sick. She was admitted to the hospital. But she died on April 27th at Mercy Hospital. She was buried in Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago. She was 40 or 41 when she died. Notice of her death appeared in all the magic periodicals of the day. One had this quote, “she was liked by all her met her.” Which wasn’t exactly true, Eve Kellar was no fan of her or her husband.

This left Paul a single father and he had a young son. Still the show must go on and the show did go on. At one point, Valadon dropped the illusions and did a smaller act along with his son, which was well received. It was a struggle at first doing the show without his wife/partner. And yet, the illusions wouldn’t stay out of the show.

In May 1910, The Sphinx says that Valadon is now featuring a beautiful levitation and disappearance of a woman. Quote, “His act is better than ever, and shows Valadon’s master hand at conjuring”

The next month in the ‘sphinx Valadon is mentioned again and it says, “showed his illusion of the vanishing lady, while suspended in the air”.    So I assume he is presenting LeRoy’s Asrah levitation. OK, Oct 1910 Sphinx spills more details. quote “Am somewhat late reporting the show of Paul Valadon, who appeared at the Majestic theater here last month. When he stepped on the stage the first night he received a big round of applause, which showed he was well and favorably remembered by Chicago theatergoers. His act was a treat from start to finish and the quick succession of surprises which he presented in his inimitable style brought forth many rounds of applause. He captured his audience with his climax which consisted  of his own conception of Servais LeRoy’s illusion, Asrah. Valadon brings the trick to a startling termination by causing the silk sheet to vanish, as well as the levitated body. His illusion is of his own ideas and is not one of the impractical copies that are being sold on the strength of the speeded reputation gained by Servais Le Roy’s invention. It might be useful to many magicians to know that the many so-called Asrah illusions now offered for sale everywhere are no anything like the original as invented and presented by Servais LeRoy.” A later article mentions Valadon called his creation “Venita”. I am wondering, if indeed this was not the LeRoy method, perhaps he used the clever method from his Well I’m illusion and added the levitation, the elements are there, the covering of the lady, the table, the vanishing of the figure. The only thing not there is the floating. 

Life on the road seemed to be ok for Paul Valadon and his son. That is until 1911 and 1912. Paul Sr’s heath begins to decline. And this is where my interest all started. In a January 15th, 1912 issue of The Sphinx Magazine, Howard Thurston asked the readers to donate money on behalf of Valadon who has been diagnosed with ‘consumption.’. His doctors say, a dryer climate is more fitting for the showman. Thurston even lists the contributions that have come in so far, he himself giving $50, Theo Bamberg $10, George White $1, other cast members, one or two dollars, for a total of $71. Then, a letter to Thurston and Dr. Wilson (editor of the sphinx) is reprinted and it says, “Dear Sirs, I I hereby give you my consent to superintend a money collection on behalf of myself and agree to allow Dr. Wilson to have absolute control of the expenditure of this money. Thank you for your kind endeavors, I remain Sincerely yours, Paul Valadon”

Enough money is raised for Paul and his son to relocate to Phoenix AZ. But a little over one year later, on April 23rd, 1913, 45 year old Paul Valadon was dead from tuberculosis. He left his son with little money. Valadon was buried in an unmarked grave in Greenwood Memory Park Cemetery. Young Paul was sent to an orphanage. In 1948, a dedication service was conducted by the magic group Mystic 13 and IBM Ring 55, for the grave marker they had placed over Valadon’s burial site……..

One final point of interest, Paul had a very elaborate scrap book from his many years on the road. I assume it stayed in the family, as Paul Jr. got married and had a child and stayed in Phoenix. Does anyone know of the whereabouts of the missing scrapbook?

(this is the feature transcript from Episode 108 of the Magic Detective Podcast)

The Death of Chung Ling Son 107 Years Ago Today

 

He was a performer who struggled to gain fame. He was known by everyone in the magic world. The best of the best sought him out like Herrmann and Kellar. But it wasn't until he moved to London and created a character called Chung Ling Soo that any sort of notoriety came his way. His real name was William Ellsworth Robinson, he was an American, born April 2, 1861. 

I'm not going to give you his life story here, as that will be saved for a future episode of the podcast. But suffice to say he was a controversial figure back then and still today. He pretended to be Chinese when in reality he was not. NOT unusual for the time at all. Today that sort of thing is frowned upon by some. 

It was claimed that no one knew his identity and that when he died it was revealed he was really a white male American. But many many people knew who he was. Perhaps the British public did not, and he played it up for all it was worth.

On March 23rd, 1918, Soo was at Woodgreen Empire Theater in London. He was performing his famed Bullet Catch Routine, where a row of marksmen with rifles would shoot at Soo and he would catch the bullets. Except, on this night, as the shots rang out, Soo stumbled back and said, "Oh my God, something's happened, lower the curtain." That something was, he was truly shot. A malfunction happened and it allowed a real projectile to shoot out of one of the rifles, hitting the performer. He died the following morning on March 24th.

Today marks the 107th Anniversary of the Death of William Ellsworth Robinson/Chung Ling Soo.

Recollections of Kreskin

 

It would seem the internet is a buzz with the news of the passing of Kreskin, at least among his fellow magicians. I've had so many conversations about Kreskin of late with friends that his death comes even harder. In my head I was thinking he'd just continue to perform, regardless of age. I mean, when I saw him in person last, he was 74 or 75 and I thought to myself, "This guy is my hero!" I wish I had been able to tell him that. Why is he my hero. Because he was 74+ and still performing and doing what he loved and still connecting with audiences and still filling theaters! You have to admire someone like that.

A week or so ago, I had a conversation with a friend of mine about performers. My friend had this belief that performers are like drug addicts, they do what they do because of the HIGH they get when they perform. They become addicted to it and can't stop. I disagreed. Ok, sure maybe there are some who behave that way. But for me, for Kreskin, for folks like us, there is a reason we perform and it comes down to one word, purpose. It is our purpose in life. This we feel deep down in our bones and I would say there is more a satisfaction to performing, but not nessasarily a high. We do what we do because we love it, but also, it's who we are, it's who we were made to be. Maybe some would say, it's a calling, or whatever, but we are fulfilling our purpose in life.

Kreskin loved to perform. It showed in every moment of his program. He played piano in his shows, he told jokes in his show. He bantered with the audience. And he performed amazing feats of mentalism. On his social media accounts, his family had noted that Kreskin came up with his name as a combination of Harry Kellar and Houdini. I'm still trying to figure it out. I think perhaps, he was inspired by Kellar and Houdini, (as was I) and he chose the name Kreskin, because his real last name, Kresge, was not quite right. But with a slight alteration, it became Kreskin. I wonder if in his youth if he ever went by Kreskini?

The first time I saw Kreskin was in the 80s and Kreskin had dark hair. The place, a bit unusual, a dinner theater. He filled the place. I took a date and she had no concept of what a mentalist was. And honestly, beyond seeing Kreskin on TV many times, I had not really been exposed to mentalism very much. I had been into magic for many years, but always avoided mentalism because it seemed boring. The only one I knew who could do it well was Kreskin. Sure enough, on this night, he delivered. He started with  a few card tricks, which surprised me. Then he slowly moved into brief mind reading and Q&A and more.  It was all I expected and way way more.

The second time I saw Kreskin was in Atlantic City. His show was much shorter. It was basically only the first part up until the Q&A act and that was all. It was still great. My friend I was with swears that Kreskin read his mind.

I learned over the years that Kreskin's act was similar to Joe Dunninger's act. To what degree I was never quite sure. And Dunninger who came first, sort of created the mold in which everyone else would fall into afterwards. I know that so much of Dunninger's type of material was in books like Tarbell, Corrinda and more. There was even a company that sold  mentalism material for many years, and I have it on good authority that Dunninger purchased items from them. I know this for  a fact. 

I'm sure Kreskin, and near every other mentalist of that time, modeled themselves to some degree after Dunninger. But George Joseph Kresge was a quirky individual. Quick with a humorous line. Frankly, he was a little funny looking, but not overly so. He was unique, so he made the material he was doing fit him. I don't know if Dunninger did the 'find a check bit' but if he did, and so did Kreskin, so what. It takes real SKILL to do that. Trust me, I've been working on it for a long time, lol. It's not easy. In fact it's easy to fail. And Kreskin lost his check 9 times during his career because he was unable to find it. In an interview he said one of those checks was for $50,000. Ouch.  But consider the thousands of times he did find it. WOW. It takes real guts and skill to put your entire fee on the line for an effect in your show.

I remember watching Kreskin on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He was using a prop that nearly every magician has in their arsenal, and yet, he was using it in a completely different way. His routine allowed him to use it several times when the standard routine could only be done once. It was brilliant. 

Then there was the time on Regis and Kathy Lee where he was reading minds from the audience and just destroying the place. Or the time I saw him on Mike Douglas Show and he was doing an outdoor demonstration of his 'Find The Check' routine. 

In interviews, he avoided the word magic. He disassociated himself from magicians. But the truth was, he had a few close friends who where magicians. And he probably had a lot more not so close friends who were magicians. He didn't go to magic conventions, he was very careful back in the day if he went into a magic shop. He'd make an appointment and be sure he could visit by himself. And he'd buy a ton of stuff. I get the impression, magic was still very much a hobby, even though mentalism was his thing.

They made a movie about him which, I like and yet don't. It's called The Great Buck Howard and John Malkavich plays the Kreskin character. He's spot on. But Buck Howard has a real arrogance about him, where I never got that impression from Kreskin. Maybe behind the scenes in real life??? But from folks I talk to, everyone has said how kind and charming he was. I think he was not all too different from his on stage persona, maybe toned down slightly. 

Kreskin was a go getter. I've seen two numbers given out as to the number of shows he performed in his lifetime. 25,000 and 27,000. I'm opting for the 27,000 because let's face it, once you hit 20,000 all bets are off. I have a friend who owns a theater and Kreskin was performing about 60 miles away in another town. Kreskin called my friend and said, "Hey while IM in the area, would you be interested in having me do a show at your theater?"  Go getter. I've heard a number of stories now, and I really want to hear more about Kreskin. Such a fascinating person. 

It makes me sad that Kreskin has passed, but that's me being selfish. Im sad, because I wont have a chance to see him perform again. George Kresge had a wonderful career and a long life. I'm sure he had his highs and lows and yet, in the publics mind, HE was the most famous mentalist of our time.  Kreskin reigned supreme for a long long time. And now there is a void. There are lots of mentalists, some incredible ones like Banachek, some exceptionally creative like Max Maven, some that deserve the moniker 'The Amazing... like Darren Brown, ' but no one with the kind of fame that he had in his day. Kreskin was the King!

Harry Sears -The Real Vanishing Magic? (transcript)

 

Our feature today is Harry Sears. He was born Harry S. Knight, December 28, 1885 in Washington D.C. He appears to be the only son of William and Grace Knight. The Knight family can be traced back to living in America  as far back as the 1600s. Seems the first KNIGHT to be born in America was named Charles. His parents are not listed onboard the Mayflower, but were in Massachusetts shortly thereafter. Now, Harry though being born in the Nations Capital, Washington DC, but actually grew up in the Philadelphia area. I haven’t been able to find who inspired his interest in magic, however, given his location, any number of magicians may have created the spark. My money is on Harry Kellar.

The earliest description of young Harry Sears, comes from a Jan 19th, 1924 issues of Billboard. In the column called, “Magical Highways and Byways” by Adam Hull Shirk, who at the time was president of the Los Angeles Society of Magicians. He writes, “I saw him perform when I was but a boy= and he was too. He was a clean cut fellow with a nice manner and charming personality. At that time, his magic was of the small order and included among other effects the Rise Wand, which in his hands was superior.”

The first time Harry shows up in the magic periodicals, his name is listed as Harry Sears Knight and he is a mere 18 years old. This was the July 1903 issue of Mahatma, and it says, “At Keith’s Harry Sears Knight, a young Philadelphian, makes his debut as a magician.” So this was no doubt his first big time vaudeville appearance. A short time later he appeared in the magazine again, this time it describes his future in magic to be very promising. Also through  Mahatma, we learn Harry is using an Aga levitation in his act. Here is what they have to say, “At Woodside Park, Seers, the magicians, presents AGA in a manner that is all to be desired. It is the best AGA that I have seen and is done in such a neat, clean and mysterious manner that is the subject of much comment among the patrons of the park. Sears is a young magician, who, in my estimation, has a brilliant future before him. He possesses address, skill, and ambition and i predict he will some day be in the future rank of the workers in the noble art of magic. he is an adept in the art of advertising and you hear of his Palace of Mystery as soon as you get inside the Park. It may not be amiss to add that the AGA illusion was built by the New York Magical Co, who also supposed the AGA now being exhibited in Atlantic City. Truthfuly speaking, it is far superior to the AGA illusion which caused such a sensation in New York that is can be called absolutely new.”

As I mentioned, the AGA, is a type of levitation illusion. Magicians often have many methods to create a specific illusion, and AGA refers to a specific type of levitation. And by all accounts, he had improved the method and ws really enjoying a lot of success with it.

(1906-07 Conjurers Monthly Magazine) Reports that Sears is now performing in England.

(May 1907) Conjurers MM) Sears has just gone through Chicago with his big act. He has 5 assistants and a car load of baggage. Watch out, GOLDIN, for this fellow will soon beat your baggage record!

(June 1907 CMM) Houdini reports that Sears is now performing the Suspended Trunk Mystery at the Keith Proctor Harlem Theater. He adds that Charles DeBiere first introduced this effect to American Audiences. And Horace Goldin has been trying to prevent others from presenting it. 

This effect in full features a large cannon. A female assistant is placed inside the cannon and then it is pointed towards a large box hung high from the theater ceiling. The cannon is fired, a huge explosion is heard, a blast of fire and smoke shoot out of the cannon and suddenly the box is seen to move and twist as if something has hit it. The box is lowered and inside is another box. That box is opened to display another inner box. This 3rd box is opened and out pops the assistant who was placed into the cannon.  A wonderful illusion. The magazine also points that the Cannon part of the mystery was first introduced to the stage by Frederick Eugene Powell. Mr. Powell will be the feature on an upcoming episode of the podcast.

(Sept 1907 CMM) Sears is still touring the US to great acclaim. He then takes his show to Canada and does very well there. Next stop, England.

Now the Conjurers Monthly Magazine has been very good to Sears till now. But upon an appearance in England, a British newspaper quotes Sears as having performed a ‘Handcuff and Straitjacket act in America’. And the CMM is quick to refute those facts, even pointing out that Variety newspaper had reported what was in his show earlier in the year and there was no mention of any escape material. 

Sears was often compared to Horace Goldin the illusionist. In a July 22, 1907 Keith’s advertisement it has this promotion, “Up To Date Sensation, The Great Sears European Illusionist”. I suppose the mistake was easy to make, he was American after all, but had been performing for some time in England and headlining every where he went.  In 1907, `08, he was mostly in England. In 1909 Sears took his show over to Italy.

Next, from the pages of Stanyon’s MAGIC October 1908, we have a review of Sears, from the London Hippodrome, when he appeared the month before. I am going to edit some of this as Stanton has a habit of trying to describe how particular effects work, and I don’t give away secrets on this podcast, only history.

The show begins with a Curtain that rises showing stage well furnished with apparatus. First comes the Production of two Assistants in a Cabinet. The performer appearing with a rush, calls attention to a large cabinet in center stage. Cabinet, square shaped and mounted on four short legs, is provided with no less than eight doors, ie, a pair of doors, opening in center, on each side of it’s four sides. Sears begins by opening the eight doors, those at the rear last or after the side the side doors are open. He next jumps into the cabinet, and runs around to show all clear, then gets out and closes all the doors. Next, all doors opened and a lady jumps out of the cabinet. Then a male assistant is produced in exactly the same manner, 

Next act begins with a barrel without ends which is turned about for inspection, then placed on a low stand. Front end of the barrel covered with paper and held in place with a metal band. Barrel turned and rear end, now front, closed with paper in same manner. Another assistant then bursts from the apparently empty paper cover in a grand display. This was known at the time as the Barrel of Dioginees.

Next, a pretty spectacular effect in the form of an illuminated spiders web set center stage. Lady mounted on the center of the web instantly disappears. 

Now, a personality piece or an in one routine is presented, the Thumb Tie. Sears steps into the arena in search of a couple of volunteers. Two pieces of string  about 15 inches long,  a long stick, and a steel ring are handed out for examination. Thumbs also inspected. Thumbs are now crossed and one piece of string ties both thumbs together. Second chord goes the opposite direction and ties the thumbs again. The walking stick his held in a vertical position by a spectator, one hand near the top, one near the bottom, the ring is held by the other spectator.  Sears pushes hands against stick and somehow penetrates it and finds himself linked in this position. The the other spectator tosses the ring to Sears who catches it and likewise it becomes linked on his arm. And it should be pointed out, Thumbs are still tied this entire time. Next, he frees himself from the walking stick and from the steel rings. Sears then instructs the two people on stage to both clasp their hands together making a make shift giant hoop. Before they have time to think. Sears has linked himself onto their arms!

Strong magic continues with the Materialization of a Lady from the Performers side. Sears sits upon a low stool and a spirit form of a lady slowly emerges from his side , head first, and moving upwards and at a 45 degree angle. Both performers step out and lady exits the stage.

Next we have three leather cases, each in the form of a drain pipe provided with a lid, the smallest big enough to hold the lady, are first shown, then nested together and swung in the air. A square canopy just large enough to hold one person standing, is now stood over carpet in front of a 4 fold screen.  The entire thing is now enclosed by the 4 fold screen. There i one door in the front of this screen that allows Sears to step into the cabinet, he quickly shows that it is empty and exits. A male assistant steps into the cabinet and the door is closed. Then the entire thing is hoisted into the air. A small door opens during this process allow the audience to see the boots of the male assistant. The door is closed. Sears fires a pistol, which was a common practice at this time and the cabinet is lowers. Now inside is a female assistant, and the maie is produced from a cabinet far down the stage from this action. BTW, the pistol was a starter pistol, used for the SOUND, and drama. Think of it taking the place of a magician saying ‘abracadabra’

In the final sequence, a female assistant mounts a pedestal, She is given a large umbrella to shake about. Suddenly the umbrella falls to the floor and the lady has vanished. Next, nest of three leather cases lowered, outer one opened and the two inner ones removed. Nest of two set on floor, one box removed from within the other. Final box, lady is produced to huge applause. ENCORE - Lady put into square box with lid on each oh four  sides, all lids hinged at the bottom. lids closed and box put on table. Box hoisted in air, pistol fires, doors fall open, box is empty and lady appears in large cabinet set near wings. Tremendous, and well deserved applause followed.  That sounds like a great show!

In 1910, Harry Sears took out his most ambitious project, a show that he called “the Blue Pearl” From the pages of The Magical World periodical it says, “This majestic spectacle employs no less than 45 people in it’s action, while elephants, camels horses, snakes, and more , help to create an atmosphere of Oriental realism. The show is good and likely to prove a popular success.

The Great Lafayette, born sigmund neuberger perished in a theater fire on may 9th, 1911. Sears and Lafayette were performing during the same time. They were friendly competitors  and Sears was often compared to Lafayette. When Lafayette perished in teh fire, Sears and his entire troupe attended the funeral and at a later date the all made a pilgrimage to the grave of Lafayette in Edinburgh. 

Sears during his career had been compared to Carl Hertz, Horace Goldin, and The Great Lafayette, all strong performers in their own right, which makes me believe that Sears himself was just as competent a performer as those three gentlemen. And he was clearly ambitious. Let’s look again at The Blue Pearl.  This comes from the pages of The Magical World

 The \Blue Pearl," a mystical pantomimic phantasy in five scenes.

Scene 1 discloses a busy bazaar in the principal street of Benares. Merchants sell- ing their wares, customers buying, Devotees, Fakirs, dancers, natives, guards, &c. The scene had an absolute scent of the East, it was so realistic. In this scene one

•of t h e natives gave imitations of animals, &c, very cleverly. Then we had Indian •dances, an Indian fakir stopped a crowd of Europeans and performed the Egg Bag; trick and the Indian Basket trick. In this scene -one of the snakes escapes and nearly bites one of the maids, who is saved by the priest, with whom she falls in love. Scene 2 is the interior of the Temple of Siva, where priests and slaves are offering jewel's, &c. to their god. The Rajah enters on a pilgrimage to see the wonderful " Blue Pearl," the eye

<if the god Siva. He covets the pearl and determines to steal it. Two British soldiers blunder into the Temple and try to loot it. but they are surprised by the priests and

 slaves, who give chase to the soldiers. The Rajah, finding the Temple deserted, succeeds in stealing the pearl, and escapes unseen. The priests returning notice its absence, and are distracted and appeal to their High Priest, who goes into a trance and sees in a vision the enactment of the theft. Then he instructs the priest to follow the Rajah, get into his service, and steal from him the pearl. In this scene a cauldron emits huge clouds of vapour and on this the vision is seen, as on a lantern slide. Scene 3: The road to Bahar (evening). In this scene there is a

procession of animals and attendants, and the full strength of the company is seen, but there are no illusory effects. Scene 4: The borders of the Sacred Jungle (night). The Rajah enters at the head of his caravan, and, seeing as he supposes a roadside fakir, he demands to see his tricks. The fakir per- forms several tricks, including the rope trick. In this the boy climbs the rope with the rapidity of a monkey, and as soon as he is out of sight the rope falls to the ground and the boy comes running from the back of the crowd, who are watching the fakir. Then the Rajah wishes life brought back to the skeleton of one of his favourite dancing girls. The skeleton at once becomes a beautiful girl, a n d executes a graceful dance. T h e Rajah is enraged and tries to kill the fakir, who in his anger causes the princess to

disappear from n palanquin, a n d t h e priest snatches the pearl, but is discovered by the Rajah, who orders his execution by having his head crushed beneath an elephant's foot. The slave girl who loves him pleads for his life, but to no purpose. The High Priest (the fakir) at the last moment gives convincing proof of his powers and saves the priest, a n d t h e Rajah, overcome with fear, gives up the pearl, which is restored to its proper place in Siva's eye. Scene 5: The King of Mystaria and his court are enter- tained in the palace of a famous illusionist, who also uses his power to prevent the death

of the King by a desperate anarchist, who forces his way into the throne room. In this scene Sears comes on in evening dress and performs his principal illusions.”

Next we have an actual review OF the show which appeared in the pages of the Magical World. This is from a performance at the Finsbury Park Empire Theater, Feb 13th, 1911.

 “This stupendous and magnificent production, redolent of the Orient, with all its fabled mystery, is by far the most superb magical spectacle ever witnessed on the variety stage of Europe. The cost enormous ; detail perfection; stage craft and setting beyond praise; yet from a magical point of

view reveals little of material novelty that the clever showman Sears had not already shown us on his previous visit to England. Animal mimicry, the egg bag, Indian basket and rope tricks, are performed by others, genuine natives from the East, we are told. This is in perfect keeping with the majestic colour scheme pervading the act. It is not until the final scene, where the King of Mysteria holds court that the real magician is introduced in the person of Sears himself, attired in bur own conventional evening dress. His first act is to produce a male assistant from a tub, now familiarized as that of " Diogenes." Then three cylindrical cases are brought for- ward, each fitting within the other and provided with lids. All are shown empty, and…

 raised in the air. A platform, about a yard square, standing on four legs, is next introduced. This supports four brass uprights and canopy. A fourfold screen is displayed, lifted, and placed completely around the up- rights. From this improvised cabinet a girl is produced who executes a Russian dance. Some quick-fire effects follow, in which the lady assistant is put into a trunk and elevated into the air. Sears enters a cabinet at the " Wings," lit by electric lamps, to appear the next instant behind a large fan opened out at rear of the stage. In place of the lady in the elevated trunk, a 5001b. weight is discovered, which a second or two later is burst open to display a small boy within. The lady herself appears in the centre one of the three suspended cylinders, while the male assistant appears in the cabinet at the side of the stage, recently vacated by the Wizard. The final illusion consists of building a box upon a table, placing an assistant within, and causing the

inevitable disappearance.

I should point out that in many magic magazine articles Mrs. Sears is mentioned as having not only an important part in the show, but credits her with much of the success of the program.

Around 1913, we see our last mention of Harry Sears in the magic magazines for several  years. This is the ‘dark period’ as I call it where I’m not exactly certain what he is doing. I’ve pieced together some things, but it’s only a small glimpse into this time period. One major thing that took place was that while they were on tour in England in 1910, Edyth gave birth to their son Desmond. Perhaps, after returning to the US, Harry scaled down the size of the show to keep working, but stayed closer to home to create some stability for the family.

In 1917, Harry registered for the draft for World War 1. Here we find out some interesting information. First, he used his real name, Harry Sears KNIGHT, although he added in parenthesis, (known as Harry Sears). His occupation says, “actor / producer”. And under place of employment it says, “changes frequently due to working on different circuits” He is apparently, still performing in 1917 and 18 and living in the Bronx. But he doesn’t appear anywhere on the 1920 Census, so he may have been out of the country or perhaps relocating and missed the census.

It isn’t until 1920 and then again in 1923 that his name appears in a magic magazine. But this time not as a touring performer, but as a member of the Golden Gate SAM Assembly in California. So he has moved to the West Coast.  As late as 1924, Sears still had an interest in magic, having visited the Thayer Studios and sharing some of his recollections of being on the road.

There is also a curious endorsement of a magic product by Harry Sears in one of the magic magazines. So we can assume he still had his notoriety, but what happened to him???

Turns out the Sphinx broke the news, but it was a short paragraph with no other details. It seems that Harry Sears, World Traveling Illusionist, bought a Gold Mine, the Old Victor Mine. Sears incorporated a business and changed the name of the mine to The Calavaras Central Gold Mine to be specific. This was in 1926. If you had asked me, “What magician purchased a Gold Mine during the 20th Century” I might have said, THURSTON, but nope, it was Harry Sears. I can only assume he sold all the properties of his show and along with the money he had made over his short career performing, he purchased a Gold Mine. Sure why not. That’s what everyone does, lol.

During the 1930s , Sears became President of the Mining Association of California. In this position, he sued the State of California on a number of occasions over various disputes.

At some point he sold the Gold Mine and started a new business, supplying the pipes needed for mining. This bit of information came from the 1930 US Census. UP until that time he was listed as a Gold Mine Owner.

Years later in 1960 the Calavaras Gold Mine went up for sale, Sears attempted to purchase it ,but he didn’t have enough money to cover the back taxes.

It appears that a few months after trying to repurchase the Calavares Gold Mine in 1960, Harry Sears passed away, it was June 4th 1961. In his newspaper Obituary, there was no mention of Harry Sears ever having been a magician or even associated with it. It does record that he had owned the mining company.

Harry Sears Knight, is buried in Woodlawn Memorial Park, Colma California, in San Mateo County. He was 75 when he passed away.

(this was episode 103 of the Magic Detective Podcast)