Thursday, March 17, 2011

Jesse Lasky's Magic

Jesse L. Lasky
He was born Jesse Louis Lasky on September 13th 1880. He is probably best known as one of the folks who started Paramount Pictures. However Jesse Lasky had some connections to magic which are quite interesting. But first, how did he get into show biz in the first place?

He began in his teens by performing the cornet. In 1899 he went to Nome Alaska along with many others during the gold rush. While there he continued to play the cornet in music halls and saloons. After a year he headed back to San Fransisco and teamed up with his sister Blanche and they developed a Quick Change Act. This leads to him being hired in 1902 by Leon Herrmann, the nephew of Herrmann The Great. Jesse and his sister present their act, and he also plays cornet in the show with Herrmann for a 40 week tour of the U.S..

Monday, March 14, 2011

Leon Herrmann's Birthday


March 13, 2011 marks the 144th birthday of Leon Herrmann. He was the nephew of Alexander Herrmann, better known as Herrmann the Great! He came to America in 1897 to work with Alexander's widow Adelaide and perform in the show. He bore a striking resemblance to that of Alexander Herrmann.

According the a NY Times article dated Jan 3, 1897, Leon had worked previously with both Alexander and his older brother Carl in their shows in Europe and South America so he was not just starting out in magic but had a firm background in the art.


He only worked with Adelaide Herrmann for three seasons before the personality clashes got to be too much and they parted ways.

One of these days I'll cover the Herrmann family more in depth.
For now, Happy Belated Birthday Leon!!!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

The Spirit Cabinet - A History

This article is about the Spirit Cabinet illusion. However, there would be no spirit cabinet without The Fox Sisters. Margaret and Kate Fox were two young girls living in Hydesville NY with their parents. In 1848, the two sisters demonstrated that they could communicate with ghostly spirits by having strange rapping sounds manifest in their presence. Their abilities gave birth to a phenomenon/movement that would be known as Spiritualism. Later in life the sisters admitted they were frauds (but they even recanted that eventually).
Living not far from Hydesville, NY were two brothers, Ira and William Davenport. In 1854, the brothers started making claims similar to that of the Fox Sisters. To prove their abilities they created The Spirit Cabinet and took their show on the road. The Spirit Cabinet was a large rectangular wooden cabinet that rested upon two saw horses. This allowed the audience to view the cabinet from underneath. There was room inside for each brother to sit at opposite ends of the cabinet. I believe there was also room in between them as well for a spectator to sit if the routine called for that.  The basic effect was that the two brothers would be tied to the seats within the cabinet by members of the audience. A number of instruments, like bells and tambourines were placed in between them. The doors of the cabinet were closed to allow 'spirit darkness' and the manifestations would begin, the bells would ring, rapping could be heard and the tambourines would play.