Day 2 DC Magic History Symposium

I can't report too much on Day 2 because I missed 2/3rds of the days events. I understand that the attendees enjoyed the Library of Congress though there were issues with the buses. I missed the afternoon lectures, so I'll have to catch up on some of that tomorrow.

I arrived at 8pm, just in time to see the first speaker, John MacLaughlin. He spoke about Magic, Espionage and the CIA. It was an incredible talk and I was frankly enthralled the entire time. So well put together and interesting throughout. He was a tough act to follow.

In the second spot was Bill Kalush, who frankly did an excellent job as well. When you come upon NEW Houdini material it's big news and he had some new Houdini stuff to share. A lost/forgotten manuscript that Houdini had written has been found. He also shared his thoughts and insights on the story of Houdini having to cut a whole in the ice to escape from a river. It was great and I hope I have some time tomorrow to meet and chat with Bill.

The final speaker was Dale Salwak who spoke about Magic and Magicians in North Korea. Also, fascinating and delivered with sincerity and passion. He is correct when he says that magic is a language that overcomes barriers and politics and can bring people together. I applaud his work and I also hope to get to meet him tomorrow.

I forgot to mention seeing my friend Joe Pecore at the event yesterday. Joe is a great guy, magic history lover and is Mr. Magicpedia, and a good friend as well. He's invited me to work on a project in the fall that is very exciting, so I'll share more about that in the future.

I had to say goodbye to my friend Scott Humston who was in the area visiting and came to the conference yesterday and today, but he is going to miss everything tomorrow because he and his family have to get back to Florida for shows on Monday. I can understand this because I missed most of today from shows. Safe travels.

I chatted a little with Wayne Alan both yesterday and today and Wayne is the fellow putting on the Houdini Festival in Danville at the end of June. We'll be talking about that more tomorrow so I'll have more information about that festival in the near future.

OH, I got to see my old friend Richard Kaufman who I haven't seen in years. Richard lives not all that far from me, but it seems like forever since I've seen him. It was good to see him again. Oh and speaking of folks I haven't seen in years, Charles Green is another local who I've not seen in a long time. It was nice to see Charles, though we didn't get to chat but for a moment.

I saw Al Cohen from a distance, I hope to see him again tomorrow.
I sold three paintings and had to bring two back as it looks like they are now reserved for another buyer. So not bad.  I hope to sell more tomorrow, but I'm not sure how it's going to go. This was a test run to see how they'd sell.


Looking forward to tomorrow!



OH WAIT! I almost forgot, yesterday I met Diego Domingo. I missed his talk today, but yesterday he showed me a grave photo of someone that really surprised me. And tonight he told me about another grave that he had found. Turns out Diego has also uncovered the life history of George White, the assistant to Howard Thurston, who later worked for a time for Dante. Diego had given this talk a couple years ago for another Magic History Conference and he was kind enough to share some of the details with me. WOW, it was incredible! 

Day 1 DC Symposium on Magic History

So I just got home a few minutes ago after a long day at the conference. Now, when I say long day, I mean that in the best way. I was up at 6am and arrived home around 12:30am. But all the stuff that went on today was fantastic. My booth with my artwork looks fantastic and I have a primo spot! (thank you again Ken Trombly). My booth is next to Ray Goulet but the day was so busy I hardly had time to say hello.

Dean, Adele and her Boss!

The conference didn't really begin until 8pm, but the dealers room opened in the afternoon. I sort of expected my booth to be the oddball because, #1, no actual magic history items, though it was filled with paintings of historical magicians, and #2, not many people know me. However, as it turns out, a LOT of people there know me! I saw a lot of friends, like the lovely and charming Adele Friel Rhindress who worked for Blackstone Sr. and is one of my favorite people in the whole wide world.
I got to see my friend Trixie Bond and her husband and see more pictures of a special project she had done in her 'magic room' using some of my artwork. It was wonderful.

I spent an hour+ talking to James Hamilton about Alexander Herrmann. I've wanted to meet James for years and it was a joy talking to him and learning about his vast knowledge of Herrmann. OH, and he let me know I need to make a correction to one of my blog articles, which has a slight error! I will be changing that after I finish this.

I met Rory Feldman who owns a huge Thurston collection. He didn't have a booth or a display, he is just attending the conference. I was very glad to finally meet him. He couldn't be a nicer fellow and I'm looking forward to seeing his collection up in NYC soon.

Carnegie, Adele, Rory

I met a couple local guys, Mike Rose, who actually helped me out with a Joe Karson piece for my blog, but this was the first time we met face to face. Also a fellow named John Martin who collects Magic Posters was there and we talked for quite a while. Nice guys both. And Lee Asher's Dad, well, I might have to write a blog article just about our conversation alone, it was awesome!

I must say I met so many wonderful people today that I know I'm going to forget some and I apologize for that. Bill Schmeelk from Wellington Enterprises came over and admired my artwork. Ron Cartlidge also spent some time at my booth. Sara Crasson, who is a lawyer and magician had some very intriguing things to say about magic and intellectual property laws and she is writing a column for GENII about it. So I've got to check that out.

But I know you all want to know about the evening talks. Well, there was some confusion about the list of speakers, which I'm not quite sure what happened, but Eric Henning had to take over the opening spot and gave a talk on Charles Bertram which I really enjoyed. Next was David Saltman, who has the wonderful blog www.houdinifile.com. He spoke on Jerry Andrus and Houdini and his talk was great. He had a lot of footage of Jerry presenting his optical illusions and a little magic. It was awesome! I frankly can't wait for his book to come out, which is about Houdini's time in Russia. If you remember, I wrote a blog about Houdini's time in Russia also, but David has uncovered far more than I did.

There were two fellows who spoke about the John Salisse Magic Collection and I forget their names but I really enjoyed their talk. The posters they acquired are incredible and apparently one of the fellows has given a talk on Dr. Lynn,which I must find more about!

Tom Ewing did a great job M.C.ing the activities of the night and Rich Bloch made a surprise appearance accepting awards for both Nick Ruggerio and Carl Williams, neither of whom was able to attend.

I met Bruce MacNab in the dealer room and finally got his book, but I'll miss his talk tomorrow. Though he said he would fill me in once I returned, so I'm looking forward to that. I have to say, for my first magic history conference, I am having a GREAT TIME!

Oh, I almost forgot, just before they closed the dealer room near midnight, I got to meet the fellow who bought the Robert Heller Hat! I'm so glad he came up to say hello. I'm glad that hat has a new home and someone who appreciates Heller's contribution to the art.

More news tomorrow...

Magic Site Seeing in the Nation's Capital

Originally this blog article was specifically for those attending the Washington D.C. Symposium on Magic History. I wanted to share with you some interesting sites to see while you are in town that are all magic related. But now the S.A.M. Convention is here, so for all those attending please enjoy this guide as well!

1. The location of the old Al's Magic Shop. If you knew Al Cohen, or had ever been to the shop, you know what a great guy Al was as a demonstrator. His shop was a hang out for many over the years. The final location of the shop was at 1012 Vermont Avenue NW. The original shop location was torn down in the late 1970s.

2. Robert Heller spots. Robert Heller was a resident of Washington D.C. for several years. Neither of his homes are still there, but I will give you the locations. The first place he lived in Washington is 260 F. Street NW. which is today a parking lot that is at the corner of 3rd and F st. St. (see link)
The next place that William Henry Palmer/Robert Heller lived in D.C. was 447 13th Street NW. Today the Warner Theatre sits at this location. He also played piano at the Church of the Epiphany at 1317 G St NW, Washington, DC.

3.  HOUDINI in D.C.. Harry Houdini was all over the D.C. First spot would be Old Ebbitt's Grill,

which is located across the street from the Treasury Building at 675 15th St NW. This is the location of Keith's Vaudeville Theatre and also the spot where in January 12th of 1922 Houdini hung upside down and escaped from a Straight Jacket.  If you walk up the street to the brown building you can get almost the identical view as seen in the photo to the left. Slightly down the street from Keith's Vaudeville Theatre location is the 'W' Hotel, which used to be the Hotel Washington and Bess and Harry stayed here several times on their visits to D.C. That hotel was also featured in the Godfather Movie.
Houdini's first hanging straight jacket escape in D.C. was from the Munsey Building which today is the J W Marriott Hotel at 1331 Pennsylvania Ave NW. Houdini also performed at the Chase Theatre while in town but it's long gone. The Old DC Jail where Houdini escaped from the cell of the assasin of President Garfield was located at 625 Park Road NW in D.C.(it is no longer there, a church stands in the lot where the jail used to be). See also, Capital Building and White House.
This link also describes the Challenges Houdini presented while in D.C. http://www.themagicdetective.com/2011/01/houdini-dc-challenges.html

4. Harry Kellar in D.C. Kellar performed a number of places in D.C. including the National Theatre (see address below) The Columbia Theatre 1112 F St NW but is gone now and Ford's Theatre on 511 10th St NW. 
 
5. The National Theatre 1321 Pennsylvania Ave NW. This is a historic theatre which still happens to be open and operational. Magicians who had performed there include: Robert Heller, Alexander Herrmann, Harry Kellar, Harry Blackstone Sr. and Penn and Teller.

6. National Theatre/Helen Hayes Theatre this is a smaller theatre within the National Theatre. During the Civil War days it was a pool hall frequented by none other than John Wilkes Booth. Today it's a small theatre where performances are given on select Mondays and Saturdays throughout the year. Countless D.C. area magicians have performed in this room, including ME!

7. MAX MALINI in D.C. Malini performed in several places in D.C. including The Willard Hotel
1401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW (Houdini and Bess were also known to stay at this hotel). The Roosevelt Hotel 2101 16th St NW Washington is another spot where Max Malini set up shop, but today they are apartments. See also Capital Building and White House.

9. Alexander Herrmann in D.C.. Herrmann the Great appeared at the National Theatre (see address above) and also performed along with Compars Herrmann at the White House in the East Room to entertain none other than Abraham Lincoln.

10. Wyman The Wizard in D.C. John Wyman Jr. performed at Odd Fellows Hall fairly regularly when he was in Washington at 419 7th St N.W. He also performed for President Lincoln at the White House in the East Room. Wyman lived on 6th St in D.C. but I don't have an exact address and I'm sure the building is gone.

11. Signor Blitz in D.C. There is a story of Blitz running into Abraham Lincoln at the Summer White House (known today as Lincoln's Cottage) 140 Rock Creek Church Rd NW where Blitz did some magic and the President and magician had an interesting exchange.

12. The Capital Building & White House. There is more 'magic' going on in these places than any magician could ever do! But I'll give you a brief run down of some historical moments. Max Malini bit the button off Senator Hanna's coat on the steps of the Capital Building. Malini also gave an impromptu performance in the Marble Room of the Capital. Houdini gave his testimony before Congress at the Capital Building during the debate over Fortune Telling in the district.

The White House has seen countless magicians. Alexander & Compars Herrmann performed for Lincoln in the East Room of the White House. Houdini was known to have been invited to the White House. Howard Thurston performed there during the White House Easter Egg Roll, as did Al Cohen,
David Williamson, Silly Billy, the entire cast of the Le Grand David Spectacular Magic Company from Beverly Mass, Doug Henning, Harry Blackstone Jr., Steve Wyrick, Wayne Alan, Trixie Bond, Ralph The Great, Dean Carnegie, Dave Risley, Mac King, Ken Scott, Mark Daniel, Ray Goulet, Mike Bent, Emanuel Shabum, Eric Henning, The Pro Kids Show performers, Adam Ace, James Wand, and many many others from all over the WORLD!

13. Henry Ridgely Evans in D.C. Henry Ridgely Evans the prolific magic writer lived in D.C. and is buried here. His grave is in the Oak Hill Cemetery 3001 R St NW. Grave location: Stewart- Lot 610 East

14. Fords Theatre in D.C.. Of course, this is the historic theatre at 511 10th St NW where President Lincoln was shot. But it was also a spot where Harry Kellar performed and then years later, Lance Burton, The Pendragons and others have performed there for the Gala for The President. This building once had a sister location in Baltimore where Harry Kellar passed his mantle to Howard Thurston. That Ford's Theatre is no longer there.

15. Next is the Library of Congress which has quite a lot of magic posters and ephemera in it's collection. The Houdini collection is housed in the Jefferson Building and I think you need an appointment.