Remembering The Passing of the Mantle of Magic

Today marks the 106th Anniversary of the Passing of the Mantle of Magic from Harry Kellar to Howard Thurston at the Fords Theatre in Baltimore MD. May 16, 1908 in Howard Thurston's own words,

"Before the final curtain had fallen Kellar led me to the foot- lights and in a most touching speech briefly mentioned his own career of forty-five years as a public entertainer, and finished with a generous and affectionate prediction of my future. Kellar had played Ford's Opera House for many years. He handed his arm around my shoulders, while the orchestra played 'Auld Lang Syne'. As the ushers carried many floral offerings to the stage, the audience sang with the music. Finally, the musicians stood, then the entire audience was on its feet repeating the refrain. Leaning heavily on my shoulder as the curtain dropped for the last time, Kellar cried—so did I."

What was the Mantle of Magic? Essentially, it was nothing more than a business transaction between Kellar and Thurston. But that is too boring, so they put a theatrical spin to the whole affair and created this idea of passing Kellar's Mantle onto Thurston. For the 1907-08 Season, Kellar and Thurston toured the U.S. together.  All of the posters for the tour featured an image of Kellar's face in the upper corner and Thurston's face in the opposite corner. The final poster above, was the only one with a full sized image of both Thurston and Kellar, that I'm aware of.

I'm not sure how long Thurston continued using the Kellar endorsement after that iconic event. But it's clear he did continue to use "Kellar's Successor" for some time. 

Library of Congress Image

Today, all parties associated with the event are long gone. Thurston and Kellar have low since passed away. Even the Ford's Theatre in Baltimore is gone. But we have the posters, playbills and history to look back upon and fondly remember an important event in the annals of magic.

Harry Blackstone Jr Anniversary

17 Years Ago, on May 14th, I was at Dulles Airport with my friend Adam Ace. We were about to take a plane to Mexico for shows. Before the flight I stepped into one of the gift shops and saw the USA Today Newspaper. There on the cover, a photo of Harry Blackstone Jr. and the words 'Has Died'. WHAT? How could this be? Sad, but true.

I never got to meet Mr. Blackstone. I was on an elevator with him once but other 'fans' were kind of crowding him so I didn't join the pack. I also sat in front of him at a conference once, but he was deep conversation with his wife, so again, I didn't intrude.

Needless to say, his passing was somewhat of a shock to the magic world. I only added 'somewhat' because we all new he had been ill. He had what seemed like a sudden and drastic loss of weight and he didn't look well. I remember seeing him on the Miss America Pageant producing Regis Philbin from a tip-over trunk. It was the last time I'd see him on TV. He was gone a short time later.

Harry Blackstone Jr. was one of the GREATS! I'll write about him more at another time. But for now, we remember his passing 17 years ago.

A Little Fu-Manchu Trivia

Some Interesting Facts About Fu-Manchu

When he performed he spoke Spanish with a Chinese accent.

His oriental robes were authentic. Many were purchased in Hollywood.

He adapted a principle from a novelty toy into one of the most amazing pieces
of magic ever seen. This principle sat untouched for many years until recently altered
and updated by Jim Steinmeyer. It was used in Fu-Manchu's Pit & Pendulum Illusion.

His father was Okito (Theo Bamberg). Fu-Manchu (David Bamberg) was the 6th and last generation of magicians known as The Bamberg Dynasty.

During his years in South America, he auditioned many women to be assistants in his show. One of the women who auditioned for him was Eva Peron, the First Lady of Argentina from 1946-1952.  She would later be immortalized in the musical EVITA.

The above poster is very unique and quite striking. There is another version of the poster which features an image of a woman's face and more text. It can be viewed here, along with one of Fu-Manchu's Movie posters.


David Bamberg in real life was a very nervous individual. But Fu-Manchu on stage
was as calm as they come. It's been written that whenever his assistants wanted to
ask for a raise, they always waited to ask Fu-Manchu rather than David Bamberg.

According to David, eventually the Fu-Manchu calmness creeped into his real life
and later in life he became less of a nervous wreck.

David Bamberg took the name Fu-Manchu from the Sax Rohmer novels of the same name. Because of this when he came to the United States, he was not able, due to copyright laws, to use the name Fu-Manchu. Instead he used FuChan. However, Bamberg was not the last to use the 'borrowed' name. A rock band now uses the name Fu-Manchu.