Episode 1 Additional Information

First, thank you to everyone who clicked over to watch my new The Magic Detective Show on Youtube! I really appreciate it. Episode 1 showed an escape gone wrong. The escape in question happened in Venezuela some time around the mid 1970s and featured escape artist Steve Baker.

Many of my younger readers and viewers may not be familiar with Steve, but from the late 1960s to the 1980s he was easily one of the most recognized and popular escape artists around. I can remember seeing him on TV all the time when I was a kid.

The escape that is featured on the video is called 'Trial By Fire'. It just so happens that another escape artist, Norman Bigelow, also has an escape that he presents called 'Trial By Fire' but though they share the same name, the escapes are very different. In Steve's version he is chained to a wooden post and surrounded by a canvas covered t-pee like structure. The t-pee is sprayed with a special flammable chemical and then set on fire. Steve has seconds to get out the chains and burst through the t-pee flames before he too is engulfed in the inferno.

He had presented the escape successfully before. But on this night in Caracas something went wrong! At this point I encourage you to watch the video if you already haven't. It's worth seeing, plus I explain what went wrong.

Now the good news, Steve still escaped. The bad news was he suffered from some pretty bad burns. There was also more bad news. He still had another escape to do. He was supposed to escape from a packing crate in front of a live audience. His hands were bandaged up, but he still submitted to the challenge and escaped! But it was such a struggle that his hands began to bleed and by the time he got out of the trunk, his bandages were soaked red with blood!

Also on the bill with Steve was another escape artist, The Amazing Randi. James Randi was another well known escape artist of the time, but he was slowly phasing out escapes and moving into the world of exposing fake psychics. His career as an investigator of fake psychics still goes on today. However, during his time in Venezuela, he too was there to present escapes. His first escape was from a locked safe on live TV, which is something he had done a number of times in his career. His second escape had him escaping from a straight jacket, but not in the normal way. They decided to hang Randi upside down from a helicopter and fly him all over the city dangling by his ankles! By all accounts it was quite thrilling.

If I'm not mistaken there is an audio recording that Randi did in the late 70s or early 80s that was put out by Martin Breese and I believe that he mentions his time in Caracas with Steve, and I know he also mentions an escape of his that almost went wrong involving a locked safe.

Now, just to keep the record straight, I mentioned Norman Bigelow and his escape also called 'Trial By Fire'. I do not know who created the name first. I have a feeling it was a name they both chose without knowing of the others creation. Bigelow was another of the big escape names in the 1970s. He was performing in colleges and went on to become a prolific writer on escapes and magic. One of his tomes had to do with the Death of Houdini and he put forth the theory that Houdini was indeed killed. I believe the name of the manuscript was 'Death Blow'. Lots of people talk about that possibility today, but it was Norm who really looked into it and developed the theory.

Norman Bigelow continues to delve into little know areas of Houdini's life even today. Though his views are sometimes controversial, he doesn't do these things to become popular but to expose the truths he thinks are still hidden in Houdini's life and truths he believes we all should know.

Now, as to Norm's version of 'Trial By Fire'. He would be handcuffed to a board. Running along the board is a trail of gunpowder which was set on fire. Underneath his hand is a large amount of gunpowder. He had only seconds to get out of the handcuffs before being badly burned. His escape was done out in the open with the audience watching him as he openly picked the handcuffs. A very original and very unique escape and presentation.

Speaking of original, his manuscripts are filled with ideas and concepts for escape artists and magicians. One of his ideas was used by David Copperfield in the 1980s and then featured on one of his Television Specials.

In the future I think I'll continue to add some additional bits of information about the various episodes because afterall, they are only 5 minutes long. Eventually, once the audience is built up, I'll move to a longer format. See you all on FRIDAY for another episode of The Magic Detective Show!

The Magic Detective Show on Youtube!

 

FINALLY!!!!!!!! After months of delays, the first episode of The Magic Detective Show is online!
There is now a MagicDetective Youtube Channel, and I'd love it if you subscribed to the channel. I think I'm going to put together a 'blooper' video after a while so you can see some of the earlier attempts of recording the show. There are things I'd like to do that I can't because of the restraints of my camera. So season 1 will keep this format and if it's popular enough and I do a second season, I'll upgrade the camera and the look of the show.

If you are a collector or historian or performer with a cool piece of magic related history who would be willing to appear on my show, please let me know that also! You can reach me at: carnegiemagic@aol.com

Don't forget to enter the Magic Detective History Contest going on this month!

http://www.themagicdetective.com/2012/10/magic-detective-magic-history-contest.html

One Day Till -The Magic Detective Show

So after months of shoots and reshoots and restarts, the first episode is in the can, as they say. Between camera problems and just simply getting the time to shoot the show, it's been a challenge. I had expected to have this done MONTHS ago (like in January) but it never happened. But now I'm glad to say that the first and actually second episodes of the show are done.

The Magic Detective Show is a 5 minute look into the amazing world of theatrical magic history. We'll cover stories like the life, death and mysteries of Houdini, the first great American Magician Harry Kellar, we'll go in search of props and artifacts that belonged to great magicians and we'll visit with magic historians and collectors and much more.

The first episode of the Magic Detective You Tube Show will debut tomorrow, Friday Oct 5th at NOON Eastern Standard Time. It features an exciting escape from the 1970s gone bad!

The address to the Youtube channel is www.youtube.com/themagicdetective

Don't forget to enter the Magic Detective History Contest going on this month!

http://www.themagicdetective.com/2012/10/magic-detective-magic-history-contest.html

Magic Detective Magic History Contest

(See Entry Rules at the bottom of the page)

1. Who was the boyhood idol of Houdini?

2. Name two famous magi-folk who died on a train.

3. Who was the Elusive Moth?

4. Many magicians have used devils or demons on their advertising. Which Houdini poster featured devils?

5. Name three performers who have used the slogan “All Done By Kindness”.

6. Name four magicians in Machepelah Cemetery.

7. Name 2 famous mind reading escape artists with a connection to Houdini.

8. This desk belonged to two authors, name them. Where is the desk today?

9. He could do a great Bullet Catch for publicity, but then chose suicide in real life. Who was this person?

10. Who was the Frito-Lay Magician?

11. Who started performing in the Asparagus Valley Cultural Society?

12. Thomas Edison designed and built an illusion for this magician.

13. What magician had a nickname on the West Coast and a nickname on the East Coast which were similar to his real name?

14. Houdini allegedly put acid in this person's water barrel.

15. Name this gift-giving magician. (below)

16. Robert Heller, Houdini and Servais LeRoy all had the same idea but only one carried through with it. What was the idea?

17. What trick did Max Malini show President Warren G. Harding that garnered front-page newspaper coverage?

18. A coin magician who later made his living as a school show performer.

19. T.Nelson Downs was the King of Koins first and for a time presented an illusion act created by this man.

20. Early card pioneer and inventor of a mirror trick.

21. He was Fredrik before he took the name of a cigar.

22. Longest Running Resident Magic Show in United States?

23. Al Wheatley is credited with this invention.

24. Who was Wanda Timm?

25. What did Houdini do that had a negative effect on Long Tack Sam?

26.  Karl Germain and Quintino Marucci both featured this trick in their act.

27. What is the #1 most popular blog article to appear on The Magic Detective blog?

Contest Rules:

1. You can send your answers via email to carnegiemagic@aol.com
1. You must include your name with your entry.*
2. You don’t need to include your mailing address at this point, but if you win, you will need to send that to receive the prize.
3. Please put the question number next to your answers :)
2. First person with all the answers correct will win Prize 1. In the event that no one gets all the answers correct, then the first person with the most correct answers will win.
3. Prize 2 will be given to the winner of a blind drawing from the group of remaining winners (if there are any).
4. Entries will be accepted till October 29, 2012.
5. The Winner(s) will be announced on October 31, 2012. 
6. You can see the prizes here: http://www.themagicdetective.com/2012/09/a-little-more-on-magic-history-contest.html

                *Your entries and emails will be strictly kept confidential. I will not share or sell your email address.

Nate Leipzig - A Real Magician

Right now I'm asking myself, "how did I miss this guy?" There are some folks in magic history that I've heard about all my life but don't really know much about. Today I'd like to share with you a little about the life of Nathan Leipziger, known professionally as Nate Leipzig.

Nate was born in Stockholm Sweden in May 31, 1873. He came to America in 1883, so he missed the 1880 census and sadly the 1890 does not exist, it was destroyed years ago in a fire. But he shows up on the 1900 US Census. The reason I bring up the census records is because they add some interesting information that is different from what Nate wrote in his autobiography. Nate states his father was from Russia and his mother from Utica NY. However, the census records state his parents were both from Poland. And in 1900 he was 27, and still living at home and working as an 'optician'. It is possible his mother was born in Poland, moved to the US and that is where is father met his mother. Also, depending upon the area of Poland his father was from, it could have been considered Russia at some point. But then again, perhaps he was doing what many people did at that time and rewrote his own history.

He apparently felt that if he read about a trick in a book, it was his duty to recreate the effect using his own methods. It was this unusual philosophy that caused him to not only impress magicians but everyone who watched him perform. Magicians were taking notice of the youngster. The King of Koins, T. Nelson Downs was bragging about a coin flourish that Leipzig had created. Ten Ichi from Japan was so impressed with Nate that he asked to meet with him and offered to trade the method of his Thumb Tie Routine for Nate's Ring on Stick routine.

In 1901 Nate was asked to become a partner in an act by Berol and Berol which was a 'Rag Painting Act'. This alone is fascinating to me as I have never heard of rag painting. From what I gather, different colored rags were placed against a black velvet background to create recognizable works of art. Joining this act would mean Nate would have to leave home for the first time. His family did not have high hopes for his future with this venture. But as unique and novel as the act sounds, after two years the partnership split up and Nate was on his own.

Here is when a stroke of luck comes his way. J. Warren Keane was a vaudeville magician who needed to find a quick replacement for his act. He called Nate, who had never done magic in vaudeville before, but Nate agreed to give it a try and began to perform at Proctors in NY. It turns out he was a huge hit. The same reason that magicians were bowled over by Nate was the same reason audiences were. He did tricks that no one had ever seen before and if they had, he did them differently than everyone else. In other words he was highly original. After appearing at Proctors for only two days, he received word that none other that William Morris wanted to see him. Nate showed up at his office and Morris offered Nate a contract to tour the Keith Circuit. Consider this, you don't find a bigger agent than William Morris, and Nate was brand new in the Vaudeville world, yet he had the bravery to haggle over the pay. Nate requested more than Morris was offering. They argued over it and Morris agreed to increase his pay. He knew Nate was worth it.

His act consisted of manipulations with thimbles, billiard balls, cards and card tricks like the Rising Cards. He also presented Vest Turning, Ring of Stick and the Magnetized Knife. By 1904, Nate decided to change his name from Nate Leipziger to the shortened version that we all know, Lepizig. In 1906 offered a tour of Europe and he became as big a sensation over there with audiences as he had been in the U.S..  The one difference between Nate's work overseas is that he often had the opportunity to perform before royalty.

He returned to the states for a few months but in 1908 he was heading back to England for more work. It was on this tour that he met Leila, who would become his wife. Over the next few years he would continue to travel the globe and return to the U.S.. But when WW1 broke out Nate had an interesting predicament. Because of his German sounding name, he was forced on occasion to alter it. One of the alterations was 'Nat Lincoln'.

Over time, Nate began to slow his performing schedule down. He seemed to have a keen sense that Vaudeville was coming to an end and he switched gears to more private functions. He remained one of the most influential and original magicians of all time. He also picked up three students that he taught and shared his magic with. Those students were Roy Benson, Fred Keating and John Scarne. And of course his magic also greatly influenced Dai Vernon who wrote the book along with Lewis Ganson, 'Dai Vernon's Tribute to Nate Leipzig'. One of the lessons he imparted to his students was 'to never make a sucker out of a spectator'. In other words he was against embarrassing or humiliating a volunteer. Nate also believed in a natural approach to magic, he was against the fancy flourishes and finger flinging. He wanted things to be as simple and mystifying as possible.  His one exception to the rule was the flourish that he had developed, and that most everyone in magic eventually learns but probably doesn't know who created it, the coin roll.

Nate Leipzig died on October 13, 1939 from cancer. He had a long and influential career in magic and his insight and magic live on today in the acts of many performers.

When I started writing this I said "How did I miss this guy?". I don't have an answer. I knew who Nate Leipzig was, and have even read about him, but apparently it didn't sink it. When I was researching the life of Long Tack Sam I came upon a whole section in the wonderful Roy Benson book by Levent, about Nate Leipzig. As I read the words that Benson had to say about Nate, I sat spellbound. I began to recall moments in time when I heard others mention Leipzig, for example John Carney presents his version of a Leipzig Cigar Trick on one of his SECRETS DVDs. David Blaine actually has a Nate Leipzig trick that he apparently saves for special occasions to show clients because it's so strong. Well, as all this began sinking I decided to dig in and really look up this guy and it was like finding a whole new world! Thanks to AskAlexander.com, The Roy Benson by Starlight Book by Levent and Todd Karr, and other sources I learned a great deal about one of magic's greats and now can proudly say that I too have been influenced by the magic of Nate Leipzig.

In May 2020, I expanded this original article and made it a podcast. There is a lot more information on the podcast. You can hear that here.