The Great Rameses - The Egyptian Mystic

 

Born Albert Marchinski 1876 in Poland. He immigrated to the UK in the 1880s with his parents and siblings. He had three brothers, Lesser, Abe and Izzy. And he also had 5 sisters, Lily, Sara, Rachel, Pearl and Katie. His parents names were Eva and Philip. They first lived in Whitechapel, the area famous for the Jack the Ripper murders. They had moved to a different area of London by the time of the murders.

Albert’s inspiration for being a magician came when he was 14 years old and saw a magician at the Old Aquarium in London. A couple sources, make this claim, the Rameses bio by Chris Woodward, and a couple magazine articles. I decided to look up more and turns out this ‘old Aquarium in London, was originally the Royal Aquarium built in 1876. It had everything from indoor attractions, music, artwork, sculptures, exotic trees, fountains, and a collection of circus acts. In addition, next door was the Royal Aquarium Theater! I’m guessing this is where young Albert Marchinsky saw his first magician. The theater hosted many magicians over the years, in it’s first year, Dr. Lynn performed there. But in 1890, when Albert was 14, we have a 25 year old Servais LeRoy performing at the Royal Aquarium Theater. This by the way is where LeRoy would meet Mary Ann Ford. She would later become a performing partner and his wife and would be known as Mercedes Talma. I’m guessing, that Albert Marchinski saw Servais LeRoy at the Royal Aquarium Theater. I know that would have been enough to sell me on magic!

Albert took to magic immediately, purchasing his first props from Joseph Bland’s London Magic Shop. He was soon doing shows in and around London. He wasn’t doing brand new magic, but tried and true effects, and wrapping them in original presentations or building them up with theatrical elements like costuming and ornate scenery. 

Young Albert was clearly a student of magic and must have seen every magician in London. The one who seems to have made the biggest mark on him was Chung Ling Soo, William Robinson. Albert understood that unless he wanted to fall into the rank and file of other conjurers, he needed to do something special to make his mark. Chung Ling Soo had his asian character and presentation. Then there was Linga Singh who performed as an Indian magician. 

What direction would Albert choose to go? Time would tell.

He continued to perform, and by all accounts also became an actor. Now we need to step outside of the Marchinsky life story and talk for a moment about another magician from the time. His name was Professor Fred Harcourt. In 1901 he was a popular performer at the time presenting illusions. His big claim to fame was an illusion called LILITH. This was a unique floating lady effect. Here is the description of the effect from an article by Edwin Dawes in the pages of the Magic Circular Aug 2015, “A young lady is introduced to the audience, and then placed in a hypnotic trance. Whilst in this condition, she walks, dances, turns somersaults, etc in mid-air. She assumes various attitudes and performs marvelous gyrations in space, defying all laws of gravitation. To prove Lilith is unsupported in any way, a sword is passed all about her, and to further demonstrate that no magnets, wires or any mechanical contrivances are used, a hoop is passed over the young lady.”

This sounds strangely like Astarte, an illusion presented by Harry Kellar and later Hermmann the Great as Maid of the Moon. In any event, it proved quite popular. Harcourt went on a tour of Australia with his show. In 1906 he passed away. 

Now, in steps Albert Marchinsky, who purchases the Harcourt show from Fred’s widow. 

Remember that earlier question about what direction Albert would take with his show. Well now he had a big illusion show to go with his existing material . Albert chose to perform as an Egyptian, and chose the name Rameses. He wasn’t the first to choose an Egyptian personality, there was another conjurer going by the name Amasis, and even P.T. Selbit orginally went by the name Joad Hetab. But for Albert Marchinski, he would become RAMESES The Eastern Mystic.

His first recorded show is October 5th 1908, and he is performing at the Islington Hippodrome in London. The Lilith Floating lady, acquired from Harcourt is not part of the line-up, but there is one thing that truly stood out. His version of the ‘Cremation’ illusion. He called it, The Fire Goddess, and here it is described in David Price’s book, MAGIC A pictorial history of conjurers in the Theater. “Rameses presented an illusion called The Fire Goddess, which was the peak of his performance. It was a cremation illusion with additions that greatly enhanced the trick. A girl was apparently cremated in a standing position. Rameses took the ashes with him into a cabinet and almost instantly reappeared in the back of the auditorium. His place in the cabinet was taken by the cremated girl completely restored.”

Rameses continued to perform throughout 1909, even performing a month in Paris at their Alhambra. Shortly, thereafter, Rameses has a bit of a HOUDINI-Moment, or at least one that Harry could totally relate to. In February of 1910, while Rameses was performing at the biggest theater in London, the London Colosseum, he caught the eye of Martin Beck, the famous American Theater Impresario . Rameses knew what Beck had done for Houdini and to a lesser extent what he did for OKITO. They were soon setting up a tour of the Orpheum Circuit in America for Rameses.

From the pages of Stanyon’s Magic, June 1910, we get a run down of the show at this point. It’s a performance from 1910, the act is slightly over 12 minutes long. The stage setting is gorgeous making the stage look like an Egyptian Temple. There are steps in the middle leading to a large portico. It sounds reminiscent of the Asian themed background from the Le Grand David Show with the staircase that protruded from the center. Except here the scenery is all Egyptian. 

A large cabinet is wheeled out, shown empty and people are produced from it, including Rameses himself. The next effect made me smile. It’s listed as Handkerchief from Glass Tube to Decanter. In the simplest description, this is the Crystal Silk Cylinder, made famous by MakMagic. But this is obviously an earliy version before it was mass marketed. And it’s used as a transposition. Very clever.

Next we have Confetti to Water. This begins with a large brass bowl that is shown empty and then dipped into a box full of confetti. The confetti is poured out and then the bowl is refilled. The excess confetti is leveled off and suddenly the bowl no longer has confetti but now is filled with WATER! This is the Okito Gobi Bowl.

The same cabinet from the beginning of the act, is rolled back out and now a woman along with a goose appears. Next we have a small cauldron illusion. This sets on a table. Performer fills cauldron with water. He lights a fire under the cauldron and removes the lid and out fly three doves.

Next we have some sort of flower production with a cone and real flowers which are handed out to the audience. Finale is the Cremation Illusion which I mentioned previously.

A fast paced 12 minutes, which is also colorful and a bit of a spectacle with the gorgeous backdrops and costumes.

Let’s hear from Rameses himself. This from The Magical World Magazine, Vol1, No 17 in 1910, a short column titled, Rameses Talks, “I do not believe in the supernatural. To me there is no such power. Certainly there is none of it in the practice of magic, for magic is practical— a matter of study, science, careful practice, and judicious application. Being a magician does not mean that you have been endowed with a gift. It means rather, that you have interested yourself in the study of the forces productive of mystifying effects, and that, by practice, you have come to be able to apply them towards some particular goal.”  Further down the article we learn that in addition to being a magician, Rameses is a hypnotist. And he also claims to be a spiritualist to some extent. 

In July of 1910, Rameses and company were onboard the Lusitania, traveling from England to the United States. They landed on Ellis Island NY and from there they traveled 2600 miles to Denver Colorado to open at the Orpheum on July 31st. The US tour had began and they were receiving great reviews.  Here is another description of the Fire Goddess, this time from Variety, 

“The feature is The Fire Goddess. A young woman is placed upon an elevated table and a hood is dropped about her, surrounded by flames. The removal of the hood discloses a pile of ashes in which are placed inside a large cabinet along with Rameses. The curtains are drawn and his almost immediate reappearance from the rear of the audience, with the girl in his place in the cabinet. The curtains are drawn again, her reappearance from the back of the audience and replacing her in the cabinet is an old man!”  

One sad note, In November 1910, Albert’s father died. This was a crushing moment for the company, as it affected Albert, and his two brothers who were also on the tour, Lesser and Abe. Even though they performed a silent show, the typical joy in performing was difficult to bring about due to their grief.

The US tour had him going to: Seattle, Oakland, San Francisco, Omaha, Memphis, Sioux City, Duluth, Kansas City, Memphis, Minneapolis, Evansville, Des Moines, Chicago, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Lincoln, Denver, St. Paul, Salt Lake City, Ogden, and finally New Orleans. By March 1911, Rameses and company were back in England. 

Incidentally, closing out 1910, in December, Rameses was featured on the cover of The Sphinx, given the name of the magazine and the cover design, no one was more deserving the cover than a man named Rameses!

By April 1911, Rameses is at the London Palladium, and by some accounts he is including new material. He hypnotizes the goose that he has been using since the start, this is a new thing. And he adds fire eating to his act.  He also has a new illusion that He himself can appear from, a palanquin. 

In May 1911, The Magical World Vol 2, No 3 features a review of Rameses act, which frankly reads just like the earlier piece from Stanyon’s Magic.

In 1912, Rameses engages on a tour of South Africa for 17 weeks. Once again, his act is a hit wherever he takes it. Though on the South African trip, he was unable to use his elaborate staging in some locations due to their size.

The August 1912 issue of the Sphinx mentions that Rameses has just returned from a successful tour of South Africa and that he will be opening with an entirely NEW ACT next week at the Palladium. 

In searching for new material and it seems for a while at least, Rameses, is still doing his tried and true show. But then an article in The Magician Mostly, Vol 10, has this….”The piece de resistance is the remarkable effect which is obtained by the application of electricity to a figure dressed as a clown. And the effect is too weird and unusual for any mere description to do it justice. One is left wondering and guessing, for whether the figure is human, or in very truth what it seems to be, merely a lay figure, the difficulty of causing it to bend back from the knees until the body is at right angles, supported in no way whatever, is obvious enough, whether one regards it as human or not…but when we are faced with the next problem, that of Rameses standing on the breast of the unsupported figure, well, speaking for ourselves, we frankly gave it up!”  OK, did you follow that? In case you didn’t let me give you another illustration. Imagine you are laying on a bed with your legs hanging down off the side. THEN, you pulled the bed away but you remained in that lying position, with your legs touching the floor. It’s the exact pose that NEO uses in the first Matrix movie when bullets are shot at him, he bends completely over backwards in an impossible manner. But here with Rameses, he steps it up a notch by standing on the person in this reclining position. And it appears the clown figure moves in a mechanical way so as to confuse the spectators on whether it is truly an automaton or a real person. Either way, it sounds fantastic and it’s featured one of Rameses posters.

There is a funny story in the pages of the Rameses book by Chris Woodward. The story originally appeared in a periodical called Tit-bits. It’s about the portion of his show where he hypnotizes a goose. The goose first appears inside a cabinet with another cast member. Then Rameses picks up the goose and proceeds to put it into a hypnotic state.  Well during this interview with Tit-bits periodical, Rameses told a story about a show during December where he offered a challenge to anyone to bring a goose to the theater and he would hypnotize it, or forfeit 100 pounds. Well, on this particular night, 70+ people brought their, still living Christmas geese with them, to be hypnotized, and actually hopefully NOT be hypnotized so they could collect a little extra holiday cash.

Well, one by one Rameses, true to his word, hypnotized the geese until the stage was covered with these feathery creatures all sleeping soundly. The more he did it, the funnier it became. Then it was time to wake up the ducks. And One by one, they awoke and were returned to their owners. That is except for two of them. Nothing Rameses could do would wake the ducks!!! He gave the sleeping ducks to the owners and said, “come see me after the show”. Well, they did just that, except now it was time to find out the truth. Apparently the two people had seen Rameses before and in an attempt to help him out, they drugged the ducks so they’d sleep. And THAT was why he couldn’t wake them! Crazy.

Another new piece in the show was an obedient ball type of effect. I believe this is Devan’t Golliwog Ball, that he got from Harry Kellar. Kellar’s was called The Demon Globe. Devant streamlined the working of the effect. The basic idea is a large ball is placed at the bottom of a plank of wood that leans up against a chair at a slight angle. The ball then, on it’s own apparently, rolls up and down the board and eventually rolls itself right to the top and then jumps off. Rameses claimed he could hand the ball out for examination any time during the presentation. A modern version of this would be Teller’s RED BALL mystery.

In 1913, Rameses and company toured South America, winning over audiences everywhere, Here was an ideal act for them as theirs was a silent act, so no problems with language. By September they were back in the United States with another tour of the Orpheum Theaters thanks to Martin Beck.

When the company arrived in St. Paul in 1913, Rameses debuted another new effect, The Talking Tea Kettle. Now, on his previous trip to the States to tour, he stopped on Omaha to visit with David P. Abbott, the creator of The Talking Tea Kettle. I can only assume he acquired on of these from Mr. Abbott. Suffice to say, he was now performing it, claiming to hold an ancient egyptian spirit inside the kettle. And, as with the standard routine, you could ask a question, and put the spout up to your ear and you could HEAR someone inside talking and answering your questions.

In 1914, they were top of the bill at a Royal Variety Performance attended by the King and Queen. By all accounts, Rameses pleased the Royals greatly. King George was a huge fan of magic, having had Devant and Charles Bertram perform for the Royal family.

By 1916-17 Rameses finally added the Prof Harcourt Floating Lady Illusion, originally titled Lilith, but now it’s called Ayesha. The effect, a woman standing upright, begins to float vertically in the air, then she stops and walks in mid-air, spins around, and does all sorts of things, even having a hoop passed over here. Finally, a cloth is placed over her and whisked away and she is GONE!

Success had come to Albert Marchinsky. In his years playing Rameses he was a huge success, only rarely every having an off night. It had been a confidence building run. 

This is just when a strange new opportunity came up. He chose, on whose advice I do not know. to invest in the Empire Theater, Southend on Sea. He took over the lease and had others manage the business. Initially, he had planned to star in various productions put on by the theater, actual theatrical plays. But by all accounts. Rameses himself, kept performing on the road. However, the cost of running the theater was killing him financially. Partly due to WW1 and people not coming to this particular theater. And also the staff salaries to operate the theater. It just began to eat up everything. At some point, Rameses moved into the theater as his residence just to save on some money. Lawyers got involved and he had to declare bankruptcy and get out of the Empire debacle altogether. He went from being well off financially to back to having nothing, in just a few months time.

The only saving grace was he still had performing contracts for the Rameses magic act. So off he went again. First stop was in Egypt! He had mixed results in Cairo, but apparently was huge in Alexandria. 

He continued to perform into the 1920s, in fact he added the prestigious St. George’s Hall to his

list of performance places. Despite having continual work, it would appear that Albert Marchinsky never recouped all the money he lost. At one point he had an apportunity to perform at The Kursaal, which was sort of an early version of Coney Island in the UK, built before Coney Island in the US. it was a step down, as the attractions were presented more like side-shows. You were responsible for drawing your own crowds, etc. In the midst of working on this, Rameses met a man named Nathan Fogel, whose son Maurice, was interested in magic. Nathan invested 35 lbs into the Kursaal venture so his son could work as an assistant to Rameses. This was a young Maurice Fogel who would go on to become a top flight mentalist. He is covered on episode 94 of this podcast. 

Fogel acted now as chief assistant to a much smaller Rameses show. As time went on, Albert’s health declined. There were times when Maurice was forced to don the Rameses make-up and costume and put on the show. It was a hard/fast eduction for Fogel but he learned fast and kept the show running. At one point, Rameses was too sick to go on and went to Victoria Hospital. He died, July 31, 1930 following a surgery for colon cancer. He is buried in the Edmonton Federation of Synagogues Cemetery in Greater London.

(Complete transcript of Episode  101)

Good Bye To Another Las Vegas Icon

 

Yes, another icon of Las Vegas is going, this time it's a hotel/casino, The Mirage. Built by Vegas Mega Developer Steve Wynn back in the 90s, it was one of the 'new' hotels that helped to remake the face of Las Vegas. The hotel took two years to build and at the time was the most expensive hotel ever to be built, at a whopping $630 million dollars. It was the first of Las Vegas's Megaresorts. 

Along with the hotel, Steve Wynn hired Siegfried and Roy to be their in-house show.  A theater was built specifically for them and for 14 years they reigned supreme with their act of magic and wild animals. In November of 1996, at a cost of $15 million dollars, the casino opened The Secret Garden of Siegfried and Roy. This was an animal habitat featuring white tigers, bengal tigers, lions, a snow leopard, a panther, and an elephant. Later a dolphin habitat was added to the attraction. The habitat received 500,000 visitors per year.

In recent years, a new magic star would be featured in the casino, the wonderful card magician Shin Lim. He is there now, and I assume he'll be there right up until July when the property closes mid-month. Shin Lim was winner of America's Got Talent as well as America's Got Talent Champions and other awards. His show of close-up magic has also featured mentalist Colin Cloud. 

The Mirage is owned by the Hard Rock Casino and will be torn down to make way for a new property, which expects to open some time in 2027. 

By all accounts, Las Vegas has shifted from a Grand Show town with Gambling to a Sports town. 

Houdini Wore A Lot of Hats

 

The term, 'wearing a lot of hats' often refers to someone who has lots of different jobs or skills that they can do. But in this case, I am referring to actual HATS. Recently, I had a contest on my podcast. The question was to name the HAT that Houdini wears or holds the most often in photos. At the time, it seemed like I had the right one. Going through it again, there might have been a different winner. But suffice to say, I'll list a few of them below along with my original choice for winner of the contest. 

I suppose you'd expect Houdini, given that he was a magician, would always wear a top hat. Not really. The photo here is Houdini's top hat, owned today by his relative John Hinson. The photo at the top of the page are the only photos of Harry wearing the top hat, along with his brother Dash. Clearly a photoshoot. Not sure if he ever wore the hat in every day life. They appear slightly different to me. The lower one has a more tapered side, the top photo with Hardeen, the side is straight. And not 100% sure if the hat owned by John Hinson is the same one in the upper most photo. 

Next have have The Flat Cap. Very popular in the 1920s. Also popular today thanks to the show Peaky Blinders. Not a lot of photos of Houdini wearing this one, but clearly one of his casual hats. 

Young Houdini wearing a bowler or derby hat. This was the only one of these I could find. There might be one or two more. Again, it's a formal photoshoot, this time with Bess. Harry dressed up, looking sophisticated with his hat and walking cane. There is a separate photo of Bess which I didn't include. But I don't recall seeing any pics of them standing together, so I am going to assume there are more lost images of Houdini out there, from this photo session alone!

Houdini wearing his fedora or trilby hat. I am not 100% certain the exact name of this hat. But I think it's generally referred to as a fedora, but I saw it also listed as a trilby hat.  There are a lot of photos of Houdini with this hat. At first, I thought this hat was likely the winner. And honestly, it could be, given that I don't have access to every Houdini photo. But in my searches online and through books, it came in second to the hat below.

This is referred to as The Straw Boater Hat. And Houdini is wearing this in a lot of different pictures. The picture above is from one of his movies. But he wore Straw Hats in real life as can be seen below. In the photo of Houdini with Conan Doyle, Houdini is holding is straw hat and Doyle is wearing one! This by the way was the Answer to my Trivia Question: The Straw Boater Hat. The winner was Phil V of Texas and I really appreciate everyone who participated in the contest. 

The RETURN of SLYDINI

 

Is such a thing even possible? Well, yes apparently. Back in 1978, acclaimed french film maker and magician Christian Fechner, filmed Slydini teaching many of his classic effects. From what I gather, no one had seen this footage but him and it became somewhat questionable that it even existed today. Thanks to the efforts of George Proust and the Musee de la Magie in Paris, you can experience for yourself a Masterclass with Slydini. 

The set comes with some props, it looks like the large safety pins and the scarves for this classic Knot trick. I don't have a complete list of what is covered. There is a video which shows quite a few things. The price is rather high, but I imagine there was an incredible amount of work that went into preparing these videos for viewing. It also looks like, at least on the trailer, there may be additional footage of Slydini throughout his career. I don't know french, but I believe this set it presented on a USB drive, I think. You'll have to consult the add and the site for more information. 

Here is the link to this magnificent new offering. https://museedelamagie.com/souscription-slydini-by-slydini/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3e-CtT3P5VOLAXlkXflEVvn4TrQzN7Q-0i9NzwAqh6fIkru3NTNRKCSsQ_aem_AcFd2UEQ9QzbmzDpSwzti9wlRvRmu2wLZTDI-0RAsPRvcOtjzuOpDdd9NLvCX76RKmCkxQU-W4CevnfAFMaaNPps

Dr Edward Saint The Houdini Archivist & More

 

Let me ask you a question? What happens when someone dies? Beyond the funeral and that sort of thing, I'm thinking more of their legacy? The majority of people are forgotten over time. If they made substantial contributions to society sometimes their story lives on. Sometimes, they’re forgotten and it takes a historian or two to bring their story back to the masses. 

Let’s look at Houdini for a moment. He was a vaudeville performer, early motion picture star, grand escape artist, a pioneer aviator and more. But he wasn’t Charles Lindbergh? Nor was he Charlie Chaplin. Nor was he P.T. Barnum. And more to the point, he wasn’t exactly a magician. He built his career on being mostly an escape artist. He could have and probably should have been forgotten over time. Yes, remembered by the magic community, to some degree, but even then nothing is guaranteed. I do not mean to put Houdini down, in anyway. I just want to emphasis the fact that most people are forgotten a few years after they die. The reasons are many. A new generation of people are born, unfamiliar with that persons exploits. The deceased is no longer in the news.

But we come to Houdini. Thet man remained in the press nearly every day since he died. In fact, Houdini who died on Oct 31st 1926, had an article of his own published in November 1926!

Here is what William Larsen Senior had to say in the pages of Genii Magazine Oct 1936 “Somehow, seeing Mrs. Houdini as often as we do, hearing laymen speak the name HOUDINI so often, and being questioned so frequently about him, we can’t quite realize that Houdini is gone. Surely, ten years should reconcile us to his departure. But, it hasn’t. When he went, magic lost something, an intangible something which it has never regained. Perhaps it was prestige that we lost, or a leader, or…..and idol.”

His wife Bess certainly did some things to keep his memory alive. But there was a point at which even she got tired of it. 

So in walks Dr. Edward Saint. He becomes the Houdini archivist. He begins to amass volumes and volumes of newspaper clippings about Houdini. And strangely, Houdini’s name did remain in the press after he died. A great bit of it due to Saint’s own contributions and submissions. Houdini was no mere magician, no mere showman, no mere entertainer. But Edward Saint must be credited with helping to keep Houdini’s name alive until it became legend. Today, let’s look at the life of this unusual character, Dr Edward Saint.

He was born Charles David Meyers in 1891. 

His show business career began rather early. According to a piece submitted by his father in the very first issue of Genii Magazine Sept 1936, at age 9, Edward Saint produced and managed a company of twenty performers for one spectacular afternoon performance. It began with a parade in the neighborhood and then followed with a show in a barn. The price for admission was a whopping 5 cents per person. The show grossed 70 cents. In other words, there were more people IN the show than there were watching the show. That is unless all the family members were comped, then there would have been more there. The show consisted of clowns, tight rope walking, trapeze performers, juggling, a trained dog and more. Young Edward Saint wore a Chinese costume and performed three of the acts himself. He would continue this sort of back yard magic show concept throughout his youth.

Eventually Saint found his way into the carnival world, specifically the sideshow. Moving into this world also he created a new persona and look. One of his first incarnations was as Sir Edward St. Ra-Diem. You can see how easy it is to go from Sir Edward St.Ra-Diem to simple, Edward Saint. The prefix would change occasionally, Doctor, Professor, etc. whatever worked best at the time. He also changed the entire name. For a time he was Professor Sesrad. A fascinating point was the Prof. Sesrad usually wore a jeweled turban and had an appearance of a mystic. Even more fascinating, Sesrad is Sir Edward Saint Ra-Diem,,,the first letter of each name spells Sesrad.

One of his early acts was playing the part of a dead pan man. He offered money to anyone who could make him laugh, or smile. 

He worked 6 years for the Johnny J Jones show as psychic entertainer/mentalist. He performed this act under the title of Sesrad. He shaved his Van Dyke beard for the act, and wore a turban as I just mentioned. He discovered that he appeared 30 years younger after shaving and it made it slightly more difficult to sell his act. Clearly, he preferred the Van Dyke as he grew it back and wore it the rest of his life. 

In the 1930s Saint could be found in Florida and now he was presenting himself as a ghost hunter. Some sources would claim this is where he met Bess Houdini. That is not exactly correct. It’s likely that in Florida, is where Bess and Saint reconnected and he became her manager and in charge of the Houdini archives.

There is an article by Edward Saint in the September 1979 issue of MUM Magazine, and I’m assuming it appeared in another issue likely around 1938 as well. But the article is about the origins of National magic Day. And it begins with stating “I have the honor of recording the first publicized HOUDINI DAY which was celebrated in the Summer of 1927 in NYC.” Bess Houdini was present there because she gave away a Houdini Trophy to the winner of an underwater contest held at the Miramar Pool in NY. So the two met far earlier than I expected. Also in the article, Saint shows how he pushed the idea of Houdini Day and National magic Day to magic groups all over the country, until now we all recognize the date of Houdini’s Death as National Magic Day. 

There’s an interesting story about Saint working on the Houdini archives. He would gather every bit and mention of Houdini from newspapers, magazines, whatever. And he’d put them in a scrap book. Saint would do that while Mrs. Houdini usually played solitaire. On one particular evening Bess turns to Saint and said, “Edward, why do you keep saving those articles on Harry? He is dead and buried….why not leave him that way and quit digging him up all the time?” (from the Jan 1949 Conjurers Magazine)

Arnold Furst put forth the theory that Bess Houdini and Dr. Saint were secretly married. According to Furst, they acted as any married couple while at home. He certainly was her companion, and she didn't go anywhere without him. No evidence has been found that they were married, no marriage license. There is a mention of Hardeen being upset with Bess, "out in California living in sin".   But, Bess laughed it off saying that Hardeen should know better. 

It's certainly interesting if they were married, but it doesn't really change much of the narrative either way.

Did you know that Edward Saint had his own column in Genii Magazine that started way back in October of 1936? It was called Thru the Monocle. Much of the column featured magic news happening in California and the L.A. area, but it also contained a lot of Houdini stuff. for example listen to this, “colonel harry day, Member of Parliament, just in from England, is visiting Mrs. Houdini at her Hollywood home. Colonel Day was Houdini’s first manager in Europe; arranged for the Scotland Yard “break away” and booked Houdini in England, Germany, and Russia, with engagements running months at a time. Colonel Day, riding the crest of Houdini’s popularity, became himself a tremendous power in European Theatricals. To Quote Colonel Day, “”Houdini and I were so closely connected both in business and friendship, that I feel sure had it not been for the fatal accident which unfortunately resulted in his death, I would still have retained my interest in the Variety Agency for the purpose of carefully managing his interest instead of embarking on a political career when I did.””

Also, in 1936 is maybe the most iconic moment of Saint’s life, certainly his life with Bess Houdini. That would be the 10th and final Houdini Seance. Wow, 10th, if they only knew how many seances have been held since!  The event took place on the roof of the Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel. Saint conducted the seance. Many notables were present for the event and within the inner circle including, Carl Fleming the President of the Pacific Coast Association of Magicians,, Judge Charles Fricke a hard nosed, no nonsense judge of the California High Court and then President of the Southern California Assembly #22 of the Society of American Magicians (SAM) , Len Oliver Gunn was an amateur magician and columnist for Genii Magazine, Hereward Carrington psychic investigator and amateur magician who worked with Houdini during the investigation of Margery the Medium for The Scientific American Magazine and you can learn more about him on Ep 51 of this podcast, William Larsen Sr. editor and publisher of Genii Magazine, Jacob Hyman original performing partner of Harry Houdini and friend since boyhood, Floyd Thayer prominent magic dealer, Gerald Kosky National Vice President for the SAM, Earl Rybolt  who was a magician and collector and President of Los Magicos, Harry Mendoza who was a stage magician and columnist for Genii, on a side note Mendoza’s father was a manager for Frederick Eugene Powell. and two none magicians included Reverend Dr. Acorn of the local association of Spiritualist Churches, and Dr Vernon Herbst, phychiatrist and student of the occult sciences. and finally of course Bess Houdini and Dr. Saint. There was a total of 300 invited guests at the event.

Two ornate high backed chairs faced the crowd. The Hollywoodland sign could be seen clearly in the background. A shrine to Houdini with his photo sat between Bess and Saint. On a table were a number of items including the Mirror Cuffs, a Spirit trumpet and various other items. Dr. Saint conducted the Seance. (If you listen to episode 100 of the Magic Detective Podcast you can hear both a portion of the seance, and later the full recording) As you may know, Houdini did not return. But the memory of the 1936 Seance lives on. 

Thayer Magic Studio put out the original recording of the Houdini Seance. it was produced in 3 twelve inch records. According to the ad copy: the Final Houdini Seance just as it was actually presented, from the very beginning to the end. You will hear, in the finest of modern recordings, the clear depiction of the locale o f the seance, the playing of "Pomp and Circumstance" just as it was used by Houdini in his last performances, the introductory remarks of Edward Saint, con- ductor of the Last seance proper and the words o f Houdini's widow.

Next, William Larsen Sr, who was present at the event, put out a publication called The Final Houdini Seance. I believe this is more a magical recreation of the Houdini Seance, rather than anything to do with the actual 1936 event. And finally, in 1975 the Houdini Seance was put out on LP which had commentary from George Boston, a recording of the Seance, and Houdini's voice recordings.

In another Genii column Saint mentions coming across a bunch of letters in the Houdini archives on Payson Ave. NY, these letters were from William Hilliar’s father to Houdini. Saint had gathered them all up to give to Hilliar, when the next morning they heard the news of Bill’s death at his own hand. Saint said, “A Showman knows when an act is finished, it takes nerve to ring down one’s own curtain, but I know Bill Hilliar  was a showman.”

In yet another column he has some very prophetic words, and I do mean VERY prophetic words to the magic community. Quote”Mr and Mrs. Magus should start NOW to prepare for television. Magi in general will get the real break in Fame and Money. It will be magic’s first real come-back since vaudeville passed out. Take Warning. Prepare! Be Ready!”

In the next issue Saint mentions he just completed a 10,000 mile motor trip around the United States. Hollywood, NY, Philadelphia, Baltimore. Savannah, Miami, Florida Keys, Tampa, Mobile, New Orleans, Galveston, Houston, El Paso, Hollywood. The he mentions later that Mrs. Houdini has made California her home, she resided at 1851 Winona Blvd. Hollywood. 

Here’s a piece for my fellow Houdini historians, in the April 1937 issue of Genii page 11, in Dr Edward Saints column, it reads and I quote, “Dr. Jack Hyman, old-time magician, recalling Houdini doing the bullet catch trick in 1893 and 94!!!!! WHOA!

And speaking of surprising, in his next column we have a trick. It’s titled Sesrad’s latest trick. Effect: A borrowed can or walking stick is held horizontally, and a bright colored ball is tossed in the air and caught by the magician. He next places the ball a few inches above the cane and lets go and it appears to hover in mid-air, even a hoop is passed over the floating ball. Finally the ball is given a slap, sending it into the audience for inspection. Interesting.

Augusts 1937 Genii, Dr Saint’s column, records that “at one time Mr. W.H. Donaldson of Billboard Magazine and Harry Houdini contemplated the financing of an American Egyptian Hall on Broadway. 

In the same column, is this gem, “A number of years ago, Sesrad froze a man alive in a 1400 lbs block of ice at Walter Reed hospital in Washington DC, before an estimated crowd of several thousand…………..Sesrad had the time clocked from the time the subject was frozen at the ice plant, miles away, to the time the subject was chopped out under hospital supervision. Time in Ice, two hours and seven seconds.

Every column featured little bits of news, much like many columns from that time period. Example, “Hardeen feature with harry Gourfain’s Jamboree Road Show, 35 people. Not a lot of detail there, but lets you know Hardeen is still working. He also mentions this, “Judge Charles W. Fricke, magician and criminologist lectures interestingly about ‘Magic in Crime vs. Crime in Magic.” now there is a lecture I’d like to hear.

By the way, the 1937 November issue of Genii Magazine features non other than Dr. Edward Saint on the cover!

January 1938, we learn that Houdini had secret marks in two places in each of his more valuable magic books. The marks are still there, according to Saint. But not sure the purpose, other than for Houdini to identify them as HIS of they were borrowed or stolen, I guess.

We also learn that, quote, ‘ a local spiritualistic medium tried to TAKE Mrs. Houdini for 40 grand recently. Part of that story went coast to coast, New York Journal ran a photo. This is Jan 1938 if you want to dig further.

There is a mention of Robert Nelson, who owned the company that sold a ton of mentalism effects and props. He apparently wrote an expose on the Fox Sisters home and how it has been turned into a sideshow at Lily Dale. The article appears in the Nov Linking Ring 1937. Saint says, “the story should be in the files of ever psychic entertainer.;’

February 1938 there is no regular column by Saint. Instead there is an article titled, ‘I CHALLENGE” and it has to do with what he refers to as the humbug of telepathy.  He mentions tests made at college campuses and such and the results showing no proof that the phenomenon is real. He is a bit harsh at time referencing Dr. Rhine at Duke University and others on the proper way to conduct their tests. It’s a fascinating article. Say what you want about Dr Saint, he sure knows his stuff when it comes to this area of magic.

Then in March 1938, he goes back to his regular column, Thru the Monocle by Dr. Edward Saint, however the entire piece seems a continuation of his article the month prior. It is not the standard Monocle column at all.  Then April 1938 we see this,”Answer to Dr. Saint” by Wallace Lee. In his ‘answer’ he goes on to point out mistakes Saint made in his assertions and point out that he believes there is esp/telepathy and it’s been proven. And then in May he writes his final article for the magazine, Magicians on Guard, which further continues his message about no proof of real telepathy and esp. and further debunking of Spirit mediums. 

John Booth shares an interesting story of a visit to Bess Houdini’s home in California. He said, “I was absent-mindedly gazing up at a heroic sized portrait photograph of Houdini, on the wall opposite, when I became aware of other voices in the room. They were coming from an indeterminate source. My friends (that would be Bess and Saint) stopped talking. We listened. It was as thought radio voices had suddenly began to penetrate the air around us. I was frankly puzzled and said so. But I noticed the trace of smiles in the expression of Mrs. Houdini and Mr. Saint. Then, I recognized my own voice. I was chatting with a woman. What? When did this happen? What was the subject? Where was the chatter originating? Then I heard myself making a date with the woman. And she accepted!!! Of course! it was the recording of my telephone conversation with Madame Houdini the previous day. They had discreetly recorded that conversation and many others. Apparently, they were making a collection of records of bess’s conversations with various leading magicians.  They had recorded seven such records by this time. After Bess passed away a short time later, John Booth attempted to get these records but they couldn’t be found. They had been lost forever.

It’s interesting to note that many assumed Bess and Dr. Saint were of the same age. His van dyke beard, his immaculate way of dressing, and the fact he walked with a can, exaggerated his age. He was only 51 when he died. Bess was 67.

The last days of Edward Saint’s life were captured in a memorial piece by William Larsen Sr. He mentions that the day Ed got sick, he was sitting in a chair directing Anna, who was Bess Houdini’s housekeeper, directing her how to iron his turban. An upcoming meeting of the local SAM Assembly was having ‘Oriental Night’ and Ed had something special in store. Apparently, he never turned down an opportunity to perform. He was known to present very original material whenever he shared some magic. Sadly, the day Ed was supposed to attend the meeting, he instead was in the hospital. And ever the trooper, he still brought magic to show the nurses and doctors. Edward Saint, carnival man, Houdini Archivist, showman, companion to Bess Houdini passed away Oct 22, 1942. I just learned there is a bit of conjecture as to how he died. The newspapers of the time say he died from pneumonia, John Cox from WildAboutHoudini, heard from Marie Blood, Houdini's niece, that his death was from tuberculosis. Both are respiratory diseases. Saint also had asthma. Im trying to find the death certificate to verify which one is correct.

In the same piece by William Larsen Sr. he mentions that all of the Saint scrapbooks where he had gathered countless stories about Houdini, were to go to the Library of Congress. On my very first visit to the Library of Congress to see the Houdini scrapbooks, the first scrapbooks brought out to me turned out to be Edward Saint's. I pointed this out to the Librarians, and they inquired how I knew and I showed them where Saint's name was written on nearly every page, plus the dates of the articles were all after 1926. I was just a teenager at the time, I think they were surprised at my knowledge. 

That concludes the story of Dr. Edward Saint.

(this is mostly a transcript of Episode 100 of the Magic Detective podcast. A few additional items were included here that did not make the podcast)