Magic History News/February 2012

There are a number of things to mention that are history related. First is the March 2012 issue Genii Magazine with Howard Thurston on the cover. Ok, it's not exactly Howard Thurston, it's Jonathan Levit portraying Thurston at the L.A. Conference of Magic History. The article "Thurston LIVES" is by Jim Steinmeyer and David Regal and is an interview with Mr. Levit about his role as Thurston. It's excellent.

While on the topic of Genii Magazine, there is a fantastic monthly column by John Gaughan called "The Chamber of Secrets." My one complaint about this column is it always leaves me wanting MORE! And that's a good thing actually. The articles are brief glimpses into magical apparatus from yesteryear and the articles are concise enough to draw in even those who are not usually interested in history. Believe me, they are worth checking out. In the past, he has covered The Hofzinser Rose Mirror, Antonio Diavolo the acrobat automaton created by Robert-Houdin, Joseffy's Rapping Hand and many other amazing curiosities.  Please go to www.geniimagazine.com to check out more and if you aren't a subscriber, now is as good a time as any!

If we move over to the monthly periodical of the Society of American Magicians M-U-M, we find a monthly column called "The Nielsen Gallery" by Tom Ewing which covers a different magic poster from the enormous collection of Norm & Lupe Nielsen. Also, there is a new column coming called "Treasures from the Salon De Magie" by Ken Klosterman. I can't say enough great things about Ken. His collection is beyond compare and he couldn't be a nicer gentleman. I've seen his collection first hand and it was one of the highlights of my magic life! You can find out more about them by going to www.magicsam.com

Next is MAGICOL, the periodical for the Magic Collectors Association. It is pure magic history from cover to cover. Besides a fantastic magazine they also have an excellent website as well at www.magicana.com

Another fabulous periodical on magic history is the Gibeciere by the Conjuring Arts Research Center. These are the same folks behind AskAlexander.com. Thanks Joe for the heads up on this. I can't believe I forgot to include them initially.

Then there is the official magazine of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, The LINKING RING. Editor Sammy Smith does a fantastic job covering the history of magic in his articles. Plus the official website for the IBM has a page devoted to magic history with some additional great articles there. http://www.magician.org/portal/en/news/magic_history

FINALLY, there is Stan Allen's MAGIC Magazine. Every issue has at least one and often more than one article devoted to the history of the art. Mike Caveney's column "Classic Correspondence" contains so much valuable information, I don't know how he crams it all in there! Word is he just wrapped up his second run on the column and hopefully a third series will be coming soon. Just a quick example of previous history articles in MAGIC: Nov2011 An article on Billboard Magazines one time coverage of magic news. Dec 2011 there was a cover article on Johnny Thompson who is really living history! And Feb 2012 has a great article about the life and magic of Kirk Kirkham. To subscribe to MAGIC go to www.magicmagazine.com

OTHER NEWS

If you are wondering where 'The Magic Detective YouTube Show' is, well, it's coming. The debut is getting pushed back to March. I'll be doing what a friend of mine calls 'a soft rollout'. Meaning, the show will grow in content as we move forward but in the beginning I'll be keeping it fairly short.

The first episode is going to feature a video of my friend Steve Baker almost getting killed, FOR REAL, in Venezuela. I'll also share with you some behind the scenes things that Steve told me regarding the escape both before, during and after. It's a shocking piece of video, and yet I hope you enjoy it!

INSIDE BLOG NEWS
I received a very kind email from Jonathan Pendragon regarding the article I wrote about him. Well, Jonathan was nice enough to put a link on his Facebook page and that one article shot up past all the others to take the #1 spot! I was thrilled. Well, as of this week, we have a new #1, the article on HUGO and the Real George Melies has now gone past the Pendragon article. I can say, those two will probably fight it out for some time jockeying back and forth between 1&2. They are both good reads and if you missed them, click on their links.

Houdini Going Postal

The examples of Houdini being less than friendly, keep showing up. I'm not implying that he made a regular thing of it, but it did happen. A couple weeks ago I posted When Houdini Got Arrested. Now a regular reader of my blog has alerted me to another example. This time the year is 1925 and Houdini is summoned into court in NYC. But why?

It turns out that there was a business in the city called 'Francis P. Houdina Company' at 1476 Broadway. The owner Francis Houdina was an electrical engineer and inventor. His mail, and Houdini's mail often got mixed up which is how Harry Houdini found out about them. Houdini assumed that the electrician was trying to capitalize upon the magicians name and fame by using a name which sounded similar.

One hot July evening in 1925, Houdini burst into the offices of the Francis P. Houdina Company and accused them of unlawfully using his name. The newspaper article says 'he tore from a packing case a tag addressed 'HOUDINI', the complaint says'. They demanded he return the tag and he refused and that is when a scuffle broke out and property was damaged, by Harry.

A few days later, George Young, the secretary of the company, presented Harry Houdini with a summons just before he was about to go on the air at WOR Radio in New York. He was being charged with disorderly conduct and destruction of property. Mr. Young had two policemen with him when he served the summons, probably a smart move on his part. Houdini began a heated argument with Mr. Young and Young accused Houdini of disgraceful behavior. Houdini followed with "I would have been killed if I had not used force to get out of the office." 


Following this altercation at WOR Radio, Houdini did go on the air and spoke for fifteen minutes about his on-going fight against spiritualist fakery. 


Houdini did appear in court and the charges were apparently dropped because no one from Francis P. Houdina Company showed up. All of this began because the post office initially mis-delivered mail belonging to Houdina and Houdini, which alerted Harry to the similarity in names. 


*Thanks to Ron for the heads-up on this article!

UPDATE: Just learned that this story is actually false. Please read 'Clearing the name of Houdina' to find out the actual story.

Happy 200th Birthday Charles Dickens

Today is the 200th Birthday of famed writer Charles Dickens. The author of such stories as A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist, and A Christmas Carol, some might not be aware that Mr. Dickens was also an amateur conjurer. Born Feb 7th, 1812 in Portsmouth England, he went on to become the most famous novelist of his era and his fame continues to this very day. A more thorough biography of Dickens and his magic is certainly warranted but it will have to wait for a later date.

Just imagine, had there been no Charles Dickens, today there would be no David Copperfield. David Kotkin borrowed the name of the famous Dicken's character and used it as his stage name.

By the way, I found the picture below online, and swiped it! I fully admit that in this case. The photo is from a flier or poster for a talk by magician Ian Keable of England. Mr. Keable just presented this at the Churchill Room, Goodenough College, Mecklenburgh Square, in London. I'm very intrigued by the poster and I hope that it's a very successful program and maybe one day Ian Keable will present it here in America...because I want to see it!