August 19, 2025 • 21 mins
In Unmasking of Robert-Houdin, Harry Houdini embarks on a provocative journey to challenge the legacy of the man he once idolized, the esteemed magician Robert-Houdin. Initially inspired by Houdins brilliance, Houdini adopted his name, adding an i to pay homage. However, feeling slighted by the Robert-Houdin family, he penned this work as a means to dismantle their revered image. Ironically, Houdinis efforts to discredit his predecessor backfired, leading to unexpected revelations. Join us as we explore the intricate relationship between two of magics greatest figures. - Summary by Cavaet
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Section nine of The Unmasking of Robert Houdin. This is
a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings or in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit liberbox dot org.
Read by Caveat The Unmasking of Robert Houdain by Harry Houdini,
(00:21):
Chapter eight The Suspension Trick. In chapters sixteen and seventeen
of the American edition of his memoirs, Robert Houdain states
that he closed his theater during the months of July, August,
and September eighteen forty seven, and devoted his time to
producing new tricks for the coming season. He chronicles as
(00:41):
the results of these labors the following additions to his
repertoire crystal box, the fantastic portfolio, the trapeze tumbler, the
guard Francaise, the origin of flowers, the crystal balls, the
inexhaustible bottle, the ethereal suspension, et cetera. Had these inventions
really been original with the man who claimed them as
(01:02):
the result of his own brain work and handicraft, three
years would not have sufficed to bring them to perfection
in which they were presented at that time. It is
not always the actual work that makes trick a success,
nor the material from which it is constructed. But it
takes time to plan a new trick, and then after
you have worked out the idea, it takes more time
to make it practical. The same piece of apparatus may
(01:24):
have to be made dozens of times in as many
shapes before it is presentable. Therefore, when Robert who Dan
claims to have invented and built with his own hands
the tricks mentioned in the list given above, it is
time to prove the improbability and and falsity of his statements.
Inventions are a matter of evolution, but as the tricks
which Rebert who Dan presented in his new Repertoire were
(01:46):
not new, he was able to offer them as a
result of three months work to the expert mechanician or
builder of country apparatus, his claim is parcical. The majority
of the tricks mentioned required skilled hands at infinite patients.
If they were in a way that will completely deceive
the public. Particularly is this true of the first suspension apparatus,
(02:06):
such as Robert Houdain must have used. This included a
steel corset or frame for the subject, and both the
corset and the supporting rods had to be strong, invisible
to the audience, and still be perfect in mechanism. Robert Hoddan,
with characteristic ambiguity, does not refer to a complicated mechanism,
but lays stress on his ability to keep his tricks
(02:27):
up to date and in line with popular movements of
the hour. In writing of the suspension tricks, he gives
the impression that but for the sensation created by the
use of ether as an anesthetic, he would never have
thought out the new trick. His own word, as presented
on page three hundred and twelve of the American edition
of his memoirs, are reproduced in this connection. It will
(02:49):
be remembered that in eighteen forty seven, the insensibility produced
by inhaling ether began to be applied to surgical operations.
All the world talked about the mauthous effect of this
and its extraordinary results. In the eyes of the people,
it seemed much akin to magic. Seeing that the surgeons
had invaded my domain, I asked myself if this did
(03:09):
not allow me to make reprisals, I did so by
inventing my ethereal suspension, which I believed was far more
surprising than any result obtained by my surgical brethren. This
trick was much applauded, and I am bound to say
that my arrangements were excellently made. This was the first
time that I tried to direct the surprise of my
spectators by gradually heightening up to the next moment, when
(03:32):
so to speak, it exploded. While Robert hu Dan in
his memoirs, claims to have invented the trick for the
season of eighteen forty seven forty eight, in the illustrated
appendix of the French edition, he states that the first
production of the trick with improvements was in October eighteen
forty nine. The improvement consisted of working the trick with
a stool upon a platform, when previous to this date
(03:55):
he had used only the audinary platform and rod. During
the course of as churches, covering many years during which
I visited national libraries in various countries, the first trace
of the suspension trick was discovered in the writings of
Ian Batchua, who flourished about the thirteenth century. He mentions
two conjurers performed before the court of the Mogul in Delhi.
(04:16):
One of the men assumed the form of a cube
and rose into the air, where he remained suspended. The
other man then took off his shoe, struck it against
the rock, and it also rose and hung in mid
air close to the suspended conjurer or human cube. On
being touched on the neck, the cube descended to the ground,
and the conjurer resumed his natural form. The historical verity
(04:38):
of this tale cannot be determined, and it may be
clasped with a familiar story which crops up periodically, describing
the ball of cord thrown into the air for a
youth to climb into the clouds. Once out of sight,
the youth is said to draw the cord up after him.
Then presently a leg falls from the unseen heights, than another,
followed by an arm, a rib, or two, and so on,
till the entire body is scattered upon the ground, the
(05:01):
head coming last, with the next standing upward at the
command of the magician. The body seems to crawl together,
so run as the tale, and eventually the youth stands
up to be examined by the astonished populace. These stories
beglong in the very first of the Traveler's Tales in
thirteen fifty six, Sir John Mandevil, called by some authorities
the father of English prose, after traveling thirty four years,
(05:24):
published a book detailing some of his marvelous witnessings. Though
many of his stories are absolutely impossible, yet so popular
did his works become that, barring the scriptures, more copies
and manuscripts of the books containing his various magician stories
have been added down to posterity and exist today than
any works of his contemporaries. Still, Mandeville did not mention
(05:46):
this suspension trick, which is sometimes attributed to the Chinese
and sometimes to the Hindus. In Cologne, Germany, I purchased
an encyclopedia published in sixteen eighty four, from which I
reproduced a double page engraving which shows the Chinese magicians
doing the tricks previously accredited in the stories of the
travelers to Hindu conjurers. In Lives of the Conjurers, Thomas
(06:10):
Frost describes the suspension trick as offered about eighteen twenty
eight or eighteen twenty nine at Madras by an old
Brahmin with no better apparatus than a piece of plank
with four legs. This he had formed into a stool,
and upon it in a little brass socket. He placed
a hollow bamboo stick in a perpendicular position. Projecting from
the stick was a kind of crutch covered with a
(06:31):
piece of common hide. These properties he carried with him
in a bag, which were shown to all those who
desired to witness his exhibition. The servants of the household
then held a blanket before him, and when it was withdrawn,
he was discovered poisoned in mid air, about four feet
from the ground, in a sitting posture, with the outer
edge of one hand merely touching the crutch, while the
(06:53):
fingers deliberately counted beads, and the other hand and arm
were held in an upright position. The blanket was again
held up before him, and the spectators caught a gurgling sound,
like that occasion by wind escaping from a bladder or
a tube. When the screen or blanket was again withdrawn,
the conjurer was standing on the ground. The mystery was
supposed to have been solved when a she shall commonly
(07:15):
known as the Brahmin of the Air, exhibited the trick
in eighteen thirty two in Madras. It was observed that
his stool was ornamented with two inlaid stars, and it
was suggested that one of these might conceal a socket
for a steel rod passing through the bamboo, and that
another rod, screwed to the perpendicular one and concealed by
a piece of hide, might be connected with the mechanism
(07:36):
of the same metal passing up the sleeve and down
the back and forming a circular seat. This conjecture probably
was not far from the truth, for while Frost is
by no means the greatest of authorities on magic and magicians,
in this particular instance, I believe that his explanation of
the trick is correct. The next authentic early information I
(07:56):
have gathered regarding suspension concerns that wonderful performer who called
himself ching Lao LaRue. Presumably he was a Chinaman, and
from the programs in my collection, he evidently appeared first
in England in eighteen twenty eight, when he was engaged
perform between scenes of various plays, including Tom and Jerry
at the Coburg. I reproduce on page two hundred and
(08:18):
thirty one, one of Qing Lao l'auro's programs about eighteen
thirty three, or possibly a year earlier, he cut out
some of his singing and introduced the suspension with which
he closed his performance. At this time he gave the
entire program according to his programs. In some places he
excluded the public from the gallery. So I judged that
(08:38):
his suspension was accomplished by means of the iron rod
from the back, which would have been in plain sight
from the gallery. The stage would not permit the suspension
to be worked out of range of the gallery gods.
When Robert Houdin went to London in eighteen forty eight,
he found in the field of magic a clever rival
compass Hermann. A few months later came John Henry Anderson,
(09:00):
the Wizards of the North. Both of these men presented
the suspension trick in precisely the same manner claimed by
Robert Houdan as his original invention of eighteen forty seven.
Neither Anderson nor Herman claimed of having invented the trick,
and it is more likely that the machanician who made
their apparatus for the suspension trick made the one used
by Robert Houdan. Also, Hermann, like Robert Houdan, called the
(09:25):
trick ethereal suspension Anderson gave it the title of Chloryforen Suspension.
As the reproduction of the Anderson lithograph on page two
hundred and thirty four will prove, during precisely the same
period of time, a brilliantly successful German conjurer Alexander was
presenting the same trick in America, where he remained as
(09:47):
a professional entertainer for ten years. In my collection, together
with corroborative handbills and programs, they will be found this
statement from Alexander. The suspension was at first produced by
me in eighteen forty five or forty six, after reading
in an Oriental annual edited by several officers of the
Indian Army the trick of a fakir who made a
(10:09):
companion sit in the air by using a bamboo stick.
Myitrich had no success because the city was too near
the ground, and then made him stand in the air,
and the effect was marvelous. My meeting with Alexander, of
which this correspondence was the result, marked an era in
my search for material for this volume. Having read in
a small book on magic dated eighteen ninety six, then
(10:32):
a man named Heimberger, who had traveled in America as
Alexander and the Conjurer was living in his native town
of Munster in Westphalia, and determined to secure an interview
with him if possible. On March seventeenth, nineteen o three,
while playing in Cologne, I boorded an express train and
arrived in Munster bright and early. From the city directory,
I learned that one Hemberger resided in crump and Tippen sixteen.
(10:56):
Hailing a passing Droshka, I was soon carried to my destiny,
where a bright faced German girl opened the door, and
I should be in without formality, into the presence of
the man to whom I desired to pay my respects.
An old man bent with years, snow white of beard
and gray of hair, came forward slowly to greet me.
Final entity was quite deaf. I raised my voice and
(11:16):
fairly trumpeted my mission, adding that I felt especially honored
to stand in the presence of the only magician who,
up to that date, had ever appeared at the White House,
Washington by request of the President of the United States.
My native land, Alexander had been asked to entertain President
Polk and his guests on several occasions, and the fact
that I knew. This seemed to please the old conjurer
(11:37):
and paved the way to a pleasant and profitable interview.
In a few moments, we were sitting side by side,
and he was adding to my store of information by
relating the most fascinating experiences stories of fellow magicians long
since dead, in tales which would corroborate by his own
collection of bills, programmes, his diary, and his personal correspondence.
(11:57):
He had known Rebert Houdin, Frickle Bosco, Count Perierrelli, John
Henry Anderson Blitz, the original Bamburg of Amsterdam, Compere's Hermann,
and many lesser lights among the old time magicians. Robert
Houddin had told him personally that, being pressed for time,
he had intrusted the writing of his memoirs to a
Parisian journalist. As he warmed up to these reminiscences, he
(12:20):
held me spell down. Had he risen from the grave
to tell of his contemporaries, he could not have riveted
my attention more securely. Here was a man of eighty
four whose memory quickened at the coming of one interested
in his beloved heart, whose eyes brightened with every fresh
detail of long and successful professional life, and who, in
fifty years of retirement, had not only written a book,
(12:41):
but kept in touch with the world of magic, giving
me information which the most exhaustive encyclopedia could not yield.
Answering questions on topics never yet discussed in dusty parchments
and faded scripts, he was like having the history of
magic unrolled before my eager eyes in a living, palpitating
human scroll. It had been my intention to remain but
(13:02):
a few hours in Munster, but the old master held
me as if hypnotized, and the hours fairly drifted past.
Latter after letter, clipping after clipping, token after token, he
spread before my fascinating eyes, and I allowed him to
speak without question or interruption of any sort. Early in
our interview he had remarked that he was beginning to
feel old, that only the impetus of my presence was
(13:23):
responsible of his unusual strength of speech. For over seventy
years he had been collecting books on conjuring and kindred topics,
which was able to read in English, French, Spanish and German.
The dinner hour found a still engrossed in conversation. For
our Hemberger extended the most hospitable and cordial invitation meeting
to join the family circle. But my hunger was purely
(13:45):
mental and the true savor of the meal. What was
the reminiscent chat of her Heimberger, who, from his post
at head of household looked as hale and hearty, as
if he had been found the elixir of life which
so many of his Charlatan predecessors claimed to a scupboard.
In nineteen o four, I played the Old Master's second
visit to his Professions of Pleasure. At meeting me once more,
(14:08):
he added the gift of several rare programmes now in
my collection. When our hands met in a farewell clasp,
he told me he had set all things in order
and was ready for the coming of the grim Reaper.
Soon after that visit, however, I received a card with
the following melancholy message, My dear friend, have not been
very well of late, and have been expecting my last days.
(14:29):
All preparation to be made and death of visitor arrived.
But instead of calling for me, he has taken away
my beloved wife. I am not capable of writing more.
Gout be with you from your old friend, Alexander Heimberger.
Alexander Heinberger, or, as he was billed, Alexander the Conjurer,
was born December fourth, eighteen eighteen. From eighteen forty four
(14:51):
to eighteen fifty four he toured North and South America,
returning to his native country with the intention there following
his calling as a professional entertainer. But his fame had
preceded him, and as his fortune was large, his souvenirs
and tales of traveled many and interesting, he was taken
up by the world of fashion and lionized. This practically
closed his career as a conjurer, for in those days
(15:14):
magicians occupied no such reptial position in the professional world
as they do to day, and to have returned to
his stage work would have closed the doors of aristocracy
to him. He married one of Munster's prettiest girls, who
bore him six children, two sons and four daughters. So
he passed the remainder of his days living modestly but
comfortably on the money he amassed in America, entertained by
(15:35):
a large circle of appreciative friends, and well content to
live thus far from the madding crowd in which the
professional entertainer must move, while the recollections of his public career,
in his meetings with other magicians as well as notable
men in other walks of life were fresh. He wrote
his book Dear Modain Salberger, the Modern Musician, which he
claims with much justice, is rated as one of the
(15:57):
gems of German literature, as well as the best book
ever written by a conjurer, which is built from extracts
from his diary and is on the style of zig
Blitz's book, but is far more diversified and interesting. His
scrap book also told the most romantic tale of visisitudes.
A half page article in the New York Tribune dated
October eighteen forty five showed Alexander arrayed in a Chinese
(16:21):
costume and producing huge bowls of water flowers and various
sorts of heavy articles. This proves conclusively that Ching Ling
Fu was not the first conjurer to offer this Chinese
trick in America, as is generally supposed. Alexander added that
all the old timers would change their programs by introducing
the Chinese tricks, and to verify his statement, readers need
(16:41):
only to see the following files in Astelibrary, New York City,
New York Herald, New York Tribune and New York Evening
Gazette of November sixth, eighteen forty five. Here, Alexander had
arrived in New York almost penniless after a disastrous tour
of other American cities. He tried to hire Niblo's garden,
was informed that the auditorium never opened in winter. Through
(17:04):
the intercession of Missus Niblow, however, he finally secured it
at a rental of twenty dollars per night. He opened
to a small house and for three nights did not
even pay expenses. But the fourth night witness to change
in his fortunes, and for three months he played literally
to standing room. Then, because he had no new tricks
to offer, and his pride forbade his presenting his old
(17:25):
repertoire until receipts grew lighter, he closed his New York season.
While playing in Saratoga, Alexander was approached by the late P. T. Barnum,
who was accompanied by General Tom Thunn. Alexander declined mister
Barnum's offer because he thought to join the Barnum staff
of entertainers would injure his professional rating. Barnum's admission fee
(17:46):
was twenty five cents, while Alexander charged fifty cents and
a dollar. About this time, the fame of Alexander attracted
the attention of no less a personage than S. F. B.
Morse of telegraphic fame, and Alexander had on his program
one trick which mystified Morse, who honestly believed the country
discovered some new law of nature that might be of
service to scientists. Alexander called this trick the Spirit bell,
(18:11):
and worked by one method or another. It was being
used by many magicians. Some employer thread and hook, causing
the clapp to strike by pulling the thread, which runs
through an innocent looking ribbon on which the bell hangs.
Others use an electric magnet. Alexander placed his bell on
top of a fancy case which he could set anywhere,
and the bell would ring at command. The secret was
(18:33):
a small bird trained to jump from one rung of
a tiny ladder to another at a word of command,
with the waving of a stick or wand which the
bird could see from its point of imprisonment. Every time
that it jumped from one rung to another, it would
pull down a step which was so arranged by the
smallest overweight that it would release a catch, which in
turn would throw the hammer against the glass. When the
(18:53):
bird stepped off, the hammer would again come back to
its original position and be ready for the second blow.
This board he brought from a street fortune teller who
had trained it to go up different steps of a
ladder and select envelopes containing various printed fortunes. Alexander enjoyed
personal acquaintance with President Polk, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster Calhoun,
(19:16):
and their fellow statesmen in the United States. Through his
friendship with President Polk, he carried to the West Indies
and Brazil letters so influential that the aristocracies in these
countries opened its doors to him. He was welcomed at
the palace of Don Pedro, and has in his possession
letters from both the king and his consort dated eighteen fifty.
(19:37):
So much for the history of a man who was
brave enough to admit that he developed a suspension trick
from principles laid down by humble Indian fakirs. The crudest
method used for accomplishing the suspension trick consisted of a
steel corset, an iron rod painted to resemble wood, and
a platform. The steel rod was fitted into a special
place in the corset also in the platform. This method
(19:59):
was improved first to make it a self raising suspension,
and then eventually with a steel rod from the back
of the stage, eliminating the use of both rods under
the arms. Spectators and reviewers commented on the rigid, almost
painful carriage of Robert Houddin's son during the performance, which
they laid to the effect of ether, and questionably Robert
Houddan used this crude corset and rod method of working
(20:21):
the trick. The fumes of ether which reached the audience
he emits were caused by pouring a little ether over
hot irons in the wings. But whatever the method employed
by Robert Houddan to secure the effects of suspension etherine,
he was merely introducing a century old trick which other
contemporary magicians were also exhibiting. The name of the real
(20:42):
maker of the apparatus may never be known, but some
claver of machanician supplied Robert Houddan compares Hermann and John
Henry Anderson with precisely the same method of working the
trick at precisely the same time. Robert Houdan alone was
audacious enough to claim the invention as his own. End
(21:02):
of Section nine
Section nine of The Unmasking of Robert Houdin. This is
a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings or in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit liberbox dot org.
Read by Caveat The Unmasking of Robert Houdain by Harry Houdini,
(00:21):
Chapter eight The Suspension Trick. In chapters sixteen and seventeen
of the American edition of his memoirs, Robert Houdain states
that he closed his theater during the months of July, August,
and September eighteen forty seven, and devoted his time to
producing new tricks for the coming season. He chronicles as
(00:41):
the results of these labors the following additions to his
repertoire crystal box, the fantastic portfolio, the trapeze tumbler, the
guard Francaise, the origin of flowers, the crystal balls, the
inexhaustible bottle, the ethereal suspension, et cetera. Had these inventions
really been original with the man who claimed them as
(01:02):
the result of his own brain work and handicraft, three
years would not have sufficed to bring them to perfection
in which they were presented at that time. It is
not always the actual work that makes trick a success,
nor the material from which it is constructed. But it
takes time to plan a new trick, and then after
you have worked out the idea, it takes more time
to make it practical. The same piece of apparatus may
(01:24):
have to be made dozens of times in as many
shapes before it is presentable. Therefore, when Robert who Dan
claims to have invented and built with his own hands
the tricks mentioned in the list given above, it is
time to prove the improbability and and falsity of his statements.
Inventions are a matter of evolution, but as the tricks
which Rebert who Dan presented in his new Repertoire were
(01:46):
not new, he was able to offer them as a
result of three months work to the expert mechanician or
builder of country apparatus, his claim is parcical. The majority
of the tricks mentioned required skilled hands at infinite patients.
If they were in a way that will completely deceive
the public. Particularly is this true of the first suspension apparatus,
(02:06):
such as Robert Houdain must have used. This included a
steel corset or frame for the subject, and both the
corset and the supporting rods had to be strong, invisible
to the audience, and still be perfect in mechanism. Robert Hoddan,
with characteristic ambiguity, does not refer to a complicated mechanism,
but lays stress on his ability to keep his tricks
(02:27):
up to date and in line with popular movements of
the hour. In writing of the suspension tricks, he gives
the impression that but for the sensation created by the
use of ether as an anesthetic, he would never have
thought out the new trick. His own word, as presented
on page three hundred and twelve of the American edition
of his memoirs, are reproduced in this connection. It will
(02:49):
be remembered that in eighteen forty seven, the insensibility produced
by inhaling ether began to be applied to surgical operations.
All the world talked about the mauthous effect of this
and its extraordinary results. In the eyes of the people,
it seemed much akin to magic. Seeing that the surgeons
had invaded my domain, I asked myself if this did
(03:09):
not allow me to make reprisals, I did so by
inventing my ethereal suspension, which I believed was far more
surprising than any result obtained by my surgical brethren. This
trick was much applauded, and I am bound to say
that my arrangements were excellently made. This was the first
time that I tried to direct the surprise of my
spectators by gradually heightening up to the next moment, when
(03:32):
so to speak, it exploded. While Robert hu Dan in
his memoirs, claims to have invented the trick for the
season of eighteen forty seven forty eight, in the illustrated
appendix of the French edition, he states that the first
production of the trick with improvements was in October eighteen
forty nine. The improvement consisted of working the trick with
a stool upon a platform, when previous to this date
(03:55):
he had used only the audinary platform and rod. During
the course of as churches, covering many years during which
I visited national libraries in various countries, the first trace
of the suspension trick was discovered in the writings of
Ian Batchua, who flourished about the thirteenth century. He mentions
two conjurers performed before the court of the Mogul in Delhi.
(04:16):
One of the men assumed the form of a cube
and rose into the air, where he remained suspended. The
other man then took off his shoe, struck it against
the rock, and it also rose and hung in mid
air close to the suspended conjurer or human cube. On
being touched on the neck, the cube descended to the ground,
and the conjurer resumed his natural form. The historical verity
(04:38):
of this tale cannot be determined, and it may be
clasped with a familiar story which crops up periodically, describing
the ball of cord thrown into the air for a
youth to climb into the clouds. Once out of sight,
the youth is said to draw the cord up after him.
Then presently a leg falls from the unseen heights, than another,
followed by an arm, a rib, or two, and so on,
till the entire body is scattered upon the ground, the
(05:01):
head coming last, with the next standing upward at the
command of the magician. The body seems to crawl together,
so run as the tale, and eventually the youth stands
up to be examined by the astonished populace. These stories
beglong in the very first of the Traveler's Tales in
thirteen fifty six, Sir John Mandevil, called by some authorities
the father of English prose, after traveling thirty four years,
(05:24):
published a book detailing some of his marvelous witnessings. Though
many of his stories are absolutely impossible, yet so popular
did his works become that, barring the scriptures, more copies
and manuscripts of the books containing his various magician stories
have been added down to posterity and exist today than
any works of his contemporaries. Still, Mandeville did not mention
(05:46):
this suspension trick, which is sometimes attributed to the Chinese
and sometimes to the Hindus. In Cologne, Germany, I purchased
an encyclopedia published in sixteen eighty four, from which I
reproduced a double page engraving which shows the Chinese magicians
doing the tricks previously accredited in the stories of the
travelers to Hindu conjurers. In Lives of the Conjurers, Thomas
(06:10):
Frost describes the suspension trick as offered about eighteen twenty
eight or eighteen twenty nine at Madras by an old
Brahmin with no better apparatus than a piece of plank
with four legs. This he had formed into a stool,
and upon it in a little brass socket. He placed
a hollow bamboo stick in a perpendicular position. Projecting from
the stick was a kind of crutch covered with a
(06:31):
piece of common hide. These properties he carried with him
in a bag, which were shown to all those who
desired to witness his exhibition. The servants of the household
then held a blanket before him, and when it was withdrawn,
he was discovered poisoned in mid air, about four feet
from the ground, in a sitting posture, with the outer
edge of one hand merely touching the crutch, while the
(06:53):
fingers deliberately counted beads, and the other hand and arm
were held in an upright position. The blanket was again
held up before him, and the spectators caught a gurgling sound,
like that occasion by wind escaping from a bladder or
a tube. When the screen or blanket was again withdrawn,
the conjurer was standing on the ground. The mystery was
supposed to have been solved when a she shall commonly
(07:15):
known as the Brahmin of the Air, exhibited the trick
in eighteen thirty two in Madras. It was observed that
his stool was ornamented with two inlaid stars, and it
was suggested that one of these might conceal a socket
for a steel rod passing through the bamboo, and that
another rod, screwed to the perpendicular one and concealed by
a piece of hide, might be connected with the mechanism
(07:36):
of the same metal passing up the sleeve and down
the back and forming a circular seat. This conjecture probably
was not far from the truth, for while Frost is
by no means the greatest of authorities on magic and magicians,
in this particular instance, I believe that his explanation of
the trick is correct. The next authentic early information I
(07:56):
have gathered regarding suspension concerns that wonderful performer who called
himself ching Lao LaRue. Presumably he was a Chinaman, and
from the programs in my collection, he evidently appeared first
in England in eighteen twenty eight, when he was engaged
perform between scenes of various plays, including Tom and Jerry
at the Coburg. I reproduce on page two hundred and
(08:18):
thirty one, one of Qing Lao l'auro's programs about eighteen
thirty three, or possibly a year earlier, he cut out
some of his singing and introduced the suspension with which
he closed his performance. At this time he gave the
entire program according to his programs. In some places he
excluded the public from the gallery. So I judged that
(08:38):
his suspension was accomplished by means of the iron rod
from the back, which would have been in plain sight
from the gallery. The stage would not permit the suspension
to be worked out of range of the gallery gods.
When Robert Houdin went to London in eighteen forty eight,
he found in the field of magic a clever rival
compass Hermann. A few months later came John Henry Anderson,
(09:00):
the Wizards of the North. Both of these men presented
the suspension trick in precisely the same manner claimed by
Robert Houdan as his original invention of eighteen forty seven.
Neither Anderson nor Herman claimed of having invented the trick,
and it is more likely that the machanician who made
their apparatus for the suspension trick made the one used
by Robert Houdan. Also, Hermann, like Robert Houdan, called the
(09:25):
trick ethereal suspension Anderson gave it the title of Chloryforen Suspension.
As the reproduction of the Anderson lithograph on page two
hundred and thirty four will prove, during precisely the same
period of time, a brilliantly successful German conjurer Alexander was
presenting the same trick in America, where he remained as
(09:47):
a professional entertainer for ten years. In my collection, together
with corroborative handbills and programs, they will be found this
statement from Alexander. The suspension was at first produced by
me in eighteen forty five or forty six, after reading
in an Oriental annual edited by several officers of the
Indian Army the trick of a fakir who made a
(10:09):
companion sit in the air by using a bamboo stick.
Myitrich had no success because the city was too near
the ground, and then made him stand in the air,
and the effect was marvelous. My meeting with Alexander, of
which this correspondence was the result, marked an era in
my search for material for this volume. Having read in
a small book on magic dated eighteen ninety six, then
(10:32):
a man named Heimberger, who had traveled in America as
Alexander and the Conjurer was living in his native town
of Munster in Westphalia, and determined to secure an interview
with him if possible. On March seventeenth, nineteen o three,
while playing in Cologne, I boorded an express train and
arrived in Munster bright and early. From the city directory,
I learned that one Hemberger resided in crump and Tippen sixteen.
(10:56):
Hailing a passing Droshka, I was soon carried to my destiny,
where a bright faced German girl opened the door, and
I should be in without formality, into the presence of
the man to whom I desired to pay my respects.
An old man bent with years, snow white of beard
and gray of hair, came forward slowly to greet me.
Final entity was quite deaf. I raised my voice and
(11:16):
fairly trumpeted my mission, adding that I felt especially honored
to stand in the presence of the only magician who,
up to that date, had ever appeared at the White House,
Washington by request of the President of the United States.
My native land, Alexander had been asked to entertain President
Polk and his guests on several occasions, and the fact
that I knew. This seemed to please the old conjurer
(11:37):
and paved the way to a pleasant and profitable interview.
In a few moments, we were sitting side by side,
and he was adding to my store of information by
relating the most fascinating experiences stories of fellow magicians long
since dead, in tales which would corroborate by his own
collection of bills, programmes, his diary, and his personal correspondence.
(11:57):
He had known Rebert Houdin, Frickle Bosco, Count Perierrelli, John
Henry Anderson Blitz, the original Bamburg of Amsterdam, Compere's Hermann,
and many lesser lights among the old time magicians. Robert
Houddin had told him personally that, being pressed for time,
he had intrusted the writing of his memoirs to a
Parisian journalist. As he warmed up to these reminiscences, he
(12:20):
held me spell down. Had he risen from the grave
to tell of his contemporaries, he could not have riveted
my attention more securely. Here was a man of eighty
four whose memory quickened at the coming of one interested
in his beloved heart, whose eyes brightened with every fresh
detail of long and successful professional life, and who, in
fifty years of retirement, had not only written a book,
(12:41):
but kept in touch with the world of magic, giving
me information which the most exhaustive encyclopedia could not yield.
Answering questions on topics never yet discussed in dusty parchments
and faded scripts, he was like having the history of
magic unrolled before my eager eyes in a living, palpitating
human scroll. It had been my intention to remain but
(13:02):
a few hours in Munster, but the old master held
me as if hypnotized, and the hours fairly drifted past.
Latter after letter, clipping after clipping, token after token, he
spread before my fascinating eyes, and I allowed him to
speak without question or interruption of any sort. Early in
our interview he had remarked that he was beginning to
feel old, that only the impetus of my presence was
(13:23):
responsible of his unusual strength of speech. For over seventy
years he had been collecting books on conjuring and kindred topics,
which was able to read in English, French, Spanish and German.
The dinner hour found a still engrossed in conversation. For
our Hemberger extended the most hospitable and cordial invitation meeting
to join the family circle. But my hunger was purely
(13:45):
mental and the true savor of the meal. What was
the reminiscent chat of her Heimberger, who, from his post
at head of household looked as hale and hearty, as
if he had been found the elixir of life which
so many of his Charlatan predecessors claimed to a scupboard.
In nineteen o four, I played the Old Master's second
visit to his Professions of Pleasure. At meeting me once more,
(14:08):
he added the gift of several rare programmes now in
my collection. When our hands met in a farewell clasp,
he told me he had set all things in order
and was ready for the coming of the grim Reaper.
Soon after that visit, however, I received a card with
the following melancholy message, My dear friend, have not been
very well of late, and have been expecting my last days.
(14:29):
All preparation to be made and death of visitor arrived.
But instead of calling for me, he has taken away
my beloved wife. I am not capable of writing more.
Gout be with you from your old friend, Alexander Heimberger.
Alexander Heinberger, or, as he was billed, Alexander the Conjurer,
was born December fourth, eighteen eighteen. From eighteen forty four
(14:51):
to eighteen fifty four he toured North and South America,
returning to his native country with the intention there following
his calling as a professional entertainer. But his fame had
preceded him, and as his fortune was large, his souvenirs
and tales of traveled many and interesting, he was taken
up by the world of fashion and lionized. This practically
closed his career as a conjurer, for in those days
(15:14):
magicians occupied no such reptial position in the professional world
as they do to day, and to have returned to
his stage work would have closed the doors of aristocracy
to him. He married one of Munster's prettiest girls, who
bore him six children, two sons and four daughters. So
he passed the remainder of his days living modestly but
comfortably on the money he amassed in America, entertained by
(15:35):
a large circle of appreciative friends, and well content to
live thus far from the madding crowd in which the
professional entertainer must move, while the recollections of his public career,
in his meetings with other magicians as well as notable
men in other walks of life were fresh. He wrote
his book Dear Modain Salberger, the Modern Musician, which he
claims with much justice, is rated as one of the
(15:57):
gems of German literature, as well as the best book
ever written by a conjurer, which is built from extracts
from his diary and is on the style of zig
Blitz's book, but is far more diversified and interesting. His
scrap book also told the most romantic tale of visisitudes.
A half page article in the New York Tribune dated
October eighteen forty five showed Alexander arrayed in a Chinese
(16:21):
costume and producing huge bowls of water flowers and various
sorts of heavy articles. This proves conclusively that Ching Ling
Fu was not the first conjurer to offer this Chinese
trick in America, as is generally supposed. Alexander added that
all the old timers would change their programs by introducing
the Chinese tricks, and to verify his statement, readers need
(16:41):
only to see the following files in Astelibrary, New York City,
New York Herald, New York Tribune and New York Evening
Gazette of November sixth, eighteen forty five. Here, Alexander had
arrived in New York almost penniless after a disastrous tour
of other American cities. He tried to hire Niblo's garden,
was informed that the auditorium never opened in winter. Through
(17:04):
the intercession of Missus Niblow, however, he finally secured it
at a rental of twenty dollars per night. He opened
to a small house and for three nights did not
even pay expenses. But the fourth night witness to change
in his fortunes, and for three months he played literally
to standing room. Then, because he had no new tricks
to offer, and his pride forbade his presenting his old
(17:25):
repertoire until receipts grew lighter, he closed his New York season.
While playing in Saratoga, Alexander was approached by the late P. T. Barnum,
who was accompanied by General Tom Thunn. Alexander declined mister
Barnum's offer because he thought to join the Barnum staff
of entertainers would injure his professional rating. Barnum's admission fee
(17:46):
was twenty five cents, while Alexander charged fifty cents and
a dollar. About this time, the fame of Alexander attracted
the attention of no less a personage than S. F. B.
Morse of telegraphic fame, and Alexander had on his program
one trick which mystified Morse, who honestly believed the country
discovered some new law of nature that might be of
service to scientists. Alexander called this trick the Spirit bell,
(18:11):
and worked by one method or another. It was being
used by many magicians. Some employer thread and hook, causing
the clapp to strike by pulling the thread, which runs
through an innocent looking ribbon on which the bell hangs.
Others use an electric magnet. Alexander placed his bell on
top of a fancy case which he could set anywhere,
and the bell would ring at command. The secret was
(18:33):
a small bird trained to jump from one rung of
a tiny ladder to another at a word of command,
with the waving of a stick or wand which the
bird could see from its point of imprisonment. Every time
that it jumped from one rung to another, it would
pull down a step which was so arranged by the
smallest overweight that it would release a catch, which in
turn would throw the hammer against the glass. When the
(18:53):
bird stepped off, the hammer would again come back to
its original position and be ready for the second blow.
This board he brought from a street fortune teller who
had trained it to go up different steps of a
ladder and select envelopes containing various printed fortunes. Alexander enjoyed
personal acquaintance with President Polk, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster Calhoun,
(19:16):
and their fellow statesmen in the United States. Through his
friendship with President Polk, he carried to the West Indies
and Brazil letters so influential that the aristocracies in these
countries opened its doors to him. He was welcomed at
the palace of Don Pedro, and has in his possession
letters from both the king and his consort dated eighteen fifty.
(19:37):
So much for the history of a man who was
brave enough to admit that he developed a suspension trick
from principles laid down by humble Indian fakirs. The crudest
method used for accomplishing the suspension trick consisted of a
steel corset, an iron rod painted to resemble wood, and
a platform. The steel rod was fitted into a special
place in the corset also in the platform. This method
(19:59):
was improved first to make it a self raising suspension,
and then eventually with a steel rod from the back
of the stage, eliminating the use of both rods under
the arms. Spectators and reviewers commented on the rigid, almost
painful carriage of Robert Houddin's son during the performance, which
they laid to the effect of ether, and questionably Robert
Houddan used this crude corset and rod method of working
(20:21):
the trick. The fumes of ether which reached the audience
he emits were caused by pouring a little ether over
hot irons in the wings. But whatever the method employed
by Robert Houddan to secure the effects of suspension etherine,
he was merely introducing a century old trick which other
contemporary magicians were also exhibiting. The name of the real
(20:42):
maker of the apparatus may never be known, but some
claver of machanician supplied Robert Houddan compares Hermann and John
Henry Anderson with precisely the same method of working the
trick at precisely the same time. Robert Houdan alone was
audacious enough to claim the invention as his own. End
(21:02):
of Section nine
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.