Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear
Teller Jim Steinmeyeramazon.com
Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear
Tim had discovered that Vic liked to eat. One night Tim and I picked him up and drove him to a Japanese steak house on the north side of town, calculating that Vic would have fun, and he might impart a few secrets on a full stomach.
Teller Jim Steinmeyer • Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear
romantic, adventurous autobiography of jean Robert-Houdin, the Parisian magician of the mid-1800s. The Memoirs of Robert-Houdin so influenced him that he took a stage name derived from Robert-Houdin's as an homage.
Teller Jim Steinmeyer • Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear
Harry Kellar observed, "every magician I have met performs some trick much better than anyone else." Maybe it's just like some songs being well suited to certain voices or accents.
Teller Jim Steinmeyer • Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear
The appeal of the Davenports' act, its mix of religion, agnosticism, science, superstition, and fraud, was a magnet for controversy. A number of European audiences, filled with chauvinistic pride, were content to disrupt a performance and congratulate themselves for having exposed the American impostures.
Teller Jim Steinmeyer • Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear
Although it was a great idea, John Nevil and his son Nevil were now faced with an embarrassment of riches. They had made two discoveries-the use of many fine wires that supported the person from above, and the use of a metal gooseneck that supported the person from behind.
Teller Jim Steinmeyer • Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear
Jay Marshall, the man behind the counter at the magic shop, has said for many years, "If you want to keep something a secret, publish it." Once in print, information is often filed, forgotten, or dismissed. Publishing a secret takes away its cachet and causes it to be overlooked.
Teller Jim Steinmeyer • Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear
Had Mr. Dircks's [original] patent agent, in his searches after patents, ever come across the toy invented in Paris? Because it is substantially [the same as] the ghost apparatus and produced that illusion.Pepper never received an answer to these questions, but thedifficulty in obtaining their patent had convinced him that if Dircks didn't know of
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His show was never about such delicate conjuring. Kellar worked hard to bring his audiences the finest magic from around the world. He had paid Charles Morritt handsomely for the secret of silent thought reading and developed the principle into an impressive act with his wife, Eva Medley Kellar. He performed his own version of the Davenport rope ti
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