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
Germany, he presented his version of the famous Gun Trick. Inspired by the tale of William Tell, Torrini would fire a marked bullet at his son; the bullet would be found lodged in an apple on his son's head. But one evening, through a tragic mistake, the trick failed and Torrini fatally shot his son on stage.He was imprisoned for the killing and ne
... See moreTeller Jim Steinmeyer • Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear
Psycho was much simpler than many suspected. With the aid of a small bellows, air was pushed up through the stage and into the glass cylinder. This affected corresponding bellows concealed inside the wooden chest beneath the figure. George Cooke, concealed backstage, could see Psycho's playing cards.
Teller Jim Steinmeyer • Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear
Mark Schantz, a touring East Coast magician, was probably the originator of the Back Palm. Maurer might have thought Schantz was Mexican because he had a habit of speaking Spanish and manipulating Mexican coins; he liked their size and weight in his hands.Although Thurston didn't originate the Back Palm, he was probably one of the first to perform
... See moreTeller Jim Steinmeyer • Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear
A magician doesn't share this goal. He can't risk having the illusions ignored or accepted as part of a larger context. The effects must be held apart from anything else happening on stage and treated as unique.
Teller Jim Steinmeyer • Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear
His novel presentation focused on the thousand people in the audience who did not step up onstage, calculating that by quietly exposing the trick to a few, he was creating a miracle for everyone else.
Teller Jim Steinmeyer • Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear
Theatre managers loved these spirits because they made any story seem exotic and dangerous. Playwrights relied upon them to electrify any plot, providing shortcuts to the motivation of characters or infusing a scene with urgency. Victorian audiences found the ghosts in their favorite melodramas provided emphatic sensations, supernatural thrills, an
... See moreTeller Jim Steinmeyer • Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear
Some highlights have been hidden or truncated due to export limits.
Teller Jim Steinmeyer • Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear
This book is about how it feels to be a magician-no dainty Robertson Davies concoction, but a man with saw cuts and rope burns on his hands and a fire in his soul for the devious art of putting the impossible on a stage.
Teller Jim Steinmeyer • Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear
seems more logical that "Houdini" was an amalgam of the names of the teacher and his pupil, Torrini and Robert-Houdin.