London is a fascinating City and our London walks are designed to show you so much more of the streets, places, and buildings where that history was forged.
Our mission statement is quite simply to bring you as much information on London’s history as we can, as we honestly believe that your tour will be greatly enhanced if you know something about the subject covered on the London Walking Tour you choose to take before joining your guide.
That is why our blogs this week have been about the history of magic. Magic features on many of our walks of London. On our London Ghost walk, for example, we have long been startling our audiences with recreations of psychic phenomenon. Our Harry Potter London walks are all about wizardry and mystery. Whilst our Walks in the Historic City of London touch upon several magical happenings from London’s rich history.
But we are about facts and today we wrap up are breathtaking journey through the History of Magic by bringing it right up to date with the likes of David Blaine and Derren Brown. So let’s begin in the 19th century when the foundations of modern magic were laid.
Magic in the 19th Century.
It is the French magician Robert Houdin who is acclaimed as the father of modern conjuring. Born Jean Eugene Robert in 1805, he performed fairground escapes in his youth before settling down to the watchmakers’ trade. Then, at the age of forty, he decided to become a professional conjuror. He combined his surname with his wife’s maiden name and Robert Houdin’s magical career began.
Whereas until then stage magicians had appeared in long flowing robes, he appeared in a simple tail coat. Audiences marvelled at his sensational illusions, such as an orange tree that blossomed and bore fruit while being circled by mechanical butterflies. The incredible levitation of his young son became legendary. His secrets have inspired generations of magicians and still continue to do so. Indeed such was his legacy
A final influential figure of the late 19th century was Angelo Lewis who, in 1875, published the world’s first noteworthy magical textbook. Using the pen name ‘Professor Hoffman’ his was the first publication to instruct readers the all-important how to perform magic rather than to simply detail how tricks were done.
As the 19th turned into the 20th century Chinese Magicians came into vogue. Ching Ling Foo (1854 -1918), a favourite of the Empress of China, arrived in America in the 1890’s where his novel and exotic style caused a sensation. In 1899 he pledged $10,000 to anyone who could exactly duplicate his act. The challenge was accepted by “resting” magician William Ellsworth Robinson (1861-1918) who was turned away on the grounds that he wasn’t Chinese and could not,therefore, duplicate the act exactly. Enraged by this obvious dupe, Robinson retaliated by assuming a Chinese identity, caledd himself Chung Ling Soo and eclipsed Foo in both fame and fortune. He died on 23rd March 1918 when a faulty mechanism, caused his famous bullet catching routine to go tragically wrong, before a live audience at the Empire Theatre, Wood Green, London. Only then did many people realise that he was American rather than Chinese.
Magicians at large, howeve, had discovered the music halls and variety theatres. John Neville Maskelyne and David Devant were astounding their audiences with breathtaking illusions, while the likes of Fred Culpit and American Frank Von Hoven recognized the importance oflaughter and created comedy acts - the latter drawing humour from the fact that his trccks always went wrong.
The most famous 20th-century magician, perhaps even of all time, was born Eric Weiss in Appleton, Wisconsin on 6 April 1874.Having discovered a battered copy of The Memoirs of Robert Houdin in a second-hand bookstore, he was inspired to take up magic. Weiss added an ‘i’ to his idols name (giving it the literal meaning of ‘like Houdin’) and became Harry Houdini. His daring and sensational escapes, coupled with his substantial talent for self-publicity, brought him international fame and considerable fortune. Since his death from peritonitis on Halloween 1926 he has achieved legendary if not mythical status, and his name is known the world over.
With the advent of cinema, magicians and illusionists had to work ever harder at presenting grand illusions. The likes of Howard Thurston and Harry Jansen (known to his audiences as Dante) staged spectacular shows, the latter even co-starring with Laurel and Hardy in A-Haunting We Will Go.
But as the 1950s dawned and television sounded the variety halls’ death knell, stage magic and illusion declined in popularity. Mark Wilson and Doug Henning popularized television magic in America and Canada, while David Nixon, Tommy Cooper and, later, Paul Daniels did likewise on English screens.
Magicians responded by returning to their roots. If the audiences wouldn’t come to them, then they would go to their audiences.
And thus the close-up magic boom was born, Canadian magician Dai Vernon, known as ‘The Professor,’ was instrumental in this revolution. Magicians began appearing at formal dinners, wandering from table to table. They entertained on cruise liners, they graced the booths of multinational corporations at trade shows and continued to appear, as their forbears had done, on street corners and market places.
On television the likes of David Blaine popularised spooky and in your face magic, Whilst the success of Derren Brown gave the public a renewed taste for mind reading and mentalism.
So ends our journey through magical history.
Next week are going to began a most topical series of articles as we take a look at Medicinal London walks and include the people and places that have featured in the history of medicine.
Tags: David Blaine, Derren Brown, Harry Houdini, Harry Potter, london walk, london walking tours, London walks, Robert Houdin
