Hat Trick - Three Goals or One Rabbit

A friend asked me who invented the trick of pulling a rabbit from a hat after the Pixar cartoon post. Though it was probably first performed by Louis Comte in the earliest part of the 19th century, it was certainly perfected and popularized by John Henry Anderson, a.k.a. The Great Wizard of the North.

Anderson (1814–1874) was a Scottish magician and a contemporary of Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin and the Great Herrmann. He's credited with being one of the first magicians to move performance conjuring from the streets into theaters early in his career. He was also one of (if not) the first magicians to publicly expose the Spiritualist movement and the Davenport Brothers as a hoax.

Harry Houdini was born the same year that Anderson died, 1874. In 1909, Houdini made arrangements for the upkeep of Anderson's gravesite in Aberdeen, citing him as a major inspiration.

The Ghost Illusion Automaton

One of the few actual geniuses that I've ever met, Thomas Kuntz is not only an amazing artist and sculptor, he makes incredibly designed and engineered automata in the spirit of Robert-Houdin and other past practitioners of the conjuring arts. Thomas' work is unforgettable and amazing, and I'm very happy to have one or two of the resin figure kits he sculpted in years past. Here's a sample of his work, which features an example of the "Pepper's Ghost" illusion.



To see more of his work, why not visit his website at Thomaskuntz.com?

Spectral Motion Busts Out!

Mike Elizalde of Spectral Motion is a magician as well as a wizard; he's an amateur prestidigitator, but Mike's work as a special effects makeup artist and animatronics designer has been seen in many major motion pictures including Hellboy, Hellboy II: The Golden Army (for which he was nominated for an Academy Award™) Land of the Lost, Men in Black I&II, Lord of Illusions, Species, Bicentennial Man, and many more.
A lifelong fan of magic, Mike's reverence for the classic fathers of the art has led to Spectral Motion's line of Magicians of the Golden Era, a series of limited edition, museum quality bronze busts. Sculpted by Mitch Devane, the busts measure approximately thirteen inches. Currently, Thurston and Kellar are available, with Chung Ling Soo listed for pre-order. Other busts in the works include Houdini and Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin (which was sculpted by Mario Torres).

Click Here For Spectral Motion's Magician Busts

UPDATE!: The busts of Kellar, Thurston, Chung Ling Soo, Houdini and Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin are currently in-stock and ready for shipment, with a bust of Alexander Herrmann in the works. For up-to-date- photos and information, drop an email to orders@spectralmotion.com.

Here's a photo of Mike and his wife Mary on the red carpet at the 81st Annual Academy Awards in 2009.

Photos courtesy Spectral Motion and IMDB.com

Translated From Memory

“It is easy enough, no doubt, to play the conjuror without possessing either dexterity or mental ability. It is only necessary to lay in a stock of apparatus of that kind which of itself works the trick. This is what may be called the “false bottom” school of conjuring. Cleverness at this sort of work is of the same order as that of the musician who produces a tune by turning the handle of a barrel organ.”
-Robert-Houdin

From The Secrets of Conjuring And Magic by Robert-Houdin. The Essential Robert-Houdin reproduces the entire text of this book and almost every other word he ever wrote. The volume is currently out of print and very hard to find.

At the Beginning

Just posting a quick Robert-Houdin poster to get things rolling here. In the future I hope to cover graphics, stories, books, films, and all aspects of vintage magic and the traditions of magic on this blog.
Stay tuned.