Ever since the invention of guns, it seems there have been people who were driven to prove they could catch the bullets ejected from the guns, between their teeth. Even today, in our modern world of TV shows, Deep Fake videos and constant warfare, the idea of trying the trick seems madness. Yet for 450 years, that is exactly what has happened, with Magician and Illusionist, one after another seeking to entertain us with what seems like the most dangerous or tricks.
Category: Theatre Tales
Chung Ling Soo – The Magician Who Became His Own Illusion
For years, Chung Ling Soo couldn’t speak English. Then somebody shot him. Behind the robes, make-up and carefully constructed identity was William Robinson from New York, a magician who turned himself into perhaps his greatest illusion. But in 1918, at the Wood Green Empire, one tiny mechanical failure made something on his stage horribly real.
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The Davenport Brothers – When Magic Met Spiritualism
Two brothers are tied inside a wooden cabinet. The doors close. Bells ring, instruments play and objects move – yet when the cabinet is opened, the brothers are still bound. Spirits, trickery or something in between? Meet the Davenport Brothers, the performers who set Victorian Britain arguing and inadvertently helped launch a new age of stage magic.
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Adelaide Herrmann – The Queen of Magic
She caught bullets, conjured ghosts and commanded spectacular illusions on stages around the world. When her famous husband died, Adelaide Herrmann refused to disappear with him. Meet the London-born performer who stepped out of the magician’s shadow, demanded recognition on her own terms and became the Queen of Magic.
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The Great Lafayette – The Magician Who Died Twice
In 1911, the Great Lafayette died in a catastrophic fire at Edinburgh’s Empire Palace Theatre. His body was recovered, identified and cremated. There was just one problem: three days later, they found Lafayette again. The extraordinary true story of a master illusionist, a mistaken corpse, a beloved dog named Beauty and one final macabre disappearing act.
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His Greatest Trick – Simon Axford
Short Story Sunday presents ‘His Greatest Trick’ by Simon Axford. A celebrated illusionist captivates his audience with a thrilling show leading to a new trick called ‘Into the Abyss.’ However, the performance doesn’t go exactly as planned.
