The Magic Theatre Series: Egyptian Hall

 

Egyptian Hall, in Piccadilly London, did not start out as a magic theater. Originally commissioned by naturalist William Bullock, it opened in 1812. It housed for the first seven years the collection of William Bullock, consisting of 20,000 natural history objects and artifacts. In fact, the Hall was often referred to as The Bullock Museum and also as the London Museum initially.  The items were from North and South America, as well as Africa and the South Seas. Many of the South Sea artifacts were gathered by Captain Cook. In 1819, the collection was auctioned off.  Just prior to that in 1816, the Hall hosted an exhibit of Napoleonic artifacts including a horse drawn carriage that was seized during the battle of Waterloo. The carriage drew large crowds during it's time at Egyptian Hall. Eventually it was purchased by Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. In 1925 the museum burned down, and the carriage was lost forever.

In 1819, after the collection had been auctioned off, Bullock turned the museum into an art gallery and exhibit hall. Over time it would morph into sort of  London's version of Barnum's Museum. The Hall housed human curiosities like a 7 foot man who was so thin he was basically just skin and bone. Another popular attraction was the Siamese Twins who were joined at the waist. Speaking of Barnum, in 1944, six year old Charles Stratton, known professionally as Gen. Tom Thumb was featured at the museum. This was  while Barnum and his curiosities toured throughout Europe.

For a period of time the hall was used by entertainers, mainly magicians. In 1873, no less than Dr. Lynn leased the large hall there. It was here that Buatier Dekolta made his debut at Egyptian Hall.  Lynn and Dekolta shared performing duties in the large hall. By the way, there were two others in Egyptian Hall at the same time, John Nevil Maskelyne and his partner George Cooke. They leased a smaller hall and drawing room. That is until July of 1875 when Dr. Lynn decided to leave. This led to Maskelyne signing a lease for the entire place and turning into England's First Home of Mystery! 

DeKolta continued to perform at Egyptian Hall, this time under the management of Maskelyne. One of the early features at the hall by Maskelyne and Cooke were the presentation of fake spiritualistic phenomenon. Maskelyne a short time before had been successful in exposing The Davenport Brothers as fakes. In fact, this is where Cooke comes into the picture. Maskelyne and Cooke knew each other initially, not because of magic, but because they both played the clarinet. Maskelyne, after having seen the Davenports accidentally saw how the brothers completed their mystery, due to a brief sudden bit of sunlight that shined through a curtained window. This led Maskelyne to create his version of their cabinet trick, using a trunk. In the Maskelyne version, Cooke would place him into the trunk and then close the lid. The trunk was then tipped up on it's edge and several bells and other instruments were placed on top of the trunk. A curtain was drawn and almost immediately the bells could be heard to ring. The curtain opened and no sign of Maskelyne. Once again, the curtain closed, more mysterious ringing sounds and then, to everyone's surprise and astonishment, John Neville was seen sitting atop of the trunk!

In 1893, a young David Devant debuted his special creation The Artist's Dream at Egyptian Hall. This illusion was actually created specifically for Egyptian Hall. Devant had wanted to do a different illusion but it was too large for the stage. Maskelyne told him if he could come up with something else, he would consider having him. Thus, the Artist's Dream was born. 

Maskelyne signed Devant to a three month contract. Devan'ts next creation was in 1895 and it was the Birth of Flora. Soon after, Devant got involved in purchasing a kinetoscope to show Animated Photographs. He tried to convince Maskelyne to put them into his Egyptian Hall, but John Nevil did not initially see the value in them. Eventually he relented and animated photographs began to appear at Egyptian hall. It was the second theater in London to feature them. The first being presented by the Lumiere Brothers at the Empire Theatre. The photo at the top of the article you can see where it says, "Animated Photographs" on a large banner. 

Many great illusions were featured at Egyptian Hall, but probably none greater than the original Maskelyne Levitation. Still one of the most beautiful illusions to ever be created. It gave the appearance of complete weightlessness. No less than Harry Kellar was completely mystified by it. He offered to purchase it from Maskelyne, but John Nevil turned him down. Kellar would watch the illusion from various parts of the theater trying to get clues and glimpses to it's workings. One time he even crawled up on the stage to look underneath during a live performance! But despite Kellar's best efforts, he could not crack the code. So he did the next best thing, he hired Paul Valadon away from Egyptian Hall and offered to have him tour America with Kellar. Together the two would recreate the levitation. However, there is a twist to this story. The original Maskelyne levitation was built into the theatre. It could not be moved. This is likely one of the reasons that he told Kellar no in regards to the purchase. But Kellar and Valadon figured out a way to travel with the illusion, making it portable. It went on to be a feature in the Kellar Show, even being so popular that it's now known as the Kellar Levitation. 

Maskelyne and Cooke remained there until 1904 when the lease ran out and the building was then scheduled for demolition. Of course, that would not be the end of The Home of Mystery, as it would then move to St. George's Hall. More on that, to come.

The Magic Theatre Series: Hofzinser's Salon

 

Johann Nepamok Hofzinser was born in Austria in June 19, 1806. He was an Austrian Civil Servant working in the Finance Department. But he also had a love of conjuring that guided his life. In 1857, he developed the Salon Hofzinser in Austria. The show he prepared was called "An Hour of Deception." 

Salons of this period were places that members of high society would gather and talk about art, literature, politics and more. These tended to be held in the homes of intellectuals in their living rooms. Often they were invitation only. At times they would coincide with art exhibits.

In the case of Hofzinser, his first show was in his own living room, and he later would lease elegant spaces where he would present his show. He had 5 locations over an 11 year period.  He sold tickets to his show at a very high price. The guests would sit in plush chairs to watch his performance. His particular style of magic tended to be smaller, more intimate. Historians often refer to him as 'The Father of all Card Conjurers'. His methods and ideas were years ahead of what others had been doing. On top of this he was an incredible inventor/creator of what we often call platform magic. The effects attributed to Hofzinser are staggering. These include The Magic Table w/Well, the Coin Casket, The Coin Wand, The Mirror Goblet, The Rose Mirror, The Ink to Goldfish, and countless others. In some cases, he improved upon existing effects like the Coffee Vase, and the Passe Passe Bottles.

Seating was limited to 10 to 35 seats. The walls behind Hofzinser's performing area were replete with fine works of art and draperies. Lighting provided by candles and gas lamps. He used either one or two small tables during his performances.  Earlier books on Hofzinser made the claims he used three tables, the middle being the classic magician's center table. However, Magic Christian, author of the Non-Plus Ultra books on Hofzinser, has dispelled this rumor by going directly to eye witness testimony via letters and newspaper accounts. People were astonished that in Hofzinser's case he did not use a center table. However, Christian also points out that it was possible that when Hofzinser performed in a theater, he may have used a third table simply to fill out the stage.

By today's standards this would be considered a close-up show. However, Hofzinser's approach was not relegated to card and coin tricks. Don't get me wrong, he had those. In fact, his card plots would remain in the lexicon of card magic forever. But he offered many other effects, routines with borrowed rings, with glasses, bottles, liquids, birds, goldfish, and more. It was a well rounded evening of mystery.

Probably the best modern adaptation of this program would be Steve Cohen's Chamber Magic. Steve counts Hofzinser among his mentors. In his attempt to recreate Hofzinser's style of program, Steve has continued the tradition of simple objects and again, not staying strictly with card routines, he presents a routine with glasses and a tea kettle, as well as one of Hofzinser's Walking Cane mysteries. More on him later in the series.

One additional fact about Hofzinser, besides an accomplished magician, he apparently was a composer of music as well. Below is a video containing one of his musical creations.

The Magic Theatre Series: Robert Houdin in Paris

 

Today I begin an exploration into the rich history of Magic Theaters. They begin in the 1800s and continue to modern times. In fact, this is especially  significant considering how many venues are opening or are open today. Once again, the magic theater concept is hot, maybe more so than ever before.

But to begin we must go back to Paris France and the theatre at the Palais Royale, the theatre of Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin. This is where he presented his show Sorieee Fantastique! This was an evening of magic, filled with everything from sleight of hand demonstrations, incredible automatons, stage illusions, even one of the earliest versions of mind reading. 

The theatre itself was located at No164 Galerie Valois at the Palais Royale. The location was reconfigured to be a theater including a proscenium. The venue sat around 200 people. To attend a performance the ticket prices were expensive, this likely added to the exclusivity of the program and to the fact that this was a tiny venue compared to other live performance venues, Opera Houses, Amphitheaters and the like.

By his own account, the opening performance was a disaster. Nerves got the best of Robert-Houdin. But in no time, the show is going well and he was a Parisian sensation. 

The stage setting made it appear like a drawing room of the time. It was decorated in the Louis XV style with walls painted white with gold trim. Chandeliers hung down from the ceiling as well as other candelabras positioned about the stage to provide light and mood to the setting. 

Robert Houdin in the past has been called The Father of Modern Magic. Modern for the 19th Century for sure. He took magic from the streets and put it into a more formal setting a theater. Also in his case, he built his own venue which allowed him to do things that he might not always been able to do as a traveling performer.

Of course, one of his most famous effects was the Fantastic Blooming Orange Tree. This has been depicted in videos and in movies and recreated by a number of magicians over the years. It was a mechanical tree which was full of green leaves. Then tiny flowers would appear, then these gave way to tiny oranges which grew into larger oranges, some of which were removed and tossed to members of the audience. The the finale, two butterflies were seen to rise from the leaves of the bushes and in between them was a previously borrowed handkerchief. 

The Ethereal Suspension was one of the first stage illusions. This was the precursor to the Broom Suspension. What is often forgotten about this illusion was the bonus balancing effect built into the props. In presentation, there is a bench, and on the bench is mounted a cane. Then his son stands next to the cane with his arm touching the tip of the cane. Then he is lifted and remains suspended in the air when Robert-Houdin lets go. THEN, he removes one set of legs from the bench and despite what looks like an impossible situation, the boy remains perfectly suspended along with the benches. The phenomenon was attributed to the effects of ether, at least that was the presentational slant it was given.

His son played another important part of the show. They presented the Second Sight Routine together. This was an early version of mind reading. 

But those are only three of many many wonderful effects presented. Probably my favorite, is the The Crystal Cashbox, also known as the Crystal Casket. This wonderful mystery started with borrowing 8 coins and placing them inside a crystal vase. In the distance was another crystal vase. The coins would travel from one vase to the other, one by one audibly. Then all the coins were gathered together. A small glass/crystal cashbox was suspended by two ribbons and pushed so it swung back and forth. Upon Robert-Houdin's command, the coins vanished and reappeared audibly and visibly inside the cashbox!

To the left is the actual Crystal Cashbox used by Robert Houdin. Once in the Ken Klosterman collection. I do not know where it is today.

Another favorite from his show would be The Artist's Portfolio. Im not sure why I am so enamored with this, but I am. It involves a large folded artists portfolio. It is displayed and then placed on to stands so it stays upright and open. Robert-Houdin reaches inside and produces a Large Quantity of items all far too big to fit inside there, like pots and pans full of food, a birds cage, ladies fancy hats and more. Then when the audience was sure that he had produced all that could be done, he opted it one more time and produced his niece, a living human being!  It reads so incredibly. I really would like to see it performed. There is a video of it being done, but I think it's possibly more an artists recreation of what it might look like.

One thing I have noticed is that it doesn't appear that Robert-Houdin brought any spectators up on the stage to help him. He did interact with the audience, but never on the stage.  The theatre ran from 1845-1852. I seven year run. Then it moved to another location. Robert Houdin performed the opening performance was done by Robert-Houdin, then it was handed off to another performer, Hamilton, who had purchased the theatre.

The second location at No 8 Boulevard de italiens, remained there until 1924 when the building was eventually torn down. But there was a period when it was leased by George Mellies, the magician and later pioneer movie maker who invented many of the early movie special effects. He transformed the theatre into a movie studio and used camera tricks to accomplish his special tricks that he once did on the stage. For a time, the Robert Houdin with Mellies flourished in Paris. When movies caught his interest, all magic ceased and the theater was repurposed.