Quick! Name a world famous, historic magic shop! Did you say Tannen’s? Atlas Obscura posted this video featuring the legendary brick and mortar magic store.
So, with our head full of brick and mortar dreams, we are calling it a week. Have a great (and safe) weekend everyone! And in the US it is a three day weekend, so don’t be surprised if you don’t hear from us until Tuesday.
Let’s bring the week to a close with this vintage movie news reel featuring the Piddingtons, the famous post World War II mentalist couple. Although they rose to prominence after the war, Sydney Piddington was a prisoner of war at the infamous Changi prison camp in Singapore. We did do a feature article on the Piddingtons and you can find it here.
Have a great– and safe– weekend everyone!
Let’s continue with World War II ear magicians… here is a brief clip of Jasper Maskelyne, also known to some as the war magician for his (controversial) contributions to the British war effort. Again, perhaps this is another feature waiting to happen.
There is no denying Kalanag was a top magician of the early 20th century… but he was also a favorite of high ranking Nazi party officials. You can read a bit more about him in this old iTricks piece. Perhaps we’ll do a feature article on him soon. Any thoughts or opinions?
A little magic history in today’s Bulletin, starting with a piece from The Scotsman about Walford Brodie, a Victorian magician whose electric chair and psychic surgery actually sparked a riot. That’s Drew McAdam above talking about Brodie in a clip he posted from a TV appearance.
Lonely Planet looks at Harry Houdini’s Hollywood area home from his filmmaking days… you can rent it next time you are in California.
Up for grabs on eBay is an old school magic trick… pretty much designed for coins you barely see anymore. In a variation on an effect you can still easily find today, this set features a Wheat Penny that fits over a Mercury Dime… if you happen to carry around 70 year old coins as a matter of course, need a wicked effect for your next numismatology club meeting or just collect old magic tricks you might want to head over to eBay to check out this Buy It Now feature before it is gone.
Long feared lost but restored by TCM in 2015, Houdini’s The Grim Game (1919) will be screening tonight at the Sierra Madre Playhouse in (where else) Sierra Madre, California. If you are in the area, this is an extremely rare opportunity to see Harry Houdini’s silent adventure film the way it was meant to be seen: on the silver screen.