[Music]
[Applause]
I am a magic historian so I wonder about
different aspects of magic like for
example what is it about magic that
causes regularly cynical people to
become temporary believers in the
impossible is it that maybe some people
like mystery or perhaps that other
people want to think there’s more to
life than just what they see with their
eyes
the magician comes along and turns
reality upside down and for the briefest
of moments creates a feeling of
wonderment in people or maybe it’s like
PT Barnum said people just love to be
fooled and the 17th and 18th centuries
magicians were not known as magicians
they were actually known as jugglers
because what they did involve manual
dexterity most of these performers
performed outdoors at fairs and
festivals and on streets actually like
Buster’s they performed with cards and
coins cups and balls and eggs and were
often accused of being in a league with
the devil they weren’t but that’s what
they were accused of now in the early
19th century magicians wised up they
moved indoors and to salons and parlors
and theaters they continued to use some
of the smaller objects from before but
gradually began to add larger things the
European magicians like the French
magician Robert who Dan was a clock
maker by trade and actually began to
build what were called automaton these
were mechanical devices like the like
windup toys and some of his things might
have looked like windup toys to the
uninitiated but in the hands of a
skilled magician these things could come
to life in a way that defied their
mechanical nature then we get to the
late 19th century this is the Golden Age
of magic magicians of this time period
were the rock stars of their day the
or not and it was not uncommon for a
magician to walk out to a sold-out
audience even an unknown magician might
walk out to a sold-out audience this is
how popular the art form was to get
people to come back each time every time
they returned to a town or a city they
brought bigger and greater mysteries
which was really exciting and unlike
their predecessors from a hundred years
before these magicians actually embraced
the imagery of the devil and the demon
this is an example right here you can
see the devils and demons in their
posters oddly enough they didn’t include
that in their shows but they had it all
over their posters in their advertising
now around 1899 comes a fellow you may
have heard of the great Harry Houdini
although in 1899 he was not quite so
great he had been struggling for a
number of years trying to make a name
for himself and through this struggle he
basically developed his own unique form
of magic it was a very straightforward
very direct way of performing and he
would start his performances by saying
nothing I do is supernatural everything
is done by a very natural manner and
then he would perceive to fool people
like you wouldn’t believe
one of his most famous mysteries was
called the metamorphosis and this was a
a steamer trunk that Houdini would get
inside they would tie him up they place
him inside this trunk the lid would be
shut and locked and the whole thing
would be roped up and then after small
curtain cabinet would go around this
Houdini’s assistant would step inside
and count to three and on three the
curtain would burst open and Houdini
would walk out free from the trunk but
the assistant was missing and later the
assistant would be found inside the
trunk tied up just as Houdini had been
moments before
Houdini continued to add escapes into
his show as a matter of fact he created
something that is called
the challenge
then this was fascinating he would let
individuals or organizations or
businesses challenge him to escape from
things of their own creation for example
there may be like a local brewery for
example that would say mr. Houdini we
have this giant keg of beer and we want
to put you inside the giant keg of beer
lock it up and see if you can get out
and I know what you’re saying you’re
thinking well they drank his way out but
no no but he did escape and mysteriously
another example might be like a group of
sailors for example Mike challenged
Houdini they’d say mr. Houdini we’d like
to tie you up and we’ll use our best
sailor knots and we’re sure you can’t
get out but he always did now Houdini to
create his brand of magic was stripping
away all of the fancy stuff all the
glitz to create his unique brand but
other magicians of the time were adding
glitz they were adding showgirls and
fancy costumes and beautiful backdrops
and magic boxes galore and you might say
to yourself well in a case like that I
guess Houdini would be the more popular
but actually that wasn’t necessarily the
case you see some people some people
like the theatrical and some people like
the more realistic and magician’s knew
three very important things they knew to
be successful number one you had to be
mystified number two you had to be
entertaining and number three they knew
that PT Barnum was right people love to
be fooled and with that we would like to
mystify and entertain you now with a
little bit of magic if that’s all right
[Applause]
in order to do this though I need to
borrow a dollar bill and I understand
when so many students that might be
tough but I think we have somebody there
we go we had to thank you very much all
right this is your dollar bill I didn’t
give this to you is that correct
okay okay good all right so we begin
this presentation with a federal offense
not the tearing of the bill actually I’m
referring to a very obscure law called
the anti teleportation Act of 1897 which
you may or may not be aware prohibits
all forms of teleportation from now
until I think it’s a hundred years or so
into the future fortunately for me I’ve
been given a waiver I won’t say how but
I’ve been given a waiver so for you if
you could do me a favor if you could
hold on to half the bill all right
that’s your receipt thank you all right
the rest of the bill goes into our newly
discovered Victorian teleportation
contraption all right like so and watch
closely we turn it on and the mystery
begins oh if you can hit if you can hear
that sound
that means the mystery is complete
actually could also mean the mystery is
caught in the gears but but I’m going
with the mystery is complete so I’m
going to go with that and oh actually
this is the element of surprise look at
this or to be more specific this is the
lighting element because the surprise is
over here where once just a moment ago
this lighting elements shine brightly
now in this bulb a familiar object half
a dollar bill half a dollar bill with a
serial number
you have the bill there I’m hoping
hopefully you can see this in the dark
but I’m gonna read the serial number off
to you it the first letter is B is that
correct one four to seven eight four
three four and the last letter is J all
right we want to get that back to you so
let’s go ahead and we’re gonna drop that
in there and there we go let’s go ahead
and give you back your you can take that
there you go your dollar bill and you
are and ladies and gentlemen by the way
this is my assistant Denise on Carnegie
and you just witnessed Thomas Edison’s
favorite mystery
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
you
[Applause]
I am a magic historian so I wonder about
different aspects of magic like for
example what is it about magic that
causes regularly cynical people to
become temporary believers in the
impossible is it that maybe some people
like mystery or perhaps that other
people want to think there’s more to
life than just what they see with their
eyes
the magician comes along and turns
reality upside down and for the briefest
of moments creates a feeling of
wonderment in people or maybe it’s like
PT Barnum said people just love to be
fooled and the 17th and 18th centuries
magicians were not known as magicians
they were actually known as jugglers
because what they did involve manual
dexterity most of these performers
performed outdoors at fairs and
festivals and on streets actually like
Buster’s they performed with cards and
coins cups and balls and eggs and were
often accused of being in a league with
the devil they weren’t but that’s what
they were accused of now in the early
19th century magicians wised up they
moved indoors and to salons and parlors
and theaters they continued to use some
of the smaller objects from before but
gradually began to add larger things the
European magicians like the French
magician Robert who Dan was a clock
maker by trade and actually began to
build what were called automaton these
were mechanical devices like the like
windup toys and some of his things might
have looked like windup toys to the
uninitiated but in the hands of a
skilled magician these things could come
to life in a way that defied their
mechanical nature then we get to the
late 19th century this is the Golden Age
of magic magicians of this time period
were the rock stars of their day the
or not and it was not uncommon for a
magician to walk out to a sold-out
audience even an unknown magician might
walk out to a sold-out audience this is
how popular the art form was to get
people to come back each time every time
they returned to a town or a city they
brought bigger and greater mysteries
which was really exciting and unlike
their predecessors from a hundred years
before these magicians actually embraced
the imagery of the devil and the demon
this is an example right here you can
see the devils and demons in their
posters oddly enough they didn’t include
that in their shows but they had it all
over their posters in their advertising
now around 1899 comes a fellow you may
have heard of the great Harry Houdini
although in 1899 he was not quite so
great he had been struggling for a
number of years trying to make a name
for himself and through this struggle he
basically developed his own unique form
of magic it was a very straightforward
very direct way of performing and he
would start his performances by saying
nothing I do is supernatural everything
is done by a very natural manner and
then he would perceive to fool people
like you wouldn’t believe
one of his most famous mysteries was
called the metamorphosis and this was a
a steamer trunk that Houdini would get
inside they would tie him up they place
him inside this trunk the lid would be
shut and locked and the whole thing
would be roped up and then after small
curtain cabinet would go around this
Houdini’s assistant would step inside
and count to three and on three the
curtain would burst open and Houdini
would walk out free from the trunk but
the assistant was missing and later the
assistant would be found inside the
trunk tied up just as Houdini had been
moments before
Houdini continued to add escapes into
his show as a matter of fact he created
something that is called
the challenge
then this was fascinating he would let
individuals or organizations or
businesses challenge him to escape from
things of their own creation for example
there may be like a local brewery for
example that would say mr. Houdini we
have this giant keg of beer and we want
to put you inside the giant keg of beer
lock it up and see if you can get out
and I know what you’re saying you’re
thinking well they drank his way out but
no no but he did escape and mysteriously
another example might be like a group of
sailors for example Mike challenged
Houdini they’d say mr. Houdini we’d like
to tie you up and we’ll use our best
sailor knots and we’re sure you can’t
get out but he always did now Houdini to
create his brand of magic was stripping
away all of the fancy stuff all the
glitz to create his unique brand but
other magicians of the time were adding
glitz they were adding showgirls and
fancy costumes and beautiful backdrops
and magic boxes galore and you might say
to yourself well in a case like that I
guess Houdini would be the more popular
but actually that wasn’t necessarily the
case you see some people some people
like the theatrical and some people like
the more realistic and magician’s knew
three very important things they knew to
be successful number one you had to be
mystified number two you had to be
entertaining and number three they knew
that PT Barnum was right people love to
be fooled and with that we would like to
mystify and entertain you now with a
little bit of magic if that’s all right
[Applause]
in order to do this though I need to
borrow a dollar bill and I understand
when so many students that might be
tough but I think we have somebody there
we go we had to thank you very much all
right this is your dollar bill I didn’t
give this to you is that correct
okay okay good all right so we begin
this presentation with a federal offense
not the tearing of the bill actually I’m
referring to a very obscure law called
the anti teleportation Act of 1897 which
you may or may not be aware prohibits
all forms of teleportation from now
until I think it’s a hundred years or so
into the future fortunately for me I’ve
been given a waiver I won’t say how but
I’ve been given a waiver so for you if
you could do me a favor if you could
hold on to half the bill all right
that’s your receipt thank you all right
the rest of the bill goes into our newly
discovered Victorian teleportation
contraption all right like so and watch
closely we turn it on and the mystery
begins oh if you can hit if you can hear
that sound
that means the mystery is complete
actually could also mean the mystery is
caught in the gears but but I’m going
with the mystery is complete so I’m
going to go with that and oh actually
this is the element of surprise look at
this or to be more specific this is the
lighting element because the surprise is
over here where once just a moment ago
this lighting elements shine brightly
now in this bulb a familiar object half
a dollar bill half a dollar bill with a
serial number
you have the bill there I’m hoping
hopefully you can see this in the dark
but I’m gonna read the serial number off
to you it the first letter is B is that
correct one four to seven eight four
three four and the last letter is J all
right we want to get that back to you so
let’s go ahead and we’re gonna drop that
in there and there we go let’s go ahead
and give you back your you can take that
there you go your dollar bill and you
are and ladies and gentlemen by the way
this is my assistant Denise on Carnegie
and you just witnessed Thomas Edison’s
favorite mystery
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
you
Please follow and like us: