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Writing > Journalism > This & That Magic Column
PUBLICATION: This & That Magic Column
DATE: July 20, 2002
SECTION: Magic in the Media
 Gertrude the guinea pig got more publicity in one week than most magicians do in a year.
The sly little rodent, which was part of the late Harry Albacker’s magic show, somehow escaped after Harry’s performance at the 1987 Columbus County Fair in Whiteville, North Carolina.
Both the Whiteville News Reporter and The Pittsburgh Press ran stories about the hairy Houdini and how the animal was finally recovered.
Although the story might have been a cleverly contrived publicity stunt (on Harry’s part, not the guinea pig’s), it was fun to read, and it put magic in the spotlight once again.
Since childhood, I’ve saved at least 100 magic-related newspaper clippings like the one about Gertrude. I no longer collect the stories, but I do have a few amusing ones in my collection that I’d like to share with you here.
There’s no denying it. I used to be a magic junkie. I saved everything from magicians’ promotional materials to cereal boxes advertising free magic tricks. The obsession was so bad that even a few of my magician friends would tease me about it. Harry Albacker referred to me as “Pittsburgh’s Magic Historian”; and Richard Busch used to joke about the “Interval Archives.” Despite the absurd fanaticism I had about the craft, some of the stuff makes for amusing column material now, especially the newspaper articles. From a two-year-old escape artist named Annie to a bungling magician who supposedly cut his assistant in half for “real,” some of these stories should keep you entertained for at least the next few minutes.
Some people call her “Sister Houdini.” Others call her the “Singing Nun.” Either way, this godly gal is the “top nun” of magic. Sister Cabrini Bongiovanni, a nun and former music teacher from St. Paul, Minnesota, combines singing, dancing, puppetry, and magic for an inspirational variety act that apparently knocks the saintly socks off of her admiring audience. According to the article I have, her fast-paced program also includes ventriloquism, chalk talks, and guitar playing. At the time the piece was written, the good sister was doing her act full-time, performing up to 34 shows per month.
(Source: Knight-Ridder News Service, “Sister Houdini,” 1982)
What better way to spend an afternoon with a young girl than to tie her up and throw her in a swimming pool? Sound strange? One woman actually did it on a regular basis—to a two-year-old child! According to the article, little Annie Laurie Alexander’s swimming instructor, Crystal Scarborough, tied Annie’s hands and feet “in a style made popular by the Mafia” and allowed her to plunge into a deep body of water to attempt a Houdini-like escape. “The mere thought is enough to frighten grownups out of their wits,” wrote the reporter, who added that Annie “flashes a soggy smile, gurgles a little, wriggles out of the ropes and pops to the surface like a cork.” Scarborough trained Annie to do the stunt to show disabled children that breath control and self-confidence are more important in the water than full use of the arms and legs.
(Source: Unidentified, “Parting Shots,” 1980s)
When Hollywood producers asked sleight-of-hand artist Christopher Hart to give them a hand, he took it literally. The slick magician lent his right hand to star as Thing in the adapted-from-television movie The Addams Family. Consequently, Hart’s agile hand is now famous from its pointer to its palm. According to the article, Hart “spent nearly five agonizing months dangling from mantels, scrambling across avenues and crouching under tables” while shooting the film. Afterward, the footage of his hand was superimposed over the footage with the acting scenes. In the article, Hart joked, “How much of a body has to be in a movie to be nominated for an Oscar?”
(Source: People, “What is this thing called thing?”; 1991)
Some magicians may enjoy riding bikes, but Rick Maisel likes to cycle—in a washing machine! Securely manacled, the magician/escape artist would climb into a large-capacity washing machine, have his assistant add laundry soap, and “ride the sudsy wave,” so to speak while escaping from his bonds. His goal? To escape before the spin cycle, which generates 72 Gs of centrifugal force, kicks in. The article includes a photo of Maisel right after his escape, drenched with water and suds. This guy gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “clean-cut.”
Source: People, “Spin Control,” 1992
Some of the articles in the “Interval Archives” highlight facts about famous magicians that you may not know or remember. Here are six that you may find interesting:
- The Orson Welles estate sued David Copperfield for using 1945 footage of the late Welles during his show. I’m not sure how this turned out
(Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Magic Moment,” 1994)
- Harry Blackstone Jr. took first place as the best celebrity speaker at the 154th annual convention of the International Platform Association. He beat out Dick Cavett, Bob Dole, and actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
(Source: Time, “Visions of Lecture Lucre,” 1985)
- Doug Henning’s wife, Debbie, auditioned for a role in the musical Merlin under her maiden name, Douillard, so Doug wouldn’t know until after she landed the part. She did get it; and, according to the article, the dressing-room door read, “D. Henning, D. Henning.”
(Source: Unidentified, 1983)
- Doug Henning produced a white dove for his new wife, Debbie, during the wedding ceremony at Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa. He also produced flowers from an empty box for each of the 1,500 guests
(Source: Associated Press, “Magic Moment,” 1981)
- Chicago Cubs pinch hitter Mike Lum performed close-up magic professionally in Atlanta and Marietta, Georgia, during a baseball strike. Lum, who earned about $100 for each performance, expressed an interest in performing in Chicago during the strike. “With all the free time, I can really pursue this,” he said.
(Source: Unidentified, 1981)
- Between 1931 and 1946, Walter B. Gibson, one of the most prolific magic authors ever, wrote “The Shadow” under the pseudonym of Maxwell Grant. In all, Gibson created 282 novel-length stories.
(Source: The Bulletin, 1983)
The following are real newspaper headlines that are either humorous, clever, questionable, or all three. Don’t worry. These aren’t the predictable headlines that we’ve all read, such as “Presto Chang-o, magician makes boredom disappear with his tricky business.” These are a bit more inventive:
- “He cuts up his wife: But the magician says he puts her back together—she just gets shorter each time.”
(Source: Blackstone in the Philadelphia Inquirer, 1983)
- “Magician saws girl in half by mistake: Amateur Houdini bungles trick as audience watches in horror!”
(Source: Bernhard Brener in the Weekly World News, 1987)
- “Michael Jackson’s latest obsession—Magic”
(Source: National Enquirer, 1987)
- “It’s magic, straight up”
(Source: Hugh Cosgrove, bartender-magician, in Parade, 1981)
- “With Copperfield, what you don’t see is what you get”
(Source: The Pittsburgh Press, 1987)
- “Doug Henning’s magic makes you wonder”
(Source: Associated Press, 1981)
- “He speaks fluent body language”
(Source: Dan Kamin, mime, in The Gazette, 1994)
- “At the end of her rope”
(Source: Dorothy Dietrich, escape artist, in The Register, Orange County, CA, 1980s)
- “Introducing North Tonawanda’s smallest ‘big’ magician”
(Source: Dana Berent, child magician, in the North Tonawanda Gazette, 1982)
- “Former card wizard draws an ace: A $192,000 grant”
(Source: Persi Diaconis, Los Angeles Times, 1982)
- “Are you cheating, are you cheating, Brother John, Brother John?”
(Source: Brother John Hamman, Post-Dispatch, Missouri, no date)
- “Psychic fails to predict debunking”
(Source: Richard Busch debunks Jason Michaels, in the University of Pittsburgh University Times, 1986)
Thank you for perusing this part of the “Interval Archives.” I have many more newspaper clippings from the 80s and 90s to share with you—articles about famous magicians of the present and past, clippings highlighting magic shows in the theater and on television and advertisements that promote a product using magic as the theme. But I’ll save all of those for another column of This & That.
Tom Interval
July 20, 2002
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