Fred Keating

Discuss the historical aspects of magic, including memories, or favorite stories.
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NCMarsh
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Fred Keating

Postby NCMarsh » February 1st, 2007, 8:40 am

I was intrigued by the New York Times reviews of Fred Keating in Roy Benson by Starlight, and his essay about Leipzig is really, really good...

Did Keating publish anything else? Is there other information out there on him? Anyone have stories/reminiscences/what-have-you that you'd like to share?

Best,

N.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Fred Keating

Postby Richard Kaufman » February 1st, 2007, 9:09 am

Max Maven is the big Fred Keating fan.
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Pete Biro
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Re: Fred Keating

Postby Pete Biro » February 1st, 2007, 9:18 am

Somewhere I 'THINK' his vanishing birdcage was published??? Or written about.
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Re: Fred Keating

Postby Pete Biro » February 1st, 2007, 9:18 am

Also... somewhere (famous word around here) I have some sheet music with FRED KEATING stamped on it... musta been his act music.
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Re: Fred Keating

Postby Guest » February 1st, 2007, 9:30 am

right along the lines of Pete's famous "somewhere", I once had one of Houdini's ghosted books that had Fred Keating's stamp in the front. I don't know if I still have it or if I sold it over the years.

If anybody remembers buying one, let me know so I don't go rummaging around for things I don't have anymore! :confused:

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Kevin Connolly
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Re: Fred Keating

Postby Kevin Connolly » February 3rd, 2007, 8:52 am

Keating was assisting Houdini with seance work leading up to the Margery exposure.
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Re: Fred Keating

Postby Guest » February 3rd, 2007, 10:09 am

Unless you buy into the Kalush Houdini book where Keating seems to be less assisting than playing his own hand! :whack:

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Kevin Connolly
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Re: Fred Keating

Postby Kevin Connolly » February 3rd, 2007, 10:14 am

Got this from the Christopher book. All people in the group had to be approved by Houdini.
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Re: Fred Keating

Postby Guest » February 4th, 2007, 8:07 pm

I have a rare pitchbook with Keatings' picture on the blue colored cover that reads at the top...FRED KEATING..World's Greatest Entertainer. Price 50 cents. It's a booklet of eight pages that state that they were prepared by Keating himself. Actually the puzzles and tricks are all the standard ones taught in most beginners magic books. This was put together as a promo for Keating as it has his info and the fact that he "co-worked with Houdini and Thurston" on the inside and outside of the covers.

I also have one of his Vanishing Bird Cages he used. It was made by Al Baker and is of the red ribbon variety. It was obtained from Jack Malon upon Keating's suicide here in New York City.
I sent a photo of this apparatus to Todd Karr a couple of years ago for possible inclusion in an upcoming book.

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Re: Fred Keating

Postby Guest » February 5th, 2007, 3:15 am

I'm not sure, But wasn't the Keating bird cage discussed in Gansons, "MAGIC WITH FAUCET ROSS"?

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Re: Fred Keating

Postby Jim Maloney_dup1 » February 5th, 2007, 6:11 am

It was obtained from Jack Malon upon Keating's suicide here in New York City.
Keating attempted suicide by slashing his wrists in 1948, but was not successful. I believe he actually died of a heart attack 13 years later, in 1961.

-Jim

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Re: Fred Keating

Postby Guest » February 5th, 2007, 6:59 am

No Jim....He DID commit suicide at a NYC hotel. He made several attempts (like at the Madison Square Hotel) to his life but finally did in 1961.

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Re: Fred Keating

Postby Jim Maloney_dup1 » February 5th, 2007, 7:26 am

The obituary that was circulated in a number of newspapers stated that he died of a heart attack in Bellevue Hospital. I haven't seen anything that would indicate otherwise.

What source do you have that gives a COD of suicide? I haven't seen a death certificate, so perhaps that says something different?

-Jim

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Re: Fred Keating

Postby Guest » February 5th, 2007, 12:26 pm

Jim, for the past 35 or so years I've known boyfriends of Keating and plain close friends. His suicide was common knowledge and they often stated that Keating finally did it after 5 or six tries. He lost a lot of money at Scarborough Fare and made other poor investments. He owed Dr Ben Braude money for the dental work he received. I could go on and on about him.

The newspapers commonly state a heart attack when other info is not readily developed or investigated. You see, when we all die, we suffer heart failure. If you want to believe he didn't slash himself....that's ok with me.

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Re: Fred Keating

Postby Jim Maloney_dup1 » February 5th, 2007, 12:30 pm

Doug, I'm not denying what you've stated -- I was just asking how you arrived at that conclusion, since it differed from the (admittedly little) research I'd done. Thanks for filling in the blanks.

-Jim

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Kevin Connolly
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Re: Fred Keating

Postby Kevin Connolly » February 5th, 2007, 4:23 pm

Doug,

Who was the guy that was killed in Grand Cental Station? He was on the same road with Keating.
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