Charles Morrit

[Joe Mckay]

Charles Morrit is another brilliant creator of illusions who I am only beginning to learn more about. A few years ago - the guys over at the Los Angeles Conference on Magic History put together a recreation of Howard Thurston's "Oh!" illusion.

This is a test conditions vanish of a lady from a chair. It was designed by Charles Morrit and Nevil Maskelyne.

You can read about the illusion here:

http://www.themagicdetective.com/2015/01/another-forgotten-illusion-oh.html

In Mike Caveney's book devoted to the illusions he helped recreate for the L.A. Conference on Magic History, he has a fascinating chapter devoted to the ingenious secret behind this trick. That chapter made me curious to see a performance of the illusion.

Luckily for me - I found a video of Paul Daniels performing this illusion. You can see it below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr2zKCsbkdA

It makes for fascinating viewing particularly for those familiar with the offbeat method.

[Q. Kumber]

Thank you Joe for your post. I had completely forgotten seeing this routine on the PD show - a very baffling illusion, and it had me reading up on it in the Caveney book, one of the chapters I hadn't read.

Coincidentally, last Wednesday, on a visit to Trevor Lewis (he is very well and second dealing expertly in his mid-80's), he gave me some old Linking Ring magazines. Last night I was reading Dan Stapleton's article on Gerald Heaney, and it is from Heaney's estate that Mike Caveney acquired Thurston's chair for Oh!

From my own observations old school illusionists turned their illusions into completely routined performance pieces, while far too many modern illusionists seem to bring out a box, put the girl in, something happens to the box and the girl emerges unscathed, before wheeling out the next box - and all performed at speed.

Joe, I find your posts refreshing as you seem to have an interest in all areas of magic, in complete contrast to most of today's magicians who are obsessed with card tricks.

[Leonard Hevia]

Morritt is also the originator of Houdini's famous Vanishing Elephant that he performed at the Hippodrome in 1918.

[Joe Mckay]

Thanks for the kind words, Quentin. I once spent a couple of years living in Manchester. It is a lovely place.

Jim Steinmyer has a lovely essay about Morritt's vanishing donkey in his book, Art and Artifice. That book is on my "to re-read" pile as well.

I am re-reading Hiding The Elephant at the moment. I never read it properly the first time it came out. I was probably too distracted by learning card tricks using the faro shuffle. But I am really enjoying the book now. My knowledge of magic is now at a point where I can really enjoy learning about this area of magic history. For a long time - magic history and illusions in general was something that completely passed me by.

At the same time - I have been re-reading everything Jim Steinmeyer has written. And it has been a wonderful education. Like everyone else - I was always a big fan of Jim Steinmeyer's work. But going over it all again has really made me appreciate his work on a much deeper level.

He argues that magicians are too quick to shun tricks and methods because they are "out of fashion". I think we have all been guilty of that. Steinmeyer then goes on to point out how silly this attitude is. Most laypeople rarely see any live magic. So no matter what you show them - it will be the first time they will have seen such a trick. And the idea of having fashions for secrets is simply perverse. If the spectator does not know the method involved - then why does it matter if it is the latest and greatest or some hoary old method that magicians got bored of a hundred years ago?

I really love that attitude. If you want to be the hippest guy around - one way is to embrace the things that everyone else long ago dismissed as being out of date.

A trick I want to learn more about now is Television by P.T. Selbit. Steinmeyer wrote about it in an old column in GENII. It is a transposition effect whose method relies on identical twins. What is neat though is that the girl who appears in the other cabinet at the end of the trick - has an arm that was signed by the spectator at the start of the trick. I love that subtlety.

I remember Max Maven saying that the world of magic was incredibly lucky that Dai Vernon chose to dedicate his life to it. And not some other art form instead. This is something I have always felt with Lubor Fiedler as well. With that in mind - I will add Jim Steinmeyer to the list.

The Conjuring Anthology is one of the best books on magic I have read. And Hiding The Elephant is simply superb. I doubt there will ever be a better history of magic written. It is the perfect book for laypeople who want to understand the history of this art form.

[Joe Mckay]

Apologies for misspelling Charles Morritt! I had the correct spelling originally. But the link in my original post threw me off. And rather than doing a quick google search - I just assumed the person writing that blog post had the correct spelling.

I mentioned P.T. Selbit above. He is another creator I am going to research as well. I don't know much about him. But I do know that he came up with the wackiest method (and effect?) in the history of magic.

Behold The Mighty Cheese!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTrgdhq0vTw

[Richard Kaufman]

Selbit was a genius. You should read the book Mike Caveney published.

[Q. Kumber]

An illusionist with a plot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxepM2uSW9g

[performer]

I once spent a couple of years living in Manchester. It is a lovely place.

Bloody hell.................................