Alfred Silvester - The Fakir of Oolu

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Kent Blackmore
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Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Sydney Australia
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Alfred Silvester - The Fakir of Oolu

Postby Kent Blackmore » November 22nd, 2022, 4:30 pm

Announcing the first installment of:
Alfred Silvester – The Fakir of Oolu and his Family of Magic

Alfred Silvester (1831-1886) is most famous for his connections to the revolutionary “Pepper’s Ghost” illusion, and for his artistic and technical improvements to the Aerial Suspension illusion which he presented under the guise of “The Fakir of Oolu” in Britain, before moving his family to Australia in 1874.
The Silvester family would go on to include another three magicians, and a dynasty of descendants in the performing arts that continues to this day (fifth generation), and I am excited to be in conversation with those descendants to share their knowledge.
This story is so extensive that it will have to be issued in parts – Chapter One covers Silvester’s photographic career, the Ghost, the Sphinx Illusion, and his tours in Britain and the United States up to 1872. In the following chapter we will examine the story of “The Entranced Lady” illusion.

http://sydneymagic.net/silvester.html

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