Miracle Mongers and Their Methods: A Complete Exposé of the Modus Operandi of Fire Eaters, Heat Resisters, Poison Eaters, Venomous Reptile Defiers, Sword Swallowers, Human Ostriches, Strong Men, Etc.Houdini, Harry
History
Miracle Mongers and Their Methods: A Complete Exposé of the Modus Operandi of Fire Eaters, Heat Resisters, Poison Eaters, Venomous Reptile Defiers, Sword Swallowers, Human Ostriches, Strong Men, Etc.
Houdini, Harry
Magic tricks -- History; Magicians -- Biography
All this was related to me at the Marlborough-Blenheim, Atlantic City,
in June, 1908, by Kellar himself, and portions of it were repeated in
1917 when Dean Kellar sat by me at the Society of American Magicians'
dinner.
In 1879 there appeared in England a performer who claimed to be the
original Ling Look. He wore his make-up both on and off the stage, and
copied, so far as he could, Ling's style of work. His fame reached
this country and the New York Clipper published, in its Letter Columns,
an article stating that Ling Look was not dead, but was alive and
working in England. His imitator had the nerve to stick to his story
even when confronted by Kellar, but when the latter assured him that he
had personally attended the burial of Ling, in Hong Kong, he broke down
and confessed that he was a younger brother of the original Ling Look.
Kellar later informed me that the resemblance was so strong that had he
not seen the original Ling Look consigned to the earth, he himself
would have been duped into believing that this was the man who had been
with him in Hong Kong.
The Salambos were among the first to use electrical effects in a fire
act, combining these with the natural gas and "human volcano" stunts of
their predecessors, so that they were able to present an extremely
spectacular performance without having recourse to such unpleasant
features as had marred the effect of earlier fire acts. Bueno Core,
too, deserves honorable mention for the cleanness and snap of his act;
and Del Kano should also be named among the cleverer performers.
One of the best known of the modern fire-eaters was Barnello, who was a
good business man as well, and kept steadily employed at a better
salary than the rank and file of his contemporaries. He did a thriving
business in the sale of the various concoctions used in his art, and
published and sold a most complete book of formulas and general
instructions for those interested in the craft. He had, indeed, many
irons in the fire, and he kept them all hot.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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