David Blaine - Mysterious Stranger: A Book of Magic

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From the moment I picked your
book up until I laid it down, I
was convulsed with laughter.
Someday I intend reading it.

Groucho Marx to his friend the author S. J. Perelman

n the 1850s in the North African country of Algeria, a group of Muslim miracle men called the Marabouts were stirring up a revolt among the native tribes, encouraging them to sever their ties to France. The Marabouts accomplished this by doing simple pieces of magic that would whip the local tribesmen into a frenzy, convincing them that they possessed supernatural powers. To preserve order in their colony, the French government didn't send troops to Algeria. They sent a retired magician named Robert-Houdin.

Robert-Houdin traveled around Algeria performing miracles. He produced cannonballs from a hat and money from his fingertips. He made a young native disappear. But he faced his most difficult challenge when he visited a small tribe in the desert. A Marabout sheikh who had heard of his previous feats pulled two guns from his robes and challenged him to a duel. Since Robert-Houdin claimed to be invincible, the Marabout would have the right to the first shot. Thinking on his feet, the French magician postponed the duel until eight o'clock the next morning, claiming that he needed six hours of prayer to refresh his powers.

He didn't pray. He spent two hours preparing for this challenge and then fell asleep. The next morning, he met the Marabout and his entourage in the village square. The street was swarming with Algerians who hoped to see the Frenchman killed. The Marabout produced the guns and loaded them with powder. Then he offered Robert-Houdin a choice of bullets. The magician chose two bullets and, under the watchful eye of his adversary, loaded the guns.

The Frenchman walked fifteen paces from the sheikh and turned to face him without displaying the slightest emotion. The Marabout took careful aim, and pulled the trigger. The pistol fired, and Robert-Houdin smiled. He had caught the bullet between his teeth.

Robert-Houdin then lifted his gun and, instead of pointing it at the frightened Marabout, fired the pistol at one of the buildings on the square. Whitewash flew, and where the bullet had struck, a large patch of blood suddenly appeared and dripped down the masonry.

The Marabout rushed to the wall, dipped his finger in the red substance, and tasted it. It was blood all right. His arms fell to his sides, and his head bowed. The spectators in the square raised their eyes to the heavens and began muttering prayers. Convinced that the French sorcerer had powers far beyond their own, the Algerians lost faith in the Marabouts, and the uprising began to cease.

Over a hundred years later, a Russian magician was performing onstage as part of a circus. His wife, who was wearing a beautiful fur coat, stood next to him. The magician took out a gun and aimed it at his wife. The gun discharged, and her coat disintegrated into pieces. As each piece hit the ground, it turned into a living mink. Hundreds of frightened minks started running all over the stage.

The image that sparked my interest in Houdini and, therefore, magic. The eyes.

In 1937 a magician named Rajah Raboid, whose real name was Ray Boyd, was performing in Maine. He chose a random woman from his audience to come to the stage. When she realized that she was to be sawed in half, she refused. Then Raboid found two willing male volunteers and brought them onstage. He told the audience that he was going to perform the classic Sawing a Woman in Half illusion, but this time he would use one of the male volunteers in place of a woman. Then he hypnotized one of the men. A box was rolled onstage. Two assistants helped lift the hypnotized volunteer into the receptacle. The doors of the box were closed, and Raboid began to saw the box containing the man in half.