Magicians
A Brief History of Magic
Of necessity, any article on the history of magic must be relatively brief. To cover the entire history of magic since the dawn of time would require years of study and research and once completed would take almost as long to write. It would fill several tomes. For the purposes of our site, our aim is to cover a very brief outline of the history of magic within a timeline framework.
There are many references to Magic in the Bible and in ancient manuscripts. The three Wise Men are also referred to as the three Magi. A magician, at the time of Christ, known as Simon Magus was considered to be the Copperfield of his day and even managed to entertain his audiences by flying from one end of a room to the other! Much of modern magic as an art form and profession can trace its roots back to the ancient Egyptians. It can also trace its roots back to the ancient Chinese civilizations. One of the oldest effects in magic is known as The Chinese Linking Rings in which, several solid metal rings link and unlink themselves. Today, many magicians still use this effect. To be fair to modern magicians, they are quite different to their predecessors. Today's magicians consider themselves as Entertainers. Their ancient predecessors were either charlatans, mountebanks, impostors, conmen and thieves. Quite often a combination of all five.
Back to Egyptians. A man known as Dedi entertained, with magical effects, the slaves that built the pyramids. He made chickens and pigeons disappear and reappear. He had the heads of chickens removed and replaced. He is also credited with inventing an effect called " The Cups and Balls" in which a ball placed under one of three cups, appears under another and then another. Finally, it disappears and is replaced by a larger ball. This effect like the Chinese Linking Rings has also withstood the test of time and is still being performed today and can even be seen on television shows and in top showrooms of the world. Magicians were hired by temple constructors to make doors open, apparently by themselves, on the arrival or departure of a person. Quite often a royal personage. These royal persons had no idea how the effect was performed they simply believed that they were responsible for these magical occurrences because of some divine power that they alone possessed. (top)
Magicians also created effects to make stone gods talk or spew flames from their mouths. Magicians during those times were considered as Sorcerers and were quite different from the modern magical Entertainers of today. Ancient Magicians went to great lengths in order to convince their audiences to believe that they possessed supernatural powers. In the Middle Ages, many Palaces and Royal Courts had a resident magician. He was usually a soothsayer and an astrologist as well. Many of them through the use of magical effects gained a reputation of turning base metal into gold. Magic could be found in the travelling road shows and in the London fairs of the 18th century. Drawings dating back to 1721, about Bartholomew Fair and Southwark Fair depict a magician named Fawkes doing a trick with a dove. Fawkes had a successful career running the fairs in England and it is reputed that he made a large fortune, lost it and made another large fortune.
In 1735 an American magician named "Filadelphia" came to Europe. Frederick, the Great, became his benefactor. He and Frederick became so close that some nobles conspired to banish him from the court. Filadelphia decided to leave in splendid magical style. According to records from the time, when he finally left Berlin, his carriage was seen leaving at the same time from the four gates of the city. John Henry Anderson, known as the Wizard of the North, performed before the young Queen Victoria. During his magical career he travelled some 250,000 miles throughout Britain, Europe, Australia and America - a remarkable feat in itself considering that it was well before the era of Transatlantic jets.
In the middle of the XIX century, Charles Mouton opened the doors of the first entertainment theatre where the public paid for tickets to watch magic shows. Prior to that the entertainment theatres were simple rooms opened to the public to have a drink and watch some magic free of charge. Meanwhile in Paris, in 1848, an elegant French magician named Robert Houdin was making history with his Soirées Fantastiques (Fantastic Nights) He later rented a large room in London and charged admission to his shows. Houdin was one of the magical pioneers who used electricity and electro-magnetism in his magic shows. He was also the first to present effects that defied gravity. When he levitated his young son for the first time he wrote that the audience just exploded with amazement and thunderous applause. Known as the Father of Modern Magic, Robert-Houdin died in 1871. During his illustrious career he even assisted the French Government in quelling a rebellion in North Africa by performing an effect using electro- magnetism. A full account of this true story can be found in his 'Memoirs'. (top)
Another famous magician, Dr. Walford Bodie, was equally innovative. Bodie used Laughing Gas which, at the time, was used by Physicians as an anaesthetic. Bodie used the gas on volunteers from the audience to induce uncontrolled laughter, which also provoked the rest of the audience to laugh hysterically. Also in the middle of the XIX century an attraction named "Pepper's Ghost" arrived at London. There were several versions of that effect. However, what is noteworthy is that the public paid to watch the magic show. They entered a small room where there was a stage with a chair; someone from the audience was chosen, went on stage and sat in the chair. The audience watched with bated breath as they saw the volunteer slowly dissolve into thin air and without the usage of any covers or boxes; he was replaced by a gorilla. Equally fascinated they continued to watch as the gorilla slowly dissolved away and the volunteer appeared once more just as surprised as the rest of the audience. A few years later, having read Robert-Houdin's 'Memoirs of Robert Houdin' an Austrian card manipulator named Erik Weiss became so enchanted and amazed by the principles that Houdin stood for, that he changed his persona and became Harry Houdini.
In 1873, an English magician named John Neville Maskelyne with his colleague, Cooke, opened a showroom in Piccadilly, London. The show was so successful that it played uninterrupted until 1903, when the show moved to St. George's Hall, with a new associate David Devant. Devant in his own right later went on to become equally famous and a bronze bust of him holding a set of Multiplying balls is on display at The Magic Circle headquarters in London. The bust is set on a revolving platform and is the centrepiece of the room appropriately called the Devant Room. Digressing for a moment, it is well worth visiting this room and the rest of The Magic Circle in London, England. A unique and magical experience all by itself. Now back to Maskelyne.
Maskelyne's show was the first experience that many young people had of a live show at that time. Although at the turn of the century it was not considered quite etiquette in polite society to take young women to a common music-hall show, Mr. Maskelyne's show was considered as perfectly acceptable and respectable. Those who continued to avoid the music halls missed a lot of good magic shows. Carmo and his lion disappearance inside a cage, Dante with his fountains, Goldin and last but not least, Chung Ling Soo Many of these famous magicians filled showrooms around the world. (top)
The Zig-Zag Girl ( Mismade Girl )
A frequent presence at Maskelyne shows was Robert Harbin, not only an excellent artist in his own right, but also one of this century's greatest creators of magical effects. He invented an effect, very much copied and imitated, called ZIG-ZAG. A young lady assistant was placed in an upright box and it was closed. At this point only her mid-section was visible. He upper torso was moved to one side and her lower body was moved to the other side. At all times the audience could see her mid-section. Once she was 'Zig- Zagged' parts of the box would be opened revealing her upper torso to one side and her legs on the other side. Her mid-section remained in the centre. Sometimes she would extend her hand and wave to the audience. The partially open box would then be closed and the entire door opened and out would step the young woman none the worse for wear. The original prototype of this illusion can be viewed at the Magic Circle in London. (For a look at the actual sawdust Harbin created while building the prototype, you'll have to visit the home of Michael Bailey, where it is securely kept since Harbin first presented the not-yet-complete illusion for Michael's input - SD). Harbin died in 1978, having successfully performed on stage, cabaret and television. Many professional Magicians consider him to be the first Grand Master of Magic.
The Indian Rope Trick
Many stage magicians performed an act called "The Indian Rope Trick". There is much illusion within the world of Illusion. There is, even today, among Magicians and Historians hot debates as to the fact if such an effect ever existed. Marco Pólo brought a story from China about a man who, in the open air, threw a rope into the air which, a young boy climbed until he disappeared. Over the years several professional magicians have visited India offering large sums to anyone who could perform the effect. The effect remains a great topic on controversy. There are those who have claimed to have seen the full Indian version in the open. In this version the Indian magician tosses a rope of about 18 feet in length into the air where it remains suspended. A young boy then climbs the rope and disappears. The magician then climbs the rope armed with a large hatchet and also disappears. Screams are heard and the boy's limbs, covered in blood fall to the ground. An assistant gathers them up and places them in a large basket. The Magician descends and upon reaching the ground opens the basket and the boy is found inside, whole and unharmed. In 1938 the owner of a circus in Britain offered 2000 dollars to anyone who could perform the effect at the famous Lord's cricket ground at St. John's Wood in London. The offer was doubled by "The Magic Circle" but was never claimed. Although several versions were presented on stage, apparently it was never performed in the open air.
'Magic is about the effect, not how it's done'
In this concluding part Peter Lamont expresses his unabashed admiration for Indian magic, though he is certain that the Indian Rope Trick never existed! Read on...
Although India has given the world of magic many great illusions like the Basket Trick, Mango Trick, and so on, it has always been the legendary Rope Trick that has stood out. Now that it has been proved that it never took place, that it was the handiwork of a rather creative pen, where do you think Indian magic stands?
I still think Indian magic is one of my favourite types of magic. As you know, there's not so much of Indian magic left... street magic is the traditional magic. I have seen the basket trick, the mango trick, and jadugars performing various feats. It's similar to a lot of Western magic; quite similar to close-up magic, to street magic, which is not so big in the West either.
Stage magic in India is very much like the stage magic in the West. Indian magicians often dress up in a top hat and evening dress, which is Western clothes, because that is the image of the magician... actually a 19th century image of a magician. So even in the West, magicians dress up in a top hat and evening dress. This is a 19th century image. And magic often uses props that come from the 19th century, and people [magicians] continue to use them because they are magic props. The public, meanwhile, look at these things and think, "what in the world are those things that they have there?" because they don't recognise them. This is because magicians see tricks that become magic.
And what's interesting is that it's actually people who claim to have psychic powers who often pioneer a lot of magic tricks. No one did spoon bending before Uri Geller. Now magicians do spoon bending all the time. It is more interesting because it is more contemporary. It's newer and people, current generations, actually understand the relevance of it much more than sawing a woman in half, for example, as it seems like an old trick.
For me though, Indian magic primarily is the street magicians, and what you see in some of the performances is quite similar to what you would read in Indian magic [history] a few centuries back. The same is true to some extent in the West. The Cups and Balls magic you will find all over the place. The Indian Cups and Balls is slightly different from the European Cups and Balls. But that's been going on for thousands of years. Methods change here and there, but the themes are the same.
Indian magic provides, with or without the Indian Rope Trick, a rather unique form of magic using sleight of hand, misdirection, and performing in extremely difficult conditions; without a table, without a stage, fully surrounded, and with very few props.
I think that a lot of Western performers can learn from watching Indian street magicians performing, because few Western performers have to perform in such difficult conditions.
There are many books that talk about popular contemporary magic emanating from traditional Indian street magic. What are your views on this?
The history of magical invention is really difficult, because lots of people make lots of claims. But most of the people who do work on this are professional historians, and professional historians simply don't have access to information [related to magic]. Sources are all over the place, based on old posters that are very rare, very expensive; old books that are rare and expensive, and so on. And a lot of stuff that's written so far... We don't know how reliable they are.
So it's all sorts of arguments about where things were invented. It's the same with the history of science for that matter... history of inventions. People cannot decide who invented television, telephone, and who invented or discovered a particular scientific principle, and so on, because invention is a very difficult thing to figure. Who had the first idea? There is no way of knowing that. We cannot get into the heads of people who are dead, and so you have to look for some contemporary evidence.
In terms of Indian magic, you mentioned the Indian Basket trick. This has been taken and adapted by Western magicians for a long time. 'The man who sat in the air', as we used to call it [the levitating yogi illusion], which was first reported in early 19th century, was taken by the French magician Robert Houdin and adapted, and is still performed today in Europe and in India too. There are different versions, with modified methods, presentations, but the effect is essentially the same thing; but other people contributed.
Now think like in all good inventions and all good theatre, people borrow ideas all the time. They are always taking, stealing, creating, changing, having stolen from them, and hopefully towards a better and better performance.
By saying the Indian Rope trick never happened, do you think you are disenchanting magic?
No. It's not about disenchanting... I don't think so. There have been versions of the Indian Rope Trick. In India recently, and in other parts of the world, magicians have tried to bring the legend to life. The problem with the Indian Rope Trick is that it is impossible to do. I would love to see a full version of the Rope Trick, where the boy disappears on the top. And I would, as a magician... And if it is real magic, I'll be happy as anybody. Most magicians would love to see real magic.
The Indian Rope Trick [the book] is not about disenchanting; it is about recognising the real wonder in how you can have a global miracle, off the back, of no rope, no performance, just the imagination of some people. And the potential for human imagination is what kept the legend alive.
I think that's a wonderful thing. That's something that is to be rejoiced. It's not like disenchanting. It's not taking the magic away. It's recognising where the real magic is.
Rationalists and debunkers use magic to tell people that magic is not really magic, but just a trick... something anybody can do. How does this link with the performance of magic or the miracle per se?
I think that it's a split between the effect and the method. The effect is what the audience sees, the method is how it is done. Debunking the paranormal is magic in the sense that it uses the methods of magic, but it is not necessarily the same effect. What they are saying is, 'this is just a trick, and those people who do it saying something else, they are wrong.' At times it is a social message, a political message. It's about the message you put out, if that's what you believe.
I don't think it's the same as magic because magic is a piece of theatre. The idea is that you don't believe when you watch it that it's actually real, anymore than when watching a film you believe that John Wayne just actually killed a co-actor; that you suspend your disbelief to enjoy the experience, and as you walk away you know it wasn't real. So magic normally is that piece of theatre, a performance, where you do something that seems impossible. But when you step back from it, you know it's not.
While I think debunking is not about theatre, it's about the real world. It's about saying there are some people over there who claim to be psychic. They say it's real, in the real world, not theatre. We are saying they are wrong. So it's a social-political message to educate rather than entertain; although sometimes it can be very entertaining too.
Many magicians have debunking as a part of their show for a very long time, for different reasons: it pays, can be attraction-oriented, it's controversial, brings more people to your show, and also it is consistent with the message that you want to put out. A debunker believes that psychics are conning people, and that it's their right to say: "Be aware. You might be conned."
I have no problem with debunking. It's not what I do, but it's an interesting way to talk about deception, I think.
How is it that we find many magicians being pioneers in other fields, whether related or not. For example, George Melies in Cinema and Jasper Maskelene in the art of Camouflaging for War. Is there something in this art that equips them to be pioneers in other fields?
Deception is used by everybody, everyday, and there are specific types of deception which require special expertise. What magicians do, which is almost unique in deception, is that they deceive people when the people know they are being deceived. In other forms of deception, the whole point is that you don't know you are being deceived. If you are a conman, if you are lying to your wife, or your school teacher, or it's a military deception, it's always about the person that you are deceiving being unaware that they are being deceived.
In magic, you have to go and deceive people when everyone knows you are deceiving them. I think this forces you to think of other ways of deceiving. And so if you perform and create and develop new types of magic, you are in a very special position to utilise the principles and techniques to other forms of deception. So you see George Melies pioneering special effects in films... he was a magician. And Jasper Maskelene, who was involved in military deception, camouflaging and so on, because they had a general idea of how to deceive people.
And of course in military deception, the enemy may not know that they are being deceived, but they suspect that they might be deceived, which is closer to magic, than something like a con-game, where the mark should be completely unaware of the fact that they are being deceived.
So a magician will have an advantage in that sense. And looking at military deception, if you can deceive people who suspect they might be deceived, then you require maybe another level of mischievous thinking than most people have.
How has magic changed over the years? What is the impact or challenge with respect to constant technological innovations?
Technological innovations have definitely had an impact on the methods used in magic. Magicians continue to evolve better methods for their effects, utilising the advantages offered by improvements in technology. They have been able to perform things that would have been considered impossible.
Ironically, while improvements in technology have provided these fabulous opportunities, they have also diminished the wonder in magic. People know about the latest technologies. This makes the life of a magician difficult.
But then close-up magic remains the most impressive. It is performed right under the nose of the spectator, with simple and ungimmicked everyday props. In this age of technological innovation, it is still the simplest things that make the most impressive impact. For example, a simple coin vanish in the hands of a spectator.
With all the larger-than-life special effects that are a mark of TV and cinema today, where do you see magic headed in the next 25 years? Do you think it will survive the competition?
Yes. There's a marked increase both in quantity and quality of the technological special effects used in television, cinema, and the Internet. Now how can magicians compete with this? By concentrating and focusing on 'live' performances.
Magical performances that are close and in front of live audiences work, and will always work. Again, the genre of close-up magic is growing like never before.
Then there is the way in which magic is presented. The psychic connection seems to have an appeal like no other; performing magic that is seemingly real. While the movie Lord of the Rings offers a fascinating collection of great illusions, people know this is unreal. But when somebody can seemingly do this in real life, right in front of their eyes, it is a different story. Derren Brown in the UK is doing something similar, when he presents what can be construed as real magic, in an interesting way, attributing it to psychology.
It is only the live performance of magic that can compete with the technological special effects. By framing their performance in an interesting way, especially the psychic or psychological angle, magicians can make sure that their shows are always interesting.
Magic cannot die. It has been here forever, and it will be here forever; but in different forms, constantly changing to best suit the needs of the audiences and the technology of the times. David Copperfield has done that, David Blaine is doing that. Magic will always evolve to suit the supply and demand, utilising the available technology. There are limited effects in magic, but there is a constant addition of improvements through new and better methods.
The secret may lie in presenting magic as real. It's more interesting to see something that is seemingly real; not necessarily paranormal, but interesting. If something is known to be unreal, which is how magicians mostly present their magical acts, it might not be as interesting as something that is perceived to be real. The difference lies in whether something is perceived by the audience to be a trick, real magic, psychological effect, psychic phenomenon, pure chance, or an influence. The true impact of magic is made only when people go away wondering how it was done.
And what does magic mean to you?
I think magic first and foremost is about wonder. A friend of mine, Paul Harris, quite a brilliant American magician, has a notion of astonishment, which I think is the best way of looking at magic: That when you are born, your mind is kind of blank. You don't know what's possible, you don't know what's impossible, and the whole world is wonderful. As one grows older, we get more and more fixed about what is possible, and we have boxes that we put everything into. We forget that these boxes are things that we construct. They are not reality, but simply our construction of reality.
What magic does is provide an experience that does not fit into the box. When something happened, even if you might say it's a trick, if it's a really powerful trick and you can't imagine how it could be done, there will be a moment, just a moment, where you can't fit it into your box. After a few seconds, you will put it into your box, saying that it was a magic trick, but at the moment when something disappears, or appears, or changes, at that point you are seeing something, which your experience tells cannot be possible. And the boxes that you have disappear for a moment. At that moment you are closer to reality than at any other point.
That's a real moment of wonder. That's where you say perhaps there is more to the world than what you see. It doesn't have to be a real miracle. It just reminds you in your day-to-day life what you don't get reminded often and often. The way you live your life is just one way. The way you look at the world is just one way. And I think that if people can be reminded that there are more ways to look at the world, then perhaps what you thought was impossible is possible, then it might be a better world.
Magician P. C. Sorcar(Jr.)
Birth and family :
Magician P. C. Sorcar (Junior) is the living legend of Indian Magic. He is "BANGAL-KA-JADU" personified and is what "Magic of India" means today.
He comes from the famous SORCAR family of HINDU-MAGICIANS, and this family of "MAGICIANS" or "WONDER-WORKERS", are popular in this field atleast for EIGHT GENERATIONS. Each generation contributed its share of mysticism through centuries and thus have become a house-hold name and are romantically associated with Indian Folk-tales, Fables Literature and Facts. To an average Indian, SORCAR and MAGIC are synonymous.
It is P.C.SORCAR(Senior), father of P.C.SORCAR(Junior), who popularised their family art of "MAGIC" beyond the boundaries of India elevating the presentations to a more prestigious pedestal of theatrical form of International standard, keeping the Indian traditions as the central motif. He gave a new lease of life to the dying art and thus is recognised as "THE FATHER OF INDIAN MAGIC".
P.C.SORCAR(Junior) elevated the status of magic further more from the position where his father left it, to this futuristic mystery-spectacular-entertainment show for the intellectuals, successfully competing with the other forms of theatrical shows. He has added modern techniques, surrealistic sequences, third dimensional choreography, mixture of rustic, tradition and modern music, classical dance along with the intellectual-illusions created by psychological directions, superb technical and mechanical instruments along with his super showmanship and personality. P.C.SORCAR(Junior) is the professional stage name of PRODIP CHANDRA SORCAR. Prodip is the second son of the late P.C.SORCAR,Senior (Pratul Chandra Sorcar), Padmashree, the Father of Indian Magic and was declared by his father as his successor. Both his elder brother, Prafulla and his younger brother Provas Chandra, have also learnt conjuring from their father. "Ours is a family of magicians . . . and performing magic is our birthright. Even the cat in our house is a magician", says P. C. Sorcar Junior.
But it is in him that the inherited art has borne most fruit, spanning the entire world, and giving fresh life to a once neglected art. P. C. Sorcar's mother is Mrs. Basanti Sorcar, a noted philanthropist , who has been a source of courage and inspiration to her son. Coming from a family with a great respect for education, P.C.Sorcar Junior is a double graduate in both Arts and Science and has an M.Sc degree in Applied Psychology from the University of Calcutta
P.C. Sorcar Junior married Jayashree, daughter of , Sri Aroon Kumar Ghosh and Smt. Nilima Devi on May 22, 1972. Her beauty and talents have since lent wondrous support to P. C. Sorcar Junior's performances. As a costume designer or choreographer, or as the beautiful damsel who levitates, disappears, is cut into halves or stretched, Jayashree is a vital part of both, the magician's life and career.
The Present:
The couple have three daughters, Maneka, Moubani and Mumtaz. "My daughters make my art alive", says Prodip Chandra, the family man, who travels with his daughters whenever he can, on his tours. It is inevitable that the three girls show the charm and talent of their parents. They are completing their education, but the ' magnetic field of magic' in which they have been brought up has made them begin to share the stage with their parents occasionally. At least one of them is destined to become a magician, because as P. C. Sorcar Junior says "The Goddess of Magic, Mahamaya Durga wants at least one lady magician like Queen Bhanumati in our family".
Inheritance Made Alive P.C.Sorcar Junior's development as a magician is a continuation of the tradition that made his father his 'guru' or teacher. He began performing in his teens, when he was still in school, forming a group of his own, and presenting some of his own inventive items. His father was so happy with his development that he announced to the World that his 'magical successor' would be his son Prodip Chandra.
In early 1971, Sorcar Jr. had just finished his M.Sc. final examinations, while his father was away in Japan on a tour. At the end of a show at the City Hall of Shibetsu, wherein P.C.Sorcar had declared that it would be his last performance, but the show would go on even if he were to die, he suffered a massive heart attack, and before breathing his last, expressed the wish that his son Prodip should continue his engagements. His death on January 6, 1971 propelled P.C.Sorcar Junior immediately on to the international stage. The disciple son did not even have the time to indulge his grief. When his father was being cremated in Calcutta, he was on stage for his first show in Sapporro, North Japan.
But all those who doubted whether the son would be able to match his father were silenced by the sheer talent, rich presentation, and flamboyant performance of P.C.Sorcar Junior. Today the master magician has set the highest standards, scaling ever new heights. But his acknowledgment of the tradition represented by his father and other ancestors is ever present. "Even in the way I call myself, I never refer to myself except as P.C.Sorcar Junior, to remind myself and others, that there was a Senior", says the caring son.
