Notable Illusionists of History [No. 6]

Enjoy this final installment of our award-winning series.


Dell O'Dell aka Nell Odella Newton
(Oct 2, 1897 - Feb 5, 1962)
Birthplace:  Lemonweir, Wisconsin
Profession-changing contribution:  Dell O'Dell was one of the first female stage magicians. She was certainly the first to reach her level of fame. At the height of her career, during the 1940s, she travelled North America in an RV and caravan of various animals, playing as many as 300 shows a year. Her stage show was a crowd-pleasing combination of illusions, animal tricks and comedy.
Fun fact: O'Dell had the first televised magic show, when Los Angeles station KTLA broadcast "The Dell O'Dell Show" in 1951, beating Mark Wilson's TV debut by four years.
Bonus fun fact:  It's alleged that O'Dell could work a nightclub full of horny sailors as easily as she could play to a room full of kids at a children's hospital. Her gift? The woman could swear like a demon, and wasn't afraid to work blue.

Editor's note:  O'Dell's story really is incredible -- one of those "does it all" tales of early 20th century entertainment. The website that bears her name has a two-page, exhaustive (and kind of exhausting, design-wise, but that's a trifle) history of O'Dell's inspiring career. And if you make it to the end of her story, halfway down page two is a great gallery of other women of magic.

Notable Illusionists of History [No. 5]

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Reginald Scot
(c.1538 – 9 Oct 1599)
Birthplace:  England (specific location undocumented)
Profession-changing contribution:  Scot was not a magician or illusionist. An educated man of the upper-class, he published a book The Discoverie of Witchcraft, in 1584, that challenged the belief in witchcraft.
A portion of the text details how some acts of conjuring performed in public were actually illusions using mechanical devices and other simple deceptions. It's now considered the first (unintentional) instruction manual for illusionists.
Scot's accusation that the Roman Catholic church was to blame for the punishment of "witches" and witch-hunt culture in general, did not go over well with authorities. When James I rose to power, copies of the book were burned.
Fun fact:  Scot also wrote the first instructional volume about hops cultivation, Perfect Platform of a Hop-garden.
Bonus fun fact:  The full title of Scot's witchcraft-debunking text is, The Discoverie of Witchcraft, wherein the Lewde dealing of Witches and Witchmongers is notablie detected, in sixteen books … whereunto is added a Treatise upon the Nature and Substance of Spirits and Devils.

Editor's note: We couldn't find a suitable image of the cover of Mr. Scot's book, and there are no portraits of Scot available. However, you can read excerpts from Discoverie of Witchcraft here and here.

Notable Illusionists of History [No. 4]

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Douglas James "Doug" Henning


(May 3, 1947 - Feb 7, 2000)
Birthplace:  Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Profession-changing contribution: Henning's massive popularity (Tony-winning Broadway show, Emmy-nominated television specials) during the 1970s re-popularized magic as a form of entertainment. Part of Henning's appeal was that he eschewed the top-hat look, instead wearing t-shirts and bell-bottom pants, with long hair and an attitude of wonder about his own tricks.
Fun fact:  In 1987, Henning quit magic to study Transcendental Meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and even ran for political office in the UK and his native Canada, as a candidate for the Natural Law Party, a group founded on the faith's prinicples.
Bonus fun fact: Should you have the opportunity to visit The Magic Castle in Los Angeles and need to order a vegan meal, ask for the "Doug Henning."

Notable Illusionists of History [No. 3]

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Editor's note: Due to the rousing success of the "Sexy Astronomers of History" series in September 2012, The Typing Monkey has followed Hollywood's lead by offering a sequel nobody asked for. Enjoy.


Alexander Hermann aka Hermann the Great
(Feb 10, 1844 - Dec 17, 1896)

Birthplace: Paris Profession-changing contribution:  Herrmann capitalized on his Mephistophelian appearance and openly comedic performance to build his following. His performances were as much about the humor as they were about his illusions, sleight-of-hand tricks and road-tested magic. As a result, he was a favorite of the American public at the height of the Victorian era.
Fun fact: Herrmann was the youngest of 16 children. His father, Samuel, was a physician who dabbled in magic performance. The eldest son, Compars (aka Carl), became a famous magician in Europe and, upon seeing Alexander's natural skill "kidnapped" his 8-year-old brother, taking him on tour with him throughout Russia, while the family fretted back in France. The brothers performed as a duo for many years before Alex went solo.

Notable Illusionists of History [No. 2]

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Harry Blackstone Sr. aka The Great Blackstone (born Harry Bouton)
(Sep 27, 1885 - Nov 16, 1965)
Birthplace:  Chicago
Profession-changing contribution:  The first (or at least best-known) multi-media star of magic. At the height of his career as a stage illusionist, Blackstone was also the star of a comic book, and the inspiration for the radio mystery-drama Blackstone, the Magic Detective.
Fun fact:  Blackstone usually performed without talking, while the theater orchestra or pipe organ played carefully selected tunes to accompany his illusions.

Notable Illusionists of History [No. 1]

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Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin
(Dec 6, 1805 – June 13, 1871)
Birthplace: Blois, France
Profession-changing contribution:  Considered the father of modern magic, Robert-Houdin was one of the first illusionists to work in a theater rather than set up in a marketplace or at a fair. And he wore formal wear -- what we now think of as the classic magician's attire -- to distinguish himself from other magicians. He also helped quell a potential rebellion of the Arabs in Algeria, who were being riled into action by local shamen. Napoleon III sent Robert-Houdin to Algeria in 1856 to out-perform the shamen, which he did.
Fun fact:  After a failed attempt to learn law, Robert-Houdin became a watchmaking apprentice to follow in his father's footsteps. A bookseller, thinking he was giving Robert-Houdin two books on clock making accidentally gave him two volumes about magic, called Scientific Amusements. Poof! (You get the idea.)