#howardthurston

“The palace intrigue behind Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition is alive and well in this tidy 60-minute act from magician Sean Masterson. The narrative revolves around a cryptic coin dating back to the World's Fair, acquired by Masterson when he was a boy.”

—The Chicago Reader reviewing Timeless Magic at Theater Wit

The solid silver commemorative coin from the Columbian Exposition belonged to my great Uncle Ed. He passed it on to his younger brother, my grandfather.

The Chicago’s World’s Fair of 1893 has always loomed as a magical place in my imagination. I’m not the only one. Chicago resident Frank L. Baum took his inspiration for the Land of Oz from the “White City”.

What fascinates me is how the fair brought together many of the notable players of the following century. Nikola Tesla beat out Thomas Edison to generate the fair’s electricity with his alternating current (Edison won the 20th century with his direct current). George Ferris constructed the very first Ferris Wheel on the fairgrounds to compete with the visual wonder of the Eiffel Tower from the 1889 Paris fair. The Yerkes telescope was built for the fair as the world’s largest refracting telescope (It’s still the largest and you can still visit it today). Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination ten years later would kick off a series of events leading to World War I, also visited the fair.

My main fascination is the magicians who performed and passed through the fair including Harry Houdini and Howard Thurston. I include both of these magicians in my show Timeless Magic now playing at Theater Wit. Much has been written about Houdini. But, in the beginning of the 20th century Thurston’s name was far more synonymous with magic. An extraordinarily adept manipulator of playing cards, Thurston went on to command one the great illusion shows of the 20th century. For 35 years he crisscrossed the entire country with his full-evening show. The sets and illusions for his lavish spectacle filled eight railroad cars.

Billy Robinson is another magician who came to Chicago for the fair and is the main character in my show at The Wit. In 1893, like Houdini and Thurston, he was also an unknown prestidigitateur who would later skyrocket to fame.

The show “functions as a historical anthology, highlighting the performers and the tricks... that informed much of magic’s golden era.”

—The Chicago Reader reviewing Timeless Magic at Theater Wit

Bibliography:

Steinmeyer, Jim (2011). "The Last Great Magician in the World: Howard Thurston versus Houdini & the battles of the American wizards". New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin

My ever-dapper great Uncle Ed (center) from whom I inherited a silver commemorative coin from the Columbian Exposition of 1893.

Much has been written about Houdini. But, in the beginning of the 20th century Thurston’s name was far more synonymous with magic. 

Nikola Tesla beat out Thomas Edison to generate the fair’s electricity with his alternating current (Edison won the 20th century with his direct current).

Chicago resident Frank L. Baum took his inspiration for the Land of Oz from the “White City”

via sobadsogood.com

He might not be a household name like say David Copperfield or Criss Angel, but in his day Harry Kellar was one of the more popular magicians of his era.

Aside from baffling audiences with smoke and mirrors and a well timed sleight of hand, magicians had to promote and market themselves heavily in order to bring the crowds in. Once you reach a certain level, where your show was so utterly compelling that everyone was talking about you, then you could ease up and let your name sell the tickets for you - until that turning point, it was all about the marketing.

One particular element that always captured the attention of the general public was the occult. Kellar was well-aware of the power of suggestion and ensured all of his promotional posters featured himself commanding or conjuring up devils and wicked imps. Buy a ticket to one of his shows and you too could have an audience with demonic and supernatural.

So successful were the designs of the posters in promoting his show that when he retired his successor Howard Thurston continued to use the same elements. A different magician, but with the same talents and unique gifts to communicate with the underworld. The posters themselves date back the early 1900's - Kellar retired in 1908, presumably to kick back, have a drink with Lucifer and count all his money.