Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin

Early Life and Entrance into Conjuring
Robert-Houdin was born in Blois, France on the 6th of December 1805. He was educated at the University of Orléans and for a short time worked as a watchmaker. When he accidentally received a book on conjuring he became very interested in the art and began taking lessons from a local amateur magician. When he felt he was ready he moved to Tours and set up a watch making business doing conjuring on the side. A major turning point in his life came when he became apprenticed to the magician De Grissi.

Major Achievements
The Arabs of Algeria were said to be excited to rebel against French colonialists by false miracles performed by their religious leaders. In 1856, Napoleon III's Second French Empire sent Robert-Houdin there, hoping that he might perform tricks that were far more impressive, thereby dissolving the excitement of the rebels. Robert-Houdin's tricks, it is said, succeeded in breaking up the influence of the mullahs. Moreover, the Arabs became afraid of Robert-Houdin. In one trick, he allowed an Arab to shoot at him with a marked bullet, but instead of killing him, the bullet was found between his teeth. After that, they believed he could do anything. Robert-Houdin was not the first illusionist to perform the bullet catch and many since him have adapted their own version of the effect.

He used another famous trick to prove that French magic was stronger than local shamanism techniques: he presented an empty box with an iron bottom that anyone could lift up. By turning on an electro-magnet hidden under the floor, he made it immovable, "proving" that through will power, he could make it impossible to lift for the strongest Algerian warriors. He found the trick was more impressive when he claimed not that he could make the trunk heavy, but when he claimed he could make the strong man too weak to lift a trunk that even a small child could lift.

Another automaton trick, the "Orange Tree" was used by the eponymous conjurer in Steven Millhauser's short story, "Eisenheim The Illusionist", subsequently filmed as The Illusionist.

Robert-Houdin is often credited as being "the father of modern magic". Before him, magicians performed in marketplaces and fairs, but Robert-Houdin performed magic in theatres and private parties. He also chose to wear formal clothes, like those of his audiences. Many magicians today mimic this by wearing tail-coats, though other magicians view this as old-fashioned and believe that they should wear contemporary clothes. Doug Henning was the first to rebel against this stereotype with a distinctive modern look of his own.

Reading any biographies of him, it's obvious that Robert-Houdin lived for magic, constantly conjuring new ideas and performing even on vacation. His wife was often involved in his extremely clever and innovative tricks, which he had to admit were 'deceptions' to authorities, to avoid prosecution for witchcraft.

Famous Illusions The Ethereal Suspension
When Robert-Houdin first performed this trick ether had just come into use and was still quite mysterious. He made good use of this in the presentation of his illusion, by telling the audience the effect was achieved because ether strangely made people lighter.

Legacy
His home in Blois is open to the public as a museum and theatre.

Robert-Houdin's autobiography is *The Memoirs of Robert-Houdin*. His life and works are also cited in Robertson Davies' "Deptford Trilogy", notably in the trilogy's third novel *World of Wonders*, which takes place on the set of a movie about Robert-Houdin.

American magician and escape artist Harry Houdini(Born Erich Weiss) adopted the stage name of 'Houdini' in honour of Robert-Houdin. He incorrectly believed that "i" on the end of a name meant "like" in French. He later lost his respect for Robert-Houdin and wrote *The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin*(1908).

Name
It is incorrect to refer to Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin as "Houdin." His last name was Robert-Houdin. His birth name was Jean Eugène Robert. He married Mademoiselle Houdin, and under special dispensation from the French government, was allowed to use the hyphenated last name.

Sources

1. "Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin". Britannica. (2007).
   • *Secrets of Conjuring and Magic* by Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, translated by Angelo Lewis.
   • *Conjuring* by James Randi.

External links

• *A Conjurer's Confessions* by M. Robert-Houdin
• Works by Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin at Project Gutenberg
• The Lock and Key Library, the most interesting stories of all nations: Real life, available at Project Gutenberg.
• *The Secrets of Conjuring* by M. Robert-Houdin
• *Memoirs of Robert-Houdin* by M. Robert-Houdin
• Robert-Houdin and the Spiritualists *Harper's New Monthly Magazine*, November 1877

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This page was last modified 20:58, 26 December 2007.

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