Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear

Steinmeyer, Jim

ISBN 10: 0786712260 / ISBN 13: 9780786712267

Published by Carroll & Graf, 2003

About this Item

Missing dust cover, otherwise book is in good condition with some wear from normal use.

Seller Inventory # 31URM800GJWO_ns

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0786712260
• ISBN 13: 9780786712267
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: good

About this title

Synopsis

Harry Houdini was the greatest escape artist in history, yet known to his contemporaries as a terrible stage magician. Nevertheless, in 1917 he performed a single illusion that has been hotly debated ever since: Under the bright spotlights of New York’s Theatre Hippodrome, he made a live elephant disappear. Where did he learn this amazing trick and how did it work? The answers lie in magic expert Jim Steinmeyer’s chronicle of illusionary innovation, backstage chicanery and espionage, elevated showmanship, and keen competition within the world of magicians. Steinmeyer has captured the cultural history of magic during its “Golden Age” in America and abroad. Readers will learn the secrets and life stories of the fascinating personalities behind optical marvels such as floating ghosts appearing onstage and interacting with live actors, disembodied heads, and vanishing ladies. The people and events surrounding each step toward “The Vanishing Elephant” reveal how simple principles, mixed with ingenious psychology, can entertain and deceive. Houdini’s great feat of invisibility was based on a secret passed onto him by Charles Morritt, and the trick remained their secret for more than eighty years. In this book, Steinmeyer reveals Houdini’s mystery and more.

About the Author

JIM STEINMEYER has designed illusions for all of today’s leading magicians including Ricky Jay, for his Broadway show On the Stem, David Copperfield, and Siegfried and Roy, Las Vegas revues, and television specials, and the late Doug Henning. He is the writer and producer of A&E’s four-hour history of magic, The Story of Magic, and author of many books and articles on the history of magic and theatrical effects. He lives in Los Angeles.