Historical conjurers

[LW]

I've been reading a book on Finnish folk tales, and I came upon the person of Kuikka-Koponen ("Loon-Koponen"). Well, he was a historical person who lived in the early 19th century and there are a lot of tales of him doing strange tricks. Even though the stories emphasize that he did only tricks (in comparison of numerous tales of powerful witchmen), most of the tricks are well past the realms of possibility.

A lot of them are illusions in the Mandrake style: making a large number of people see things that are not there. For example, it is said that he once filled a house with milk and when a gypsy (by stories, Koponen had some issues with gypsies) boy jumped in to drink it he hit his head on the floorboards. Many of the stories happen in an enviornment that clearly rules out all props, like a chance encounter on the road with a gypsy troupe. (They have a sick horse so Koponen offers to go inside the horse to see what is wrong. He does that and the gypsies wait for him to come back for several hours before another traveler tells them about meeting Koponen miles away.)

In fact, only two of the numerous stories seem to describe a trick he could really have done: angling perches from floorboards and pulling a string through his head via ears. (In fact, the latter effect is sold in magic shops today).

Are there any other stories of obscure magicians?

[Quinn]

Originally posted by LW
Even though the stories emphasize that he did only tricks (in comparison of numerous tales of powerful witchmen), most of the tricks are well past the realms of possibility.

Magicians rely heavily on their audience's tendency to exaggerate what they've seen when they talk about it. Cards that are "picked" become cards that were noted but never touched; words that are written down become words that were merely thought of; objects that scoot a couple inches across the table become objects that flew around the room, etc. The exaggerations generally increase with time and multiple retellings -- not unlike fish stories and UFO sightings, really. I'd be willing to bet that since the 19th century, the accounts of this guy's feats have been blown so far out of proportion, he himself would barely recognize them.

Quinn

[Lavie Enrose]

Originally posted by LW
Are there any other stories of obscure magicians?

Ancient Deceptions: The First Magic Trick By Gabe Fajuri (http://www.uelectric.com/pastimes/cupsandballs.htm)

The Papyrus discusses the exploits of King Cheops, builder of the Great Pyramid at Giza sometime around 2600 BC. Cheops, in the Papyrus, calls upon his sons to bring to him a magician of the time known as Dedi. Dedi, so the story goes, then pays a visit to the court of King Cheops to perform a few magical miracles for him. Supposedly 70 years old, Dedi showed the Pharaoh what, even by today's standards, would be considered impressive tricks. He performed, according to the Papyrus, three decapitations of animals. The magician severed the head of a goose, duck and ox, subsequently restoring the slaughtered beasts to their living states, none the worse for the wear. When asked by Cheops to perform the same feat with a man, Dedi refused.