Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin: The Magician Whose Name You’ve Heard, But You Didn’t Know About

Born in 1805. Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin was a watchmaker who would go on to change the way magic was perceived forever. Before he was born magic was enjoyed in the rough and tumble environment of village fate and market squares, the arena of the vagabond and rogue. By the middle of the century, thanks to Robert-Houdin, it was performed in theatres and enjoyed by the more gentile members of society. Under his influence, magicians put away the ornate costumes and instead performed in evening wear. This is where we now get the traditional image of the magician in opera cape and tails; an irony as such clothing would now be considered anarchic costume by most, the exact thing Robert-Houdin was trying to get away from.

It’s hard to overstate how important Robert-Houdin is to the magic we all enjoy today. Indeed, he is often called the Father of Modern Magic. He created some of the greatest illusions the world had ever seen, with many of his affects becoming classics, versions of which are still performed to this day. If you’ve seen the 2006 movie The Illusionist the protagonist played by Edward Norton is a magician called Eisenheim. Eisenheim is a composite character with one of the magicians thrown into the melting pot being Robert-Houdin. In the movie one of Robert-Houdin’s most famous tricks - the Marvellous Orange Tree - is performed. I rather like the film, however I do rile somewhat at the extreme use of CGI. The Marvellous Orange Tree is a wonder, a truly incredible blend of what was at the time cutting edge engineering and magic. Here it is in the movie.

Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, the Father of Modern Magic

And here is Paul Daniels performing the illusion in a manner far more in keeping with the original.

Of course the film version would be more impressive if you were in the audience, but that’s because it’s impossible, hence the CGI. But imagine for a moment actually being in that audience and seeing a live performance of the original Marvellous Orange Tree. It was the mid 19th century. Science was just as wonderful to people as ‘magic’, if not more so. The Blackpool Illuminations were going to be switched forty years later in 1879, causing a huge sensation with people flocking to see the 'Artificial sunshine'. They were made up of just eight carbon arc lamps. Now we live in a world where I’m typing this on a computer that is millions of times more powerful than those used to first put humanity on the moon, and so it’s hard for us to imagine how truly wonderful such a mechanical marvel would have appeared to the audience at that time. But it would have been beyond special.

Robert-Houdin was able to use his training as a clockmaker and understanding of the principle of magic to create some of the most amazing illusions of the day. He was so successful that his rivals stole his inventions. His mechanic Le Grand sold his secrets to his rivals. Despite later going to prison for this, the other magicians continued to use Rober-Houdin’s creations without crediting him or paying him a penny, another strong tradition that continues amongst magicians even to this day.

When I first read about Robert-Houdin, the story that fascinated me most was his work in Algeria. The French had colonised the country, and the Emperor Louis-Napoleon was concerned by the Marabouts. The Marabouts were Muslim religious leader and teachers who held a lot of sway and they were fairly set on breaking with France. Not wanting a costly and bloody revolt, Louis-Napoleon instead sent Robert-Houdin to prove that French magic was stronger than that of the Marabouts.

A trick that often brought the house down in Paris was The Light and Heavy Chest. At home the audiences laughed when a fully grown adult was unable to lift a box that, moments ago, a smile child had moved with no problem what so ever. In Algeria it was a different story. A man was stricken with the terrible curse of being ‘as weak as a woman’. To make matters worse, Robert-Houdin had rigged the handles of the chest to give an electric shock. This was a terrifying display of power, but not wanting to capitulate, a Marabount challenged him to a duel. Robert-Houdin told him he needed to rest, as the magic had taken it’s toll, but that in the morning he would be ready. The next day, to the amazement of all, this forign wizard caught the bullet that was fired at him between his teeth. Not wanting to kill the religious leader, instead Robert-Houdin fired at a white washed wall and, where his bullet struck, blood seeped out. This was enough to convince people that the French truly did have magical powers and undoubtedly contributed to the ending of any uprising. As much as I dislike the very idea of colonising other countries, that's one heck of a story!

Robert-Houdin died quite tragically at the age of 65. The Franco Prussian War forced Robert-Houdin to hide his family in a cave near his property. His son Eugène, who was a captain, was wounded at the Battle of Wörth and later died of his injuries. With the news of his sons death and the stress of the war, his health deteriorated and he contracted pneumonia, dying on 13th June 1871.

And of course, though you may not have ever heard about Robert-Houdin before today, you will have head his name, a name made famous by one of the most well known magicians of all time: Harry Houdini. That’s because Houdini, or Erik Weisz as he was first known, decided that he should adopt a more stage friendly name. And so he became Harry - which he claimed was in homage to the magician Harry Kellar - Houdini. He believed that adding an ‘i’ to the end meant ‘like’ in French. He was wrong, but it was a tradition at the time to add the ‘i’ because of the then famous French magician Pinetti. In another twist Houdini’s fame outstripped Pinetti so that in the early to mid 20th century rather than just adding the ‘i’, instead the ‘-ni’ became synonymous with illusionists. An example would be the great Cardini. Even now, if you want to sound like a real magician, just take the first syllable of your first name and add ‘-dini’ to it. It’s extra magical if you add something like ‘The Great’ or ‘The Mysterious’ either before or after. Enjoy!

The Great Pauldini

TFT