Milbourne Christopher

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Milbourne Christopher (born March 23, 1914 in Baltimore , Maryland , † June 17, 1984 in Manhattan , New York City ) was one of the leading American magicians of the 20th century. He has performed in at least 72 countries and is the author of numerous books on magic.

Life

At age twelve, Christopher and another young magician performed a magic trick called Phil and Mil Will Fill the Bill . In 1935, during the Easter festivities in the White House of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and her grandchildren, he was allowed to conjure up a rabbit and thus gained national attention for the first time.

Newsreels enabled him to appear at the Victoria Palace Theater in London, the Théâtre de l'Alhambra in Paris and at the Scala in Berlin . With a clever mind, charismatic appearance, rope and other tricks, he entertained his audience in night clubs and variety theaters.

In 1936 he performed in Berlin while the Olympic Games were being celebrated there. During World War II , he entertained the Allied troops in over 1,000 shows . As a member of the 35th company that served the troop support, he followed the D-Day invasion troops into Normandy together with other performing artists . Christopher later distracted soldiers who had to be operated on without anesthesia with his tricks during the operation.

Shortly after the Americans and Russians met in Torgau an der Elbe in 1945, Christopher was woken up at night and instructed to perform for high-ranking military personnel at a victory ceremony. Photos from this event were destroyed by a Soviet officer who feared reprisals .

One of Christopher's most famous tricks was a burst of fire from his hands, used whenever you least expected it. Also amazing was the trick he used to make an elephant disappear. In 1957 he delighted the audience with a sensational trick in which he caught a cartridge in his teeth that had been fired from a rifle. He repeated this trick with a marked cartridge in England and made headlines due to the presence of a Russian Prime Minister. In Havana , he predicted the winner of a lottery game .

He also appeared as a guest at many shows on American television and also produced shows such as the Magic Special The Festival of Magic, which was first broadcast nationwide in 1957 . He created two full-length Broadway Magic Specials and starred on the Magicworld show , which was staged in Madison Square Garden .

In 1972 he got a place in the Magic Hall of Fame , became president of the "Association of American Wizards" and was generally a globally respected magician who has occasionally been compared to Harry Houdini .

Christopher was seen as an open and warm person who was always ready to share his knowledge with new magicians. Known as a compulsive, passionate writer, Christopher wrote over 10,000 articles from 1931 to 1984 for almost every magazine dealing with sorcery. Under the pseudonym Frank Joglar he wrote reports in Hugard's Magic Monthly . Christopher also wrote about 20 books on magic. His biography of Houdini is still considered required reading for new wizards who are primarily concerned with self-liberation .

Milbourne Christopher was President of the American Wizards Association and Vice President of the English Association Magic Circle . He was also chairman of the SAMs Occult Investigating Committee , a founding member of the Skeptics Association CSICOP and a member of the Skeptics Society .

In the course of his life, Christopher built up a large collection of prints, paintings, photographs, posters and drawings related to magic. The collection was dispersed after his death, the pieces are still mainly in the hands of private collectors.

Fonts (selection)

  • Ghosts, gods, fork benders. The wonders of the PSI-gifted (Mediums, Mystics, & the Occult. New Revelations about Psychics and their Secrets, 1975). Heyne, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-453-01033-7 .
  • Houdini. A pictorial biography . Gramercy Books, New York 1998, ISBN 0-517-18903-8 (former title: Houdini. The Untold Story ).
  • Magic. A picture history . Dover Publ., New York 1991, ISBN 0-486-26373-8 (former title: Panorama of Magic ).
  • The illustrates history of magic . Heinemann, Portsmouth 1996, ISBN 0-435-07016-9 (reprint of the New York 1973 edition).
  • ESP, Seer & Psychics. What the Occult Really Is . Crowell Books, New York 1970, ISBN 0-690-26815-7 .
  • Milbourne Christopher's Magic Book . Crowell Books, New York 1977, ISBN 0-690-01677-8 .
  • Search for the soul. An Insider's Report on the Continuing Quest by Psychics & Scientists for Evidence of Life After Death . Crowell Books, New York 1979, ISBN 0-690-01760-X .

literature

  • William V. Rauscher: Milbourne Christopher. The man and his magic . 1878 Press, New York 2012, ISBN 978-0-578-11296-1 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Christopher, Milbourne
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American magician
DATE OF BIRTH March 23, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Baltimore , Maryland , United States
DATE OF DEATH 17th June 1984
Place of death Manhattan , New York City , United States