Description: The Silence Of Chung Ling Soo Title: The Silence Of Chung Ling SooAuthor: Todd KarrISBN: 0971040516Publisher: The Miracle FactoryPublication Date: 2001HardcoverBook Size: 8 1/4" x 10 1/4"Pages: 488Edition: 1st EditionBook Condition: Excellent-Like New!Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good-Minor shelf wear This fascinating collection of writings examines legendary performer Chung Ling Soo, alter ego of William E. Robinson of New York, and includes more than fifty of Soo's extraordinary close-up and stage effects, forty gorgeous color Soo posters, over fifty letters from Robinson to Houdini, Robinson’s insightful articles and books, including a full reprint of his scarce Spirit Slate Writing and Kindred Phenomena, plus programs, reviews, biographical profiles, rare photos, and memorabilia. Chung Ling Soo was the stage name of the American magician William Ellsworth Robinson who is mostly remembered today for his death after a bullet catch trick went wrong. During his early career, William Ellsworth Robinson called himself Robinson, the Man of Mystery. To increase his allure with a touch of exoticism, he changed his name to Chung Ling Soo and took his show to Europe. He took the name as a variation of a real Chinese stage magician - Ching Ling Foo - and performed many of the tricks that Foo had made famous. Chung Ling Soo maintained his role as a Chinese man scrupulously. He never spoke onstage and always used an interpreter when he spoke to journalists. Contents INTRODUCTION Todd Karr SKETCHING ROBINSON’S CRYSTAL LANTERN Jim Steinmeyer WORDS BY WILLIAM E. ROBINSONThe Art of MagicWrinkles on MagicAlexander HerrmannIndian JuggleryHow It HappenedCan Such Things Be? MAN OF MYSTERYMr. and Mrs. W. E. RobinsonBilly Robinson Walter B. GibsonMarvellous Chinese Conjurer Ellis StanyonAustraliaThe Silent PerformanceThe WizardThurston Howard ThurstonBamboo Blossom THE CHALLENGE DEAR FRIEND HOUDINIDear Friend HoudiniAn Impression of Chung Ling Soo Houdini MYSTERIESAerial FishingAnimated CorkAstarteBirth of the PearlBlack ArtChinese MagicThe Coin, Handkerchief and Ring TrickThe Rice Bowls and Mystic CoinThe Magic Coin BoxGold or Silver?The Floating CoinThe Chinese “Miser’s Dream”Chung Ling Soo Coin and StringCrystal CasketDefying the BulletsDisappearing DemonDream of WealthDrum ProductionA Few Card TricksA Few Coin TricksFire BalloonFlying HandkerchiefsGoddess of WineGoneLinking RingsThe Chinese RingsA Chung Ling Soo MethodMagic CauldronMysteries of the Mind, or Mental MagicMysterious SumNew? Old? Card TrickNew Thought Card SleightsOdds and EndsOld TricksRice BowlsThe “Best of All” Rice BowlsThe New Rice BowlsRising CardsSugar Stick TrickTarget IllusionVanish in Mid-AirVaried MysteriesThe Orange TreeNew Method of Getting Flowers into ConeImproved Finger Through PennyThe Best Watch-box MARVELLOUS CHINESE CONJURER SPIRIT SLATE WRITING AND KINDRED PHENOMENAPreface1. The Single Slate2. The Double Slate3. Miscellaneous Slate Tests4. Mind Reading and Kindred Phenomena5. Table Lifting and Spirit Rapping6. Spiritualistic Ties7. Post tests, Handcuffs, Spirit Collars, etc.8. Séances and Miscellaneous Spirit Tricks9. Miscellaneous TricksIndex to Spirit Slate Writing Reviews I’m delighted that, through this collection, we have a chance to appreciate Robinson’s inventive abilities and insights into magic, and that his portrait will, line by line, be that much clearer to us all. — Jim Steinmeyer The Miracle Factory has produced another beautiful, fascinating, and useful book.. The Silence of Chung Ling Soo features beautiful production values and fascinating information. I highly recommend it. — Michael Close Reviewed by Jamy Ian Swiss (originally published in Genii March, 2002)The are magicians, men of mystery and then there are mysterious men. Men like Isaac Fawkes, and John Cautares, L'Homme Masque names of men about whom we yearn to know more. Then there is Chung Ling Soo. What do you know about him? Probably that he was actually the American, William Robinson, who worked behind the scenes for the likes of Harry Kellar and Alexander Herrmann. Likely that he eventually became famous, at about age 40, as Chung Ling Soo, capitalizing on the popular success of the genuinely Chinese magician, Ching Ling Foo, but managed (somehow!) to keep his American origins a secret from the public. And certainly that he was killed in a terrible accident in a performance of the Bullet Catch at the age of 56. For many of us there is little more, unless perhaps you've read the important biography by Will Dexter, The Riddle of Chung Ling Soo. But that book was written in 1955, and surely there is more of the story to tell. Thanks to Todd Karr, who has recently produced an excellent volume of the work of Sam Sharpe and the wondrous reprint of Sydney Clark's Annals of Conjuring (reviewed in November 2000 and November 2001 Genii, respectively), more of the story has finally come to light. Much more. This beautiful volume is not a biography, and interested students are encouraged to track down the Dexter book for that purpose. But what Mr. Karr has accomplished by amassing these vast supplementary materials is to capture a sense of the man behind the mystery, the real Billy Robinson, and that is an unusual achievement in the field. Robinson was one of most highly regarded magicians of his era, widely respected by magicians as among the most inventive and knowledgeable conjurors of his time. His success as Chung Ling Soo was extraordinary, and he was at the top of his field for many years, both in American Vaudeville and overseas. He amassed a range of experience matched by few before or since, having played the role of assistant, inventor, stage manager, author, and feature performer, was a skilled card manipulator, performed a black art act, and of course masqueraded as an authentic Chinese conjuror in the glare of the public spotlight for some 18 years, after a success that came late in life. What a remarkable character! The massive book runs almost 500 pages. Following the author's informative introduction, the volume opens with a new essay by Jim Steinmeyer examining Robinson's extraordinary (and as Mr. Steinmeyer points out probably never to be seen again) "Crystal Lantern" illusion. The next segment gathers and reprints some of Robinson's own writings, consisting primarily of articles he wrote for Mahatma, concerning subjects ranging from practical (and quite contemporary-sounding) advice on showmanship to an obituary and homage to one of his mentors. Alexander Herrmann, to a remarkably accurate piece on Indian conjuring. The next section, entitled "Man of Mystery," consists of various profiles of Robinson, including materials drawn from the pages of Mahatma, by and from Ellis Stanyon's Magic, an interview with Will Goldston, late 20th-century writings by Walter Gibson, and an apparently unreliable personal anecdote from Howard Thurston. The next section concerns the famous "challenge" between Chung Ling Soo and Ching Ling Foo, which never quite came off. Newspaper accounts and telegrams flesh out this old story anew. A marvelous section of correspondence between Robinson and his pal and peer, Houdini, is one of the coups amid the new material in this volume. While we have only Robinson's side, these many notes, including personal commentary, business information, sloppy language, and worse, serve to bring Robinson's voice to life right off the page (and contribute as well to animate our idea of the recipient, Houdini). Almost a hundred pages of "Mysteries" catalog everything Mr. Karr has been able to locate about Robinson's repertoire, from many sources. Over 40 items are described here, from card tricks to stage illusions. Robinson loved bringing new life to old tricks, and many classic small apparatus items are addressed here, including the "Rice Bowls," the "Rising Cards," the "Target Illusion" ("Shooting Through a Woman"), and perhaps Robinson's trademark effect, the "Linking Rings." The next section is a wonderful resource consisting of a substantial collection of programs and reviews of Robinson's shows, the better to assist the reader's imagination in assembling an image of what his performances most have been like. The penultimate section—"Silence"—addresses Robinson's tragic death, including newspaper reports and accounts of the subsequent inquest, funeral, and obituaries. This is a genuinely tragic story that will leave any thoughtful reader contemplating the palpable sadness of Robinson's awful demise. Unlike many other accidents with the Bullet Catch, invariably tragic but often due to a foolish disregard for safety if not actual incompetence, Robinson was abundantly conscious of safety, and had also devised an extremely mystifying method. This renders the outcome of the story all the more frustrating and upsetting, even more than 80 years later. The book concludes with a collection of reprints of three works authored by Robinson, including a catalog of 50 Robinson items that were offered for individual sale, entitled A Few of Robinson's New Ideas; a booklet of varied magic entitled Extraordinary Mystical Novelties; and Spirit Slate Writing and Kindred Phenomena (which I believe includes the first recorded mention of a nail writer). The book opens with a stunning section of color plates, reproducing 41 Chung Ling Soo posters in 16 pages, in all of their splendor and variety. Most of this material of course comes from the noted Norm Nielsen collection. The frontispiece of the book is notable for its color reproduction of a one-of-a-kind Soo poster, "Unseen Soo," the sole surviving example of which belongs to Charles Greene III. These pages are a quite beautiful feature, although I find the front-of-the-book placement odd and somewhat inconvenient, along with the fact that all the identifying information (titles and other details) are separated from the color plates onto another admittedly adjacent page. Mr. Karr is to be commended for solving some of the mysteries behind the legend of Chung Ling Soo, and bringing more than silence to the voice of William Robinson, who deserves high station in the pantheon of magic's heroes. These materials reveal a man that was not only flesh and blood in death, but in life was a street-smart struggler who finally achieved success, a talented and creative originator who deserved it, a friend and family man who wore it well. This book does his memory honor, and so thereby does generous service to us all. Please examine the photos of this book. I have included photos of the index. I have also included photos of especially colorful, interesting or autographed pages. I will be happy to answer any specific question, just send me an Email!Listing info courtesy of: Magicref ATTENTION: A large part of the value of magic tricks and magic books is the SECRET!! As such, there are NO REFUNDS on magic tricks or books (unless I make a mistake, something is not as advertised, etc.)! I will try to be very detailed & accurate in my descriptions & also try to include the approximate skill level to assist in your decision, but I will not tell you how the trick is done! If you have any questions, please send me an Email BEFORE bidding!
Price: 479.95 USD
Location: Rancho Cordova, California
End Time: 2024-03-16T09:00:00.000Z
Shipping Cost: 12.95 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
