The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 273 - The Magicians

Episode Date: June 12, 2017

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine magicians of the late 1800's. SOURCESTOUR DATES REDBUBBLE MERCH

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week. I, Dave Anthony, VCR owner, window-closer, Toffee Eater. Dave Anthony, read the story from American History. Here and you watch your old big VCR VHS's while you're just having toffee mouth. To my former friend. Oh, Garrett Threadle is no idea what the topic is gonna be about. Sorry I thought you were talking about someone else. God, do you want to look who to do? I'll do one bottle. People say this is funny. Not Gary Gara. Dave, okay. Someone or something is tickling people. Is it for fun? And this is not gonna

become a tickly podcast. Okay. You are queen fakie of made-up town. All hail queen shit of Liesville. A bunch of religious virgins go to mingle and do my thing. Hi, Gary. No, has he done my friend? No. April 2nd, 1861. The year of our Lord. What? William Ellsworth Robinson was born in Westchester in New York. His family settled in Manhattan. His parents were Scottish. Oh, boy. Well, you ready for this, Jose? His father, Jim, had toured in minstrel shows and was a stage manner manager at Harry Hill's Houston Street Concert Saloon in New York City. Oh, God. Just some Scottish dude. Do a minstrel

show. Yeah, it's not a good combination. I bet there's some drinking going on, though. Oh, my God. Does anyone find this offensive? Like looking at me. Does this seem wrong? I'm upset if someone tries to look under my bloody kilt. This feels like appropriation. He ran the show at Harry Hill's, scheduled the acts, and filled in on stage. Guys, guys, come on, more racists. Dig deeper, bloody hell. Come on. Come on, you've got to hate them. Come on, you've got to be worse than this. As a performer, he specialized in impersonations and dialect singing. I mean, what? He did the stereotypical black voice of the time.

Oh, my God. He did an Irish Brogue, a Scottish Burr. Whoa, how did he get that one right? And the broad accents of, quote, typical Hebrews. Oh, my God. Dutchman or Italian. He's like the Dick Van Dijk and Mary Poppins of racism. He's just got instruments all over. It's like if Stormfront had a rich little, he was also closed with the juice shit. He was also a ventriloquist, hypnotist and magician. Wow. Fucking cover all your bases. I mean, really? The saloon was a famous rowdy dive bar in New York. It was, I can't believe what's happening already. I mean, it was a large open space that served as a dance hall

bar room variety theater and boxing rings. What is going on? Did it also float? It's just your classic dance hall bar room theater. All right, everyone. Now that the boxing's over, get ready for the minstrel show with hypnosis and ventriloquism. Have you ever done a gig at like one of those casinos out near Palm Springs where it's just an open room? Yeah. Yeah. Feels like that. Like, yes, where you're like, you guys are used to bands. How's supper? Seats were for women. Finally, a break. Women got it for free, man. I had to pay 25 cents each. A round of drink was obligatory at the start of any dance and quote, take a little wine for thy stomach's sake. What? That's just

all that was one of their sayings there. Okay. Okay. Just drink wine. Also, no swearing. What? How do you? How? How? How do you try? That's my favorite thing. No swearing during the. All right. That's enough. No. Let's put this makeup on and give him a hell of a show. Perfectly. Yeah, no swearing, but that's fine. And no trouble inside. Pimps, prostitutes, thieves, and drunks had to step outside before starting any transaction planning a crime or picking a fight. Okay. Drunks, you can identify. Yep. How do you identify thieves? Well, I'm sure they knew them all. That's everybody knows the neighborhood. Pretty hard to just bounce a guy for hypothetical theft. Oh, you're like that guy. Tell you do it. Okay. Good.

Well, you sold me. The saloon was so William Robinson, the boy, the son, right, was encouraged to follow it, follow in his father's footsteps as a performer. Okay. He was tall and handsome, but didn't have the same stage presence or confidence as his dad. Man, you mean just born into it. It's it's this is the classic show business kid thing. Yeah. He was tall. Oh, I did that. Will didn't like the sound of his voice. Oh, man. And he didn't like telling jokes. So it's gonna be good career and show. Problematic for performance. No, no, this is exactly what you want. Okay. So he would stay at home and practice in front of a mirror. As a teen will perform at private parties, picnics, or school programs, often

entertaining children with with minstrel based. No, he he was a magician. He enjoyed the magic. Okay. A magician needed lots of fancy equipment, which took a lot of skill to build and it was very costly. Okay. Will couldn't afford the fancy equipment. So he took a job at a brass foundry. Okay. He learned to work with sheet metal shaping and smoldering it and became a meticulous craftsman. Okay. He was so good that in the late 1870s, Martinca's New York, the largest magic manufacturing company in magic shop, would bring him into the shop to work on special projects. So he's getting into magic through the back door, right? He's learning how to build shit. Sure. He had behind the scenes access to the newest innovations

in magic. That's fun. It might be my favorite thing I've ever said on this podcast, the newest innovations in magic. Come here, this guy, this guy's figured out to take a rabbit out of a hat. Yeah, look, looks like a regular. Oh, wait for the rabbits. Oh, Christ, there's a rabbit. Ah, innovations, my friend. Innovations. You know, if you put a little brass around the rabbit. Uh huh. Uh huh. That's it. Yeah. Huh. You know, if you put like a bunch of brass around the bunny, yeah, it might be a little funny, little like. Did you say brass? Hey, yeah, brass. Yeah. In the rabbit. Well, I've seen around, but I actually like that better. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Fill him with brass. Yeah. Brass up his ass. Yeah. Yeah, fill

him with that. That's the thing. Don't think of this, right? That's not magic. Don't think of this as a hat on a hat, if you think about it, because it's like, he pulls out the rabbit, right? Yeah. Bloody hell, wear that rabbit cover on his in the hat. Then he pulls a bunch of, you know, brass out of the rabbit's, you know, anus. And then everyone goes, oh, I like this one. Another trick. So it's like in lumps? Or is it? If you like lumps, yeah. Is it in sheets? If you like lumps, yeah. Is it in sheets? Oh, the brass. Well, I think we could do like, what do you think I was talking about? I didn't know, but I just want to sell this concept, you know, so I'm, I'm yesin'. Yeah. I'm yesin' it, aren't I? Yeah. You're

fired. Oh, I understand why. So also some of the most famous musicians would often visit the shop, because it was the place to go, like Harry Potter and stuff like that. Pardon? Will was becoming a magic expert, but still lacked confidence. His technical skill was exceptional. He got gigs around New York City. He watched any magic show he could. And at age 21, Will married Bessie Smith, who was 16. Okay, sure. Normal age gap. Bessie, Bessie was in love with Will. Okay. Will needed an assistant. Okay. She assisted on stage with tricks, changing costumes, et cetera. And so he married her because he needed an assistant. Exactly. Wow. Okay. She helped behind the scenes, packing and moving large props, repairing

small intricate props. They were billed as Robinson, the man of mystery, the world's marvelous enchanter assisted by Madame Ozil Bessie in scenes of enchantment. Wow. Titles just, yeah. One thing I gotta say, one thing that is definitely approved in America is the naming shit. Yeah. He's really killed it on that one. Right. Yeah. You don't need to, not everything needs, you don't need four titles on the show. No. No. Will signed his letters, Mystically Thine. Wow. By the way, that's how I'm ending every email now. Mystically Thine, Gareth. Well, we'll figure it out tomorrow. Mystically Thine. He grew his mustache long. He's making great calls. Yeah. Yeah. And Curl the Ends with Wax. Oh, yeah. On stage,

he wore black knickers, silk hoes, and a formal tailcoat, modeling the style of famous magician Alexander Herman. You don't need to tell me anything about that guy. Alexander Herman was a Parisian who came from a family of famous European magicians. Look at that. Look, I made a brass poop come out of the rabbit. The rabbit's dead. Yes, but he came out. Yeah? Yeah. I got it out. Okay. You like? You like? Yeah, I like. My wife. What? No. His brother, Carl, was also a well-known magician. Both of them followed in the footsteps of their father and grandfather. Wow. But Alexander was the one who came to America. Herman was the perfect stereotypical magician, tall, slender, long tailcoat, goatee, black hair, graceful.

Stereotypical magician. Fuck yeah, there was. Fuck yeah, there was. Magic was, I mean, without much going, I mean, magic must have just been so entertaining. Oh, they were like rock stars. I mean, they must. They were like, they were, they were rock stars. So he had, he was very graceful. He had long figures and a great stage presence. He was America's favorite magician for well over 20 years. Wow. And a legitimate celebrity in America. His wife Adelaide was part of the show as an actress, dancer, bicycle act, as well as being shot from a cannon. Wow. And levitating in midair. Not, not those things the same. Those are different. I'm married up. And by up, I mean, oh, boom, look at her go. There she goes. 39 times. She's been not carry.

Will got the best seats he could to watch Herman when he was in New York and studied Herman's act. In December 1883, just eight months after they were married, Bessie and Will had a child. Okay. This usually the not, not the gestation period of a human baby eight months. Oh, okay. But Bessie was not the child's mother. The mother was probably a young servant. You don't hear that a lot. You know, the second it came out, I knew she wasn't the mother. So they might have found and he might have found another reason to get married. She is this is quite a magic trick. So he banged one of the servants living in his parents house got her pregnant and then married someone else to cover up cover it up. And then his parents and then his parents took the baby to raise

it. Okay. So he convinced his parents adopted his his child, but they didn't know the truth. No, they did. I think they did. I think they just like public. I think they just did a route. Yeah, because they wanted to keep the kid, but they didn't want it to come from the servant. Sure. Because then you have a servant baby living. Look, we've all had a servant baby live in our house. It's not great. I like them out of all my babies. Well, we can ask, I don't just watch nigger about it. No, yeah. Huh? Yeah, that's definitely the servant babies, the best of the babies. So a year and a half later, Billy and Bessie had an actual baby named Elmore. Okay. In 1886, Will traveled to Europe as part of his job at the Martinca's magic shop to watch the

latest magicians visit fabricating shops and bring the secrets back. So he's like on a magic finding mission, a secret magic fact finding mission. Right. Cool. He left his wife and child at home in England. Will became enthralled by the performance of magician Ben Ali Bay. Okay. Bay dressed with a bizarre turban wrapped around a pointed wizard's cap. He dressed with a turban on a wizard's cap. You fucking Betty did. Did it look normal at all? I don't think so. Does it sound like it could look normal? No. No, I think it sounds crazy. Think of all the rabbits he has hidden in that. Oh my God. At first, Will didn't know how Ali Bay was doing his tricks, but he carefully squinted through the lights and he discovered the secret.

Squinting. In Berlin, Ali Bay had discovered what was called black art. A German actor playing a slave in blackface appeared on stage. Good Lord. But when the audience didn't react, Ali Bay realized the actor was basically invisible against the black velvet drapes behind him. Oh my God. No. No. He disappeared without a race. I can't see him. Yeah. That is awful. So he had, you know, when is it blackface informing my material? So Ali Bay had black curtains arranged and then gas lights put in a certain way to recreate the trick and an assistant in all black could not be seen by the audience. They would move around and grab stuff and put it in different places. Magic. What? Yeah, it's hidden black eye magic,

which is totally going to make a comeback in America, I think. I can't. I know. But if you squint, you can see. Yeah, apparently if you squint. Well, if you look, cause the magicians are looking to see how the trick is done, so they're not watching it the same way you and I would. Everyone's looking to see how the trick is done. No, no, most people are just looking at it like, oh, wow, that's crazy. But he's like looking for the hidden shit where you're not, if you're looking at a magic ag. Well, I'll tell you what, it ruins the show when you go. Oh, there's a guy. I can't see anything. I can't. No, I'm squinting. I can't see anything. There's a guy. Oh, that's Bobby. Hey, Bob. The guy's moving the cube.

So Will took black art and brought it to America. Black art. And now that Bessie had a child, she wasn't able to spend all her time assisting Will and their marriage fell apart. Okay. But they didn't divorce. Surely. It was expensive and will was Roman Catholic. So they just went their separate ways. What? And she took the baby. Oh, my God. So will met all of path who was a showgirl. She was tiny, under five feet and very slender, the perfect size to fit into cabinets and to be levitated. Boy, you're the kind of lady I could jam into a cabinet. Holy shit, I could put you in a box. I'm Will. Hello. I'll look like she was anywhere between the ages of 12 and 40. Hey, I don't know if you noticed I was standing over there. You look somewhere between the age of

almost adolescent and middle. You think I could jam your tiny frame into a cabinet sometime? Martini. She was actually 20. He called her Dot because of her size. Charmer. I said it. Dot was a dedicated assistant. She sewed costumes, packed props. She practiced each move with Will night after night after night. She was far more devoted than Bessie had ever been. Oh, my ex. She never understood the cabinet stuffing. I'm so glad we just went our separate ways and stayed married. Oh, which reminds me. Soon Dot and Will were in love and doing it or whatever they were doing. Doing it? Doing it, making the love. Yeah, you can say, yeah, they're sleeping. On August 8th. What are you, Roman Catholic? They're slamming this stuff together.

What? Gross. Don't say that. August 8th, 1887, Will appeared as Ahmed Ben Ali. Oh, boy. At a theater in Rhode Island. The Scottish, right? Yeah. Okay, good. And remember, he took this from a guy named Ben Ali Bey. So, ask me Ben Ali. So, it's Ali. So, he wore a long dark brown wig and a full beard, Egyptian headdress and a full white robe. A lot of that was just like Ali had, the dress and stuff. And he practiced black art. Will and Dot started calling themselves Mr. and Mrs. William Robinson, which made it easier to travel together and share a hotel room. Because if they weren't married, they couldn't share a hotel room? I think it's frowned upon at that time. Yeah.

Meanwhile, Bessie fell in love with another vaudeville performer, Hugh Lee. They also started telling people that they were married and they lived in Manhattan. Okay. Some real magic. Heinrich Keller was from Erie, Pennsylvania. He ran away from home when he was 11, sold dry goods, worked at a printing press. Oh, no, these aren't wet. And sold newspapers to Manhattan. Henry loved magic. He got a job as the magician's assistant at a place and learned the trade. I think I wrote that. That's not good. At age 18, Keller set out on his own. It didn't go well. He struggled. He lost all his money and ended up hopping on freight trains. Wow. And then he rolled into a town and convinced guys to give him free like printing

press and stuff to promote a show and said he'd get him on the back end. The back end being I'm gone. Yeah. In Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Yeah. Yeah. He pleased to play hockey there, actually. Yeah. Oh, yeah. He rented a hall on the second floor of a building and on stage, he realized that his small audience was made entirely up of creditors. Oh, God. So at intermission, he lowered his props out of the window on a rope shimmy down. He definitely whistled when you're doing this. Ran to the train station. Oh, without a doubt. All good. And Abracapocus. Oh, God damn it. He's probably gone. Still determined. Keller got a job. It's hard to throw a printing press on a

runaway freight train. Can't be easy. My back. Still determined. Keller got a job with the originators of the Seance Act. Learned their tricks and after two years, he set out again. He toured the South, Mexico and South America. He did two full world tours, making and losing fortunes on the way. Good Lord. Must have been fun, though. Yeah. Keller was a big man. By the 1880s, his light brown hair was almost gone and he had an oversized mustache. L. Frank Baum based the title character from the Wizard of Oz on Keller. Oh, wow. Keller did not like Herman. Okay. Thinking Herman was a pompous fake and this made Keller work harder to be the best. Okay. He was a solid showman, but not really a skillful musician. I mean, a magician. Okay. He had a he had thick

stubby fingers. Camping gun. No, you got to have slight of, you know, you got to have the quick movement. And then he's got like little fucking Trump hands bopping around and smashing into shit. Oh, wow. See the Dove's head. He performed. I see the Dove's head in your head. Damn you, numbs. Oh, God, damn it. Why do I have little nubbies? Just goes in all drunk to a doctor. Make a bigger. I don't care what you do. I use a hammer. Just make them bigger. I'm looking to have finger implants. I like them bigger, please. Pull them out, doc. Pull them out. Yank them, doc.

Uh, so I try to blow into his thumb like that weird trick. So he was always second best to Herman. Now, the success of black art brought will interest from both Herman and Keller. Okay. Herman then announced a new tour with his two new illusions, black art and le co con, which is also something else that was in will and dots act. Okay. It's cocaine, right? I didn't write it all down. There was a lot of descriptions of how they did their tricks. And sure, at some point that gets boring. Right. But it was basically it was basically just somebody was doing it. She was doing it. Dot was doing it. Dot was the one going in the le cocoon. Right. Okay. I think it's cocoon in French. So he basically just copied

this stuff from will's act. Keller then hired will and dot to do black art as well as work backstage on his show. Okay. So he's legit. Keller. Yeah. World tours lost and made millions, but he's up and coming still. Keller announced his tour of quote, the wonderful Keller monarch of the high class of prestigitation. Whoa. I don't know what that is. Prestigitation. This is before auto correct. Keller didn't like will's choice of name and ethnicity for the black art. Ahmed Ben Ali of Egypt was out and will was now Nana Shahib from India. Wow. He really got worse. Nana Shahib was billed as the East Indian necromancer in Oriental occultism. Oh my God. I mean, these are just so specific. Yeah, super. And what does that even mean? But I don't know,

but it's the same fucking act. He's just doing the same act. It's just a different name. That's a great way to do shit. People should change your name. Yeah. Yeah. It's changed the name of the album. When Herman and Keller were playing in the same city, Herman's tour manager found will and offered to double his salary if he left Keller and came to work for Herman. Keller heard about it and saw the tour manager trying again the next day with will on the street and Keller stormed across the street and knocked the manager to the ground. Wow. The manager looked up and said quote, oh, Keller, I'd be so glad to see you. Yeah, it's a weird. It's definitely a lie. It's definitely a weird. It's gotta be a lie, right? Oh, absolutely. I'd be so happy to see you. Keller responded,

you lie, you miserable, craving hearted Greek. This was apparently when the Greeks were bottom of the bar. Yeah. Come on. You're not glad to see me. And then he pulled them into the gutter. Get down there, you Greek. Yeah, Greek. You're blocking the gutter. Get in the sewer, you dirty Greek. Here's your fucking gyro. Here's your money, you Greek. We'll realize that America's two biggest magicians were literally fighting over him. Wow. Keller told the reporter quote, Herman is the most unprincipled man I've ever met. And I think he'd lie for a three cent piece. And to show my appreciation for Will Robinson, I raised his salary $75 a week, more than I paid him last year, or $15 more than Herman offered him.

Wow. Herman and Keller spent 1887 racing across the United States with their shows trying to outbook each other. But after two seasons with Keller, Will and Dot left to join Herman's show. They did it. Taking their black act. Wow. With them. Keller was just second best. Herman was the top dog and as a magician, Will was more fascinated by Herman because he didn't have stubby little fingers. Right. Oh, really? The stubbies were that bad. Yeah. I mean, it's not great. It's like he's doing magic with his toes. Sorry. Sorry, I dropped the wand again. Welcome to Johnny Toe implants. Magic Emporium. There was definitely a time, definitely a time where he said to someone intoxicated, you know, I just wish there was a trick to make my fingers bigger.

There's one trick I can't do. That's the one. You know, the biggest trick in my life is the one God played on these nubby little hands. So Hugh and Bessie Lee, right, his first wife, we're still working in Vaudeville, right? Mm hmm. But Elmore, Bessie's son with Will, didn't really fit into the new Lee family lifestyle. So they put Elmore in an orphanage. Oh my God. And that was the last Will saw of his son. Oh my God. That's just the way things work back then. Honey, I married this fella and we're not, we don't really see how you work in here. So you're going to go live with a priest and a bunch of boys. Sure, my mom was. Oh my God. Was. I can't imagine like making the. This is what happened to Babe Ruth. His parents just

put him in a fucking orphanage. It's so weird to do it after like, after they've sort of formed. Oh yeah. Babe Ruth was like, I think eight and his parents like, okay. Boy, I mean, how hard were they kicking themselves? Pretty hard. I mean, there are, you know, there's a lot of like famous people who have dad issues and don't talk to their deputy. You just got to be like, oh, I fuck this one up. Yeah. Oh boy. Like, you know, Eminem's dad's just sitting there, always like re-editing the letter that he's like, what if I did send it in? I just got it right. So Herman was a much more relaxed boss and magician than Keller. He shrugged off mistakes and his big

personality smoothed over any bumps in the performance. He spoke excellent English with the Parisian accent. His cast and crew lived far more luxuriously than Keller's. The best hotel was the finest restaurants. He spent lavishly on clothing, wine, silks, antiques, tobacco, and Madame Adelaide Harmon handled the business side of the show. Sounds pretty good. Dot became an invaluable part of the show. A Journal for Magicians proclaimed her. Dot could not do a lot of the performance without you. I feel like you didn't hear what I was about to say.

Sorry, starting it. A Journal for Magicians. Okay. I understand why you wanted to run that back. Wow. I heard the New Magicians journals now. Oh boy. You read the New Magicians. You read the New MJ. You're right. That got this new thing about a rabbit in a hat. Have you heard about this? Yeah, with the brass in the ass. I'm sorry?

You know, read in the back. There's Jeff and Brass in these rabbits now. It's a trick on a trick. A hat on a hat. So you take a rabbit out of a hat and you pull Brass out of the rabbit? Yeah. The only downside is the rabbit eyes for sure. So the Journal for Magicians proclaimed her the queen of assistance, pretty, graceful and quick and brains enough for two. So she's now getting written up in Magicians magazine. So she's big.

There is enough magicians at this time to make a Magicians magazine. Yeah. And she's queen of the Magicians. And she's the centerfold. Yeah. It's great. Look at this one. You can really put her in a box, Jimmy. Boy, that is so weird to imagine a time when people are like, whoa. So Herman often told her with imagination, with admiration, dot after ze mediu ze mold was broken.

It's actually they broke the mold. Abracadabra. The Robinson's famous Black Art Act was given a place of honor in the show. Of course. But Herman didn't like the stage name Keller had given for Will, Nana Shahib, or he didn't like the original Ahmed Ben Ali. So his new stage name. No, no more tweaking.

Became the wizard Abdul Khan. I've completely lost perspective as far as where things are getting more. No, hold the fuck on. I saw this act last year. This guy wasn't no wizard Abdul. He was the Ben Ali fella. He spent a year and a half tweaking and practicing a new title. It's the same guy with a different name.

Yes, but think of the title throughout it. It's the same thing. The title is totally different. No, but I can see the black guy walking around in back. It's the same thing. There's no squinting allowed during the show, sir. I saw the signs. There's no thievery or squinting.

I saw the signs. Open your goddamn eyes. Holy shit, you could really put that girl in a box, huh? Close them a little more. Will and Dot still plan to eventually go out on their own. So while the Hermons took summers off, Will and Dot performed working on new tricks. But Will was still very at ease on stage, very ill at ease on stage. Also, Will's teeth were small and discolored, which made him.

It's not great for a performer to when he smiles. Everyone's like, oh, God, there's a rat. Oh, God, you look like Herman's hand. Holy shit, there's like little rocks in there that are tiny. I guess don't worry. I've got a contingency plan. I'll just never be happy again. So he has not great hands and.

Wait, oh, this is the same. Oh, no, no, no. His hands are OK. Oh, OK. But no, he's got the weird teeth. So he never smiles on stage. He doesn't have a great personality. So he's lacking a personality and good teeth.

And the other guy has tiny little fingers. He's got the personality of his teeth. For reasons we don't know, early in 1892, Will left Herman and rejoined Keller. No one knows why. My mind games is he playing. The next year, an old friend of Will's, Zanzik. He knew from the early magic days. Like when they're open micers or whatever it is.

Oh my God, my old buddy Zanzik. Zanzik, you're fantastic. How the hell have you been? Hey, what's up? Are you still? Do you still fantastic? Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I'm still the fantastic Zanzik.

No, but are you doing fantastic? The fantastic thing? Are you well? Oh, you old kid. Poof, I'm gone. I knew you didn't go anywhere. Right here. It's a trick.

It's a smoke. Well done. Have you seen the thing where I pull a mattress out of a backpack? Uh, what? Yeah, nobody does that. It's not invented yet. Are you about to try to do future product placement during the podcast? Yeah, I'm going to pull a cast bet.

I have a backpack. And then some blue apron. So Zanzik approaches Will with a get rich quick plan. The plan is to open a spiritualist parlor in Chicago during the upcoming World's Fair. Genius. So he and Will rented a house and spent $5,000 tricking it out. There was a trap door, blank slates where chalk messages would appear, gauzy fabric that had been colored with phosphorescent paint

to float in front of black curtains. Zanzik also hired private detectives to find out information about the clients who came to get say answers. Well, Zanzik, are you possibly going a step too far, Zanzik? My. Hi. One of those was a wealthy old German businessman who came back for seance after seance and he paid very well. After being pushed, Will and Zanzik finally arranged to materialize

a vision of his dead wife. Oh, no. Oh, God. Well, I saw it on the next visit. Maybe I could talk to Diana in the. She's my wife and she's gone. In person. Do you want? Do you want?

I just like to communicate with the spirit. I'll pay anything. Oh, anything is like a thousand dollars is like anything. A thousand dollars. Yes, yes. Okay. They found a young woman who matched her description, draped her with gauze and put her in a darkened room.

Afterwards, the businessman said he would like to spend an hour with his wife's spirit. No. Alone. No, he just got comied. Alone. No. I say no. Zanzik negotiated a big fee, found a prostitute.

Oh, my God. What is happening? And put a bed in the seance room. Oh, my God. He's arranging for ghost banks. He's going to fuck his wife's ghost. What? That's the question.

The hardest I've ever come. But it's a funny story, actually. Oh, God. Don't let me. He really loved her in a pin. But I'm back stage of this. I can't. Hey, so, uh, the old man will pay top dollar if he can beg her.

Go find a prostitute real quick. And just like a cut a hole in the gauze and just running out there. Hey, ma'am, ma'am, ma'am, are you a sex worker? Yeah. Okay. I'm not German. Okay. Wait a minute.

No, no, no, no. You know, I, I, I stopped doing. I got a German. I stopped doing. I got a German. Okay. Okay. But I stopped.

I've got, I've got a German. I don't do the German stuff. I understand. It's not any of this. It's not regular German. Okay. I've got a German who's looking to have sex with his dead wife. You're a dead ringer for, I mean, you're a ringer for.

I mean, you'll do if there's a man completely draped in blackness that can sort of age you in this seance sort of setting. The point is, if you come back, you can get 10%. Please. Okay. Let this in, baby. Hey. Okay.

Hey, listen, I do Romanians. I've always done a Romanian. Okay. This, he's close to Romanian. Your name's not here. But this is a classic Romanian. We gotta move. We gotta move.

Okay. Okay. Put on your gauze. Hey, where are these gauze? So after, so they go for it, right? This is happening. They find. He does it?

So yeah, they get a prostitute. They put a bed in the sands room. They put her in it. The German goes in. And he's alone. He's alone with the spirit of his dead wife. This is a callback to like episode three. After a while, there was a scream from inside the room.

Oh, no. Will and Zanzik burst in to find the girl in tears. Oh, God. The old German man had had a heart attack during sex and was dead. Shut up. Yeah. What? He was so excited.

It was so great. He came in his heart. He came in his heart. The magicians dressed him up and carried the body to the street, hoping to drop it on the sidewalk. I mean, what the fuck? I thought they were magicians. Imagine if this was a movie you pitched.

They arranged for the German man to have sex with his dead wife in a moment's notice. Got a prostitute willing to have sex with him. Left him alone in a room with her. He died from anticipation of the sex. Yeah, but I don't think it was at moment's notice. I think they went and planned it out. Okay.

Other than that, yes. Still. You prepare. It's like when that dude had a heart attack during my set. You prepare for everything. And then someone's dying. So they take the dead body out, but they didn't realize the businessman had brought his servant.

And the servant saw it was happening and called police. And the cops came. Oh, are you going to be a dick about this? And Zanzik had to quickly explain the situation. Oh, officer, it's. Oh, this is very simple. I'm Zanzik. It's very.

And I will simply tell you what has happened. You see this German man wanted to sleep with his dead wife and died when he was about to sleep with a prostitute we'd hired who looked like her. And we were going to dispose of the body. My god, why don't you go look at H.H. Holmes house? Lord. So. They ended up paying off the cops.

Oh, my god. And then had to abandon the whole seance gig and flee town. Jesus. So we went back to working for. So everybody wins. Yeah. Except the German guy. Well, he kind of won.

Well, and them. So we went back to working for Keller and during a summer heat wave in 1894, Herman held a benefit to raise money to get ice to poor people all over New York City. It's pretty good. Yeah. The finale of the show was the back to those times. Was the marvelous bullet catching feet. Oh, boy.

Herman would catch six bullets fired from rifles. This trick is still considered to be the most dangerous magic trick there is. It dates back to the 1600s and was standard among magicians in the late 1800s. Herman only performed the bullet catch a few times in his career and only on special occasions. And you the illusion is that they're catching bullets. Yeah. In their hands.

Yeah. Well, our plate usually. But yeah, hands can be. Oh, they're blocking a bullet. Well, the idea is that someone shoots a bullet and they have something they catch it with. If not their hands, then a plate or whatever. One is very impressive. And one is a plate.

Well, you know, bullets usually go through plates. I don't know if you know. Just a regular plate. Yeah, a fucking porcelain plate. A porcelain plate. Yeah. OK. Well, all right. Will and Dot were in the audience.

I mean, it just sounds like a murder. What happened here? Well, officer, we just got to put a plate in the dude's hands after you shot him. And you're fine. He's trying to catch bullets. It's your classic magic trick gun run, officer. So Will and Dot were in the audience watching and they went back to Herman after a couple of months after the show.

So now they've gone back to Herman. They're really just. Yeah. Think up your mind. And again, there was a battle with Keller over bookings in cities. They plastered posters of each other's posters and had huge competing newspaper ads. Will started doing a great impression of Alexander Herman backstage

for the rest of the cast. Will was a great impressionist. And on December 3rd, 1895, Herman was performing at a theater in San Francisco. And at the exact same time, he was also a crosstown at Mechanics Pavilion, writing one of his stallions in a horse show. The newspapers reported on this insanely incredible feat,

a man in two places at the same time. The work of a master magician is what this was. It was actually Will performing magic in the theater doing an impression of Herman. Herman, he was so good that he could just mimic. Wow. While Herman rode around in a horse. And people are like, what?

So now he's done this amazing trick and everyone's mind is blown. Because he was in two places at once. Yeah. Seven. This is before that was proven to be crazy. Seven days later, Alexander Herman died at the age of 52. Whoa. Adelaide Herman tried to keep the show going.

She was now deep in debt. Will thought he'd be promoted to take over the show, but Adelaide wasn't interested. Instead, she hired Alexander's nephew, Leon Herman, to come to America and star on the show. He was a great double for Herman and soon took over. And Will was very upset. So Will and Dot tried to go it alone again.

But Will's exciting act now felt old fashioned and slow. Also, Will avoided speaking uncomfortable using his own voice. I mean, it's just like that is such a horrid affliction to have. And now the magician Blinky McMumbles. Now the Mime Gission. That is such a horrible. I mean, that would be such a terrible thing. He basically hated being himself on stage.

Yeah. That's why he was such a great mimic. He hated to hear himself. That's why he was a great mimic. Because if you hated to hear yourself, I mean, I'm obviously the opposite. But if you hated to hear yourself, his long experience as an assistant. And what will you be having, sir? Oh, it's there's a lovely decision from a school.

And some vodka. His long experience as an assistant had now ruined him as a magician. Will and Dot reluctantly returned to work for Madame Hermann, supervising backstage and working as assistants. Leon was a talented magician, but he didn't have the same spark that his uncle had. Audiences found him to be very cold. I mean, you know, it's it's not. And I'm not like, I guess maybe this was just before magicians could easily

veil their likability, because now it seems like it's pretty much just smiles and jazz hands. And you're like, oh, yeah, he's good. Yeah. In the summer of 1898, the Trans Mississippi Exposition World's Fair opened in Omaha, Nebraska. In the audience, in the Chinese auditorium, the Qinglu Fu troop of Oriental wonder workers performed each day. Sure. Well, no, no, no jokes there. No jokes there. The star was a tall, lanky magician named Qinglu Ling Fu.

In his signature trick, he produced from thin air a large porcelain basin filled with sloshing water and floating red apples. I mean, I want to see that one. Out of everything I read, that was the one I wanted to see. And now the sink. You know what I think I'm going to close with is the sink of floating water apples. Qingfu was raised near Peking and learned magic for foam when he was 30. Wow. So he's a late late late bloomer.

Yeah, late bloomer. He was a natural performer and was soon entertaining Chinese officials on prominent visiting Europeans. He spoke no English and learned to present his magic silently. Well, will. Well, that summer, the Herman show was also from China, who was also in Omaha. Fu watched Herman's show from a box near the stage. One of Leon's specialties was linking eight large metal rings into a chain. I think he said licking licking, not licking, licking would be way better.

This was considered to be an authentic Chinese trick in the United States. Okay. What does that mean? So all United States magicians thought the the linking of the rings was a Chinese magic trick. Okay, right. Gotcha. Leon pointed the trick directly at Fu when he was doing it and performed in an ostentatious grandstandy kind of way. So he's like showing off in front of look, man, I'm doing the Chinese trick. Yeah.

Fu watched coldly and did not applaud. Good. Imagine being able to watch magician tension. Like if you had a heads up on what the the subtext was of these moments. Oh, be the best. Oh, look at how vivid Fu is. Oh, my God. He is pissed off. Does not like the rings into a chain.

Oh, God, he just directed it at him. A few nights later, Fu did a show and this time the Herman party watched. Okay. Wow. So there's okay. Okay. Fu had eight linking. Oh, this is a quote from a guy who watched the show. Okay. Of Ching's eight.

Oh, man, it was nuts. They were staring at each other. This is Ching doing the linking rings trick. Okay. He tossed a ring high into the air, linking it on the fly as it fell. Fu rolled a ring on stage with backspin so it stopped and returned to him. This ring he linked while it was in motion. He then followed with an exhibition of linking rings beyond description.

Some in the air, some thrown from him and returning, some springing about the stage, all being linked and unlinked rapidly in the most marvelous manner. Then he suddenly suddenly stopped and uttered, bah, and then threw the rings backstage disgusted by the trick. Wait, who, this, who's this bystander, whoever you're like getting your quote from, you're like, but that's a really great quote. Thank you very much for that. That was very specific.

I think he wrote about it. So he just, so he, so he did an amazing, who did an amazing ring show. He was Lord of the Rings. But he also, at the end, he was like, I hate my rings. No, he was like, this is bullshit. This is beneath me. This isn't a good trick, even though I'm the master of it. He's basically calling Leon's trick bullshit.

I mean, he's saying you're a fucking shit magician. I mean, really the, the, what you need to gather from these magic tension. There was so much magic tension. I mean, so much magic tension. That's the sitcom title of these two. In New York, Will watched Foo's show and figured out how Foo did the bull trick, right, the big porcelain bull. Yeah, with the apples.

And taught himself how to do it. Will then realized he couldn't just present a Chinese act. He would need to be Chinese. What is going on? He, he needs to be Chinese. Like Foo, Will, Will would be silent. Oh, because of the silence, Will wants to be Chinese. Well, he just can't.

It's just the part of, it's the, another silver line. It's another upside to. No, I think that he, it's not even an upside. He just, I mean, it helps that he doesn't talk because the Chinese guy doesn't talk. But he, he knows, if he's in his mind, if he's doing a trick, it has to be associated with that ethnicity. My guess is you can't prepare yourself for that. Look, this is pure magic.

This is a guy who has integrity. So Will would be silent. He played the role much like he had for so many years, playing different parts in Herman's show. Will bought a black wig and had hair on top of the scalp that was long and braided. While the front portion was shaved, he darkened his face with grease paint, trimmed his already receding hairline and shaved off his long mustache. Will then hired a Chinese juggler named Prince Lee, Prince Fee Lung.

Is that an awkward hire? Oh, just so you know, my act, sorry, I probably should have, I should tell you this before we get to the venue next time, my act's a little different and, you know, I, I'm Chinese in the act and I basically just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just I basically do it. I'm sorry. Could you, what did you say? I'm Chinese in the act and it's a whole, oh, hold on, what, how are you, how are you

Chinese? I'm greasing up my face. I greased my face. I'm real good. And then I'm a Chinese. What, so we're fucking dirty? No, no, no, no, hey, oh my God. You're rubbing just dirt.

Hey, keep in mind who hired you asshole. Okay. How can I be racist when I'm hiring a Chinese guy? You're putting dirt on your face to be like me. Grease. Fuck you. Grease. I'm a Chinese.

Dirt. Dirt. Good. I have some integrity. Anyway, I shave my head. I do a whole squinting thing and I grease up the mug real quick. You do a what thing? What, I don't even know what I, what did I say?

Did I say fuck you? I think I said fuck you. Fuck you. Oh, I thought that was your name. I am so sorry. I am just the worst. I'm, I'm leaving. I'm leaving.

I'm, I don't work here. I don't want to work here. know of any other Chinese people who could help a fellow Chinaman like myself. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Let me put the grease on. Hello, remember me? It's me from before.

So Phi Lung, his specialty, was being suspended by a hook braided into his thick black pigtail and he would dangle over the stage while he juggled burning torches. I mean, that's the assistant? Yeah. Because you're saying that's a main act, shit. I'm saying that's headlining material. Since there were already Chinese magicians in America, Will got in contact with a Paris theater and on March 15th, 1900, Will, calling himself Hop Singh Lu, did his first show.

Lu's tricks were slow and unsteady. He messed up the finale, which was Fu's famous bowl of water trick. He sent water and apples splashing across the stage. The musicians in the pit ran from the water. The curtain fell. Will thought he had completely blown it. Well, thankfully he's not Will. But lucky.

Hop Singh's blown it. Lucky for him. A couple nights later, there was another show at the same theater. The closing bit included an actual bowl fight. There were flamenco dancers. It's not a magic show. There are flamenco dancers. It doesn't matter.

I'm not worried that it's a magic show. So bowl fight inside. I guess I put that together. I've read this so many times. It didn't face me. Yeah. No, it's not a magic show. There's bulls on stage.

Oh, a real bull. Oh, okay. Sorry. I thought they were real bulls. Okay. Keep going, bud. All right. Real bulls.

Having a bowl fight inside. All right. There were flamenco dancers, matadors, 60 actors and 25 live bulls. Hey. What? But a bull charged the railing between the show and the audience in the audience. The bulls weren't in control inside the theater. I guess there seems like there's a loophole here.

My biggest regret not sticking to 24. That one. That son of a bitch. I knew he was a loose cannon. The audience freaked out and stampeded. Why? Then bulls were banned from the stage. That's it.

I'm done with bulls. But what it did was it got all the PR on that, all the press on them, and then everyone forgot about the fact that he fucked up his magic trick. Of course. Oh, of course. So Will kept working and improved. Boy, that, I mean, that is, that's Gary Condon on 9-11. I mean, that, that is when you have really is, huh?

It really is. I mean, you're just, you, you are like sitting in the middle of the biggest pickle. Yeah. Only to see a larger pickle walk in like there's a new sheriff in town. It's the, it's just perfect timing. My life's over. My career. Bulls are attacking people.

In the theater. Inside tonight. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. He was probably back there stoking the bulls. Yeah, I would be. The theater manager demanded Will pick up a better, pick a better name than Hop Sing Liu.

I think we're pretty good. So Will chose Chung Ling Su, which was super close to the guy he was ripping off named Ching Ling Fu. Dot became Sui Xin. Next Will made his way to London. He was advertised as quote, Chung Ling Su, the great Chinese magician will make his first appearance in Europe tonight. He will perform his remarkable bull trick containing three pails of water and live ducks.

His fire juggling, angling and the forehand catching live goldfish in midair and a group of new feats never before seen in this country. I have a list of problems, but you're blowing the big finale trick. Why? Oh, he's saying exactly what happened. Well, the live ducks is fucking crazy addition. I'm totally in. Right.

But guys, if I can understand this correctly, a guy makes a pulse porcelain bath up here and there's ducks in it. That's, I'm fucking in. That's the greatest thing. I guess you're right. There's ducks. So, yeah. I mean, all you have to do is if you're going to do a magician show, a magic show, and I'm

around, if you just put there will be ducks, I'm going. You should go see my buddy, Daryl, there'll be ducks. That's his name? Yeah. Fuck him in. No ducks anymore. What? Yeah.

For the first time in his life, Will was comfortable on stage. Sue did not speak English, so Will could focus on the tricks instead of banter. Will didn't squint, grimace, or grunt the way a stereotypical Chinese performer was portrayed in West End comedy. Will gave Sue a natural grace and dignity. Chung Ling Sue became part of Will. He told the friend, quote, the moment I stepped upon the stage, I lose my identity and become Chung Ling Sue.

Good Lord. I mean. I, when I, let me tell you something. Yeah. So I get, I get my trunk, I get all my stuff, but when I walk on that stage, I am so Chinese. So did you say Chinese? What? Sticking with the time, that's the phrase they used, yeah, I was still in character.

I know. I had to pull out, excuse me. So, so this guy is getting a lot, I mean, yeah, no, he's, he's going full, he's going full. When you hear someone say that, you know, for the most part, I'm Chung Ling Sue on stage. But they really, they really use the term Chinese. I did. I cut it out a bunch.

They really use Chinese? Yeah. All the time. I cut, I think I took, I think I took them all out because at some point you get tired of saying that. Will had a successful three month run and found himself booked for months throughout Europe. He would never perform under his real name again. He signed his letters, Chung Ling Sue or Sue.

Friends and associates still call them Rob. I don't know Rob. I don't know why he's Rob. So weird. He got. That's why when Rob became Chung Ling, yeah, but his name's will will. I mean, I guess it's called Rob because his last name is Robinson. Okay.

Why do they call him Rob? His last name is Robinson, I guess, you know, he just hates the name will. So I, I just do it. I call him Chung Ling. I just go with it. He got right up some papers, weekly reporter wrote quote, his skin is yellow, his eyes are black and oblique and his teeth are absolutely inky as those of all true celestials of rank should be.

We just let that one slide. That's not good. Yeah, it's bad. We're bad. It's bad. It's bad. In papers. In papers.

Oh honey, you're not going to believe this article I just read. This man's greased up his face and his Chung Ling. Papers were told Sue did not speak a word of English. Questions were directed at Fee Lung who rephrased the question in perfect Chinese. Will would consider the question then let loose with a long string of mock Chinese Chinese gibberish. Shut up. So someone would ask a question in English, he would understand it.

He would have fake translation and then he would reply with gibberish that would be translate. Bang, fi, dong, gai, dai, like just horseshit crazy. Translating what he says. Well then the guy just makes something up. He says he's very happy. Yeah. He's tired from all the traveling. He's excited to be here and do the show.

It's fucking crazy. That is insane. In the summer of 1900 Will and Dot were riding on the top level of a bus when a man asked, excuse me, isn't your name Robinson? And he held out his hand. Nice to meet you. I'm Harry Houdini. Houdini and his wife, Bess, quickly became good friends with Will and Dot.

Dot and Bess were like sisters. As they toured, their paths kept crossing constantly. They found themselves working together in Berlin. In a letter, Will wrote to Houdini, quote, I'm not doing so bad for an old Chinaman. Oh my God. No. This. No.

No. It's just. He's so lost. No. There's no trap door in his mind. I'm not doing so bad for an old Chinaman, said the white guy. I have plenty to eat, plenty to wear, a place to sleep, and a few coppers put away for a rainy day.

Like most Chinaman, I've planned ahead. But then, you know. My people have grown from learning from trying times such as this. I actually don't know anything about Houdini really, but that means Houdini is totally cool with his buddy acting like he's Chinese. Well, but the whole thing is, what's so fucked is that it isn't crazy. It isn't crazy. It's not crazy at this time.

No, it's not at all crazy. It's not crazy. So. But at the same time. It's totally, it's totally messed up, but they still are living in a time where they've not made strides near close enough for someone to be like, it's not okay. To do this. I mean, talk about baby steps.

We are, we are weak. We like steps back too, but God damn, do we take baby steps? In 1903, Will's dad died and he returned to New York. In 1904, Mac Fee Lung left the show and was replaced by Fukado Kamatero, who was known as Frank. Sure. That's just because no one wanted to say his name. Well, no, I think it's about time.

I, my, what my hope would be is that offstage, he just acts like a stereotypical white guy. And he's like, yeah, I'm Frank, give me burgers. I'm Frank. Frank's specialty was the ladder of swords. He went up a ladder of swords with the sharp edges pointing up. Okay. That's fucking impressive. Is it?

Frank was Japanese, so the interviews became more complicated. Wait. Now, because don't tell me. The reporters asked questions in English. Frank then repeated them to Will in fake Chinese. In fake Chinese. So he's Japanese. So now he's pretending he's Chinese.

He's gibberish too. And then he would talk gibberish, Chinese to Will and then a will would respond in his own version of gibberish, Chinese and then Frank would nod and answer the question in English. What would you describe if a Chinese person was in the report? Oh my God. Uh, no questions today. Will returned to London as Sue in the spring of 1904 now with 14 in his company.

He made 1,075 pounds a week or $5,400. One of those tricks he did at the time was called condemned to death by the boxers, bullet catching trick. Five Chinese, five assistants dressed in Chinese armor and formed a line on the stage. Dot as Sui Sun took five lead bullets into the audience. It's getting normal. She took four or five lead bullets into the audience and asked that audience members scratch marks on them and the bullets were then loaded into the rifles, each soldier packing his

rifle with a black powder, the mark bullet and, and wadding and Chung Ling Su stood across the stage holding up a porcelain plate at arm's length. Frank would give the signals, the guns would shoot, the bullets would rattle against the porcelain plate and Sue would show the identifying scratch marks on the bullets the audience had made. The trick was considered very dangerous and he only performed it sporadically. How, how, but how does it work? Well, they just switched the bullets at some point before they put them in the gun.

What is in the gun? Just blanks? Oh, you'll find out. Oh. It'll come. So you do have a happy ending. In 1904, Qing Ling Fu arrived in London. Fu knew Su was really will and was not happy about it.

Good Lord. I mean, that sounds like Dr. Su's. Qing told the weekly dispatch that Chung Ling Su was not Chinese, but a, quote, foreign devil. He said he could actually smell that Su was a Westerner as the magician passed him in the theater. Wow. He smelled like round eyes.

Smells. Fu said that the robes Su wore were only worn by royalty, quote, he's not a Chinaman at all, but a Scotch American named Robinson, all Englishmen alike, all wear pretty clothes if they want. But Chinaman, no, Chinaman wear only what he allowed. He wears women's dress. Him one big fool. So they caught the, they didn't smooth out the language.

No, what would they know? Point out that he's crazy, not the Scotsman who's wearing kimonos calling them Chinese. The next day, Fu's manager made a challenge. Look at me, Magical. His manager offered £1,000 if Su could do 10 out of 20 of Fu's tricks. Okay. Okay. We're having a magic off.

Yes, I understand. So Fu's. Who I know, who? Fu's manager. Who, who, who? Okay. Fu's manager. Give Su a, well, Su's slash will a challenge.

That will, can't do. Any of the actual Chinese guys that act, 10 out of 20. I just guess that thing do. Yeah. I mean, it's not great that they, that he copied the name so much that. It's impossible. Yeah. Well, there was no other way for me to do it.

It's your fault. This asshole. So and then the other thing is if, if Fu failed to do just one of Su's tricks, then he would win the money also. So there's two parts of the challenge, either, either Will can't do 10 of his 20 tricks or Fu. He can't do one of his. Yeah.

So clearly he's a superior. Yeah. Um, Will agreed, but he was worried that if they met on stage that Fu would rip his wig off. Oh my God. So that's his fear in all of this. I just don't want him to know that the hair is not real. So he had his own claws.

There had to be a glass partition between the two of them so there could be no personal contact. By the way, it really says a lot about this story that when you said he had his own claws, I pictured actual. Yeah. Fuck yeah. Okay. That's what I meant.

We're going to get to that. Okay. The London newspapers had a field day quote with headlines, quote, did Fu fool Su? Oh God. Can Su Su Fu? Oh no. Oh God. Oh.

I can only imagine. Will needed a trick that Fu couldn't do. So he wired. I mean, it's impossible to not be rhyming. He wired Houdini to ask how to do his famous needle trick. In it, Houdini swallowed needles, then swallowed thread. He coughed, cleared his throat and pulled the end of the thread, bringing forth one needle after another.

Both men knew Fu wouldn't be able to do the trick. So Houdini quickly taught Rob the trick. The next morning, January 7th, he taught him via like, I think he, yeah, I think he explained it to him, but through via wire, telegram. Yeah. Must, must have been. I mean, once you, once you just keep swallowing, but you're the needles from before. Oh, I think I said needle in the wrong spot or ear.

Why don't you just take the paper, put your tummy. So Sue made a huge grand entrance driving down the street and dressed in Chinese clothes and waving to crowds who had gathered. He's in a big long red car, him and Dot waving and white people who are like, you're my favorite Chinese person seriously. At the weekly dispatch offices, he was taken into the room that was fitted for the challenge. Susat, sorry, Sue, Susat, it is like, it is like Dr. Seuss, Susat and didn't speak and waited after an hour of waiting.

The editor suggested that Sue start and Sue put on a show for the reporters. He did 10 Chinese tricks. And then at the end, the audience wildly applauded. Fu did not show will believed Fu had known he was going to perform the needle trick. And since he could not do it, he did not show. So somehow he figured out that will was going to do who do his trick and he bailed. So he knew that will had learned how to do. Yes, somehow.

Yeah. Sue won and greatly increased his reputation as a Chinese magician, even though he was a white guy. Two weeks later, he ran an ad quote. He said I couldn't, but I did the original Chung Ling Sue, who has been mystifying British audiences for the past five years was challenged by Ching Ling Fu from the Empire Theater. Chung Ling Sue, most successfully accomplished this challenger's tricks. The challenger and his money failed to put in an appearance and have not since been heard

of. Oh, sorry, Chung Ling Sue, the original Chinese, Chinese conger at the London hippodrome at the hippodrome. Yeah. I remember that from Tommy Cooper. Okay. But it's still like he said I couldn't do 50% of his tricks and I did. I'm half as good legally now.

Yeah. But he also, you know, if you wish for a challenge, you got a fucking yeah, you got a man on. So to the public, it seemed as if Fu, the actual Chinese guy was the imitator Chinese guy and his name, Ching Ling Fu, had been picked to capitalize on the successful Chung Ling Sue. Oh my God. Fu played for one month in London and then that was it. And then he went home to China and never returned to England.

So now Will is saying, Will's like the Chinese guy now. He's like the Chinese magician. Yeah. Well, I mean, yeah. Well, you know, I mean, it would be awful for Will to have to go back to his homeland. Scotland. Will and Dot were now known to many as Mr. and Mrs. Chung Ling Sue. Who?

Dot was devoted to Will. After 20 years together, they made it official. In March 1906, Will and Dot were married. Will claimed to be divorced, but he was not. He was still married to Bessie. What name did he marry under? Ching Ling. Shut up.

No, I don't know. But Will was a serial cheater and had many affairs. He kept touring as Chung Ling Sue. Well on tour in 1970, he had an affair with Louise Mary Blatchford, who her friends called Lou. She was 21. He was 44. Lou got pregnant.

Dot was not happy because she was married to the father. And she worried about their marriage and their joint career. Will bought a mansion in London for Lou. The house was so big, it had two addresses. And on February 3, 1908, Lou gave birth to a son, Ellsworth James. Will and Dot still went by Mr. Sue and Mrs. Sue, but their arrangement changed. Now Will paid Dot a weekly salary for her work. She moved in with Frank and his wife, and Will and Lou went by Mr. and Mrs. Robinson.

So he's going by, he's going, he's living a double life. He is now. I think he has more. Now Will is married to Lou and Sue is married to Mrs. Sue. What if someone sues someone? After the affair came out, Will's relationship with Houdini was very hurt. Houdini. Change your name to Lou Dean.

Houdini and Beth's missed Dot a lot. Will dropped some of the Chinese stuff. He started using less makeup and wearing Western clothes more. Hey, you know, I think I'm going to reduce the grease. Houdini started putting out a magazine for magicians called The Conjurer's Monthly. How many fucking magicians are there? Like how are you making this much money off of fucking monthly magician magazines? What is going on Conjurer's Monthly?

In it, Houdini attacked his rivals, praised his own shows, and rewrote history to favor his view of magic. I'm not sure what's happening. He also took jabs at Will's appearance, quote, Chung Ling Robinson, how are your teeth? No, you didn't. And let us know if that newly discovered tooth grower you have is worthy of publication. Oh, whoa. Houdini hinted that will neglected his family, quote, if W.E.

Robinson reads this paragraph or any of our readers should know of his address, kindly advise him to communicate with Edward W. Robinson. The folks are anxious to Houdini's fucking with him in his magazine. Houdini's trolling him. Houdini fell out ever more when Will became a strike breaker in 1907. Performers struck in a disagreement about Matt and A's and Sue and Sue was asked to work and he quickly responded that he was available if needed. But Sue made serious cash.

One day another magician noticed Will's pockets bulging with cash and he urged him to take it out and count it and he didn't total more than a thousand dollars. So he strike break and just fucking roll it in right flying high in 1909, Sue signed a profitable contracted tour Australia and New Zealand. Neil Carlton, a family friend, moved into the house with Lou and her child to help while Will was gone. On the tour were Will, Dodd, Frank, his family and six staff members and 75 tons of luggage. You're not.

Are you being serious? Yes. 75 tons. He has so many tricks now that he has. Davis. 75 tons. Yeah. Well, it's all fucking metal, right?

It's all how much metal comes out of a rabbit? A lot. Lots. Wow. The Australian tour was an amazing success. He made money, earned rave reviews and was treated as a star. Dodd was happy too. She had her husband to herself in Australia.

At the end of the tour, Will got a note from Lou. She was pregnant with a second child. Will was not pleased. According to the math, Will left in January and the baby was born in December. So it was very hard for Will to get Lou pregnant when he was in Australia. Maybe she just held it. Did you hear the noise? Will decided to hurry back to England, Neil Carlton continued to live with the family.

On March 10th, 1911, Lou had another baby girl, Mary. With Will gone so much, Neil Carlton basically served as the father figure in the house and the little boys even called him Papa. Okay. So this fucking- Everything's normal. This is the craziest, like this is batshit insane. You think? Will wouldn't return home on weekends if he was nearby, but he spent more time in the

workshop in the garden and less time with his family because they're not his family. Then on November 16th, 1912, Neil Carlton died of cancer at 58 years old. The Chungling Sioux Company was a big show and employed up to 25 people now. Lou was at home with the children. Will spent 16 weeks a year in London and then World War II hit. Will needed a strong, hard-working young men to work on a show, but many had listed. In October 1914, German Bob started falling down on London and blackouts hurt the theater business.

Will's contracts were based, he got a percentage of the box office, so he was fucked. So he got a cut. So he tries to go on a world tour, but he had to cancel that because he came down with acute dysentery in India. That is cute. When you get a cough of vacation for diarrhea, that's serious diarrhea. Dysentery. Yeah.

That's like double diarrhea. It's not good. I think that's what they call it. It's official definition. Double D. Oh, look, there it is. Double diarrhea. With the high turnover of wartime assistance, Will stopped putting in time to train them,

not knowing how long they'd last. Now, I know, that doesn't sound good, does it? It's pretty callous view. Now if there was a problem with the trick during a show, Will would just turn his back to the audience and reset it himself. Okay. Take two. Will always loaded the guns for the bullet trick alone in his dressing room.

Oh, boy. On March 23, 1918, it was the closing show in London, and near the end of his act, two 17-year-old assistants, Dan Crowley and Jack Grossman, picked up the prepared rifles and came onto the stage. It was time to perform the escape from the boxers, catch a bullet trick. They went through the usual rigmarole with the audience members and the bullets and the scratching it, and then the audience members put the bullets into the rifles. The two men paced 14 strides from Sue, raised the rifles and shot.

The plate fell from Sue's hands and shattered. He took several steps and slumped backward and said, Oh my God, something's happened. Lower the curtain. Oh, God. A pro. A pro. Such a pro. Curtains down.

I've been killed. Curtains down. Curtains down. I've been killed. Curtains. That's you want your last words to be, I think God's lowering the curtain on me. The curtain came down. A silent bioscope newsreel began flickering.

There's got to be one guy in there who's like, Well, I loved it. What a great ending. That closer. Will told Dot to get a doctor quick, three doctors came. Will was semi-conscious by that time. The bullet fractured the fifth rib. An exit wound was through the 11th rib, which protruded about four inches to the right above the spine.

Will was taken to a hospital and died at 4.55 a.m. Will Robinson, white guy, also known as Chung Ling Su, the marvelous Chinese conjurer, was dead at 56. Even his eulogy titles long. The newspapers printed sensational stories full of speculation. If it was an accident or a murder, was Dot the betrayed wife rather too friendly with Frank who Dini jumped into the discussion. He thought Will had used fake bullets as part of the trick, meaning someone could have submitted

a real bullet, which would have been murder. He wrote to Keller that there was, quote, something peculiar about the whole affair. Rumors then reported that while he, quote, was generally accepted as a genuine Chinaman, Sue, when do you think they stopped using Chinaman? I'd love to know the year they're like, let's not use Chinaman anymore. I'm guessing in the 60s. I think that's even being generous. Fuck.

Sue was, in fact, from Edinburgh or Aberdeen or Bolton or Liverpool or Manchester. Some British theatrical journals reported his place of birth as Philadelphia, which was close. The American theatrical journal Variety knew Will's real name and the fact that his act was copied from Ching Ling Fu. So they talked to people he knew in New York who spilled it. The public was shocked to learn that he was not Chinese. Oh my God.

What is the public? The public's the worst. What is the public good? I shouldn't say that, but still, it's always when it comes to the public. So there's these old Batman shows, the first Batman show, I think it's from the 50s or it might be earlier than that. It might be from the 40s. Not Adam West.

No, it was before Adam West. And there's a Chinese villain who's played by a white guy and they just use tape and they put it over his eyelids. I wonder if he did something like that. But either way, the fact that you don't know a guy is Chinese, but maybe they just, like they said they didn't see Chinese people, they're Chinese people all over the place. Here's the other thing. Asian roles are going to white people in movies still.

It's still astounding. Every year, there's three parts that go to a white person like whatever her name is. I'm a stone. I'm a stone. I'm a Hawaiian and then there's some other one recently where it's just like, and it's not, it really is just, I mean, I think that we're so much more aware in culture now of like, you know, we're so much less aware of like racism towards Asian people or Indian people.

It's like on the Oscars where they had the math joke. Yeah. You're allowed to like still poke the bear there where at least aware of the racism to some extent that exists with like, you know, black, I mean, at least more aware. Yeah. Like we're not doing a shit. We're not doing nearly enough to address it, but there's still, I think comedically and like an entertainment, you're still allowed to like take advantage of Asian culture and

appropriate it in a way that feels guiltless and I, and people don't seem to give a shit. No, they don't. I'm a camera crow. Oh, I thought we were done. I apologize. No. So Scott in the yard came in to examine the rifles. He had modified the guns so the barrel was blocked and the bullet wouldn't come out.

So basically they were putting the bullet in the barrel, but there's no way the bullet could come out because he, the deal was that the, the bullets never came. I mean, they, so, so what, what is fired is a blank and the bullets are trapped in the gun basically. That's how he had it set up. Gotcha. Okay. But he had done it so many times that the blanks were going off and, and weakening the hole

between the barrels or whatever it was, wherever the bullet went. So the blanks were actually causing a problem over time. He never replaced the guns. He wouldn't take them to a gun guy because he didn't want to even give away a secret. Actually a bullet shifted over. I think that gave away the secret and came out and then he was super dead. A Jew, a jury roll out an accident officially quote death by misadventure. That's all I wanted to know.

Well was buried in the family grave next to Neil Carlton's coffin. Put me next to the guy who banged my wife. Come on. He left one third of his life. I'm going to glare at him the whole time. He left one third of his life insurance to Dot two thirds and the rest of his state went to Lou and the children. Dot and Lou both tried to stage rival shows, but neither was successful.

The assistance who Dini saw an opportunity to make headlines. He announced that he'd be performing the bullet catching trick at a fundraiser. Keller wrote to Houdini pleading quote, don't try the damn bullet catching trick no matter how sure you may feel of its success. There is always the biggest kind of risk that some dog dog will job you. Please Harry, listen to your old friend Keller, who loves you as his own son and don't do it. Houdini canceled his plans to perform the bullet catching trick.

The real Chinese magician Ching Ling Fu died in China in 1922. That same year, Harry Keller died at his home in Los Angeles. In Canada, Houdini bragged about his ability to tighten his stomach muscles and withstand punches and an enthusiastic fan offered a flurry of blows that ruptured Houdini's appendix and he died on Halloween 1926. Dot died in November 13, 1934 of cancer. She was buried in the Robertson family plot just down the path in a cupboard from Alexander Herman.

Her grave is unmarked. So there are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 confirmed deaths starting in the 1500s of people dying from the bullet trick. Oh wait, 14, 15, 15. So it's actually an actually really dangerous trick. It's the leading cause of death and magicians. Just like, like you get, like you get, I get like, I totally get that a white guy could put on makeup and a movie and look Chinese.

But the fact that these people are sitting in a theater and there's a guy on fucking stage right in front of them and they're all acting like he's Chinese because he put grease paint on his face is the craziest fucking thing I've ever heard. Like what in the fuck is happening? No, there's, there is, you know, surely in 100 years we will, we are doing something that we are overtly racist or sexist or, you know, someist about that we don't fully recognize now. I mean, we know that to some extent, we just don't know what it is, but yeah, it's crazy.

I mean, it's crazy, you know, like the idea that you go to a like, you see it seeing it in your face. No, it's crazy. Being like, well, no questions here, obviously, Chinese humor, for sure. Oh, look how shiny he is. I mean, I was obviously Chinese. I mean, wow. I don't know.

I get it. I don't know. I get it. Yeah, we are just, we are just laughing at this stuff. We're insane. It's just too hard not to. That's just fucking crazy. The most famous Chinese magician was a white guy and he bested the actual Chinese guy who

then went back to China and was like, fuck this place. It's horseshit. Yeah. Yeah. And then he's like, I mean, yeah, it's and then it's like also like, I'm the victim. He's taking work out of my life. Yeah. I think that is the key, though.

I think that if you, it's just that if you pretend that you got screwed over a lot, then people will give you a little, it's like when you, you know, when you go like when you're waiting for a flight to board and someone gets up there for the seating group one and just causes a scene, they just let him on the plane because they're annoying as shit. Yeah. You know, same thing with taking your Chinese. Well, I'm just saying when it comes to racism, you know, it feels like we have no problem being bold and trying to cut in line.

We sign magicians. Thank you. That was a long one. It wasn't?