pages: unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf, 166
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unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 166 | THE OBEDIENT CARDS city of the world, and, when so inclined, built his own theatres. He sold books on magic during his own per- formances, and would sell any trick he presented for a nominal sum. His most unique advertising dodge was to offer $500 in gold as prizes for the best conundrums written by spectators during his performances. To make this scheme more effective, he carried with him his own printing-press and set it up back of the scenes. While the performance was under way, the conundrums handed in by the spectators were printed, and, after the performance, any one might buy a sheet of the questions and puns at the door. As every one naturally wanted to see his conundrum in print, Anderson sold millions of these bits of paper. In 1852, while playing at Metropolitan Hall, New York City, he advertised his conundrum con- test and sold his book of tricks, etc., and such notables as Jenny Lind and General Kossuth entered conundrums. He was among the first performers to expose the Daven- port Brothers, whose spiritualistic tricks and rope-tying had astonished America. Directly on witnessing a per- formance and solving their methods, Anderson hurried back to England and exposed the tricks. To sum up his history, he stands unique in the annals of magic as a doer of daring things. He rushed into print on the slightest pretext, was a hard fighter with his rivals and aired his quarrels in the press, and he was a game loser when trouble came his way. Not a brilliant actor or performer, he yet had the gift of securing excellent effects in his mise en scènc. He made and lost several fortunes, generally recouping as quickly as he lost. He was burned out several times, the most notable fire being [149] |