pages: unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf, 341
This data as json
path | page | folder | text |
---|---|---|---|
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf | 341 | THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN "Unfortunately for the Wizard, his performances were attacked by a mortal disease; too long a stay in London had ended by producing satiety. Besides, his repertory was out-of-date, and could not contend against the new tricks which I was offering. What could he present to the public in opposition to the second sight, the suspen- sion, and the inexhaustible bottle Hence he was obliged to close his theatre and start for the provinces, where he managed, as usual, to make excellent receipts, owing to his powerful means of notoriety." In the first place, Robert Houdin insinuates that when they played in opposition John Henry Anderson's réper- toire was stale and uninteresting. Is it possible that Robert-Houdin could not read Anderson's bills, or were his statements deliberate falsehoods, emanating from a malicious, wilful desire to injure Anderson ? What did Anderson have to offer in opposition to Robert- Houdin's nuch-vaunted Suspension, Second Sight, and Inexhaustible Bottle ? Consult the Anderson programme, reproduced, and you will find that the great Wizard of the North duplicated the French conjurer's répertoire. "The Ethereal Suspension" of Robert-Houdin's programme was "Suspension Chloroforeene" on Anderson's. Second Sight appeared on both bills. "The Inexhaustible Bottle" had wisely been dropped by Anderson because he had been using it in one form or another for ten years preced- ing the date of Robert-Houdin's appearance in London, as is proven in chapter IX. of this book. Therefore, if Anderson's programme was passé and uninteresting, so also must have been the one offered by Robert-Houdin! [312] |