Book Review

Book Review

King Of the Conjurers: Memoirs of Robert-Houdin

by Robert-Houdin

     Harry Houdini has rightfully earned the reputation for being the most prestigious stage magician of the modern era. Not as many people know of his predecessor and inspiration, the man who lent him his name, Robert-Houdin. King Of the Conjurers: Memoirs of Robert-Houdin had a significant impact on the young Harry Houdini. It is an entertaining autobiography that gives us a nice glimpse into the mind of a man who could be considered the grandfather of modern conjuring.

     In simple prose, Robert-Houdin describes his childhood in Blois, France during the early 19^th century. The son of a watchmaker, he developed an early interest in mechanics. In one memorable passage, the young boy gets reprimanded at boarding school for trapping mice and rats which he hooks up to miniature farm tools he created for fun during his spare time. This fascination would later spark his interest in building automata (if you know nothing about this, look it up on Youtube since it is very interesting).

     Robert-Houdin also writes of how he develops his fascination for stage magic, also known in his day as prestidigitation, a word he claimed to have coined himself, though like many of the claims in this book, the authenticity is in dispute by historians. His early encounter with a street-performer and con-artist is one good story and another is how he met up with Torrini, a traveling conjurer who had a great influence on the young man and helped him get started in his career. The stories with the life story of Torrini and his assistant Antonio is one of the great parts of this narrative.

     As he goes on, Robert-Houdin gives details about how he developed his stage act, how he built on his previous performances and developed new tricks. His early encounters with strange people, sleazy businessmen, and unruly crowds were learning experiences for him. Along the way he learns the art of publicity and builds his reputation to a fine crescendo. Meanwhile he gives descriptions of his tricks and how the audience responds; this is a little disappointing at first because he explains how a lot of the illusions are created. Magic is a lot more fun when we agree to allow ourselves to be deceived since the secrets of the trade make the fascination of illusion disappear.

     As the life story goes on, Robert-Houdin reveals less and less of his secrets. Meanwhile his reputation grows to the point where King Louis XVIII of France and Queen Victoria of England demand private performances. The story climaxes when, after retirement in old age, the French colonial authority summons him to tour Algeria to perform for the Muslim tribal leaders. This is a very politically incorrect passage. The whole purpose of his tour is to prove that the supernatural powers of French magicians are superior to the performances give by the traditional Algerian magicians called Aissaoua. Without a trace of guilt in his conscience, Robert-Houdin sets out to assist in proving to the Arabs of North Africa that the French are superior to them in every way.

     Robert-Houdin’s writing style is sometimes good and sometimes lacking. The prose moves along in a consistently even-handed and gentle pace. However, there are times when these memoirs could benefit from more description. This is especially true when he describes his automata. He probably wrote this book without the knowledge that this art form would eventually fade into obscurity so that most readers of our time would not know enough about them to really get what he was describing. His descriptions of other people in his life could use some enhancement as well. In a strange way, the characters don’t come off as two-dimensional the way people in genre fiction do. Instead they seem like three-dimensional people whose third dimension is hidden; as a reader, you know it is there but you just can’t see it. Maybe it is like a painting by Edouard Manet who worked with the concept of fitting three spatial dimensions into the two-dimensional space of a canvas. The spatial surfaces and depths interplay in a way that forces you to shift your perceptions. But Manet did this intentionally and in terms of writing style it makes some characters seem flimsy and incomplete.

     A lot of what Robert-Houdin wrote in King Of the Conjurers may not be one hundred percent accurate. There is no doubt he took some literary license and gave himself credit for tricks he stole from other magicians. This should not stop you from reading it. It is an entertaining story nonetheless. Like a member of the audience at a theater, it is most rewarding if you agree to play along with the magician’s game and just accept the illusions as they are. 

Robert-Houdin. King Of the Conjurers: Memoirs of Robert-Houdin. Dover Publications Inc., New York: 1964.