- John Henry Anderson
John Henry Anderson (1814 – 1874) was a professional magician, born in The Mearns,
Scotland . Anderson is credited with helping bring the art of magic from street performances intotheatres and presenting magic performances for the purpose to entertain and delight the audience.Orphan ed at the age of ten, Anderson started his career appearing on the stage with a traveling dramatic company in 1830. At seventeen, he began performing magic and in 1837, at the age of twenty-three, performed at the castle ofLord Panmure whose endorsement of Anderson inspired him to put a touring show together which lasted for three years. In 1840 Anderson settled inLondon , opening theNew Strand Theatre .Sir Walter Scott is said to have given him the stage name, The Great Wizard of the North.Anderson's success came from his extensive use of
advertising and popular shows which captivated his audience. The Wizard was committed tophilanthropy and expertshowmanship , making him one of the earliest magicians to attain a high level of world renown. Anderson declared: "It is the duty of all magicians to give entertainment," and he was not content to perform anillusion to simply demonstrate that he could accomplish something that the audience could not explain. If the effect was not enthusiastically received, Anderson would remove it from his act. Anderson is famous for a lifetime of successful performances of thebullet catch illusion. Although he did not invent the trick, he made it widely popular and several of his rivals copied Anderson's version in their own shows.In 1842, Anderson married Hannah Longherst from
Aberdeen , an assistant with his show. The following year their son, John Henry Jr. was born. In 1845, Anderson's mistress Miss Prentice gave birth to Philip Prentice Anderson, but died inchildbirth . Anderson, however, supported the child for its entire life. Anderson would also have two daughters who assisted in their father's show and later became successful magicians, and a secondillegitimate son through a member of his touring troupe.1845 also saw the completion of Anderson's second theatre, the
City Theatre inGlasgow . In November, only four months after opening, the theatre burned and Anderson's financial losses were considerable. Through the aid of his showbusiness friends, Anderson was able to launch a new show at London'sCovent Garden Theatre in 1846 and then touredEurope the following year, traveling toHamburg ,Stockholm , and lastlySt. Petersburg where he metCzar Nicholas who arranged a command performance for Anderson after an awkward chance meeting.In 1849, Anderson returned to London to perform for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The following year, Anderson toured America,
Canada ,Australia , andHawaii . Upon returning to Britain, Anderson found that he had a rival in fellow magicianRobert Houdin so he returned to America in 1853 and performed inBoston . An illusion involving Anderson's dispensing of variousalcohol ic beverages to the audience caused a legal controversy regarding temperance in that city.In 1854, John Henry held a farewell performance in Aberdeen. The success of this show was enough to inspire Anderson not to retire. Rather, he began to concentrate his efforts to exposing Spiritualism fraud. In his shows, he used his daughters to duplicate spiritualist effects. Anderson was one of the magicians of his day who exposed the
fraud s of theDavenport Brothers . The show played at theLyceum in London and then moved toCovent Garden in 1855. The following year, after a gala performance, the theatre caught fire destroying all of Anderson's properties, bankrupting him for the second time in his professional career.In 1859, after a brief period as an
actor , Anderson began another world tour. In 1862, at the age of eighteen, John Henry Jr. left his father's troupe and began his own independent career as aconjuror . This started a bitter feud between father and son and the two never spoke again. Greatly in debt, Anderson returned toEngland in 1864. He would tour once more in 1866.Anderson died in 1874. He was buried next to his mother in Aberdeen. Magician
Harry Houdini , who was born in the same year as Anderson's death, revered Anderson one of his inspirations and in 1909 arranged for the upkeep of the gravesite which had fallen into disrepair.References
*Hay, Harry. "Cyclopedia of Magic". (1949) ISBN 0-486-21808-2
*Randi, James. "Conjuring". (1992) ISBN 0-312-09771-9
*Obituary, "New York Times", 5 February 1874, p. 2External links
* [http://www.youngwizards.com/ErrantryWiki/index.php/Anderson%2C_John_Henry] --
Diane Duane 's Errantry Concordance entry, "claiming" he was actually a practicing wizard using stage magic as cover
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