John Nevil Maskelyne (1839 - 1917) was a British stage magician and inventor of the pay toilet as well as many other important Victorian inventions. In the 19th century, Maskelyne invented a lock for London toilets which required a penny to operate, hence the euphemism "spend a penny". [1] He was born in Cheltenham on 22 December 1839 and died in 1917 and was a descendant of Nevil Maskelyne, the Astronomer Royal.[2] Maskelyne first became interested in conjuring after watching a performance of the fraudulent spiritualists, the Davenport Brothers. He saw how their spirit cabinet worked and stated in the theatre that he could recreate their act using no supernatural methods. With the help of friend and cabinet maker George Alfred Cooke, he built a spirit cabinet. Together, they exposed the Davenport Brothers to the public at a show in Cheltenham in June 1865. Inspired by the acclaim they received in Cheltenham the two men decided to become professional magicians. At first they struggled to make ends meet but they were saved by a 27-year-old theatrical agent named William Morton, who saw their show in Liverpool and offered to finance a tour. Morton ended up as their manager for twenty years and helped them become firmly established on the national stage, including residencies such as their famous tenancy at the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly from 1873 to 1904. [3] Maskelyne and Cooke invented many tricks still used today. Maskelyne was adept at working out the principles of illusions, one of his best-known being levitation. Levitation is commonly, incorrectly, said to be Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin's illusion, but it was Maskelyne who invented it.[4] The confusion arises because Robert-Houdin invented the illusion La Suspension Ethéréene (aka. the "Broom Suspension").[5][6] Levitation is also credited to American magician Harry Kellar, who in fact stole the illusion by bribing Maskelyne's technician, Paul Valadon. Upon Cooke's death in February 1905, Maskelyne started a partnership with David Devant. Devant had first joined Maskelyne's team in 1893, when he auditioned as a replacement for Charles Morritt, a conjurer and inventor who had worked with Makelyne at the Egyptian Hall but who left to set up his own show.[7] Maskelyne was a member of The Magic Circle and, like Harry Houdini, tried to dispel the notion of supernatural powers. To this end, in 1914, Maskelyne founded the Occult Committee whose remit was to "investigate claims to supernatural power and to expose fraud". In particular, the committee attempted to prove that the Indian Rope Trick has never been performed.[1]
Family
Maskelyne was the father of Nevil Maskelyne, and the grandfather of Jasper Maskelyne, both noted magicians.
References
- ^ a b Lamont, Peter (2004). The Rise of the Indian Rope Trick, (The Biography of a Legend), 1, Time Warner Books. ISBN 0-316-72430-0.
- ^ Who's Who of Victorian Cinema. John Nevil Maskelyne - British magician and illusionist. Retrieved on 2006-06-04.
- ^ Dawes, Edwin (1979), The Great Illusionists, Chartwell Books Inc., p. 157-159
- ^ Dawes, Edwin (1979), The Great Illusionists, Chartwell Books Inc., p. 161
- ^ Dawes, Edwin (1979), The Great Illusionists, Chartwell Books Inc., p. 81
- ^ Brief Biographies of Magican Inventors - page Q-R-S. magicnook.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
- ^ Dawes, Edwin (1979), The Great Illusionists, Chartwell Books Inc., p. 167
