Magic at War

František Hladík (or Frank Hladík), known professionally as ' Verdini', was born near Tabor in Czec hoslovakia on 11 August, 1909. He discovered magic early in his life and joined a magic club run by Viktor Ponrepo, a Czech magician and a cinema pioneer. Making an impressive debut, Hladík performed his first professional engagement, 18-years old, at the Grand Theatre  in his country's capital city, Prague. By 1939, Hladík was an established performer, with over a decade of experience as a comedy magician. When World War Two started, he was touring his native land, appearing in a cabaret show called  Magic Lope .  But, on 15 March of that year, Hitler's armed forces invaded Czechoslovakia.  Adolf Hitler at Prague Castle,  Czechoslovakia (Source: Public domain) In the weeks that followed the occupation, thousands of Czechs left their country, most of them escaping to neighbouring Poland.  Czechoslovakia's politicians chose not to resist the Ger...

A double-bill blog post, telling the stories of V.J. Astor and Yrus, two magicians who were captured during World War Two and who managed to escape and make it back home. V. J. Astor Hungarian Victor Jamnitzky (1922-2011) became interested in magic aged 8, but was persuaded to pursue a career in medicine by his father. He began to study medicine in Budapest in 1941, working part-time at a theatre to pay for his studies. But, his passion for magic prevailed and he dropped out of university. He passed a state examination to become a registered artiste and starting working as a magician full-time.  Adopting the stage name 'Nicoletti', Jamnitzky enjoyed early success, touring central Europe, including bookings at Berlin's prestigious Wintergarten and Scala variety theatres.  In 1944, fearing Hungary might conclude a separate peace with the Allies, Hitler's Germany occupied Jamnitzky's home country. At the same time, the Soviets were advancing towards Hungary's borde...

This is the amazing survival story of Miss Blanche (aka Ruth Iris Wachsmann) who was one of the leading female magicians in pre-war Europe. An expert manipulator, she headlined in venues across the continent, until war intervened... Ruth Iris Wachsmann was a German Jew. Born in Berlin on 1 September 1910, she first trained as a ballerina. In her mid-teens, after seeing a performance by Austro-Hungarian magician Larette (Cornelius Hauer), she switched from dancing to magic. Wachsmann became Larette's student, and she learned the art of manipulation. She could manipulate billiard balls and playing cards, but showed special aptitude for cigarette manipulation. Miss Blanche, performing cigarette manipulation, 1936 (Source: Artefake) Inspired by a brand of cigarettes designed to appeal to female smokers by the Rotterdam-based Vittoria Egyptian Cigarette Company, she adopted the stage name Miss Blanche. Larette was sponsored by Miss Blanche cigarettes and helped promote Wachsmann as anot...

MAGICIAN INVENTS DAY-GLO COLOURS. In 1934, in the middle of the Great Depression, a nineteen-year-old American university student was working a summer job at a tomato quality control laboratory, when he fell and was knocked unconscious.  Months later, Robert 'Bob' Switzer awoke from a coma with blurred vision.  To continue his recuperation, Bob's doctor recommended avoiding bright light. Acting on this advice, Switzer's father, a pharmacist, turned his shop’s basement into a darkroom. One day, Bob was playing with an ultraviolet light with his younger brother Joseph. The pair noticed that the some of the organic compounds in his father storeroom glowed brightly under the ultraviolet light. Intrigued, the pair started experimenting with the chemicals, especially with Murine eye wash. They found that by mixing it with an alcohol solution of white shellac paint, they could make a fluorescent yellow paint. The compound appeared white to the naked eye, but under a U.V. light...