The Glorious Deception
By William Pack | Magician, Historian, and Educator, https://libraryprogramming.com/
By Henry Ridgely Evans - The Old and the New Magic 1906, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16326132Chung Ling Soo
(William Elsworth Robinson)
B. April 2, 1861 – D. March 24, 1918
William Robinson was regarded by his contemporaries as one of the most knowledgeable magicians in the profession. He was one of the world’s greatest magicians, creating deceptions that were beautiful masterpieces.
Robinson developed a childhood fascination with magic after reading Professor Hoffmann’s influential book, “Modern Magic.” For many years, he was (with his “wife,” Olive “Dot” Path) an onstage assistant for two of the most significant stage magicians of any era, Alexander Herrmann and Harry Kellar. More importantly, he was an important force behind the scenes, crafting many of Herrmann’s and Kellar’s finest tricks.
In Herrmann’s and Kellar’s shows, he began performing "black art illusions" under the name "Achmed Ben Ali.” The act and Robinson's new stage name closely resembled that of German magician Max Auzinger, who performed under the name "Ben Ali Bey.” Auzinger had never toured the United States, so the resemblance went largely unnoticed at the time.
Repeatedly, Robinson tried to develop his own show, each being a dismal failure. Frustratingly, he would frequently dress as his boss, Herrmann, and flawlessly perform Herrmann’s act—much to Herrmann’s surprise and delight. Yet, when he got onstage as himself, he became clumsy. He stammered and could not command an audience.
Yet, when he got onstage as himself,
he became clumsy.
He stammered and could not command an audience.
In 1898, Chinese magician Ching Ling Foo (Chee Ling Qua) brought his show to the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition in Omaha, Nebraska. Ching Ling Foo was born in Beijing on May 11, 1854, He studied traditional Chinese magic and was a well-respected performer in his homeland. His main performance consisted of producing an assortment of objects from under a cloth spread onto the stage, which had been shown freely to the audience. His most startling trick is the production of the immense bowl, which holds two pails of water and is said to weigh eighty pounds. The show would become a sensation. Ching Ling Foo was the first Chinese magician to achieve international fame.
While Ching Ling Foo was in New York for publicity, he offered a reward of $1,000 to anyone who could produce a bowl full of water like he did. He never meant to hold a contest, but William Robinson didn't know that. Robinson, who had watched Foo's act when he toured the United States and figured out how his illusions worked, accepted the challenge. However, Foo refused to meet him. The snub left Robinson upset.
In 1900, Robinson decided to capitalize on Ching Ling Foo’s success by reinventing himself as a Chinese magician. Robinson then began dressing in traditional Chinese attire, shaved his facial hair and his head, wore a fake pigtail, and darkened his skin with grease paint.
As Chung Ling Soo, Robinson scrupulously maintained his role as a Chinese man. He never spoke onstage, claiming that he spoke no English and always used an interpreter when he spoke to journalists. The interviews were a sham. When reporters asked a question, the interpreter would relay the information to Soo. He replied in a made-up nonsense language and the interpreter would pretend to translate the response back to the reporters. This deception went unnoticed by the reporters. Soo's Chinese wife, "Suee Seen," was his assistant/interpreter. "Suee Seen" was also Robinson's invention; in reality, she was Olive "Dot" Path, an American woman Robinson claimed was his wife. In fact, the two never married, as Robinson had never divorced his first wife, Bessie Smith.
As Chung Ling Soo, Robinson quickly became a popular stage magician in Europe and eventually became one of the highest-paid performers on the vaudeville circuit.
Ching Ling Foo was appalled at Robinson’s success. He publicly called Chung Ling Soo an imposter and became intent on publicly exposing him as such. To garner publicity, Foo's promoter publicly announced that he would duplicate at least half of Chung Ling Soo's illusions to prove that he was the real "Original Chinese Conjurer." Soo accepted the challenge and agreed to meet Foo at the offices of The Weekly Dispatch newspaper for a press conference. When Ching Ling Foo realized that the press was not interested in Chung Ling Soo's real identity, he backed out of the press conference and the challenge.
The episode was a public embarrassment for Ching Ling Foo. His refusal to show up caused the reporters to anoint the fraud William Robinson as the true and “Original Chinese Conjurer.”
Chung Ling Soo returned to America to great success. Unfortunately, success loves company, and his success spawned dozens of other dubious “Chinese” magicians. Some of those performers were respectful; many others were performing as ugly Chinese caricatures.
When Ching Ling Foo realized that the press was not interested in
Chung Ling Soo's
real identity,
he backed out of the press conference and the challenge.
Despite his genius at magic, William Robinson is best known for his untimely death.
On March 23, 1918, Robinson performed to almost two thousand spectators at the Wood Green Empire in North London. He was readying to perform his most dramatic illusion, his bullet-catching trick. Two audience members, soldiers, examined and marked the two bullets. The bullets were loaded into the barrels of two muzzle-loading rifles.
Robinson stood at one end of the stage holding a willow pattern plate. The two audience members stood several feet away, holding the guns. On cue, they took aim and fired. The sharp explosions echoed through the theater. The audience gasped. For a dozen years, Robinson’s plate would magically stop the bullets.
But on this night, Robinson flinched. He dropped the plate, which smashed on the stage floor. Then, he fell to the ground and said, "Oh my God. Something's happened.” It was the only time anyone had heard the Chinese magician speak English. His assistants ran to him, and the curtain was quickly lowered.
It was only with Monday morning’s newspaper that the world learned the truth. Chung Ling Soo was dead.
Then, he fell to the ground and said,
"Oh my God.
Something's happened.”
The inquest at the Wood Green Town Hall was a model of rational evidence. The guns were examined, and the truth was revealed. The trick guns were made not to fire from the main barrel in which the bullets were loaded, but a second barrel that held a blank. After years of use, the trick guns had developed a fault which, on this night also ignited the gunpowder in the main barrel and fired the bullet. The coroner deemed Robinson’s death a tragic accident, officially “death by misadventure.”
On Saturday March 30, 1918, William Robinson was buried in the family grave in the East Sheen Cemetery. Despite the heavy rain, there were dozens of mourners, including many magicians, theater managers, friends, and assistants from the show.
The title, The Glorious Deception, comes from the definitive biography of William Robinson by Jim Steinmeyer, “The Glorious Deception. The Double Life of William Robinson aka Chung Ling Soo, The ‘Marvelous Chinese Conjurer’”
