Josef P. Freud (also known as Joseffy) (3 March 1873 – 26 May 1946) was a
Viennese Viennese may refer to:
* Vienna, the capital of Austria
* Viennese people, List of people from Vienna
* Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna
* Music of Vienna, musical styles in the city
* Viennese Waltz, genre of ballroom dance
* V ...
magician
Magician or The Magician may refer to:
Performers
* A practitioner of magic (supernatural)
* A practitioner of magic (illusion)
* Magician (fantasy), a character in a fictional fantasy context
Entertainment
Books
* ''The Magician'', an 18th-ce ...
.
Life
Joseffy came to the United States of America at the age of 19 where he worked at a Chicago Magic Store, building props and
illusions
An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people.
Illusions may oc ...
. He invented a self-contained, no-thread version of The Rising Cards that astounded magicians of his day.
One of his mechanical creations was "Balsamo, the
Living Skull".
Joseffy was a performer at
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...
as the
Chautauqua
Chautauqua ( ) was an adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua bro ...
&
Lyceum
The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the th ...
headliner, and also played violin.
The American poet
Carl Sandburg
Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg ...
wrote a promotional booklet entitled simply ''Joseffy'' (1910).
Joseffy eventually stopped performing and became an electrical engineer.
Literature
* ''The Marvelous Creations of Joseffy'' by
David Abbott (1908)
Being very secretive about his inventions, it's been stated that in his book, ''The Marvelous Creations of Joseffy'' by David P. Abbott (1908), he either faked the photographs or showed apparatus that he did not actually use in the tricks to mislead the readers to the genuine secrets.
See also
*
List of magicians
This is a list of magicians/illusionists, prestidigitators, mentalists, escapologists, and other practitioners of stage magic. For the list of supernatural magicians, see List of occultists.
Magicians are listed by the most common name used in ...
*
Card magic
Card manipulation is the branch of magic that deals with creating effects using sleight of hand techniques involving playing cards. Card manipulation is often used in magical performances, especially in close-up, parlor, and street magic. Some ...
References
External links
*
Chautauqua & Lyceum Magicians
Austrian magicians
1873 births
1946 deaths
Card magic
Vaudeville performers
Entertainers from Vienna
Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States
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