Joseph Dunninger (April 28, 1892 – March 9, 1975), known as "The Amazing Dunninger", was one of the most famous and proficient mentalists of all time. He was one of the pioneer performers of magic on

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transm ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

. A debunker of fraudulent mediums, Dunninger claimed to replicate through trickery all spiritualist phenomena. Drury, Nevill. (2004). ''The Dictionary of the Esoteric: Over 3000 Entries on the Mystical and Occult''. Watkins Publishing. p. 81.

Biography

Dunninger was born in New York City. He headlined throughout the Keith-Orpheum Circuit, and was much in demand for private entertainment. At the age of seventeen he was invited to perform at the home of

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

in Oyster Bay and at the home of the inventor

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These invent ...

, both of whom were avid admirers of Dunninger. President Franklin D. Roosevelt invited Dunninger to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...

on a number of occasions to demonstrate his mentalist skills.Samuel, Lawrence R. (2011). ''Supernatural America: A Cultural History''. ABC-CLIO. pp. 48–51. Dunninger was a debunker of fraudulent mediums. He claimed to replicate through trickery all spiritualist phenomena. He wrote the book ''Inside the Medium's Cabinet'' (1935) which exposed the tricks of mediumship. He also exposed how the indian rope trick could be performed by camera trickery. In 1935, Dunninger attended a séance of the fraudulent medium Emerson Gilbert. His testimony was used in court against the medium. Dunninger had a standing offer of $10,000 to anyone who could prove that he used confederates or "stooges." Through ''Scientific American'' magazine and his own organization the Universal Council for Psychic Research he also made an offer to any medium who could produce by

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, ...

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

means any physical phenomena that he could not duplicate or explain by natural means. No medium ever won the reward. According to Dunninger "through all these long years, I have sought good honest ghosts, phantoms, spirits, astral beings, banshees, fays, wee folk, apparitions, fetches—the whole pack and passel of the unsubstantial world—and I have always been able to prove them frauds." He was a good friend to many notables in the magic community including

Harry Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...

, Francis

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and Tony Slydini. He maintained a lifelong friendship with author of ''

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator, and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by writer Walter ...

'', Walter B. Gibson, who guest wrote or cowrote a number of books for Dunninger on magic, psychic phenomena and spiritualism. In 1937, Max Holden considered "Dunninger the foremost magician and showman of the present day". He acted as technical adviser as just "Dunninger" in the 1953 biopic film '' Houdini'' starring Tony Curtis in the title role. Dunninger appeared on radio starting in the 1920s, and had his own weekly show in 1943. In 1948, Dunninger and

Paul Winchell Paul Winchell ('' né'' Wilchinsky; December 21, 1922 – June 24, 2005) was an American actor, comedian, humanitarian, inventor and ventriloquist whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1950 to 1954, he hosted ''The Paul Winchell ...

were featured on ''Floor Show'' on NBC TV. Recorded via

kinescope Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940 ...

and replayed on WNBQ-TV in Chicago, Illinois, the 8:30–9 pm Central Time show on Thursdays was the station's first mid-week program. He was featured on television frequently in the 1950s and 1960s. During the ‘50s and ‘60s his name was used as the basis for two recurring comedic characters, "The Amazing Dillinger" played by Johnny Carson on '' The Johnny Carson Show'' in 1955; and "Gunninger the Mentalist" on a

show hosted by the

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audience dir ...

Soupy Sales. On the '' I Love Lucy'' episode "Ricky's European Booking" (Season 5, episode 10) after Fred Mertz accurately predicts Lucy's excited reaction to Ricky's new booking, he gets a big laugh when he brags to Ricky "Just call me Dunninger." In "Now You See Him" an episode of the television classic, "Columbo" involving magic, of a trick, protagonist Jack Cassidy says, "It's an old stand by... Dunninger used it in his act". He died of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

at his home in Cliffside Park, New Jersey.Staff
"Dunninger Dies; Magician was 82; Billed Himself as 'Master Mind of Mental Mystery'"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', March 10, 1975. Accessed March 22, 2011. "Joseph Dunninger, who mystified millions as a magician and mind-reader for more than half a century, died yesterday of Parkinson's disease at his home in Cliffside Park, N.J."

Works

Dunninger self-published many of his works, and others were published by inventor Hugo Gernsback. He also wrote articles in '' Science and Invention'', '' Mechanix Illustrated'', ''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (sometimes PM or PopMech) is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do-it-yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation and transportation o ...

'', '' Fate'', '' Atlantic Monthly'', and other magazines. Many of these articles were ghostwritten by Walter B. Gibson. Articles
''Popular Magic''
'' Modern Mechanix'' (May, 1938)
''Spiritualism A Psychic Investigator Exposes Mediums Frauds''
''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'' (June, 1941) Books * ''Dunninger's Tricks De Luxe'' (1918) * ''Dunninger's Tricks Unique'' (1918) * ''Dunninger's Master Methods of Hypnotism'' (1923) * ''Popular Magic'' (1926) * ''Universal Second Sight Mysteries'' (1927) * ''Houdini's Spirit Exposes and Dunninger's Psychical Investigations'' (1928) * ''Popular Magic Vol. II'' (1929) * ''Popular Magic and Card Tricks'' (1929) * ''Dunninger on Hypnotism'' (1930s)
''Inside the Medium's Cabinet''
(1935) * ''How to Make a Ghost Walk'' (1936) * "Here's fun for young and old! Dunningers magic tricks" (1940) * ''What's On Your Mind'' (1944) * ''100 Houdini Tricks You Can Do'' (1954) * ''The Art of Thought Reading'' (1956) * ''Magic and Mystery: The Incredible Psychic Investigations of Houdini and Dunninger'' (1967) * ''Dunninger's Complete Encyclopedia of Magic'' (1967) * ''Dunninger's Secrets as told to Walter Gibson'' (1974) * ''Dunninger's Monument to Magic'' (1974) * ''Dunninger's Book of Magic'' (1979)

Gallery

Image:Joseph Dunninger young.png, A young Dunninger Image:Joseph Dunninger slate writing.png, Dunninger exposing

slate writing Automatic writing, also called psychography, is a claimed psychic ability allowing a person to produce written words without consciously writing. Practitioners engage in automatic writing by holding a writing instrument and allowing alleged spiri ...

trickery Image:Joseph Dunninger table trick.png, Dunninger demonstrating a

table-tilting Table-turning (also known as table-tapping, table-tipping or table-tilting) is a type of séance in which participants sit around a table, place their hands on it, and wait for rotations. The table was purportedly made to serve as a means of comm ...

trick Image:Joseph Dunninger the magician.png, Dunninger with equipment used to duplicate the tricks of spiritualist mediums. A portable wireless set is strapped to his back Image:Joseph Dunninger spirit molds.png, Dunninger making fake "spirit" hand molds Image:Joseph Dunninger 1956.png, Dunninger in 1956

References

External links

*
Digital Deli Too on 'The Dunninger the Mentalist Radio Programs'

Two audio streams, via noonco.com
*
itricks article
including (unsourced) list of surviving shows
How Magician Tricks The Fake Mediums

Joseph Dunninger posters
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunninger, Joseph 1892 births 1975 deaths American magicians American skeptics Critics of parapsychology Deaths from Parkinson's disease Neurological disease deaths in New Jersey Mentalists People from Cliffside Park, New Jersey Entertainers from New York City Harry Houdini Critics of Spiritualism Academy of Magical Arts Masters Fellowship winners Academy of Magical Arts Special Fellowship winners