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| Milbourne Christopher, a true gentleman, never cursed or spoke ill of other magicians, either publicly or privately.
Mr. Christopher performed magic on numerous television programs and on the Broadway stage.
He wrote 24 books about magical entertainment
including a biography of Harry Houdini, ''Houdini: The Untold Story,''
''The Illustrated History of Magic'' and ''Mediums, Mystics and the
Occult.''
Mr. Christopher dedicated much of his professional
life to challenging psychics and mystics around the world.
Mr. Christopher entered vaudeville as a teen-ager
and toured Europe in the 1930's. He served in the Army as an entertainer
during World War II. After the war, he achieved national celebrity in
his many television appearances.
His stage credits included a Broadway show ''Now You
See It,'' and an Off- Broadway production, ''Christopher's Wonders,''
that later toured England.
In his later years, Mr. Christopher was the chairman
of the occult investigations committee of the American Magicians'
Society.
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| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milbourne_Christopher |
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| My favorite photo of Milbourne Christopher. Christopher regarded those individuals who claimed ESP or psychic powers to be actually using magic trickery. He wrote three book-length exposés regarding those he said were false seers or psychics: ESP, Seers & Psychics; Mediums, Mystics, & The Occult; and Search For The Soul. Christopher also debunked parapsychology experiments and experimenters during his lifetime. Ironically, despite his denial of the existence of psychic or paranormal powers, and like fellow magicians Harry Houdini and James Randi both of whom also worked to expose false psychics and mediums, Christopher was accused by some of using paranormal powers to perform his own magic tricks and illusions! |
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| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-fxxtG3ub0 |
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| MAURINE CHRISTOPHER |
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| Mil and Maurine during a typical evening at their New York apartment. |
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| Christopher, author/editor of more than 20 books on magic and extra-sensory perception, was named national president in 1957 – 58, after a term as as head of the New York S.A.M. Parent Assembly No.1. He created and starred in the first prime time network television magic special which aired on NBC in America and on European networks in 1957. Earlier, in 1951, he revived the Society’s magazine, M-U-M, as a separate publication and edited it for 5 years while continuing to write conjuring news columns regularly for other magic and show business journals and articles for general magazines in America and abroad... |
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| BOOKS BY MILBOURNE CHRISTOPHER |
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| I grew up on this book... |
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| The original cover and photograph for his ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF MAGIC. |
I'm amazed. I was in Washington, D.C. when a friend told me about a magic shop: Magic Masters. It's decorated like a 1920s magician's palor. I went there and told them I wanted a real magic trick. They showed me a few tricks, and I bought the silk vanish. It came with a book: 50 tricks with a thumb tip by Milbourne Christopher. Another friend of mine Nick told me Mr. Christopher is from Baltimore. I was amazed I make the red silk vanish, then make it reappear in a yellow silk.
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