Chung Ling Soo – The Marvellous Chinese Conjurer

Wandering a bookstore in Cambridge back in February I stumbled across a book I hadn’t heard of before by Jim Steinmeyer called The Glorious Deception: The Double Life of William Robinson aka the Marvelous Chinese Conjurer. Typically I threw it in my case and forgot about it only to read it recently…and it is a totally absorbing book. What a tale – a slightly unsuccessful New York magician in the late 19th century recognises the success of travelling Chinese magicians in America and so decides to become one – pigtail, robes, Chinese-style tricks the lot. And it was a massive success and the Robinson became Chung Ling Soo (a lazy copy of the name of the great touring ‘real’ Chinese magician of the time Ching Ling Foo.

Initially I picked it up as the story intrigued me, as does anything to do with western obsessions with China and also because Robinson/Chung Ling Soo finally met his end when a bullet catching trick went wrong one night in 1918 at the Wood Green Empire music hall, which happens to be close to where I grew up (and a confession – you can keep theatre and cinema but I’d love it if music hall/vaudeville made a comeback – that sounds like a much better night out than some worthy play or shite Hollywood film). Perhaps a few choice tales from the book in future posts but for now here’s the blurb:

Killed in 1918 while performing his renowned illusion, Defying the Bullets, Chung Ling Soo’s myriad deceptions began unraveling: He was really William Ellsworth Robinson, a former magicians’ assistant. But for nearly a century, a swirl of more sinister secrets has surrounded him. For the first time, Jim Steinmeyer has uncovered the truth behind William Robinson and the magic world’s most glorious deception.