John Wyman (magician)
John Wyman Jr. | |
|---|---|
_(page_1).jpg) Cover of musical composition by James Bellak dedicated to "Wyman the Wizard," 1854 | |
| Born | January 19, 1816 |
| Died | July 31, 1881 (aged 65) |
| Other names | Wyman the Wizard |
John Wyman Jr. (January 19, 1816 – July 31, 1881), known professionally as Wyman the Wizard, was a magician and ventriloquist who was popular in the United States during the mid-19th century.
Biography
[edit]Wyman was born in Albany, New York. His father, a merchant, planned a business career for him, and after attending Albany Academy Wyman found work in a Baltimore auction house.[1] His interest in magic and ventriloquism, however, led him to begin his performing career with a show at the Baltimore Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts.[2] According to a possibly apocryphal account related to Harry Houdini, Wyman managed his own career and never had a manager except for a single 1850 appearance in New York City, managed by P. T. Barnum.[3] However, other records indicate that he made his 1836 Baltimore debut under the management of Charles D. Selding, and for sixteen years was under the professional management of George Wood.[4][5]
Wyman's early skills improved after a journey abroad, during which time he likely made purchases from Voisin's Repository, a shop in Paris which sold magical novelties.[6] He also bought a number of techniques from the Scottish magician John Henry Anderson, including the secret to performing the "Magic Cauldron," "Nest of Boxes," "Aerial Suspension," "Inexhaustible Bottle," and "Gun Trick."[7]
During his career, Wyman made a regular circuit of smaller cities and towns, which he tended to prefer over large cities.[3][8] He is recorded as having performed at Lynchburg in 1855 and at Richmond in 1857, where he made use of a ventriloquist dummy and an "egg-bag."[9][10] It was in 1857 that Wyman joined the committee convened to investigate the Fox sisters on behalf of the Boston Courier, eventually concluding that the sisters were fraudulent.[2] Wyman also had the honor of performing for three U.S. presidents: Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, and Abraham Lincoln.[2] During his performance with Lincoln, Wyman produced an illusion by which several copper pennies were made to pass through the president's hand; those pennies are now among the collection of artifacts owned by David Copperfield.[11]
Wyman apparently suspended his magical performances upon the outbreak of the Civil War and his assistant at the time, one Ebenezer Mason, enlisted with the Union Army Balloon Corps.[12] He resumed his usual shows after the war. Historian of magic Henry R. Evans recorded fond childhood memories of seeing Wyman perform.[8] In 1867, Wyman started doing "gift shows" as a promotional tactic.[7] He would distribute prizes including Bibles, table sets, canes, silverware, and $40 watches to members of his audience, and unlike many of his contemporaries Wyman was scrupulously honest.[1] On at least one occasion, Wyman gave away title to building lots in New Jersey as a grand prize.[7][13]
Magic tricks attributed to Wyman include a "second sight" illusion, where he would describe objects hidden by a handkerchief (having secretly stolen a glance and rapidly memorized the contents), and an illusion where a borrowed watch was apparently smashed, but in actuality had been removed by an assistant to be discovered unharmed among the audience.[7] His shows at one point included a pie-eating contest for children and a talking dog allegedly capable of 113 different tricks.[11]
In his later years, Wyman lived at 612 North Eleventh Street in Philadelphia before moving to Burlington, New Jersey where he bought a country estate.[7] He compiled a scrapbook chronicling his magic career which has since been lost.[14] Wyman predicted his own death in July 1881, stating to his friend Thomas W. Yost: "You will not see me again. This is the last of Wyman." He died a few days later.[7] Wyman had been performing magic up until about a year before he passed away.[4]
John Wyman was married to Jane Wyman (née Prout), and much of their correspondence survives.[15] He was buried in Fall River, Massachusetts among his wife's family.[13][7]
Wyman was regarded highly by Harry Houdini and by Henry R. Evans, who chronicled his life. Both men considered him a talented magician but noted that he had largely faded from the popular consciousness by the early 1900s.[16][17]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Christopher, Milbourne (1991) [1962]. Magic: A Picture History. New York: Dover Publications. p. 113. ISBN 0-486-26373-8. LCCN 62-51376.
- ^ a b c Christopher, p. 114.
- ^ a b Houdini, Harry (1953). "Wyman the Wizard: One of the Financially Successful Magicians of the Historic Gift Show Era". In Gibson, Walter B.; Young, Morris N. (eds.). Houdini on Magic. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications. p. 95. ISBN 0-486-20384-0. LCCN 53-13518. Originally published as Houdini, Harry (March 1919). "Wyman the Wizard: One of the Financially Successful Magicians of the Historic Gift Show Era". M-U-M: The Society of American Magicians Monthly. New York.
- ^ a b "Wyman, the Wizard: Death of the Famous Magician". The Evening Critic. Washington, DC. August 2, 1881. p. 4.
- ^ Evans, Henry Ridgely (1906). The Old and the New Magic. Chicago: Open Court Publishing Company. p. 202.
- ^ Evans, pp. 202–203.
- ^ a b c d e f g Evans, p. 203.
- ^ a b Evans, p. 201.
- ^ Christian, W. Asbury (1900). Lynchburg and Its People. Lynchburg: J. P. Bell Company. p. 166.
- ^ Christian, W. Asbury (1912). Richmond: Her Past and Present. Richmond: L. H. Jenkins. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-7222-4653-5.
- ^ a b Copperfield, David; Wiseman, Richard; Britland, David (2021). David Copperfield's History of Magic. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-9821-1291-2.
- ^ Haydon, F. Stansbury (1941). Military Ballooning During the Early Civil War. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 264. ISBN 0-8018-6442-9.
- ^ a b Houdini, p. 99.
- ^ Houdini, p. 97.
- ^ "Featured Covers Gallery: Wyman the Wizard". NJPH Journal. New Jersey Postal History Society. November 2011. Archived from the original on June 26, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
- ^ Houdini, p. 99. "Wyman is almost unknown to the present generation, but there are still among those whose hair is silvered by the snows of many winters, a few whose pulses quicken at the mention of his name."
- ^ Evans, p. 202. "Well have you earned your rest. Though your name is quite forgotten by the present generation, a few old boys and girls still hold you in loving remembrance."
