Who was Robert-Houdin ?

Who was Robert-Houdin ?

Inventions pirated

Robert-Houdin's inventions were pirated by his trusted mechanic Le Grand, who was arrested for making and selling duplicate illusions. Many of those illusions fell into the hands of his competitors like John Henry Anderson, Robin, Robert Heller,and Compars Herrmann. It is not known whether Herrmann or the others bought the illusions directly from LeGrand or from another source. But, they willingly performed the illusions after knowing that those where invented by Robert-Houdin.

Robert-Houdin on tour

Robert-Houdin’s little theatre became a mecca for magic enthusiast. Herrmann was a constant visitor to the Palais Royal. The public complained because Robert-Houdin couldn’t magically make his theatre bigger. It became the place for the Paris elite to go. Even the King Louis Philippe rented out the room for a private performance. After the triumph he gave at the Royal Palace, in 1847, the king decided to take his entourage to see Robert-Houdin at the Palais Royal.

The following February a revolution ended the reign of Louis-Philippe. With it show business also ended. The Revolution closed all Parisian theatres. Robert-Houdin shut down his theatre and went on the road. He toured the Continent briefly and then he headed off to Great Britain.

With a company of French dramatists, Robert-Houdin made his English debut at the St. James Theatre in London. He presented his program three times a week. Much to his dismay, he found out that Compars Herrmann beat him to the territory. Not only was he billing himself as the Premier Prestidigitateur of France, but he was also using pirated versions of his illusions. Despite this, Robert-Houdin still accomplished a success there. So much so, in 1848, he did a command performance for Queen Victoria. After a tour three month tour of England, he went back home after about a year and a half away. He reopened the theatre and became a permanent fixture in Pairs. In 1850, He handed the Palais Royal to his brother-in-law Hamilton (Pierre Etienne Chocat). This left him free to tour France. He did so for two years. Then he went to Germany and a return engagement to England where he ended up performing a second time for Queen Victoria.

He did a brief tour of France and then at the age of 48, retired from public performances. He gave the theatre back to Hamilton who continued to fill the little theatre.

The magical mission

After Robert-Houdin retired, he devoted himself to his inventions with electricity and his writings. His home le Prieuré (the Priory), was a marvel in advancement. His home was run entirely by electricity and was definitely the house of the future.

In 1856, he was asked by Louis-Napoleon to pacify the tribes in French Algeria. During this period, the French Army commanders maintained order in the newly pacified region. They supervised local Muslim administrations and the bureaux arabes. These areas were closed off to colonization by the Europeans.

Napoleon III was worried about a religious tribe called the Marabouts. The Marabouts were able to control their tribe with their faux magical abilities. They advised their leaders to break ranks with the French. Napoleon wanted Robert-Houdin to show that French magic was stronger.

The magical mission began with an informal show at the Bab-azon Theatre in Algeria where he would give performance twice weekly. He also gave many special galas before the country’s tribal chiefs. He used The Light and Heavy Chest during these performances, but instead of playing it for comedy as he had in Paris, here he played it straight. Robert-Houdin once invited the strongest tribesman on stage and asked the Arabian to pick up the wooden chest placed on stage. The Arabian picked it up with no problem. Then Robert-Houdin announced that he was going to sap his strength. He waved his wand and declared, "Contempler! Maintenant vous êtes plus faible qu'une femme; essayer de soulever la boîte." ("Behold! Now you are weaker than a woman; try to lift the box.") The Arabian laughed at this and with all of his might, pulled on the handle of the chest. But it would not budge! He tried and tried until he tried to rip it apart. Instead, he screamed in pain, as Robert-Houdin had rigged the box to give the Arabian an electrical shock if he tried to rip the handles off. The Arabian let go of the handle, ran off into the aisle, and ran screaming out of the theatre.

After his performances were done, he gave a special presentation for several chief men of their tribe. He was invited to the home of the head of the tribe of the desert interior, Bou-Allem. In dawn of the Arab desert, Robert-Houdin was challenged to do a special trick. He obliged by inviting one of the rebels to shoot at him with a marked bullet, which he caught between his teeth. He was given a certificate from Bou-Allem, ^[5] who wore a red robe symbolizing his loyalty to France. With this scroll praising his mysterious manifestations, Robert-Houdin went back to France with the mission accomplished.

"The blow was struck," Robert-Houdin said, "...henceforth the interpreters and all those who had dealings with the Arabs received orders to make them understand that my pretended miracles were only the result of skill, inspired and guided by an art called prestidigitation, in no way connected with sorcery." He went on to say, “The Arabs doubtless yielded to these arguments, for henceforth I was on the most friendly terms with them." He was rewarded for his services of the French government by suppressing any possible rebellion.

Retirement and death

After his mission in Algeria completed, Robert-Houdin gave his last public performance at the Grand Théâtre in Marseille, then returned to his home in Saint-Gervais, near his native Blois, where he wrote his memoirs, Confidences d’un Prestidigitateur. He also wrote several books on the art of magic. He lived happily in retirement for about fifteen years until advent of the Franco Prussian War. His son Eugene was a captain in a Zouave regiment. On August 6, 1870, Robert-Houdin heard news of his son being mortally wounded at the Battle of Worth. Meanwhile, Hessians (soldiers) captured Paris and Robert-Houdin hid his family in a cave near his property. The Hessian soldiers were very rude, according to Robert-Houdin, but he found the Polish soldiers to be a lot kinder.

Four days later, Robert-Houdin was to find out that his son had died of his wounds. With the stress from that and the war, his health deteriorated and he contracted pneumonia. On June 13, 1871, he died of his illness, at the age of sixty-five.