Hugard’s Real Magician

An Evening with a Real Magician

By John Hugard [1]

[1] “John Hugard” was clearly Jean (John was his birth name), and he seemed to have been completely baffled by the performance. However, he had a great eye for detail, a factor in his later success as a writer of magic tricks—and he left behind enough clues to enable a reconstruction of the methods the magician likely used.

Baker would have been in his early fifties at the time of this performance, a little younger than Hugard. It is of interest that none of these effects was published by Baker. These were likely special effects that he saved for special occasions. However, it is possible to make some intelligent deductions about what Baker was doing.

Ever since my arrival in New York [2] I have constantly heard reports of the almost uncanny ability of a certain magician. It had never been my good fortune to have an opportunity of seeing his feats until quite recently. I received an invitation to dine at his home. On arrival at his beautiful residence in Brooklyn I found the other guests already assembled, several were already known to me, and the others proved to be familiar in name at least.

[2] The setting is important: We are at Baker’s house, and he has chosen to take his guests to his library. He has chosen his battleground.

The dinner proved excellent, and our host showed himself to be a well-informed and witty man of the world. He did not by any means try to monopolize the conversation but led everyone to his best efforts and the meal passed over in the finest and most entertaining way. No mention of magic was made until our little party had adjourned to the library. While cigars were being lighted I broached the subject and begged our host to favor us with some small sample of his skill. He consented at once and at his summons a servant brought in two packs of cards [3], still in their sealed wrappers.