Henning Nelms was born on this day in 1900. As a magician, he was the author of Magic and Showmanship, which outlined his construction of magic routines: motivating the performance of the effects and graphically charting the increasing audience interest.
He adopted an especially theatrical approach to any magic act, applying his extensive experience with the stage. “The magic of drama is infinitely more powerful than the magic of trickery,” he wrote. “It is available to the conjurer as it is to the actor. The only difference is that actors take it for granted, whereas few conjurers are even aware that it exists.”
Nelms was also known for his book about stagecraft and a technical book, Thinking with a Pencil. As a novelist, he wrote under the name of Hake Talbot and was famous for his ingenious locked-room mysteries— impossible crimes with ingenious and unexpected solutions.