CRAIG CONLEY (Prof. Oddfellow) is recognized by Encarta as “America’s most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation.” He has been called a “language fanatic” by Page Six gossip columnist Cindy Adams, a “cult hero” by Publisher’s Weekly, a “monk for the modern age” by George Parker, and “a true Renaissance man of the modern era, diving headfirst into comprehensive, open-minded study of realms obscured or merely obscure” by Clint Marsh. An eccentric scholar, Conley’s ideas are often decades ahead of their time. He invented the concept of the “virtual pet” in 1980, fifteen years before the debut of the popular “Tamagotchi” in Japan. His virtual pet, actually a rare flower, still thrives and has reached an incomprehensible size. Conley’s website is OneLetterWords.com.
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Abecedarian personal effects of 'a mad genius'
A Turkish Delight of musings on languages, deflations of metaphysics, vauntings of arcana, and great visual humor.

Found 34 posts tagged ‘stage magic’

Restoring the Lost Sense – February 12, 2023 (permalink)

Spirit raising.  From The Magician Annual, 1908.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #ghost #vintage magic #magic #stage magic
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Restoring the Lost Sense – September 6, 2021 (permalink)

From The Green Mouse by Robert W. Chambers and illustrated by Edmund Frederick, 1910.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #magician #vintage magic #magic #birds #stage magic
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The Right Word – November 2, 2020 (permalink)

The long-held gambits and counters are finally revealed, so that anyone can one-up the greatest scoundrels of all: magicians.  It's all in Upmanship Tricks: Secrets of One-Upping Magicians.
> read more from The Right Word . . .
#magician #stage magic #upmanship
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Restoring the Lost Sense – September 10, 2020 (permalink)

From Le Journal Amusant, 1906.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #magician #vintage magic #magic #stage magic #difficult audience
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Restoring the Lost Sense – January 16, 2020 (permalink)

The Isola Brothers, French conjurers.  From Le Courrier Français, 1894.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #magician #vintage magic #stage magic #conjuring #isola brothers #french magic #french magician #vintage conjurer #french conjurer
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Restoring the Lost Sense – September 1, 2019 (permalink)

From Le Journal Amusant, 1907.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #magician #levitation #vintage magic #magic #weightless #stage magic
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Yearbook Weirdness – June 23, 2019 (permalink)

From Union College's 1978 yearbook.

*For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#magician #vintage magic #vintage yearbook #yearbook #headache #migraine #stage magic #magic trick #arrow through the head
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Restoring the Lost Sense – March 25, 2019 (permalink)

From Le Journal Amusant, 1899.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #money #magician #coins #vintage magic #stage magic
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Restoring the Lost Sense – February 10, 2019 (permalink)

From The Book of Magic by Archie Frederick Collins, 1915.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #magician #vintage magic #magic #stage magic #egg magic #eggs
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Restoring the Lost Sense – January 29, 2019 (permalink)

From Le Journal Amusant, 1903.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #magician #levitation #vintage magic #magic #weightless #stage magic
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Restoring the Lost Sense – January 22, 2019 (permalink)

From The Book of Magic by Archie Frederick Collins, 1915.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #skeleton #occult #vintage magic #magic #stage magic #black art #dancing skeleton
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Restoring the Lost Sense – January 20, 2019 (permalink)

The Fireside Magician by Thomas Picton, 1879.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#magician #vintage magic #vintage book #book #stage magic #magic trick #parlor magic
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Restoring the Lost Sense – December 18, 2018 (permalink)

[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #magician #crystal ball #vintage magic #mentalism #mind reader #vintage book #book #stage magic #vaudeville
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Restoring the Lost Sense – December 12, 2018 (permalink)

From Fliegende Blätter, 1929.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #magician #magic hat #1920s #stage magic #ostrich
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Restoring the Lost Sense – October 22, 2018 (permalink)

"The beautiful sprit 'Etherea' materialized."  From The Book of Magic by Archie Frederick Collins, 1915.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #ghost #magick #spooky #occult #magician #spirit #vintage magic #spiritualism #seance #stage magic
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Restoring the Lost Sense – September 17, 2018 (permalink)

"Spirit manifestations in the flesh."  From The Book of Magic by Archie Frederick Collins, 1915.  See Seance Parlor Feng Shui.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #vintage magic #magic #spiritualism #seance #stage magic #spirit manifestation
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Restoring the Lost Sense – August 20, 2018 (permalink)

From The Book of Magic by Archie Frederick Collins, 1915.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #magician #vintage magic #magic #stage magic
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Restoring the Lost Sense – July 14, 2018 (permalink)

Magic popcorn?  From L'Assiette au Beurre, 1908.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #magician #vintage magic #magic hat #stage magic #popcorn #card trick #art
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Restoring the Lost Sense – July 5, 2018 (permalink)

From Le Journal Amusant, 1900.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #magick #occult #magician #vintage magic #prestidigitation #stage magic #female magician
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Images Moving Through Time – June 11, 2018 (permalink)

In the best magic, the trick itself is only a small aspect of a grander amazement.  From Lustige Blätter, 1903.
> read more from Images Moving Through Time . . .
#vintage illustration #magician #vintage photo #levitation #stage magic #magic trick #dachshund #dog magic
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