Okito On Magic

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Tobias Leendert Bamberg

Born July 15, 1875
Amsterdam, Holland
Died June 28, 1963 (age 87)
Resting place Elm Section, Row 13, Westlawn Cemetary, 7801 W Montrose Ave Norridge, IL
Tobias "Theo" Leendert Bamberg (b.1875–d.1963) was a professional magician who performed under the name Okito.


Contents
1 The Bamberg Family
2 Life
2.1 1870
2.2 1890
2.3 1900
2.4 1910
2.5 1920
2.6 1930
3 Magic
4 Books by
5 Books about
6 Videos about
7 References

The Bamberg Family
The Bamberg family of magicians started in 1760, in Leyden, Holland with Eliaser Bamberg, the first in a line of magicians evolving six consecutive generations:

Eliaser Bamberg (b.1760-d.1833)
David Leendert Bamberg (b.1786-d.1869)
Tobias Bamberg (b.1812-d.1870)
David Tobias Bamberg (b.1843-d.1914)
Tobias "Theo" Leendert Bamberg "Okito" (b.1875-d.1963)
David Theodore Bamberg "Fu Manchu" (b.1904-d.1974)
Eliaser Bamberg had one son David Leendert.

David Leendert had four children, two were actors and two magicians. One being Tobias.

Tobias had one son, David Tobias.

David Tobias had six sons. Three of them are magicians. Emile, who specializes in sleight of hand work for social parties; Edward, who presented various magical novelties in America, and Theo.

Theo had two sons (David born in 1904 and Donald, born in 1920) and a daughter (Dorothy). David, who first appeared on the stage in Russia, at the age of four, as a little Chinaman, having been produced from a cloth. After completing his education in America, he joined Julius Zancig, the world-famous telepathist and worked in partnership with him for a number of years, after which he left for England. In 1921, he returned to America and appeared in various magical acts. Finally, David went abroad in pursuance of success, and presented his original comedy shadowgraph act in Vienna, touring all of Europe with his act. Theo and David also worked together for a time.

Life
1870
Born in Amsterdam, Holland July 15, 1875.

His father,David Tobias Bamberg, was a court magician. His connection with the royal family gave him entree to the highest society of Holland. He made his first appearance before the court at the age of eleven. His father, David Tobias, introduced him during a performance on Princess Wilhelmina's birthday. Under his father he worked as "Smallest conjurer of the world" until he was about 17.

Then he started to practice as a Shadowgraphist and in one year he was able to give an entertainment of 2 and half hours, consisting of Conjuring and Shadows. And so Theo went traveling several years through Holland and Belgium, alone with only the aid of an assistant and Pianist.

As a young boy (17?), Bamberg nearly drowned while ice skating and got water in his ears. The accident left him almost completely deaf and as a result he started to perform entirely in pantomime as a Chinese character.

1890
In 1893, at the age of eighteen, Bamberg created his first Japanese-style act in Berlin. Unlike William Ellsworth Robinson who performed as Chung Ling Soo, Bamberg didn't make an attempt to hide his European identity.

His first wife was a French woman who worked as an "iron jaw" by hanging from her teeth from a rope. She died when she fell from the dome of a theater when she was four month pregnant.

He adopted the name of Okito, which Theo states that in Japanese means magician or wonder worker. Okito is also an anagram for Tokio (Tokyo). John Booth (in his book Wonders of Magic) states that he learned after Okito's death that he selected his name in admiration of the Okita (changing the "a" to an "o" make it the male counterpart).

He managed to be fairly successful, and later enlarged his act by engaging a black-face comedian. The act was called "Okito & Polising."

1900
In 1900, he works in Paris at the Folies Berger and the World Fair.

In 1900, during an engagement at the Theatre des Folies Marigny in Paris, he became acquainted with a card manipulator, which grew into a warm friendship. This magician was Howard Thurston, who became one of America's fore most magicians.

In 1901 he was hired in London for 6 weeks, but its success remains 26 weeks! He eloped with the theater manager's daughter. Shortly after, his new wife convinced him to change his name from "Tobias/Toby" to "Theodore/Theo", because she said it was a name commonly given to pet dogs in England.

After discontinuing the act with Polising, he returned to Holland and enlarged the act by adding three people and changing it to Chinese which offered a larger scope for elaborateness and superiority over Japanese. He retained the name of Okito, which had won him quite a reputation.

After a successful tour throughout Europe, he finally scored his first great success in England in 1902. He appeared before the Prince of Wales (who later became King Edward VII) accompanied by the Shah of Persia and played every big theater in London.

He played consecutively from 1903 until 1908, with the exception of the summer of 1907 when he went to the Dutch Strait Settlements with his father.

His tour of Europe embraced England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, Holland, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Russia, Poland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and all the Balkans.

February 1904, his son David Bamberg (who would later perform as Fu Manchu) was born in England.


In 1908, Bamberg and his family moved to The United States of America. He received contracts for the Orpheum Circuit in America and arrived in New York in October of that year. He opened at St. Paul and toured the States from coast to coast.

In 1909 he opened the Bamberg Magic & Novelty Co. at 1193 Broadway, New York City in partnership with Joe Klein. The company was the primary representative of the German firm of Carl Willmann. While minding the store and toying with a pillbox, Bamberg invented his famous Okito Coin Box used to perform coin magic.

Unfortunately, he became entangled in an objectionable partnership, customers were being driven away, and when he found that the business was declining, he sold out in 1912.

1910
In 1912, he returned to performing, traveling with Howard Thurston's magic show, presenting a shadowgraphy and magical acts covering the best part of the United States and Canada. Thurston hired Bamberg to open the second half of his large stage show as well as take the position of Thurston's chief mechanic and designer.

In 1916, he becomes a U.S. citizen.

He began a business creating specialty magic apparatus for professional magicians at his home in new home in New York. Bamberg's skills were such that existing handmade props created by him are highly prized by collectors today.

In 1919, he ceased producing for others and began performing once more as a Chinese act. He left New York in June 1919 sailing for South America, where he had success again.

1920
In February 1920 he returned to England and left again to tour Africa. Again he returned to England, only to leave for India, Egypt, China, Siam and the Far East.

By this time, conditions in Europe were more settled, and he made appearances in Germany, the land where he had his first engagement as a boy thirty years before.

He was the first successful magician to appear in Europe after the war, both financially and artistically. This is evidenced by the fact he played three return dates at the Winter Gardens and three at the Scala which is the largest theater in Berlin. After his first appearance at the Winter Gardens he was booked solid for three years in advance, and from November 1922 until 1925.

During his act at this time he had an enormous collection of real Chinese costumes, over eighty in all. He work for forty-five minutes on the stage, one trick following the other in rapid succession-all Chinese and oriental. He produced a monster bowl of water on a raised platform a foot and a half from the ground.

1930
In 1932, he decided to withdraw and return to hi homeland, the Netherlands. With the advent of the Second World War, Okito departed for South America with his son, and later to Chicago.

He led the last years of his life, after many years of travel, in Chicago.

He died on 28 June 1963.

Magic
Originated a number of magic effects including the Okito Coin Box and the Vanishing Wand (using shells) 1887. He invented the vanishing wand trick at the age of 12 as a practical joke to fool his father.

Also invented Tray and Eight Glasses, Block Illusion, Okito Mat Production, Okito Duck Production, Okito Tea Canister Mystery, Multim In Parvo (not the liquid trick, but a box production by the same name), Okito Floating Ball (after David Abbott), Okito's Bowl of Gobi, Okito Card Mystery, Okito Handkerchief Tray, Scare Mask and Cabinet, Break-Away Casket, Disappearing Bowl of Water, Ming Toy, The Mandarin's Dream, Oho!, Barehand Silk Production, Silks and Soup Plate, Okito Glass.

Books by
Quality Magic (1921)
Okito on Magic (With Robert Parrish) (1952)
Provided introduction for Principles and Deceptions by Arthur Buckley (1948).
Provided introduction for An Evening With Charlie Miller by Robert Parrish (1961)
Books about
The Oriental Magic of the Bambergs by Robert J. Albo (1973)
Illusion Show - A Life in Magic by David Bamberg (1988)
Videos about
The Oriental Magic of the Bambergs, Volumes 1 - 4 (1992) Greater Magic Video Library.
References
Stanyon's Magic, Vol. 03. Author/Editor: Ellis Stanyon, 1902
Conjurers' Monthly Magazine, Vol. 01, Sep 15, 1906 by Harry Houdini
The Unmasking of Robert-Houndin By Harry Houdini (1908)
The Sphinx of August 1909 by Mr. Oscar Teale describes the first Bamberg.
The Tarbell Course in Magic, Vol 5 - Lesson 68 Magic of the Bambergs, pg 362 Theo. Bamberg (Okito) 1948.
Photo Genii 1952 June
A Short Autobiography By Okito, MUM, Vol. 45, Number 4, September, 1955, pps. 152 - 155
The Illustrated History of Magic by Milbourne Christopher (Thomas Y. Crowell, 1973)
Magic: A Picture History By Milbourne Christopher (1991)
Okito and the Bamberg Dynasty By Dr. Robert J. Albo - Magic Magazine, Feb 2007
James Randi (October 1993). Conjuring. St. Martin's Griffin, pp. 127-138. ISBN 0-312-09771-9.
http://www.okito.nl
http://www.nnmagic.com/magicitems/okitonielsenpage.htm
http://www.classicmagicseries.com/
http://www.magicworldweb.com/magazine/okito.html

Special thanks to the Conjuring Arts Research Center's searchable database,AskAlexander, in researching this topic.

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Bamberg Magical Dynasty

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Bamberg Magical Dynasty were a Dutch family of magicians, consisting of six generations of Bambergs.[1] The Bambergs were an upper middle-class Jewish family.[2] Three Bambergs were court magicians who entertained the Dutch royal family, and many of the Bambergs were also trained actors.[3] This chain was unbroken for 165 years, from the 18th to the 20th centuries.[4]

Jasper Bamberg
The first of the Bamberg clan was Jasper Bamberg (1698–1780), who was not a magician but an alchemist and necromancer.[3] He dabbled in chemistry, trying to change base metals into gold. As a necromancer, he tried to revive the dead.[3] His methods were those of the illusionists, using smoke and mirrors. He used hidden magic lanterns that threw pictures on a smoke screen in a darkly lit room.[2][4] Jasper projected the light off of a revolving mirror on a spindle giving those attending an eerie feeling.

It was written that he attended a dissertation on Cagliostro's theories of the philosopher's stone. The philosopher's stone was a mythical alchemist's tool, believed to help the alchemist turn base metals into gold.[2]

Eliaser Bamberg
Eliaser Bamberg (1760–1833) was the first of the clan to become a professional magician. He was the oldest (possibly adopted) son of Jasper.[2][4] He was born in 1760 in Leyden, Holland.[3]

Following the French Revolution, on February 1, 1793, France declared war against Holland, England, and Spain. Eliaser was thirty-three years old at that time and was drafted into the navy as a gunner for a Dutch man-of-war. Due to the explosion of a powder keg, one of his legs was badly injured and had to be amputated, after which he was discharged from duty.[2][3] Eliaser started to make use of a hollowed-out wooden leg to make objects disappear. Eventually, his dexterity with this trick earned him the nickname Le Diable boiteux (French for "the lame devil" or "the crippled devil").[2] Eliaser performed tricks such as the cups and balls trick, card and coin tricks, and various other sleight of hand tricks, including making live frogs and fish disappear and reappear in a glass bowl of water. He performed in the streets of Leyden, in taverns and public squares, and also at the homes of wealthy patrons. He also used a large collection of automates, one of which was passed down to Robert-Houdin, another magician.[3] Another one, the vaulted figure, was passed through generations of Bambergs. Eliaser eventually died in 1833 at the age of 73.

David Leendert Bamberg
Eliaser had one son,[4] David Leendert Bamberg (23 May 1787 – 29 January 1869). David began assisting Eliaser when he was nine years old.[2][3] As a young man, David invented the color changing clay pipe trick.[2] In his time, the Egg Bag trick became popular with magicians: a large woolen bag was shown and about fifteen eggs were slowly produced from it. Then a live hen was pulled from the bag. (Modern versions used a small felt or crepe satin bag and produces and vanishes just one egg.) David was the first in the Bamberg family to add the trick to his repertoire using his own method to produce the eggs and hen.[2]

He was initiated into Freemasonry at Arnhem in 1812 and soon rose high in their ranks.[3] In 1843, he became court mechanician (court magician) to William II of the Netherlands and was a favorite of his brother Prince Fredrick, who became friends with David.[1][3]

David had four sons; two were actors and the other two were magicians.[4] On January 29, 1869, David Leendert Bamberg died in Amsterdam at the age of 83.[3]

Tobias Bamberg
The tradition was passed to David's oldest son Tobias Bamberg (1812–1870). Like his father and grandfather, Tobias spoke French, German, English, and Dutch in his shows. Tobias was also a highly educated scholar.[3]

He was known for his quick wit and sleight of hand. One of his tricks was called the Boomerang Coins, in which he counted about twenty coins onto a tray and the coins were poured in the spectator's hands. Five of the coins were given back to Tobias, who vanished them. The coins returned to the hand of the spectator.[3]

Tobias and his son David Tobias also performed for William II, with Tobias also receiving the honor as court mechanician.[4] Tobias Bamberg died on April 20, 1870, fifteen months after the death of his father. He was 58.[3]

David Tobias "Papa" Bamberg

David Tobias Bamberg
Tobias had one son, David Tobias Bamberg (1843–1914), known as Papa Bamberg.[3] Papa Bamberg had six sons, three of whom were magicians. He was originally not a magician, but an actor, mimic, and public speaker. However, after watching a performance of the illusionist Compars Herrmann, Papa changed his mind. In 1866, he gave his first performance in Rotterdam. From there he toured locations including Java, Sumatra, and Ceylon. After his return, Papa Bamberg performed at the Holland Royal Palace, where he was named court mechanician in 1870.[5] He continued his work throughout his life, going on more tours (one with his son in 1907) and doing more royal performances. Papa died in 1914.

Theo "Okito" Bamberg
Main article: Tobias Bamberg
Theo Bamberg (born Tobias Bamberg) (1875–1963) first appeared at the Holland royal palace with his father for Princess Wilhelmina's birthday when he was eleven years old. After impressing the royal family through this performance, Tobias (Theo) became known as the Smallest conjurer of the world.[6]

In his performances, Tobias originally wore a Japanese kimono so as to more easily hide objects for his magic tricks. He adopted the stage name "Okito," an anagram of Tokio (the spelling of Tokyo at the time). Later, he switched to Chinese robes, finding them more convenient than the kimono, but since he was already well-known as Okito, he kept the name.

He subsequently changed his first name to Theodore (Theo) at the request of his English wife Lily, who disliked the name Toby as a nickname for dogs.[2]

Theo Bamberg traveled the world, performing tricks like his improved production of a bowl of water, the floating ball, the Okito box, and the Sofa trick, among others. Theo retired in Chicago and made magic props for Joe Berg the magic dealer. He died in 1963.

David "Fu Manchu" Bamberg
Main article: David Bamberg
Theo had three children. His oldest was David Tobias Bamberg (1904–1974), who was known as "Fu Manchu" and toured the world with his own illusion show.

David made his first appearance aged four in Russia, as a little boy dressed up in Chinese clothes, whose father Okito produced him from a cloth. While David was still young, he joined the famous telepathist Julius Zancig. He worked as his partner after Zancig's wife Agnes died. He was with Zancig for a number of years playing the blindfolded medium. He completed his education in the United States and went to England to continue his studies, but instead began training to be a professional magician.[2]

In 1921, he returned to the US and appeared in various magical acts before finding success in Europe. He presented his original comedy shadowgraph act in Vienna, subsequently touring all of Europe. Theo and David also worked together for a time.[6] David later worked with the Great Raymond as an assistant. With the backing of a friend, David created his own show and toured the world as Fu Manchu.

David's only son, Robert, never became a professional magician, thus ending the magical dynasty of the Bambergs.

References
Christopher, Milbourne; Christopher, Maurine (December 2005). The Illustrated History of Magic. Perseus Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7867-1688-3.
Bamberg, David (1991-09-01). Illusion Show (2nd Revised ed.). Meyerbooks, Publisher. ISBN 978-0-916638-48-1.
Tarbell, Harlan (1927). "Lesson 68: Magic of the Bambergs". In New York : Louis Tannen (ed.). The Tarbell Course in Magic. Vol. 5.
Bramberg, Theo "Okito" (1955). "Okito, Broedershap van Goochelaars". MUM, Volume 45, Number 4, September, 1955, pps. 152 - 155. Retrieved 2009-04-23. [dead link]
McMahon, Dr. C. Matthew; Christopher, Milbourne (1962). "Card Conjuring and Magic from 19th Century Until Today". Panorama of Magic. Dover Publications, New York. Archived from the original on July 3, 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
"Tobias Leendert Bamberg". MagicPedia. Genii. Retrieved 2009-04-23.