Robert Houdin

Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, known as "The Father of Modern Magic," performed throughout Europe in the 1840s and 50s. He was one of the first magicians to perform for the public in theaters, as opposed to at country fairs, on street corners or in the marketplace.
Robert-Houdin's shows included not just magic as we know it today, but also demonstrations of lifelike mechanical figures. His early training as a clockmaker helped him create these automata, some of which wrote or played instruments and even an acrobat that swung on a trapeze.
Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin
Science and technology very much influenced the inventions of Robert-Houdin. In his autobiography, he writes about consulting scientists and conducting experiments to figure out how to perform a particular trick.
He also kept up with recent scientific developments. Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin was one of the first people to find a use for electromagnetism. He created a new trick called "The Light and Heavy Chest." He invited a spectator on stage to lift the small wooden box he said he kept to store his money. His volunteer always did this easily. Then the magician commanded the box to stay where it was, so it could not be stolen. No matter how hard the volunteer tried after that, he couldn't move it.
Hidden inside the wooden chest was a metal plate, and an electromagnet sat under the stage. When his assistant turned on the magnet, the strong attraction made it impossible to move the chest. Robert-Houdin wrote in his autobiography that at this time "the phenomena of electromagnetism were wholly unknown to the general public. I took very good care not to enlighten my audience as to this marvel of science."
But it didn't last. According to Robert-Houdin, "At a later period, when electromagnetism had become more generally known, I thought it advisable to make an addition to the Light and Heavy Chest in order to throw the public off the scent..." When his audiences learned about electromagnetism, Robert-Houdin totally changed his performance of the trick. He had three volunteers raise the light box off the floor using a rope and pulley system. Then he would command the box to become heavy and it would sink to the floor, raising the three men holding the rope up off the stage.
In his autobiography, Robert-Houdin said that he performed this same trick in an entirely different way in 1856. The French government asked him to travel to French-occupied Algeria. Robert-Houdin wrote that they feared that Algerian magicians who could eat glass and apparently heal wounds would encourage the Algerians to rise up and fight the French soldiers. They wanted Robert-Houdin to perform for the Algerians, hoping to convince them that the French magician had even greater power.
Robert-Houdin usually entertained the people who came to see his show, but this time he was supposed to frighten the Algerians in his audience. He wrote that in Algeria, he invited a very strong man up on stage and claimed that he would use his powers to make that man so weak that the man would be unable to lift this small box. Robert-Houdin wrote that he could lift it easily but the man could not because the magician had turned on the electromagnet. He said he also rigged the handle of the box with electricity, so it gave the man an electric shock which sent him running from the stage.
Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin was a great magician and an inventor who studied science and used the cutting-edge technologies of his day in his shows. One of the most famous magicians who ever lived read about Robert-Houdin and wanted to be like him. That's why a boy named Erich Weiss chose the name Harry Houdini.