Charles Dickens was not a man who was bothered too much with false modesty.  Nevertheless one man had him stumped.  Who was the mysterious conjurer, unnamed by Dickens himself, who fooled him so badly?

Poor Samuel Johnson was mocked for his investigations into a ghost.  One man who supported him, however was Charles Dickens.  Why would a sceptic like Dickens take the side of Johnson?

Dickens was vehemently against Spiritualism and yet rather reluctant to attend séances himself.  Perhaps one reason might be because of what happened to a friend of his called Mrs Catherine Crowe.  

Continuing my quest to discover whether Charles Dickens ever met, saw, wrote to or spoke to Robert-Houdin?  For the first time there now appears to be some evidence directly from Dickens himself, as opposed to third parties.

In a previous blog I posed the question of whether the famous French magician Robert-Houdin and Charles Dickens ever met; and came up with the answer that they probably didn’t.  However according to his son, Henry Dickens, they did – and at a séance.  Could this be true? 

Charles Dickens wrote about a conjurer swallowing leaden lozenges which resulted in the spoiling of his facial features.  Was this a prescient warning about lead poisionng and what was the origin of this rather macabre and unusual trick?  

Did Charles Dickens 'black up' in order to portray the part of an Indian conjurer called Kia Khan Khruse - the only image known of whom is pictured below.  According to the distinguished actor Simon Callow and the renowned magic historian Ricky Jay, he did.  But are they correct?  

Did Charles Dickens ever meet the most famous magician of the 19th century, the man who Harry Houdini took his name from, the French magician Robert-Houdin?  Many respected magic historian think he did: but are they correct?  

Was Charles Dickens justifiably criticised by Ricky Jay in Jay's Journal of Anomalies when he accused him of trying to guess how Munito the Learned Dog performed his tricks? 

Did the young Charles Dickens work out how Munito the Learned Dog performed his tricks? [This playbill is reproduced with the kind permission of Professor Eddie Dawes, and comes from his collection]

An analysis of Dickens' big finish to his act.

Was Dickens using an out-of-date phrase when he wrote tricks upon the cards instead of card tricks?