Book Review: Saving Magic by Michael Claxton
Many practitioners of magic use their skills to delight audiences with original routines—one example is Paul McWilliams, who could fit four regulation golf balls in his mouth. Others have invested their time in documenting the art, like David Price, who spent most of the 20th century building the legendary Egyptian Hall Museum. A rare few—like Mike Caveney, Egyptian Hall’s current owner and curator—artfully combine the two, both preserving the story of magic, while simultaneously writing their own chapter. In his book, Saving Magic, Michael Claxton tells the stories of these characters and more. Drawing from his annual visits to the Nashville museum as well as his personal relationship with the Price family, Michael shares how his mentor, David, built the now-famous museum, and along the way he ties together countless loose threads weaved into grand story of magic.
While he collected prized possessions from the golden age of magic, David Price was living through his own golden age—of magic collecting. Before the internet changed the game, he was practically bartering with spare change to have one-of-a-kind artifacts shipped to Nashville from around the world. As he negotiated several collections into his care, Price saved (literal) tons of magic memorabilia—posters, playbills, postcards, and other priceless pieces of paper—from being forgotten in some basement or worse, unknowingly tossed in the garbage. The result of his efforts is an incredible museum that documents the lives and careers—not to mention the stories, gossip, and bitter rivalries—of the world’s cast of conjurers.
Throughout the 260 full-color pages that make up this book, readers get to know all kinds of magicians, either from their paper trail or from stories that stuck around thanks to frequent retelling. As he built Egyptian Hall, David made sure to preserve the work not just of the big name guys, but also relatively unknown magicians. One performer he documented closely was his close friend Paul McWilliams, who made a successful career that included stints with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey, the Bertram Mills Circus in London, and believe it or not, Robert Ripley’s Odditorium! When David acquired a collection with photos of magicians he didn’t recognize, he’d call up others in the photo to ask about the unfamiliar face; he was even known to mail heaps of images across the country asking well-connected magi to identify as many faces as they could (ah, the world before email). Paired with his enormous collection, David’s meticulous research and unending dedication saved countless magicians from falling into obscurity.
The collector’s love for magic didn’t stop at saving its physical artifacts; in some cases, his work extended into preserving magic itself. In 1932, he felt it his mission to stop trade secrets from becoming too well-known to the public. In an attempt to save the craft, he teamed up with his friend, Paul, to create the Magicians Protective Association to end the sin of casual magic exposure once and for all. With the belief that “amateur magicians in large numbers would make the secrets of magic so common that the professional magician would go begging,” the MPA would advertise their mission in magic magazines, attempt to recruit more professionals for the fight, and even take on the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company for their flagrant magic exposures in a series of ads that promoted their Camel cigarette line. Paul had a vested interest in protecting those secrets; one of his impressive illusions—Shooting through a Woman—was revealed by Camel, forcing some professionals to pull the expensive (and lucrative) illusion from their show until the public had forgotten how it worked.
Saving Magic is a book about David Price and how he built his museum; it’s a book about Paul McWilliams and his unique career; and it’s a book about the countless other magicians who crossed their paths, performed by their side, or ended up as one of the 10,192 magicians represented in Egyptian Hall. Thanks to his friendship with the Price family, Michael Claxton has sprinkled the book with personal anecdotes and clever quips that bring the characters to life. And with his trademark wit and extensive knowledge, he’s able to keep readers (at least this one) entertained and laughing as he tells the tales that make up our craft’s rich history. I’m likely not the only reader who has never visited Egyptian Hall and had never heard of David Price or Paul McWilliams, or their friends: Al Munroe, Bob Lund, Fetaque Sanders. Now that those names and so many of their stories have been plucked from obscurity and printed in this book, magicians and collectors alike can thank Michael Claxton for continuing his mentor’s mission of Saving Magic.
