
The Odditorium

After his short-lived foray into the world of magic, Walter Irving Scott vanished. His legend, however, lived on. His otherworldly abilities, and the lore associated with his demonstrations, continued to steal the hearts of card junkies and move monkeys for decades to come.
Ian Frisch • Magic Is Dead: My Journey into the World's Most Secretive Society of Magicians
Walter had amassed a collection of hundreds of tapes, footage of wonder-workers that was otherwise impossible to find. He had clips dating back to 1896 and Georges Méliès’s vanishing act, Escamotage d’une dame chez Robert-Houdin. A seven-year-old Ricky Jay changing a guinea pig into a dove on the 1955 program Time for Pets. Every magician who ever
... See moreDerek DelGaudio • AMORALMAN: A True Story and Other Lies
The next step into mystical states carries us into a realm that public opinion and ethical philosophy have long since branded as pathological, though private practice and certain lyrical strains of poetry seem still to bear witness to its ideality