This episode of Illusion is a special presentation of Birth of a Con Man, Part 1. The story first appeared on Pretend Radio, hosted by Javier Leiva. Learn more at pretendradio.org.

Sources

Javier Leiva — Pretend Radio: Birth of a Con Man, Part 1

Music

Blue Dot Sessions — Night Light

Illusion is written and produced by Brian Earl. Follow Illusion on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and please consider leaving a review. It's a quick and painless way to show support, and it helps more people find the show.

In the early 1900s, magician Max Malini was invited to a fancy dinner party in the Philippines. The host tried to play a prank on him, and learned an important life lesson: don't mess with a magician!

Sources

Ricky Jay — Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women

Music

Blue Dot Sessions — Turning

Chris Zabriskie — The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan

Chris Zabriskie  — Undercover Vampire Policeman

Chris Zabriskie  — Prelude No. 16

Illusion is written and produced by Brian Earl. Follow Illusion on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and please consider leaving a review. It's a quick and painless way to show support, and it helps more people find the show.

In 1917, two girls in the Yorkshire village of Cottingley took photos of themselves and what appeared to be fairies. Three years later, they found themselves the unwitting perpetrators of a widespread hoax and the source of hope and vindication for an entire religious movement.

Sources

Wikipedia — The Cottingley Fairies

James Randi Educational Foundation — The Case of the Cottingley Fairies

Music

Steve O'Brien — Lullaby No. 1 in B-flat major

Chris Zabriskie — Prelude No. 1 in C major

Sound Phenomenon  — Harp Lullaby

Illusion is written and produced by Brian Earl. Follow Illusion on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and please consider leaving a review. It's a quick and painless way to show support, and it helps more people find the show.

Gina Tonic is a drag performer in New York City. We had a wide ranging discussion covering the history of drag, creating the illusion of gender, and drag as a performing art. You can find more about Gina Tonic at:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ItsGinaTonic

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsginatonic/

Special Thanks

This special bonus episode is presented in partnership with Backyard Media Company, and with promotional support from Helix and Burrow.

Helix offers customized mattresses, personalized to your unique preferences and sleeping style, that won’t set you back thousands of dollars. Visit www.helixsleep.com/illusion to get $50 toward your custom mattress.

Burrow is the brand behind the most clever, comfortable couch designed for your life and living room. Visit www.burrow.com and enter offer code “illusion” at checkout for $50 off your order.

Music

Blue Dot Sessions — Heliotrope

Illusion is written and produced by Brian Earl. Follow Illusion on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and please consider leaving a review. It’s a quick and painless way to show support, and it helps more people find the show.

In the 18th century, a Roman professor of mathematics demonstrated the latest scientific discoveries with dazzling demonstrations. There was just one problem: he was really performing magic tricks.

Sources

Milbourne Christopher — The Illustrated History of Magic, 1996

Music

Kevin MacLeod — Mesmerize Chris Zabriskie — There's Probably No Time Kai Engel  — Fading Ray's Waltz

Illusion is written and produced by Brian Earl. Follow Illusion on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and please consider leaving a review. It's a quick and painless way to show support, and it helps more people find the show.

In 1892, in a small Parisian theater at the back of a wax museum, inventor Charles-Emil Reynaud presented his "Luminous Pantomimes" and introduced the world to a new art form: the animated cartoon.

Sources

Wikipedia — "Theatre Optique"

Wikipedia —  "Charles-Emil Reynaud"

Ollie Johnston — The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation, 1995

ABC Television: Walt Disney's Disneyland — "The Story of the Animated Drawing" 1955

Music

Dana Boule — Sad French Accordion Dana Boule — Rainy Night (Accordion) Podington Bear  — Alphabet Soup

Illusion is written and produced by Brian Earl. Follow Illusion on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and please consider leaving a review. It's a quick and painless way to show support, and it helps more people find the show.

Cassie Chadwick was a career criminal who conned her way into high society and spent money like she was a Carnegie...which she claimed she was. What happened next was a $20 million swindle that collapsed a bank.

This episode also features a guest appearance from Javier Leiva from Pretend Radio, a documentary style podcast telling stories of real people pretending to be someone else.

Sources

Wikipedia — "Cassie Chadwick"

Karen Abbot — "The High Priestess of Fraudulent Finance" via Smithsonian, June 27, 2012

Music

Fabrizio Paterlini — Untitled (Lost Letters) Myuu — Don't Die on Me Dana Boule — Grace Dexter Britain — Dance for One

Illusion is written and produced by Brian Earl. Follow Illusion on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and please consider leaving a review. It's a quick and painless way to show support, and it helps more people find the show.

In a remote New York farm town in the nineteenth century, two sisters claimed they could speak with the dead. But what started out as a childish prank ended with the accidental creation of a new religion.

Sources

Wikpedia — "The Fox Sisters"

Karen Abbot — "The Fox Sisters and the Rap on Spiritualism" via Smithsonian, October 30, 2012

Donna Zuckerbrot (director) — Spiritualism: The Fox Sisters, via Gaiam, 2006

Music

Bruno Sanfilipo — Piano Textures 3 Kevin MacLeod — Despair and Triumph Dana Boule — Balloon Waltz Memory

Illusion is written and produced by Brian Earl. Follow Illusion on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and please consider leaving a review. It's a quick and painless way to show support, and it helps more people find the show.

Kayla Drescher has been performing magic since the age of seven, and first performed onstage in her second grade talent show. She is now a professional magician in Los Angeles. She performed a delightful illusion in season 4 of Penn & Teller: Fool Us on the CW.

Special Thanks

This special bonus episode is presented in partnership with Backyard Media Company, and with promotional support from Helix and Burrow.

Helix offers customized mattresses, personalized to your unique preferences and sleeping style, that won’t set you back thousands of dollars. Visit www.helixsleep.com/illusion to get $50 toward your custom mattress.

Burrow is the brand behind the most clever, comfortable couch designed for your life and living room. Visit www.burrow.com and enter offer code "illusion" at checkout for $50 off your order.

Music

Blue Dot Sessions — Thannoid

Illusion is written and produced by Brian Earl. Follow Illusion on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and please consider leaving a review. It's a quick and painless way to show support, and it helps more people find the show.

Ghosts have appeared in drama for at least 2,500 years, with many innovations in stagecraft to make them appear more believable -- and spooky. In 1862, Professor John Henry Pepper perfected a new technique that ushered in a new age of special effects.

Sources

Jim Seinmeyer — Hiding the Elephant,  2004

Mary Luckhurst and Emilie Morin, Eds.— Theater and Ghosts, 2014

Wikpedia — "Pepper's Ghost"

J.A. Secord — "Quick and Magical Shaper of Science," from Science, Vol. 297, Issue 5587, pp. 1648-1649, Sep 6, 2002

Ed. — "The Patent Ghost," from The Mercury, Jul 21, 1863

Music

Shady Dave — Snowfall - final Kevin MacLeod — Calmant Kevin MacLeod — Meditation Impromptu 03 Kai Engel — June

Illusion is written and produced by Brian Earl. Follow Illusion on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and please consider leaving a review. It's a quick and painless way to show support, and it helps more people find the show.