BARTOLOMEO BOSCO, CONJURER OF THE CUPS

BARTOLOMEO BOSCO(1793-1862)

Harry Houdini once said that he did not consider a man a true magician who could not skillfully perform the 'cups and balls' illusion. Many magicians and historians have come to believe that this very illusion dates back to before the time of Christ. Of all of the men who have performed (this author included) this wonderful illusion, probably the greatest of all of them was the great Italian conjurer, Bartolomeo Bosco. Bosco was born in Turin, Italy in 1793 to a noble family. As Napoleon had a knack for 'conscripting' young men into his army, and Bosco was no different and at 19, he became a soldier in Napoleon's army. At the Battle of Borodino, Bosco was wounded and fell upon the ground. The son of the soldier who wounded him began to rifle through Bosco's pockets where, unfortunately for Bosco, he'd hidden his small fortune (consisting of a pocket watch, a keepsake from a female admirer, a tobacco pouch and a small amount of gold). Realizing that the loss would leave him penniless, but also not wishing to actually be killed, Bosco pretended to be dead. Bosco knew that he couldn't lose everything, and having studied the skills of sleight of hand, he put his skills to work and 'pick-pocketed' the wealth of the soldier, which was quite a bit more than he'd lost himself!

After the war, Bartolomeo Bosco became quite famous throughout Europe as a conjurer. He was an incredibly skilled performer with cards and coins, but it was his performance of the 'Cups and Balls' trick for which he became best known. The main premise of the cups and balls trick is this: small balls are caused to vanish and reappear under inverted cups, and the trick usually ends with large fruit appearing under the cups. (For a wonderful example of this classic, click here to see a performance by Michael Vincent.)

The great Robert-Houdin, after having seen a performance of Bosco, wrote a beautiful description: "I entered the little theater and took my seat. According to the idea I had formed of a magician's laboratory, I expected to find myself before a curtain whose large folds, when withdrawn, would display before my dazzled eyes a brilliant stage ornamented with apparatus worthy of the celebrity announced; but my illusions on the subject soon faded away."

"A curtain had been considered superfluous, and the stage was open. Before me was a long three-storied sideboard, entirely covered with black serge. This lugubrious buffet was adorned with a number of wax candles, among which glistened the apparatus. At the topmost point of this strange e'tege're was a death's-head, much surprised, I have no doubt, at finding itself at such a festival, and it quite produced the effect of a funeral service."

"In front of the stage, and near the spectators, was a table covered by a brown cloth, reaching to the ground, on which five brass cups were symmetrically arranged. Finally, above this table hung a copper ball, which strangely excited my curiosity. For the life of me I could not imagine what this was for, so I determined to wait till Bosco came to explain it. The silvery sound of a small bell put an end to my reverie, and Bosco appeared upon the stage."

"The artiste wore a little black velvet jacket, fastened around the waste by a leathern belt of the same color. His sleeves were excessively short, and displayed a handsome arm. He had on loose black trousers, ornamented at the bottom with a ruche of lace, and a large white collar round his neck. This strange attire bore considerable resemblance to the classical costume of the Scapins in our plays."

"After making a majestic bow to his audience, the celebrated conjurer walked silently and with measured steps up to the famous copper ball. After convincing himself it was solidly hung, he took up his wand which he wiped with a white handkerchief, as if to remove any foreign influence: then, with imperturbable gravity, he struck the ball thrice with it, pronouncing, amid the most solemn silence, this imperious sentence: 'Spiriti mei infernali, obedite"

"I, like a simpleton scarce breathed in my expectation of some miraculous result, but it was only an innocent pleasantry: a simple introduction to the performance of the cups."

Bosco died on March 2, 1862.