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Milbourne Christopher (23 March 1914 – 17 June 1984) was a prominent American illusionist, magic historian, and author. President of the Society of American Magicians, an honorary vice-president to The Magic Circle, and one of the founding members of the
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the U.S. non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to " ...
, Christopher wrote a number of books, including a biography of
Harry Houdini Erik Weisz (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926), known professionally as Harry Houdini ( ), was a Hungarian-American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts. Houdini first attracted notice in vaudeville in ...
titled ''Houdini: The Untold Story,'' a chronicle of his own craft titled ''The Illustrated History Of Magic,'' and thousands of essays relating to magic and mentalism.


Debunking work

Christopher regarded those individuals who claimed
extrasensory perception Extrasensory perception (ESP), also known as a sixth sense, or cryptaesthesia, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was ad ...
or
psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...
powers to be actually using magic trickery. He wrote three book-length exposés regarding those he said were false seers or psychics: ''ESP, Seers & Psychics;'' ''Mediums, Mystics & The Occult;'' and ''Search For The Soul.'' In the latter book he found no evidence for the existence of the
soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
. Skeptical investigator Joe Nickell who was influenced by Christopher recommended the books "without reservation." Christopher also debunked
parapsychology Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, teleportation, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry (paranormal), psychometry) and other paranormal cla ...
experiments and experimenters during his lifetime. Ironically, despite his denial of the existence of psychic or paranormal powers, and like fellow magicians
Harry Houdini Erik Weisz (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926), known professionally as Harry Houdini ( ), was a Hungarian-American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts. Houdini first attracted notice in vaudeville in ...
and James Randi, both of whom also worked to expose false psychics and mediums, Christopher was accused by some of using paranormal powers to perform his own magic tricks and illusions.


Posthumous achievements

In November 2010, Christopher's widow, Maurine Brooks Christopher, published a special edition of ''Houdini: A Pictorial Life'' with Christopher as collection curator. At a meeting of the executive council of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) in
Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
,
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
in April 2011, Christopher was selected for inclusion in CSI's Pantheon of Skeptics. The Pantheon of Skeptics was created by CSI to remember the legacy of deceased fellows of CSI and their contributions to the cause of scientific skepticism. In 2012, the book ''Milbourne Christopher: The Man & His Magic,'' was authored by William V. Rauscher.Milbourne Christopher: The Man and His Magic
. Retrieved 16 May 2016. The Milbourne Christopher Foundation was established to encourage excellence, originality and leadership in the magical arts and to help keep conjuring on a level with the other most popular entertainment forms – dance, drama, comedy and music. Incorporated in New York State in 1991, the foundation is federally approved as a charitable organization which was financially supported in the past, and so too will be in the future, through her contributions. The board members have changed through the years, as have several of the award judges. Both the officers and award judges donate their services to the foundation. It was Mrs Christopher's wish, and the purpose of the foundation, to sponsor annual awards that spotlight the best magic has to offer contemporaneously in performing, writing, publishing and invention. The categories reflect Milbourne Christopher's diversified career. This includes the areas of: * Author and/or publisher * Outstanding illusionist and/or illusion creator * Promising young magician * Mentalist * Lifetime achievement/master's award * Ambassador of Magic Winners in other areas may be added at the discretion of the judges, and not all winner categories are awarded each year. The charter also authorizes the use of the foundation's resources to collect classic books of magic – such as Christopher's ''Illustrated History of Magic'', ''Panorama of Magic'' and his biographies of Houdini.


Awards

* The Academy of Magical Arts Outstanding Contribution to Magic (1969) * The Academy of Magical Arts Lecturer of the Year (1975)


Publications


''Stretching A Rope''
Kanter's Magic Shop. 1938. * *
''Conjuring With Christopher''
Holden's Magic Shop. 1949.
''The Greatest Magic Illusions Of All Time''
article for ''
Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (often abbreviated as ''PM'' or ''PopMech'') is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do it yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation an ...
'' magazine. 1958. * * * * * * *


References


External links


MilbourneChristopher.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Christopher, Milbourne 1914 births 1984 deaths American magicians American skeptics Critics of parapsychology Harry Houdini Historians of magic People from Maryland Academy of Magical Arts Lecturer of the Year winners