Milbourne Christopher (23 March 1914 – 17 June 1984) was a prominent American illusionist, magic historian, and author. President of the

Society of American Magicians The Society of American Magicians (S.A.M.) is the oldest fraternal magic organization in the world. Its purpose is "to advance, elevate, and preserve magic as a performing art, to promote harmonious fellowship throughout the world of magic, and ...

, 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 US non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to "pro ...

, Christopher wrote a number of books, including a biography of

Harry Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American Escapology, escape artist, Magic (illusion), magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his Escapology, escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to ...

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 Mentalism is a performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, appear to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities. Performances may appear to include hypnosis, telepathy, clairvoyance, divination, precognitio ...

Debunking work

Christopher regarded those individuals who claimed

extrasensory perception Extrasensory perception or ESP, also called sixth sense, 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 adopted by Duke Universit ...

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws ...

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 In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...

. Skeptical investigator

Joe Nickell Joe Nickell (born December 1, 1944) is an American skeptic and investigator of the paranormal. Nickell is senior research fellow for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and writes regularly for their journal, ''Skeptical Inquirer''. He is also ...

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, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry) and other paranormal claims, for example, those related t ...

experiments and experimenters during his lifetime. Ironically, despite his denial of the existence of psychic or paranormal powers, and like fellow magicians

and

James Randi James Randi (born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge; August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020) was a Canadian-American stage magician, author and scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. Rodrigues 2010 ...

, 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 consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

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, and 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 The Magic Castle is a clubhouse for magicians and magic enthusiasts, as well as the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts. It is in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California and it bills itself as "the most unusual private club in ...

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

Publications

''Stretching A Rope''
Kanter's Magic Shop. 1938.
''Magic At Your Finger Tips''
Maryland Magic Studio. 1947.
''50 Tricks With A Thumb Tip''
D. Robbins & Company. 1948.
''Conjuring With Christopher''
Holden's Magic Shop. 1949.
''The Greatest Magic Illusions Of All Time''
article for ''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (sometimes 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 and transportation o ...

'' 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