John Mulholland (born John Wickizer) (9 June 1898 in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

– 25 February 1970 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) was an American magician, author, publisher and intelligence agent.

Early life

Mulholland was born on June 9, 1898, in Chicago, Illinois.''Contemporary Authors: First Revision, Volumes 5-8''. Gale Research Company, 1969. p. 806 His parents were John and Irene Wickizer. While still at school Mulholland started his professional magic career from 1913. He was educated at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and College of the City of New York. Mulholland supplemented his income by teaching industrial arts at Horace Mann School during 1919–1925.

Life and work

Mulholland learned the art of magic as a teenager with John William Sargent, President of the Society of American Magicians. Mulholland was a professional magician for two decades, working in small companies and large stage shows. He ran one of the first magic workshops and was from 1930 the editor of the magical trade magazine '' The Sphinx''. He published many books on magic and its history. Mulholland was a close friend of Harry Houdini. Mulholland asserted that "Houdini once told me that he considered no man to be a magician until he was able skillfully to perform the cups and balls." His other friends included Gene Tunney, Harold Ross and Bert Terhune. Mulholland married Pauline Pierce on May 17, 1932. In 1939, he was the only foreign officer in the British Magical Society, and by that time had studied his craft in 42 countries. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he wrote a spellbook for soldiers. His collection is now owned by

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield''Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work; see is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from infancy to matur ...

. In 1949, Mulholland was issued a public $10,000 challenge. John J McManus (Magic Collector) issued the challenge in the Conjurors' Magazine (June 1949, Vol 5 Issue# 4). The full page ad called for Mulholland to re-create his famous 'Hooker Rising Trick' under controlled stage conditions with McManus providing the necessary props. Failure to answer the challenge or to correctly recreate the trick would call for publicly accepting the story of his trick as an 'exaggerated myth'. He left his editorial position at ''The Sphinx'' in 1953, officially due to health problems but in reality it was a cover for him to work for the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

. During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, Mulholland was paid by the CIA to write a manual on

deception Deception is the act of convincing of one or many recipients of untrue information. The person creating the deception knows it to be false while the receiver of the information does not. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Tort of ...

and misdirection. Copies of the document were believed to have been destroyed in 1973, however, copies later resurfaced and were published as "The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception". In 2008, magician Ben Robinson authored ''The Magician: John Mulholland's Secret Life'' which documented his work with the CIA. He was the editor of the Conjurer's Journal and was the only living magician listed in the book ''Who's who in America'' immediately after the death of Howard Thurston. Mulholland was also a member of Inner Magic Circle (honorary vice-president), International Brotherhood of Magicians and Society of American Magicians.

Skepticism

Mulholland had criticized the claims of

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 ...

and exposed the tricks of fraudulent spiritualist mediums. His book ''Beware Familiar Spirits'' (1938) revealed many of these tricks.The New Books. ''Review of Beware Familiar Spirits''. The Saturday Review. November 26, 1938. p. 24Coleman, Earle Jerome. (1987). ''Magic: A Reference Guide''. Greenwood Press. p. 120 A review which highly praised the book, stated that Mulholland had "been sworn at, threatened, and even shot at while acquiring the information". In 1952 for ''

Popular Science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...

'', he published a skeptical article on flying saucers and UFOs.

Books

Articles
''Secrets of the Fortune-Telling Racket''
''

''. January, 1931. ith Michel Mok
''Magicians Scoff''
''

''. September, 1952.
The Journal of Necromantic Numismatics
many articles concerning Magic Tokens. 1965-1970. Books * ''Magic in the Making'' (1925) * ''Quicker than the Eye'' (1932) * ''The Magic and Magicians of the World'' (1932) * ''The Story of Magic'' (1935) * ''Beware Familiar Spirits'' (1938) * ''The Girl in the Cage'' (1939) * ''The Art of Illusion'' (1944) * ''The Early Magic Shows'' (1945) * ''The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception'' (1953) :* * ''Practical Puppetry'' (1961) * ''John Mulholland’s Book of Magic'' (1963) * ''Magic of the World'' (1965) * ''The Magical Mind – Key to Successful Communication'' (1967)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulholland, John 1898 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers American magicians American skeptics Critics of parapsychology Critics of Spiritualism Harry Houdini Historians of magic People of the Central Intelligence Agency UFO skeptics Writers from Chicago