Thurston said, "The
historian of magic can trace an unbroken line of succession from the
Fakir of Ava in 1830 to my own entertainment."
The King of Cards He is still famous for his work with
playing cards. According to legend, a Mexican magician appeared at a magic shop owned by Otto Maurer in
New York City. The enigmatic magician demonstrated how he could make cards disappear, one by one, at his fingertips. Maurer showed Thurston the move, which he would later feature in his act. He added the "
Rising Cards" trick from Professor Hoffman's
Modern Magic, the book from which Thurston had learned the rudiments of magic. For this trick, he would walk into the audience and ask several people to choose cards from a deck of cards. The deck was shuffled and placed into a clear glass. Thurston would then call for the chosen cards. One by one the cards would rise up to the top of the deck. Thurston arranged an impromptu audition with
Leon Herrmann, nephew of
Alexander Herrmann. His performance fooled Leon. From that point on he called himself "The man that fooled Herrmann" and used the publicity to get booked into top vaudeville houses in the U.S. and Europe, billing himself as the
King of Cards.
Levitation illusion Thurston became well known for performing a floating lady illusion known as the "
Levitation of Princess Karnac". The illusion was originally performed by
John Nevil Maskelyne and most famously by
Harry Kellar. Magic historian
Jim Steinmeyer has written that "In Thurston's hands, the Levitation of Princess Karnac became a masterpiece. The beautiful trick was perfectly suited to Thurston's lyrical baritone." By 1908, the
levitation illusion was sought by famous magicians. It was duplicated by
Charles Joseph Carter on a world tour and had interested the magician
Chung Ling Soo. == Later years ==