THE AMAZING FOGEL
1911 – 1981
Maurice Fogel was a giant amongst mentalists, he had a keen interest in human behavioural psychology and a dedication to the improvement of his craft.
He was known for his incredible talent, showmanship and warm personality but perhaps he was best known for his dramatic bullet catch routine.
Early life
Born in London’s East End on 7th July 1911, Fogel was the eldest of seven children.
His parents; Nathan and Malka, were both Polish Jews and had come over to England in 1910. His father worked as a baker before learning pattern design and becoming a tailor and the family had a humble lifestyle.
Whilst at school, and not having much money, Maurice would spend his free time in the local library and it was here that he first came across a book by Professor Hoffman.
He soon became a competent magician and enjoyed the popularity magic gave him by being able to perform and entertain friends.
It was about this time that he read about the bullet catch and the fact that Houdini was too afraid to attempt it, which both surprised and motivated him to want to perform the effect. He left school at 14 and joined Oxford and he credits this experience for giving him the opportunity to entertain an audience.
Magic career
Maurice’s mother wanted him to become a rabbi and his father wanted him to join him in the tailoring business, but being aware of his passion for magic and knowing a magician personally “Rameses, The Eastern Mystic”.
His father wanted to help his son chose the best path for his magic career.
After setting up a meeting with Rameses, Fogel’s father invested in the Rameses show and Maurice was offered a role.
Whilst working with Rameses, Fogel learned the art of street performance and how to attract a crowd. Fogel would start by attracting people, then build an audience by doing magic and the people were then encouraged to pay to see the Rameses show.
Fogel’s work with Rameses was invaluable, it taught him how to be a showman and a marketer. His work on the show ended when Rameses died in July 1930.
At 19 he joined The Magician’s Club and it was here he became good friends with Robert Harbin. Over the next five years he experimented with cards, coins and other traditional magic effects, combining them with different performance characters.
In 1937 at the age of 26, he entered and won a talent competition at Collins Music Hall. This was really the beginning of Fogel’s professional career and he went on to work many music halls before they gradually started closing down.
Fogel had an interest in psychic experiences and had experimented with some mindreading effects at previous engagements.
Although many of the attempts failed, the small successes he did have generated intrigue and audience engagement. Fogel made notes on the effects in one of his notebooks filled with ideas and stunts.
Mentalism
The show of mental magic soon became Fogel’s act and he performed this until the end of his life. During the war years it was virtually impossible to gain access to props whilst serving, so being able to perform a full act with nothing more than ordinary everyday items meant that Fogel’s act and his reputation went from strength to strength and he soon transferred to the ‘Stars in Battledress’.
During his war service he achieved fame and press publicity with some sensational predictions. In the post war years he was working in variety theatres and the Fogel road show was up and running with the addition of some popular illusions; Russian Roulette, cheating the gallows, a bullet catch routine and hypnotism.
The show toured theatres with great success.
Bullet catch
Fogel’s Russian Roulette and bullet catch routines were actually very dangerous and he suffered several accidents while performing them.
He was a keen student of psychology and in 1949 he published a booklet titled “Fogelism” dealing with relaxation and the subconscious mind.
Fogel travelled extensively and in 1950 he travelled to America but found it difficult to gain work and the following year he returned to England.
Fogel didn’t perform the bullet catch like any other performer, he realised that the key to the trick was the danger involved in watching a performer risk his life by having a gun aimed at him and then fired. He upped the odds by using six rifles in his routine.
Five rifles contained genuine bullets and one had no bullet.
The rifles were mixed up and one of them was chosen at random and this rifle was to be fired directly at Fogel’s heart. The remaining rifles were aimed at plates on a rack behind him. The finale of the effect consisted of rifle fire and the destruction of 5 plates smashing onto the stage.
Best of all was the way Fogel sold the trick to his audience. Once the effect was set up and the audience was ready to see whether he would survive the ordeal was when the genius of Fogel the showman took over.
Just as the rifles were aimed at Fogel and the tension was mounting to a high pitch, he would abruptly stop the action and step forward to address the audience.
“Ladies and gentlemen” he would say, “It occurs to me that in a few moments I may be lying dead or dying on the floor, unable to hear your reaction. Would it be presumptuous of me to ask to hear your applause now?”
Needless to say the audience responded with a wild round of applause. “Thank You” he would say. He returned to the original drama and the firearms were re-aimed at him.
After a short countdown the rifles roared into life, plates crashed to the ground and Fogel staggered! He staggered just long enough to cause the more sensitive spectators to gasp before Maurice recovered and took his applause.
Once the audience realised that Fogel was unharmed their applause raised the roof.
That was the kind of brilliant showmanship that put Maurice in a league of his own. No wonder he was known as the Amazing Fogel!
Later years and death
Fogel spent much of his latter years time cruising on ships, but once Variety had come to a halt in the 1950s, he spent most of his time working for Butlin’s.
On October 30th 1981, Fogel was on his way to do a show and whilst waiting for a train at Golders Green Underground Station, just a few minutes walk from his home, Maurice Fogel died of a heart attack.
He will be remembered for his talent, personality and for being an outstanding performer, in addition he possessed charm, was always kind and was very likeable.
I hope you enjoy reading this blog? As always comments, questions and suggestions are always appreciated, get in touch using the form on the contact page or the comments below.
Chow for now
Ryan
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