Encore: The Pendragon’s Hindu Fire 🔥 Basket

"I should like to see those old temples and fakirs and jugglers," said the old man. The Monkey Paw

Yesterday, I awoke to a terrible sore throat, with a low fever and overwhelming exhaustion, and it's been quite a while since I've had the flu. Due to my illness, I found it impossible to complete this week's post without compromising its quality, so I've postponed it until next week. I am, instead, drawing inspiration from Jayshree Gururaj. helloindia! publication of mesmerizing tales of ancient India, I've chosen to share one of my earlier posts, which many of my subscribers and followers may not have read, since my Substack community has significantly expanded since I originally published it on November 25, 2023. The Pendragon’s Hindu 🔥Basket is based on an ancient fanciful illusion where a boy is put in an Indian wicker basket, and swords penetrate the basket. In the end, he reappears unscathed. Through her poignant prose and vivid imagery, Jayshree brings her enchanting tales to life, and through her storytelling, she invites readers to lose themselves in the wonders of ancient India. As her narratives unfold, they remind me that, even in our modern world, the life of myth, legend, and faith in God and spirituality penetrates this dimension and continues to inspire and enchant us all. I want to invite you all to experience her storytelling, if you haven't already read her intriguing writing.

New Series: The Mystery of Faith

Ancient Indian culture, particularly the practices of fakirs (ascetic mystics), has had a significant influence on modern stage magic. Known for their displays of endurance, Fakirs, associated with mysticism and the ability to perform seemingly magical acts and impossible feats, drew their power through meditation, yoga, and religious and spiritual practices. Their connection to mysticism had influenced the depiction of magic as a mysterious and awe-inspiring art form in modern magic stage performances in America and Europe going as far back as the 1800s when Houdini dawned dark face makeup and emulated the esteemed Indian fakirs at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 (The fair being an illusion all on its own. With phenomenal expediency and proficiency, the fairgrounds seemingly emerged from the land, transforming space into a city of white buildings, grand pavilions, and intricate landscaping, including impressive statues and fountains. The synchronization required to orchestrate such a massive endeavor was miraculous.)

It's my pleasure to share with you The Pendragon’s Hindu Fire 🔥 Basket

Photo by Ken Marcus

India, the land of mysteries and Jewel of the Orient, has inspired thousands of Occidental magicians, including the Great Houdini, who first performed at the 1893 Chicago World Fair wearing dark makeup mimicking the popular Indian Fakirs who descended upon the West during the late 1800s, similar to the British pop-culture invasion of America during the ’60s when the Beatles drove every kid including my husband to music.  The enchanting fakirs brought beguiling feats of magic, bewitching audiences from England to America, establishing a sort of Indian magic subculture echoing today in Western magic communities.

In India, magic is said to have descended from the realms of gods going back to 3500 BC, and the lines between sympathetic and supernatural magic based on religion and rituals and entertainment magic are blurred. Tales of boys climbing ropes and vanishing,  levitating Yogis, people raised from the dead mixed with real street fakirs where Hindu and Muslim Holy men performed mystical tricks. Illusions like walking on a bed of hot coals, lying on beds of nails, growing mango trees instantly, sword swallowing, piercing their bodies with spikes, and vanishing and producing small objects like coins and balls, proving their spirituality in exchange for a contribution. When Indian magic made its way to the West, Americans were captivated by the hope it brought for belief in the supernatural world lost to science, which interpreted these mystical events as explainable. Street performers exploited their hope, promising feats of real magic. Illusions like the Indian Rope Trick, where a  boy climbs a rope produced from a basket and vanishes, were a myth and never performed like reported by travelers to India. Still, its legend was so great that famous magicians during that era, like Blackstone and Thurston, included a version of it in their roadshows. Although not as spectacular as their posters portrayed and were less than a mystery on stage, these magicians performed it anyway, capitalizing on its famous magical legend and exploiting the public’s belief in the paranormal world.

Thurston, Howard,--1869-1936

A similar mystery, less popular but more effective than the myth of the Indian rope trick, involved a boy and a basket. A boy climbed into a small basket the magician speared with swords, and the boy came out unscathed. This illusion was one of the more well-received tricks presented on the streets in India. When it made its way to America, it was immediately popular. The first time I saw it was at the Renaissance Faire, where a couple carried a wicker basket around performing the effect. Just like the spectators watching on the streets of India, I was equally mesmerized by this mystical piece of magic. I fell in love with its esoteric history and thought with our physical style; we could make it a seemingly supernatural piece of magic, so I encouraged Jonathan to consider incorporating it into our act.

Then luck happened. We were attending magician Ralph Adam’s show, which Jonathan had assisted before he met me, working with Ralph at Milt Larsen’s Its Magic Show at the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles in 1975. Ralph was famous for gracing stages with his show throughout the country, including the reputable Radio City Music Hall in New York and The Astrodome in Texas, as well as being the first magician in history to see his name in lights in Las Vegas, well before Siegfried came with his tigers. Ralph had a wooden basket and painted it to look like a wicker basket. After Ralph’s show, I complimented him on his basket, which he made. I told him how much I loved the effect and that someday, we planned to include one in our show. A few months later, Ralph called to give us a basket he made. Shocked because we had not ordered one from him, we invited him to our place in Fullerton, California, where he brought it and gave me a quick lesson. Jonathan didn’t need one because he had performed it with him in It’s Magic. Our new basket joined our metamorphosis to become an iconic part of our show.The first times we presented it was at the Magic Castle, performing it occasionally on the same bill with famous Indian magician and firewalker Kuda Bux, a Hindu Mystic known as The Man With X-Ray Eyes and The Fire Walker for his feats of esoteric magic by walking barefoot across hot coals and covering his eyes and head with dough, cotton, and gauze he accurately read books and words written on chalkboards. His roots were grounded in Indian magic, where he learned his craft from Banerjee, a yogi who taught him fire-walking, and seeing without his eyes. In India, he became familiar with the Hindu Basket, so he graciously gave me a few extra tips on performing it and encouraged us to replace the wood one with an actual wicker basket to make it more of an authentic piece, which was Jonathon's plan for the future. It was a pleasure to work with this fantastic Indian icon, which I didn't appreciate enough at the time, considering his legendary status. Writing this article makes me realize how special those moments were with the famed Indian treasure, performing with him and calling him a magic friend who introduced me to some of  India’s magical traditions.

Kuda Bux performing his Man With The X-Ray Eyes Act

Kuda Bux, The Man With The X-Ray. Eyes and The Fire Walker

We sold the wood basket, and with Jonathan’s ingenuity, we replaced it with a proper wicker one. Instead of sourcing it through the magic shop channels, Jonathan purchased a basket that looked like an upside-down genie-shaped bottle from Pier One Imports. He cut the bottom half off and added a floor, and that was our first wicker basket. Being familiar with other fakir tricks, Jonathan suggested the addition of fire, giving our presentation the extra mystical drama and unique presentation required for our version to stand out. Dangerous with fire and a contrast to the flammable wicker, our performance caused fearful tension in audience members—a perfect opener for our show. I seemingly melted into the basket, followed by Jonathan shoving fire-lit spears through the sides. Afterward, my arm came out the top like a slithering serpent, proof I was still in the basket, and Jonathan finished it by dropping a sizeable intimidating sword down the center. After removing the fire spears, in the blink of an eye, I appeared standing in the basket unharmed and intact. I have not had one injury except for two times when I was hospitalized from first and second-degree burns. Fortunately, the audience suspected nothing as I bowed at the conclusion, wincing in pain behind my smile. The first incident happened performing at Trump’s Castle in Atlantic City, and the second time in Mississippi at the Gold Strike Casino in Tunica. The cause of the accident in Atlantic City was easy to determine, and we adjusted our technique to avoid future issues, but the occurrence in Mississippi was unsolvable. Worse than what happened in Atlantic City, I painfully finished our show with a nurse cutting off hunks of burned skin and trying to treat me between illusions. I remember standing in the wings, ready to perform our impalement illusion as the nurse performed surgery on the wounds located on my back. The accident defied an explanation, and I've always suspected it to be sabotage, but who? Whoever understood the workings of that illusion is the only logical answer. Today, it's left an unsolved puzzle reflecting the mystery of the land where it was born.

The Pendragons performing Fire Basket

Jonathan and I performing our version of the Hindu Basket we named the Fire Basket, shown here on NBC TV Special, World’s Most Dangerous Magic in 1998

From the late ’70s until our last time together on stage in the late 2000s, we took our basket everywhere. During shipping, it doubled as a vessel holding foulards, stage elements, and costumes necessary for our show. It was one of those pack-and-play-big illusions. It was light and required little space. We could throw it into our car, so as an illusion, it was valuable. Eventually, we replaced the Pier One version with an Owens basket made by renowned illusion builder Les Smith, owner of Owen’s Magic Supreme, who built our props to withstand the wear of travel and usage. I believe our final basket is still in use today. Like everything made by Les, it was a fantastic piece of artistry and withstood the test of time. It always accompanied us on the road, and one of those shows was a corporate date in Baltimore for the staff of a nuclear power plant. The employees were numerous, so they required four shows over a month. Our first performance caught the eye of Time-Life Books writer and editor Bob Wooldridge, who was writing a book for the company called Vanishings about curious and unusual facts, including stories from the enchanted empire of India, the crown of the Orient, and wanted to feature our modern-day Hindu Basket in the book. So we arranged for a photo session and interview during the next time we performed in Baltimore a few weeks ahead.

We met Bob on our return trip to Baltimore, where we sat down with him to discuss the project with Time-Life Books. He was writing an eighteen-volume book series named Library of Curious and Unusual Facts. Vanishings is one of the volumes that explore intriguing historical events, including disappearances, missing persons and civilizations, the disappearance of extinct species, vanished ships, the Seven Wonders of the World, and more. Bob was captivated by our Hindu Basket. He wanted to capture the essence of it for the chapter on magic, which included a story about the mystery of the Indian Rope Trick, among other historical magic effects like vanishing whole communities. Bob was captivated by how I instantly disappeared into the basket and avoided the danger of fire spears,  reappearing unharmed. Our basket was unique for many reasons, and a noticeable difference was how I entered the basket compared to other performers. It was typically executed by the partner or assistant laboriously trying to squeeze into the small interior. Ours was different, as I described earlier, because I quickly vanished as a cloth was whisked away. The audience assumed I had disappeared into the basket, confirmed after the fire torches were shoved through all sides and my arm shown as proof I was in the basket. Ultimately, our basket, the way we performed it, was an illusion of Invulnerability Because of the way I avoided the danger of the swords and reappeared completely unscathed, comparable to a small parlor trick where a delicate rose is put into a paper bag and crushed—squishing the rose and then opening the bag and pulling out the rose without one petal out of place. That’s an accurate comparison. For our part that evening with Bob, we posed for the photographer and performed the basket several times so he could shoot some good images. The book Vanishings was published in 1990 with a prominent two-page spread of Jonathan and I performing our astounding version of the Hindu Basket, featured in the same chapter as the fabled Indian Rope Trick described in the book as elusive because of the myths surrounding it.

Time-Life Books Vanishings, featuring The Pendragon’s Fire Basket along with unsolved mysteries

Our Fire Basket called Basket of Death in the book Vanishings

Bob and his wife Valerie became our good friends, and when we visited the East Coast, we often stayed with them. One night, over dinner at a restaurant, they introduced us to Sequoia, an upscale restaurant overlooking the Potomac River in Georgetown, DC. We talked about his research of the mysteries he wrote about for the book. He spoke of the intrigue of prominent British magician Jasper Maskelyne, who in 1939  successfully proposed to the British government he could apply the same principles of magic and stage to War Theater and did so by making entire factories vanish with the use of camouflage. This intrigued me because I often see magic concepts used by the media to manipulate public opinion, but that’s for another Substack. Wooldridge also talked about his fascination with the Hindu Rope Trick. Of course, I thought that was settled a long time ago. Still, he told us when interviewing famed British magician Paul Daniels, who we had performed on his show, which I  discuss in this Substack (https://tinyurl.com/ye6na6vc) that Daniels had said to him he had encountered two East Indians at two different times who said they had witnessed the Hindu Rope trick performed on the streets of India, lending one to wonder again? Is magic real? Can it be more than just simply manipulation for pure entertainment? With its deep roots in several religions, could its spiritual aspect transcend our reality? I asked myself these questions because I didn’t want to dismiss eyewitnesses. While contemplating this idea, I was reminded of Kuda Bux and the miracles he seemingly performed. I assumed he used magic methods to accomplish his miraculous ability to walk on fire and, with his eyes bound, read books and thread needles. We’ll never know, but his eerie mysticism makes me wonder what is magic and what is not and how much could we know not limited to the boundaries of our five senses. What exists outside those limitation because we all need enchantment in our lives.

The Pendragon’s performing Fire Basket for Thames TV Best of Magic

I left the restaurant with those thoughts swirling in my head as we drove to Barry’s Magic Shop in North Bethesda, Maryland.  One of those  Serendipitous moments happened as we walked into the shop; sitting on a shelf, easy to see was Jasper Maskelyne’s book Maskelyne’s Book of Magic, and near it on the wall was a poster of Thurston’s Hindu Rope Trick. An uncanny coincidence leaving me to wonder and ask myself, when is magic a trick, and when is it not a trick? With that, I leave you to please ponder the mysteries in your life.

Photo by Ken Marcus Graphics by Mike Knight