Jean Eugene ROBERT-HOUDIN - 1805-1871'Father of modern conjuring' performing at St James's Theatre, London, December 1848. Employed by French government to destroy the influence of the Dervishes in Algeria by exposing their 'tricks'. Used batteries to give Algerians electric shocks, demonstrating that he had the more powerful 'magic'.

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Jean Eugene ROBERT-HOUDIN - 1805-1871'Father of modern conjuring' performing at St James's Theatre, London, December 1848. Employed by French government to destroy the influence of the Dervishes in Algeria by exposing their 'tricks'. Used batteries to give Algerians electric shocks, demonstrating that he had the more powerful 'magic'.

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Keywords: 1805-1871father, algeria, archival, archive, conjuring, dervishes, eugene, french, government, historical, history, illusions, james, jean, london, magic, modern, robert-houdin, st, theatre