John Mulholland
From Kook Science
| John Mulholland | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Mulholland Jr.[i] 9 June 1898 Chicago, Illinois |
| Died | 25 February 1970 (71) New York City, New York |
| Spouse(s) | Pauline Pierce (m. 1932) |
John Mulholland (June 9, 1898 - February 25, 1970) was an American stage magician, active for some fifty years from the 1920s until his death. During the Second World War, Mulholland lectured on propaganda techniques and the "psychology of deception," this activity culminating in his becoming a consultant to the Central Intelligence Agency in the 1950s.
Selected Bibliography
- Mulholland, John (1925), Magic in the Making: A First Book of Conjuring, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons
- Mulholland, John; Baldridge, Cyrus Leroy (ill.) (1932), Quicker than the Eye: The Magic and Magicians of the World, New York: Junior Literary Guild
- Mulholland, John (1935), The Story of Magic, New York: Loring & Mussey
- Mulholland, John (1938), Beware Familiar Spirits, New York & London: Scribner's Sons
- Fitzsimmons, Cortland; Mulholland, John (1939), The Girl in the Cage, New York: F.A. Stokes
- Mulholland, John (1944), The Art of Illusion: Magic for Men To Do, New York: Scribner's Sons
- Mulholland, John (1945), The Early Magic Shows, New York: J. Mulholland, https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/102141917
- Mulholland, John (1961), Practical Puppetry, New York: Arco Pub. Co.
- Mulholland, John (1963), John Mulholland’s Book of Magic, New York: Scribner
- Mulholland, John; Hormel, Al (ill.) (1965), Magic of the World, New York: Scribner
- Mulholland, John; Gordon, George N. (1967), The Magical Mind: Key to Successful Communication, New York: Hastings House
Mulholland was also the editor of the The Sphinx from 1930 until 1953.
CIA Manuals
According to The Official C.I.A. Manual of Trickery and Deception, written by Robert Wallace, a former CIA officer, and H. Keith Melton, an intelligence historian, Mulholland wrote at least two manuals on sleight of hand and covert communication techniques as part of Project MKULTRA.
- Melton, H. Keith; Wallace, Robert (2009), The Official C.I.A. Manual of Trickery and Deception, New York: William Morrow — "The manuals reprinted in this work represent the only known complete copy of Mulholland's instructions for CIA officers on the magician's art of deception and secret communications written to counter Soviet mind-control and interrogation techniques."
Press Coverage
1920s-1930s
- KCS (16 Jan. 1929), "AN EXPOSER OF SPIRITS. John Mulholland, at 30, Knows All About Magic.", Kansas City Star (Kansas City, MO): 3, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119383389/an-exposer-of-spirits-john-mulholland/
- Musselman, Virginia (13 Oct. 1929), "American Makes Magic For Little King Michael: MULHOLLAND AN AUTHORITY ON THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MYSTERIES OF LEGERDEMAIN: Has Traveled in Forty Countries and Learned the Secrets of the Great Magicians of All Lands — Has Only Private Library in America Devoted to This Subject — Student of History of Magic in America — Warns Against Fortune Tellers and Charlatans.", Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC): Sec3 p.9, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119382065/american-makes-magic-for-little-king/
- Thomas the Magician (29 Nov. 1936), "Mulholland, Noted as Magician, Was Once High School Teacher", Casper Star-Tribune (Casper, WY): 25, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119383728/mulholland-noted-as-magician-was-once/
1940s
- Schaefer, Louis (20 Nov. 1940), "John Mulholland Entertains Institute: Famous Magician Mixes War, Politics, Magic in Interesting Lecture", Columbia Daily Spectator, https://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/columbia?a=d&d=cs19401120-01.2.7&e=-------en-20--1, "One of the first rules of either magic or propaganda is to do the unexpected, and to show his point more clearly, he treated the gathering to a thimble trick, which lost most of its appeal when he repeated it, showing how highly important the unexpected actually is."
- Hope, Eleanor (5 Apr. 1942), "BLACK MAGIC OF MORALE SABOTEUR", Philadelphia Inquirer - Everybody's Weekly (Philadelphia, PA): 2, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119383086/black-magic-of-morale-saboteur/, "The laws of psychological deception are universally applicable."
- DET (7 Feb. 1943), "Magician Here Plans to Unmask Axis Propaganda: Edison Business Club Speaker to Expose Dictator Tricks Wednesday", Detroit Evening Times (Detroit, MI): 12, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88063294/1943-02-07/ed-1/seq-12/
- DET (11 Feb. 1943), "Believes Hitler Is Slipping", Detroit Evening Times (Detroit, MI): 25, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88063294/1943-02-11/ed-1/seq-25/, "Hitler no longer wields the power in Germany that he once did. That is not just a guess on the part of John Mulholland, noted magician and lecturer. It is the result of a careful analysis of propaganda pouring from Germany, an analysis made by applying the same rules as apply to the magician's trade. 'The psychology of deception is used in propaganda the same as it is used in magic,' said Mulholland. 'The propagandist plants in your mind what he wants, the same with the magician. 'In his anniversary speech Goering praised Hitler. He said no one but the fuehrer would have dared attack Russia. 'That seemingly is praise. But look behind it. It is laying the blame for the defeat in Russia on Hitler's shoulders. Goering would never have dared made such a statement a year ago. He would not now unless Hitler's power was slipping.' Mulholland, who spoke before the Edison Business Club, unmasking propaganda methods, said that propaganda as well as magic was the study of 'abnormalities of the normal mind.'"
Reading
- Robinson, Ben (2008), The Magician: John Mulholland's Secret Life, Lybrary.com
Notes
- ↑ Public records — including the Cook Co. birth register, U.S. passport applications, and U.S. Census records — give his birth name as John Mulholland Jr., having been named for his father, John Mulholland (1857-1910); his mother was Irene May Mulholland, née Wickizer (1867-1951). This is contrary to reports that Mulholland was only his stage name.