Joseffy

Who was Joseffy?

Josef P. Freud was a Viennese magician.

Joseffy came to the United States of America at the age of 19 where he worked at a Chicago Magic Store, building props and illusions. He invented a self-contained, no-thread version of The Rising Cards that astounded magicians of his day. One of his mechanical creations was the talking Skull of Balsamo.

Joseffy was a performer at Coney Island as the Chautauqua & Lyceum headliner, and also played violin.

The American poet Carl Sandburg wrote a promotional booklet entitled simply Joseffy.

Joseffy eventually stopped performing and became an electrical engineer.