Chung Ling Soo

[My Good Babushka]

Chung Ling Soo was a Chinese magician famous for his “bullet catch” illusion. marked bullets were put into a gun, then fired at Soo. The bullets were concealed in his palm and the gun was rigged to swallow the bullet and release a harmless charge of gunpowder. March 23, 1918, the gun malfunctioned and the bullet discharged. An audience at Wood Green Empire, London, saw Soo get shot. He said, in English, “My God, something’s happened. Lower the curtain.” Not only had he faked catching bullets, he had faked being Chinese for 19 years. His name was William Ellsworth Robinson and he was born in New York City. He died the next day in London.

[DFW]

1. A friend of mine in London is a fanatic fan

He goes over to the States to buy original posters of Chung Ling Soo performances.

Robinson used to babble fake Chinese to a "translator," who would then take questions in English and babble fake Chinese back so that "Chung Ling Soo" could understand and answer with more fake Chinese. The audience in his final performance gasped in amazement when he uttered (as Chung Ling Soo) English words on stage after he realized he had been shot for real.