Houdini called him a ‘super magician’ and an American pretended to be Chinese to copy his act. Who was Ching Ling Foo?

Ching Ling Foo, the ‘Original Chinese Conjuror’, took the US by storm 120 years ago and became one of the highest paid entertainers in the country – twice

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Ching Ling Foo (left) with American fellow magician Nicola around 1925. Foo took America by storm at the turn of the 20th century and became one of the highest paid entertainers in the country. Photo: Getty Images

Samuel Porteous

Published: 6:15am, 7 Aug 2022Updated: 11:00am, 16 Aug 2022

Hailed by Harry Houdini as a “super magician” in his 1920 book, Miracle Mongers and Their Methods, as well as a personal friend, travelling conjuror Ching Ling Foo arguably performed his greatest trick offstage.

Just over 120 years ago in peak “yellow peril” America, Foo subverted the stereotypes that gave birth to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and became one of the most popular and highest paid performers in the United States – twice. Once was during his first US tour, from 1898 to 1900, and then again when he went back more than a decade later, from 1912 to 1915.

Born Zhu Liankui to a family based in the port city of Tianjin, in 1854, the man America would come to know as “the Original Chinese Conjuror” overcame a speech impediment and the early death of his father to pursue a passion for illusion, ignited by the street-corner performers and card sharps of his childhood.

By the time he was able to test his talents in the American market, Foo was already an established star in Asia, a success built on an ability to freshen what, for many, had become stale traditional Chinese magic.

Born Zhu Liankui, Ching pursued a passion for illusion ignited by the street-corner performers and card sharps of his childhood. Illustration: Samuel D Porteous

By 1898, Foo had transformed from Zhu the Stutterer to the leader of a carefully assembled troupe of jugglers, contortionists and acrobats, performing regularly for large audiences in China, and for the governors of both Hong Kong and Singapore.

This exposure led the Chinese-American entrepreneurs behind the 1898 Omaha World’s Fair Chinese Village to sign the Foo troupe, who proved an even bigger hit with US audiences. Foo’s fame, abetted by fledgling newswire services, spread rapidly across the country. According to the Chicago Daily News, the Chinese Theatre was “crowded from morning until night”.