Black Herman
Black Herman., n.d. photographer unknown. From
http://www.magicexhibit.org
Black Herman: (1892-1934); Another name for Benjamin Herman Rucker, a magician and illusionist born in Amherst, Virginia. Black Herman was the most prominent African American magician of his time, well-known for his street and close-up magic. He learned the art of stage illusions from a performer named Prince Herman, who was first his teacher and later his partner. Their show became a combination medicine show/stage show as they sold patent medicine and performed sleight of hand. In 1909, Prince Herman died and Rucker, then only 17 years old, took the name Black Herman in honor of his friend. Black Herman subsequently dropped the medicine show aspect of his performance and focused on the stage act.
When traveling in the South, Black Herman’s audiences were largely Black. When traveling in the North, his audiences were racially mixed due to the Jim Crow policies in effect at the time. His forte included the Asrah levitation, the production of rabbits, and escape from knots tied by audience members. His most famous trick, however, was his Private Graveyard, where he would sell tickets three days before his performance and invite people to watch his "lifeless body" be placed in a coffin and buried near the venue of his next show. On the day of the show, the audience would witness the coffin being exhumed and watch the magician emerge alive. He then would lead the crowd to the theater for his performance.
Herman professed to be the author of Secrets of Magic, Mystery, and Legerdemain, a book published in 1925 that contained a variety of African American Hoodoo practices as well as advice on astrology and lucky numbers, his semi-fictionalized autobiography, and directions for performing simple illusions. While the book was sold at his performances, it has since been determined that he was not the author.
In April 1934, Black Herman collapsed on stage from an apparent heart attack. According to the California Science Center (2000):
When traveling in the South, Black Herman’s audiences were largely Black. When traveling in the North, his audiences were racially mixed due to the Jim Crow policies in effect at the time. His forte included the Asrah levitation, the production of rabbits, and escape from knots tied by audience members. His most famous trick, however, was his Private Graveyard, where he would sell tickets three days before his performance and invite people to watch his "lifeless body" be placed in a coffin and buried near the venue of his next show. On the day of the show, the audience would witness the coffin being exhumed and watch the magician emerge alive. He then would lead the crowd to the theater for his performance.
Herman professed to be the author of Secrets of Magic, Mystery, and Legerdemain, a book published in 1925 that contained a variety of African American Hoodoo practices as well as advice on astrology and lucky numbers, his semi-fictionalized autobiography, and directions for performing simple illusions. While the book was sold at his performances, it has since been determined that he was not the author.
In April 1934, Black Herman collapsed on stage from an apparent heart attack. According to the California Science Center (2000):
In April, 1934, Black Herman was performing in Louisville, Kentucky. He collapsed suddenly in the middle of his show and was declared dead of "acute indigestion." The audience didn't believe it. Herman had risen from the dead so many times before. The crowd refused to believe that the show was over and stayed in the theater. Eventually Black Herman's body was moved to a funeral home. The crowds followed. Finally, Black Herman's assistant, Washington Reeves, decided "Let's charge admission. That's what he would have done." And they did, to thousands of people. Some people even brought pins to stick in the corpse to prove he was dead. When he was buried, "his death made front page news in black newspapers all over the country." (California Science Center, 2000).
Black Herman was buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in New York City. His entry for his internment reads:
BENJAMIN RUCKER (1892-1934) Honeysuckle R18 G194 unmarked
Magician
Known to audiences as "Black Herman", this traveling magician used a combination of medicine show techniques and vaudeville skills to develop a successful act. He was best known for his "Buried Alive" trick where he would hypnotize women and then place them in the ground for six hours. Eventually he would perform the trick on himself and sell tickets for the public to view his "private graveyard" prior to his theater performance.
BENJAMIN RUCKER (1892-1934) Honeysuckle R18 G194 unmarked
Magician
Known to audiences as "Black Herman", this traveling magician used a combination of medicine show techniques and vaudeville skills to develop a successful act. He was best known for his "Buried Alive" trick where he would hypnotize women and then place them in the ground for six hours. Eventually he would perform the trick on himself and sell tickets for the public to view his "private graveyard" prior to his theater performance.
*This article was first published in Hoodoo Almanac 2012 and is reprinted with permission of the publisher. Article copyright 2012-2014 Denise Alvarado, all rights reserved worldwide.
