Returning to Istanbul four years later, the magician performed a trick that plunged spectators into horror. He cut off his assistant’s head and, placing it on a tray, circulated it among the spectators and let them touch it with their own hands. The spectators of course believed it was a real human head. Vanek toured the world up to 1878, awakening profound admiration with every performance.

THE WATCH THAT CAME OUT OF A FISH’S BELLY
Compars Hermann, known as ‘the Great Hermann’, came from a family of four generations of magicians. Arriving in Istanbul in 1853, he performed at the Naum Theatre. His most popular trick involved firing a pistol at a child standing on a table and making him disappear only to have the same child reappear again at the other end of the stage. Nine years later Compars Hermann’s brother Alexander also came to Istanbul and began performing. Sultan Abdülaziz was much taken with the performances of this Hermann, whose posters announced that he had performed for 26 different rulers.