January 31st is the feast day of Saint John Bosco, the patron saint of illusionists!
We owe the request to make the religious figure the patron saint of our art to the magician Treborix (1894-1982). After a request to the ASAP (Association Syndicale des Artistes Prestidigitateurs) directed by Jules Dhotel, which was immediately accepted, magic had its own patron saint!
Don Bosco's choice seems obvious to anyone who has read his autobiography, in which he sometimes describes some of the illusionist experiences he performed:
"The amazement at my feats of prestidigitation grew. Making a quantity of balls larger than the box emerge from a box, pulling a whole cargo of eggs from a small bag, all this plunged people into astonishment. When they saw me collect a quantity of balls on the spectators' noses, guess the sums in their purses, when, with a simple pressure of the fingers, I reduced coins, whatever their metal, to powder, or made the whole audience appear horrible, even headless, some began to wonder if I was not a sorcerer or if I could really accomplish such things without the help of the devil. My landlord, Thomas Cumino, was convinced. A fervent Christian, he did not dislike pranks, and I knew how to take advantage of his character or, to put it better, his naivety, to play all sorts of tricks on him. One day, he had taken great care to prepare a chicken in jelly to treat his boarders on the occasion of his feast day. He brought the saucepan to the table and, removing the lid, saw a rooster escape from it, beating its wings and letting out energetic cock-a-doodle-doos! Another day he prepared a dish of macaroni. When he had cooked them for a long time, at the moment of pouring them into the dish, he found only a little dried bran. Many times he filled his wine bottle, but, when serving, he saw only clear water flow out; or else, wanting to drink water, he found the glass full of wine. Instead of jams, he found only slices of bread. The money in his purse turned into rusty, worthless tin pieces. His headwear was changed into a woman's bonnet. Walnuts and hazelnuts transformed into bags of small pebbles. And these phenomena were repeated very often!" – Excerpt from Autobiographical Memoirs by Don Bosco
Now you'll know why, on January 31st, we wish magicians a happy feast day!
