Joseph Pinetti

Joseph Pinetti was a celebrated magician who lived during the late 18th century.

Born in Orbetello, Italy, around 1750, he became known as the "Professor of Natural Magic." Pinetti was a flamboyant and complex figure who changed the way magic was presented to the world. He was the first magician to use advertising to fill theaters. Rather than just performing simple tricks, he presented his work as scientific experiments. He claimed his illusions were based on controlled principles of physics. This approach helped him become the most famous magician of his era.

Pinetti revolutionized the mechanics of magic performances by moving them from the streets into grand theaters. Before his time, many performers acted as troubadours. These traveling performers carried their equipment in bags around their waists or tables under their arms. Pinetti brought a sense of luxury to the stage. While his predecessors used gadgets made of brass and tin, Pinetti used tools made of gold and silver. His stage settings were glorious and straightforward. He used silk curtains, tables painted gold, and two crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

His performances were highly visual and carefully staged. Pinetti was a short, pudgy man who carried himself with the demeanor of a king. He often changed his gold-embroidered clothes three or four times during a single evening. One of his famous illusions involved a pigeon and a ribbon. He would suspend the bird by a ribbon tied around its neck. A shadow of the pigeon was then projected onto a wall. Pinetti would use a knife to slash the shadow of the bird's neck. Within seconds, the shadow appeared beheaded.

Pinetti's career began in Rome, where he worked as a professor. He originally performed these demonstrations for his students as lessons in physics. His friends were so impressed that they encouraged him to perform for the public. By 1780, he was performing in Germany under the name Joseph Pinetti, Roman Professor of Mathematics. He even used the impressive title "Theophrastus Paracelsus." In Paris, his fame grew so large that audiences had to book seats weeks in advance. He was even commanded to perform a private show for the King of France.

His immense success faced a major challenge in March 1784. A lawyer and physics student named Henri Decremps published a book titled *La Magic Blanche Dévoilée*, or *Natural Magic Disclosed*. This book revealed the methods behind many magic tricks. Although the book did not mention Pinetti by name, people assumed it was about him. The book became a bestseller and ruined the suspense of his shows. As a result, attendance at his theater dropped significantly. Pinetti responded in June 1784 by publishing his own book, *Amusements Physiques*. This book was intended to teach others how to "amuse a company."

Pinetti was a man who loved to flaunt his wealth as he traveled across Europe. In Berlin, he arrived in a coach drawn by four white horses. He dressed like a high-ranking nobleman and wore many chivalric orders on his chest. This display angered the King of Prussia, Frederick the Great. The King traveled in a much plainer coach pulled by only two horses. Frederick the Great ordered Pinetti to leave Berlin within twenty-four hours. The King famously remarked that Berlin was not large enough for two monarchs: himself and the "King of Conjurers."

After leaving Prussia, Pinetti found success in Russia. The Czar was so impressed by his experiments that he gave Pinetti a large ring and a diamond-studded medallion. However, Pinetti eventually lost most of his fortune due to a bad investment in a partnership involving balloon ascensions. He suffered from a long and cruel illness and was reduced to poverty. A nobleman in Berdychiv, in what is now Ukraine, provided him with shelter out of compassion. Pinetti died there around 1803. His life remains a notable chapter in the history of stage magic and performance art.