Apparence
Sal'aäd est une homme grand et mince, dans la trentaine. Il a des yeux d'un vert profond, presque semblables à des gemmes, qu'il souligne généralement d'un trait doré. Ses cheveux, très longs et noirs, sont soyeux. Il en porte une portion en un chignon sophistiqué, laissant le reste cascader librement dans son dos. Il revêt une robe de magicien composée de plusieurs couches, dans diverses étoffes fines, et des bandages qui enrobent ses avant-bras sous ses manches large. Il affectionne particulièrement les couleurs vertes et or, et le serpent est un motif complexe qu'il affectionne particulièrement.
Dans l'ensemble, c'est un homme qui garde une allure digne et bien soignée. Il est toujours propre sur lui, ses vêtements se mouvant fluidement autour de lui à chacun de ses pas, sans un plis. Très charismatique, sa présence n'est cependant pas intimidante, car il garde toujours un sourire bienveillant, même dans les pires situations. Il émane de lui une certaine sagesse, mais la fierté ne l'entrave pas : il sait reconnaître ses erreurs et les acceptes avec amusement. De manière générale, Sal'aäd est un très bel homme, et un compagnon au caractère très doux avec une certaine prestance.
Bien entendu, les échecs critiques successifs ont entachés cette image, mais malgré tout, même en ayant frôlé la mort, Sal'aäd a su rester ce magicien résigné au sourire subtil et plein d'autodérision, quoiqu'un peu échevelé et tâché de son propre sang.
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On May 9th 1911 the Empire Palace Theatre in Edinburgh was partly destroyed by fire, 11 people lost their lives including the star performer that night, The Great Lafayette.
That Tuesday might in 1911 a 3000-strong audience took their seats to witness the lavish show, and Lafayette perform one of his greatest illusions.
His speciality act was titled the Lion’s Bride, which featured a magnificent caged lion. A woman walked slowly on to the stage before entering the cage but, as the animal looked set to pounce, its pelt fell away to reveal the master Lafayette.
But as Lafayette - who was just 38 at the time - took his final bow, a stage lamp caught fire. Within seconds the stage curtain was alight and, as the safety screen lowered, a draught caused the flames to leap out into the first row.
Believing the fire to be part of the illusion, the crowd remained seated. But as the orchestra struck up the national anthem, they realised the flames were real and fled for their lives.
Describing the fire in the Daily Record, one witness in the front stalls said: “The fire started with a lamp suspended from the roof.
"I don’t know what kind of lamp it was but all of a sudden what appeared like a shower of golden rain occurred and the whole scenery burst into flames.
"The fire leaped towards those of us in the front stalls and the friend who was with me had his eyebrows and the side of his head scorched.”
Lafayette was said to have perished on stage while two midgets, who were part of his act, ran to warn cellist James Baines of the danger in a backstage dressing room.
They were later found in the musician’s arms, all three overcome by smoke inhalation.
One of the pair, a 17-year-old girl, called Alice Dale, operated a scene-stealing mechanical teddybear while the other, 14-year-old Joseph Coates, had only joined the company two weeks previously.
Newspaper reports of the time say Alice ran backstage and asked artist Arthur Jewitt, known as the Rajah, to save her but was swept into the arms of Baines, who saw himself as the teenager’s protector.
Within hours, Lafayette’s body was discovered on stage and moved to Glasgow for cremation in preparation for the funeral.
But the next day, his London solicitor arrived in Edinburgh and voiced concern that the body was missing Lafayette’s famous rings.
Three days after the late-night blaze, a workman sifting through the rubble of the theatre found a severed hand next to an overlooked body.
The hand was adorned with rings and the body was identified as the world-famous illusionist.
The circumstances of Lafayette’s death were further complicated when it was revealed the corpse of one of his body doubles was never found. That mystery persists to this day.
A true eccentric, Lafayette was also famous for his slavish dedication to his dogs.
His favourite was Beauty, a pit bull terrier who died through over-eating just four days before the illusionist was killed in the blaze.
The dog was wearing her diamond studded dog collar as she travelled with Lafayette in their private Pullman coach to Edinburgh on April 30th, 1911. They booked into the Caledonian Hotel in adjoining suites and prepared for their two-week run at the Empire Theatre.
A sign in Lafayette’s London home made clear to visitors the importance of Beauty to her master. It read: “You may drink my wine; you may eat my food; you may command my servants; but you must respect my dog.”
Author Arthur Setterington, who penned The Life and Times of the Great Lafayette 1872-1911, wrote: “Beauty was his life. He was shattered by her death and performed each evening with his shoulders shaking with grief. He announced that his own death could not be far away.”
The pair were buried together in Edinburgh’s Piershill Cemetery, following one of the most spectacular funerals the city has ever seen.
Four horses with nodding plumes pulled the hearse containing his coffin and the body of his beloved dog. Behind them were carriages carrying wreaths. His other dog, Mabel the Dalmatian, sat in his Mercedes in the cortege. Floral tributes included a dog made from forget-me-nots and a wreath which contained thousands of flowers and read: “The Last Act”.
As he was laid to rest, the band played Chopin’s Marche Funebre and 25,000 people lined the streets to say their farewells to the great man.
Newspapers reported: “The crowd at times swayed in an ugly manner and it was feared there would be a breakthrough but fortunately this was avoided. Several people were crushed and badly jostled, and several cases of fainting were dealt with by the police.”
And the reporter observed: “One felt a tinge of regret that Lafayette, a man who lived in an atmosphere of advertisement, was not here to see it. Bizarrely, many thought he was.”
It was a fitting homage to an artist who was the highest-paid theatre attraction of his day, earning the equivalent of £2.7million a year. But rumours circulated that the magician managed to escape the blaze and the body, which lay in Piershill cemetery, was one of the two body doubles he used for his act.
Speculation was further compounded when some witnesses claimed to have later seen Lafayette outside the theatre and others said he gallantly went back in to save his black stallion, Arizona.
Very little is known about the background of the Great Lafayette.
Born Sigmund Neuberger in Munich in 1872, his family left Germany in search of a better life and emigrated to America.
His stage debut was in a vaudeville act as an expert with a bow and arrow but when he saw the Chinese illusionist Ching Ling Foo, he decided to change the course of his career.
In 1900, London audiences were transfixed by his astounding tricks, and within a few years the illusionist was commanding hundreds of pounds for each performance.
It is said his ghost haunts the auditorium and staff of the venue, now known as The Festival, Theatre, have reported seeing things out of the corner of their eye.
I’ll leave you with a quote about the death of The Great Lafayette, from Houdini himself, a good friend of his,
“He fooled them in life and he fooled them in death, I envy him.
Watch a short clip of the aftermath of the fire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IndkXV9lemg
And footage of his funeral on May 14th here
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