The Magic of Zanzigs
During the 19th century, a number of entertainer partnerships gained significant notoriety with performances called Second Sight Acts. These partnerships usually involved married couples with knowledge of magic and the occult. However Jean Eugene Robert Houdin, the famous French magician, and his young son Emile first gained favour with their dual act of supposed thought transference or second sight act in the 1850’s. Soon afterwards, Danish-born Julius Zanzig and his wife Agnes developed a sophisticated, clever two-person mental telepathy act that was to take them around the world and earn them a place in the history of magic. While his wife sat blindfolded and her back to the audience on stage, Julius would move among audience members borrowing personal items that Agnes would identify. It was thought by everyone that the Zanzigs had a highly developed telepathic communication. This was the era of spiritualism and psychics, so it was relatively easy to persuade people of the existence of strange paranormal powers.