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by **lindz** » Feb 11th, '07, 13:22

Right most magicians or someone studying the art for about six months will know of him but does anybody know anything more on him other then he perfoformed the ripped and restored chickens head off in front of the king and he was probally a court jester or something. Is he the first known magician in history?. what period was this? and if anyone knows anymore info on him or could guide me towards a book which has reference to him in it would be much appreciated. Its just that im trying to do a study on when, how and why magic began. I know theres no definitave answer to that question but i would like to research to gather an answer which makes sense in my head. Also does anyone know of any other magicians of that period even if its just names thanks for any help.

by **seige** » Feb 11th, '07, 13:35

Mate, you'd get more info if you got the name right. It was Didi I think. Although I could be wrong!

by **lindz** » Feb 11th, '07, 13:43

Both wrong :oops:

i just checked out his name in my book its dedi. Cheers Siege for pointing that out.

by **cardshark** » Feb 12th, '07, 16:06

It mentions him in David Blaine's 'Mysterious Stranger', but only briefly, and only describes the effect already mentioned (the chicken's head one.)

Here:

There was a time when magicians were so well respected that kings and queens and even pharaohs would ask them to do command performances. The first recorded magic exhibition took place almost five thousand years ago when Cheops, the pharaoh who presided over the building of the Great Pyramid, summoned a magician named Dedi to his palace. He was said to be able to restore decapitated heads and make wild beasts obey him. It was also rumored that Dedi was 110 years old and that he ate five hundred loaves of bread and a whole shoulder of beef, and drank a hundred jugs of beer, every day.
The pharaoh wanted to see Dedi do his famed decapitation, so he offered the magician a condemned prisoner, but Dedi refused to decapitate a human. Instead he randomly chose a goose from the pharaoh's menagerie. He grabbed the goose's body with one hand and with the other pulled its head off. He then extended his arms, demonstrating that the goose's head was no longer connected to its body. Then he laid the goose's limp body on the floor, walked a few paces away, and set the head down on the ground. After everyone could observe that the decapitated goose was dead, he put the body under one of his arms and walked back over to the head and picked it up. He slowly pushed the lifeless head onto the body and suddenly the goose squawked, full of life, and ran around the room.
The pharaoh was so delighted that he wanted the feat repeated, so Dedi decapitated and restored a pelican. Legend has it that Dedi also hypnotised a lion, after which the docile lion followed the conjurer around like a tame house cat.

Taken from page 24, chapter "The Three Magi" from David Blaine's Mysterious Stranger.

Hope that helped.

by **lindz** » Feb 12th, '07, 17:08

Cheers cardshark that has helped

by **Spellbinder** » Mar 28th, '07, 12:07

Dedi is the magician described in the "Westcar Papyrus". Spource:

http://nefertiti.iwebland.com/texts/westcar_papyrus.htm

Scroll down to Djedi the Magician, ignoring the typo that makes him the first Jedi Knight in history, and you can read a decent translation. The papyrus itself dates from the 18th century BC and describes highlights of the happenings in the 20th century BC, which makes this the oldest record of a magician and his magic show (such as it was) in the world. Of special interest is that he gets paid in beer, which makes him a professional.

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