Magic Museum
Joseph Dunninger
Radio Brain Busters
"The Amazing Dunninger" (April 28, 1892 – March 9, 1975) started his career specializing in sleight of hand with cards but is best known for reading minds over the radio from the 1930s through the 1950s.
A Household Name
Dunninger was featured on television frequently in the 1950s and 1960s, becoming a household name. His fame was so widespread that his name was used as the basis for two recurring comedic characters: "The Amazing Dillinger" played by Johnny Carson on The Johnny Carson Show, and "Gunninger the Mentalist" on a television show hosted by the comedian Soupy Sales.
On the I Love Lucy episode "Ricky's European Booking" (Season 5, Episode 10), after Fred Mertz accurately predicts Lucy's excited reaction to Ricky's new booking, he gets a big laugh when he brags to Ricky, "Just call me Dunninger."
Pop Culture & Print
He was also referenced numerous times on The Simpsons. In the episode "Homer Bad Man," Homer was watching an episode of "The Ed Sullivan Show" while Moe Szyslak explains that a magician named "Dunninger" cut his assistant in half.
He authored many books and pamphlets for magicians and the general public, and was the subject of two novels: The Mentalist by Richard S. Wheeler (1941) and The Dunninger Dilemma by Howard Middleton in 1952. A biographical comic book called The Mentalist was released in 1975.
Gallery
Vintage posters, press clippings, and promotional materials from Dunninger's legendary career in mentalism.
Experience Mentalism Live
The tradition of mind reading that Dunninger pioneered lives on at the San Francisco Magic Theater. See it for yourself.
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