Fred Kaps facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Fred Kaps
|
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
Fred Kaps (1961)
|
|
| Born |
Abraham Pieter Adrianus Bongers
8 June 1926 |
| Died | 23 July 1980 (aged 54) |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Occupation | magician |
Fred Kaps (whose real name was Abraham Pieter Adrianus Bongers) was a very famous Dutch magician. He was born on June 8, 1926, and passed away on July 23, 1980. He is known for being the only magician to win the FISM Grand Prix world championship three times!
Fred Kaps created many original magic tricks. One of his popular tricks was his special way of changing the color of silk scarves. Another famous trick he often performed was the long-pour salt trick. In this act, Fred would look very surprised and confused as he tried to stop salt from pouring endlessly from his hand.
One of Kaps' most well-known tricks around the world was the Dancing & Floating Cork. He performed this trick very close to the audience, so they could see every detail of the illusion. He would show a small box, then open it to reveal a wine bottle cork inside. With his hands held very still, the cork would start to move and wiggle in the box. He would say that this cork floats on air, not just water! Then, the cork would float out of the box with nothing holding it up. He would even pass a small metal ring over the cork to show there were no strings. The audience was so close, they couldn't see anything. At the end, Kaps would grab the cork and let an audience member touch it.
This trick was so amazing that Fred Kaps worked with another magician, Ken Brooke, to sell it to other magicians. To buy the Kaps Dancing & Floating Cork, magicians had to sign a contract promising not to share the secret. This trick became so famous that Fred Kaps even performed it on the British TV show Parkinson.
Fred Kaps always performed with great joy and worked very hard. He often had sweat on his forehead. He would joke about it, saying, "This is a magnificent building, but I think the roof is leaking!" This always made the audience laugh.
Contents
Fred Kaps' Life Story
How a Haircut Led to Magic
Fred Kaps, whose nickname was Bram, was born in Rotterdam. He first became interested in magic because of his barber, Piet Verschragen. Piet was not only good at cutting hair, but he was also an amateur magician. He often tried magic tricks on his customers. One of his favorite tricks was making two matchsticks disappear.
Young Bram was one of the customers who was very interested. He visited Piet's shop often. The barber told Bram he would teach him a trick if he got a haircut first. Bram would go home and practice until he could do the tricks himself. Then he would return for more. While there, Bram also noticed Piet's daughter, Nel. After a while, the barber asked him, "Bram, what are you really coming in for, my daughter or my magic tricks?" Bram felt a bit shy and answered, "Both." So, Bram practiced new tricks and became friends with Nel.
In high school, Bram often showed his classmates magic tricks, sometimes at the wrong time. His teacher would take his tricks away. Bram's father was not happy about this. He often told his son that he couldn't make a living from "joking around" with magic.
When he was nine, Bram collected coupons from oatmeal packages to send away for a box of magic tricks. After finishing high school, Bram thought about becoming a cook like his brother. But tests showed he had a natural talent for design. His father wanted him to study art in Amsterdam to become an artist in advertising. However, Bram wanted to make magic his job. His father might have gotten his way, but World War II started. There were no trains to Amsterdam, so Bram had to stay in Rotterdam. That's when his interest in magic grew even more.
He started performing at weddings and parties using the name Valdini. Then he changed his name to Mystica and performed for Dutch soldiers. Later, Bram joined the military himself. He was part of a "cabaret group" and performed magic. He even went to Indonesia and kept performing magic there. He admired famous magicians like Channing Pollock, Chefalo, and Kalanag. Bram worked with Kalanag for about a month. Kalanag wanted him to take over his big show, but Bram preferred smaller magic props over large illusions.
After World War II, it was hard for young Mystica to find work. In 1946, Bram entered a competition at the first national Dutch convention for magicians. About 300 artists from different countries attended. The event was organized by a magic magazine called Triks.
On August 9, magic competitions were held in Amsterdam. Bram, performing as Mystica, did a gambling routine. He didn't win a prize that day, but he impressed a writer named Alex Wins. Wins wrote that Bram's performance was the best of the convention. He said Bram's Poker Deal was "technically outstanding" and showed that acting was very important. He predicted that Mystica had a "dazzling future."
Bram was mentored by Henk Vermeijden, who owned a magic studio in Amsterdam and trained many world champions. Henk became Mystica's agent and coach. In 1950, Bram had a new act: making canes appear one after another. He practiced it with Henk for about a year. He performed it at a Dutch convention in Arnhem, and it was a huge success. Everyone was impressed by his personality and how perfectly he performed the routine.
First World Championship Win
Later that year, he improved his Cane act and went to Barcelona, Spain, for the FISM World Convention. His act of making canes appear endlessly amazed the 2,000 people watching. The applause was incredibly loud. In just ten minutes, he went from being an unknown young man to the star of the whole convention. He won his first Grand Prix award.
At the closing ceremony, Bram received an extra prize, a silver wand, for having the most polished act. After FISM, Mystica was booked for two weeks at a nightclub in Barcelona. From then on, he became a very busy magician.
Other magicians had names similar to Mystica. Henk felt Bram needed a name that would "click in any language." They looked through a phone book and found an advertisement for raincoats made by a company called Daks. From this, they came up with the name Kaps. But "Bram Kaps" was hard for people from other countries to say. So, in December 1950, Abraham Bongers changed his stage name to Fred Kaps. In 1952, Fred married his childhood sweetheart, Nelly.
Winning More World Championships
Fred Kaps skipped the next FISM convention because he was working on a new act. He did attend the following convention in Amsterdam in 1955. The day before the competition, some of Kaps' friends, who had seen other magicians' acts, told him to withdraw. They suggested he pretend to be injured or sick because the other acts looked very strong. Kaps was upset by this. Nelly, his wife, got angry. She told him, "If you do that, I'll expose you! We are here to enjoy ourselves." The next morning, she helped him relax with tranquilizers and a hot bath.
His friends didn't know that Kaps' new act had many surprises. On the day of his performance, he didn't show any nervousness. He walked onto the stage with a walking cane. People expected his cane routine. But then, to everyone's surprise, he pulled a full-sized rabbit from the tip of the cane! After that, he did a series of amazing silk tricks, including unique one-handed color changes. He also made a canary appear from a microphone. He mixed in some card tricks, like spreading cards over his arm, then flipping them over and catching them before they fell. He seemed to enjoy watching the cards flow.
The grand finale was his version of the Long Pour Salt trick. He took out a salt shaker and tried to pour salt into his closed hand. Impatient, he opened the cap and made it disappear. He tasted the salt and then poured it into his fist, making it vanish. He showed his hands empty, then produced the salt from his closed fist.
He picked up the shaker to catch the salt he was producing, but it started to overflow. He looked panicked as he didn't know what to do with all the salt. The music started to end, and Kaps hoped the salt would stop with it. Silence. The music stopped, but the salt kept pouring! He looked at the bandleader to play something. The band played Stars and Stripes For Ever, and the salt kept pouring. Frantically, Kaps put some salt into his pants pocket to get rid of it. The music ended, but the salt kept pouring. Kaps tapped his foot for the bandleader to keep playing. It did, and so did the salt. The music ended again, and the salt was still going. Kaps laughed in embarrassment. He looked at the bandleader and hummed the tune, and the band played the march again. Finally, the salt ran out, and Kaps brushed the last bits from his empty hands. He bowed to huge applause.
Years later, Nelly, Fred's widow, said he worked on that ending for three years. "Salt was strewn constantly throughout the living room," she said. "If I needed some for cooking and couldn't find it in the kitchen, I knew Fred had been busy again."
Fred Kaps waited six more years before defending his title again. It was almost expected of him. Days before the convention, he was very nervous, as he always aimed for perfection. The night before the World Congress, a Dutch newspaper reported that Fred Kaps had given a preview of his act, and it "nearly brought the house down."
Kaps improved his salt pour trick and added new things to his act. He also included more surprises. The FISM convention was held in Liège, Belgium, on September 6, 1961. About 560 magicians from 23 countries registered, and about 120 competed. The competition lasted for days. There were many similar performances, but some were highlights, like the acts of Pierre Brahma and Fred Kaps. Brahma's act was spectacular, and many thought he was the only one who could stop Kaps from winning his third championship. Brahma showed empty silks and then produced handfuls of precious jewelry. For his finale, Brahma produced a chest overflowing with jewels.
This amazing performance made the tension even higher for Kaps. He started his act by making a cane disappear into a newspaper. Then he pretended to read the paper, but couldn't see the print. As he folded the paper, he magically produced a lit candle. He looked surprised, realizing the impossible thing he had just done. These were parts of his earlier act. Next, he moved to his new tricks.
He had a champagne bottle in a bucket nearby, with bubbles popping out. Kaps reached out and grabbed one of the bubbles. He then performed tricks with the bubble. After the bubbles, Fred moved on to the rest of his act. Instead of playing cards, Kaps manipulated banknotes, producing an endless amount of bills. He was interrupted by applause throughout. He then made these bills fly into his top hat. The lit candles kept appearing and disappearing. For his grand finale, Kaps produced a large candelabra.
When he finished, the curtain fell, and there was a moment of silence. Then the audience erupted in a huge ovation. Twelve judges from 12 different countries awarded Kaps the Grand Prix de'Honour. He became the first person ever to win three world championships in a row.
Life After Winning
Fred Kaps used his wins to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show in the United States on February 9, 1964. His act came right after the very popular American debut of the British Rock and Roll band The Beatles. Kaps performed his version of the Homing Card trick, which he introduced as a new trick.
Fred Kaps was known for his perfect appearance (always in an immaculate suit and white shirt) and his amazing sleight of hand. He would practice a trick for weeks before performing it live. He performed both stage illusions and close-up magic. He used many different props like playing cards, candles, coins, balls, dice, and silks. Kaps didn't enjoy fame very much. He preferred to relax on his boat or in his camper rather than being stared at "like a monkey." He liked staying home to work on new tricks or read his magic books. He enjoyed talking about his favorite subject, magic, for hours.
Fred Kaps' Love for Magic
Fred Kaps was a perfectionist in his magic. He believed that becoming a top magician didn't depend on luck. He felt that careful study was one of the main things that brought magicians their success. According to Nelly Bongers, his widow, calling Fred a perfectionist was "putting it mildly." She said, "You can't believe how thoroughly he would investigate a subject when he started something new." She also said this perfectionism was strong in everything he did, both in and out of magic. Kaps believed that magic was an art that should be studied. He loved originality and admired anyone who did something unusual, even if it wasn't performed perfectly. He was interested in any amateur magician who aimed for originality.
His Passing
Only Fred Kaps' closest friends knew he had cancer. A fellow Dutch performer, Wim Kan, sent Kaps an audio message saying how shocked he was to hear about the cancer. He comforted his friend, telling him how much he and his wife cared for him. He ended by saying he learned a lot from working with Kaps: "I learned from you how, by making every effort, by working hard, by giving enormous concentration, and by coping with any difficulty that arises, one can reach the summit! It is said all the time, but I believe that's the way it is."
Fred was doing much better and planned to work again. In March 1980, Kaps was honored with a Master Fellowship by the Academy of Magical Arts in Hollywood. Then he had a relapse, and this time it became public. Fred Kaps passed away on July 23, 1980, at 54 years old. He was survived by his wife, mother, and two daughters.
His Lasting Impact
On March 9, 2005, a special memorial was placed in front of the house in Utrecht where Fred Kaps used to live. This was done to honor his amazing contributions to magic.
In 1972, George Anderson called him the "World's Greatest Magician." In 1980, he received the AMA Masters Fellowship and was also inducted into the SAM Hall of Fame.
Images for kids
-
Fred Kaps in 1961
-
Fred Kaps in 1959
