At a London theater in 1918, a silent Chinese magician collapses during a bullet catch and cries out in perfect American English. This deep dive reveals William Ellsworth Robinson, the New Yorker who spent nearly two decades performing as Chung Ling Soo.

We trace his upbringing amid minstrel-show deception, his habit of stealing other magicians' acts, and the elaborate fake ethnicity and backstory he maintained offstage, alongside a tangled private life of multiple secret families.

• How he lifted his persona and name from rival Ching Ling Foo
• The "black art" illusions he engineered for other performers
• Living entirely in character, never speaking English in public
• Surviving a public exposure attempt because the press preferred the illusion
• The neglected gun maintenance that turned the bullet catch f ...