If you think a magician’s life is interesting, a mentalist’s life could give it a run for its money.
Mentalists are not only magic, they’re also mysteries.
Case in point?
The fascinating life of Claude Alexander Conlin, a.k.a Alexander The Man Who Knows.
To describe it as “fascinating” is even an understatement.
Alexander wasn’t only a mentalist, he was also a spiritualist, an illusionist, and a conman.
By now you might be asking yourself:
“Who is Alexander The Man Who Knows? What is his mentalism story and tricks?”
Sit back and relax because today, we’re taking you down into the rabbit hole that is Alexander’s life.
Let’s begin!
Who is Alexander The Man Who Knows?
As you read through Alexander’s life story you’ll find yourself realizing one thing:
He was one busy guy!
Alexander’s career in magic officially began when he was around 30 years old.
(Proof that it’s never too late to reach your dream job, kids.)
But long before that, he already had a fascination and a knack for all things magic.
Some accounts say his love for performing art started with traveling shows that visited his hometown when he was a kid.
Young Alexander would watch as the performers did tricks that wowed the crowd.
Then he would go to the local library to look up books on magic, whatever small resource material they had.
Even before he turned 18 years old, Alexander had already snagged a job at Lily Dale in New York, a spiritualist summer retreat.
Needless to say, it was an eye-opening journey for his career as a future spiritualist and mentalist.
This was also the start of his stint as a conman but we’ll get to that part later.
The Early Stages of Alexander’s Career
Obviously, he was no medium at 18.
But as he worked as a cleaner in Lily Dale, he saw the fake inner workings behind the tricks of the spiritualists who did work there.
Alexander then realized that if you sprinkle a little razzle-dazzle on your “psychic skills,” people were willing to pay you good money.
At first, he took to the stage as a vaudeville magician playing cheap tricks to gain an audience.
It’s the kind of magic magicians did at the last kiddie party you attended.
He relied heavily on props during performances.
While the crowd was okay, Alexander knew the reception could get better.
Later on, he discovered that people would pay better money for tricks that require fewer props and more “mind-reading” skills.
People were mildly entertained with vanishing items, but they were blown away with advanced stuff.
And because young Alexander, like most of us, wanted to follow the money trail, that’s exactly what he did.
He got rid of his props and became a mentalist and a psychic reader instead.
Alexander started pulling out all the stops.
During his earlier stints as a spiritualist, Alexander went under the stage name “Astro,” a persona inspired by one of his mentalist idols, Anna Eva Fay.
As Astro, he stunned the audience with mysticism and carefully practiced psychic acts, just like he learned from the mediums in Lily Dale.
Alexander discovered that impressing people is not just about what you do, it’s forming a story and letting people believe you know the inner workings of their mind.
Gone was Alexander who was a classic magician.
Here was a guy who can “read” your mind and most fell for it hook, line, and sinker.
Alexander started raking in the money but that was just the small stuff.
To make his act even more believable, he started wearing a turban around his head and lugging around a crystal ball.
As his career peeked during the 1920s, he started referring to himself as “Alexander The Man Who Knows.”
How Alexander Navigated Through His Many Stage Names
Image via Wikimedia
One of Alexander’s best characteristics that gave him an advantage is that he knew how his industry operates.
He knew that before he could impress people with his “skill,” he needed a persona that would pull everyone in.
Tip #1 for all aspiring mentalists out there: If you want to set yourself apart from all the mentalist wanna-bes, start by establishing your unique persona.
You could be the bubbly, friendly mentalist or you could choose to come across as mysterious and all-knowing.
Guess which one Alexander chose?
Yup, he was the aloof mentalist.
The guy at traveling shows who would look at you from the stage in a piercing stare and make you feel like he could read your future in one glance.
Throughout the phases of his career, Alexander went by many stage names.
It was sort of like multiple personalities all performed by a single man.
Alexander embracing what we now call “hustle culture” because sometimes he had to switch to different personalities in one day.
It’s as if he had a principle: Double the job, double the money.
We already know he was “Astro,” his psychic-slash-spiritualist persona.
When he was still focused on being a magician, he was “Alexander the Great,” a stage illusionist.
He was also C. Alexander, an American author who penned psychology and spiritual books.
As C. Alexander, he wrote pamphlets for New Thought, a spiritual movement that swept across the United States in the 19th century.
In the early 1920s, Alexander wrote and published The Life And Mysteries Of The Celebrated Dr. Q.
(Get your hands on the 1946 release of that book here.)
It’s ironic how his book exposed the styles and techniques of fraudulent spiritualist mediums when he was found to be guilty of the same a few years later.
At one point, he even billed himself as “Alexander the Crystal Seer,” a stage name that was mostly for the visuals than for what he can do.
Each name represented a specific era of his life.
But out of all these nicknames and labels, he was remembered the most as “Alexander The Man Who Knows.”
He bore this stage name when he toured cities, held shows, and had private consultations with wealthy clients wanting a look into their future.
At the peak of his career, long lines of people waiting to see the famed mentalist snaked from block to block.
Alexander knew a lot of stuff, alright.
That includes the fastest and easiest way to hook in all the rich people who want their fortune read.
But hey, could we blame them?
This was the 1900s, gadgets were yet to be invented for other forms of entertainment.
You couldn’t exactly Google “Can this man really read my mind?”
(Spoiler alert: He can’t.)
So Alexander got away with his theatrics, stage magic, and expensive mentalism shows.
How did he do it?
We’re just scratching the surface of his life here, let’s dig a little deeper.
I promise it gets more interesting!
Alexander The Man Who Knows: Mentalism Story and Tricks
A whopping four million dollars — that’s how much Alexander The Man Who Knows earned in his prime.
How did Alexander manage to get this rich?
He certainly knew the tricks of the trade but there are a few factors in his career that made sure he locked in millions.
- A clever combination of marketing and advertising
- Entertaining nightly shows
- Private consultations for the rich
A Clever Combination of Marketing and Advertising
If you think being a mentalist is just all about the magic, think again.
We said earlier that it’s important to establish a persona and that’s already part of marketing yourself.
Aside from being born with a gift for magic, Alexander also had a gift for marketing and advertising.
He knew how the minds of his audience worked.
Alexander made posters of himself in swami clothes, bejewelled turbans, and his all-knowing face gazing into a crystal ball.
The posters were classic.
They had his name in huge, bold letters letting everyone in the United States and Canada know that he was visiting town and would they like their fortunes read?
To this day, his posters are preserved, some are even being sold online to collectors for a hefty sum.
Screenshot Source: ebay.com
And if you wanted a modern-day movie set that needed to feel like a magician’s den, all you had to do is hang an Alexander The Man Who Knows poster on one wall.
Since his fame was widespread, he was even sought after by the likes of local politicians and doctors, who wanted to ride on his fame.
Alexander, being the quick-witted mentalist (and opportunist) that he is, found a way to get money from the deal.
He had a segment for Spirit Painting (art influenced by spiritualism), those who wanted “free” advertising paid him under the table for their face to appear on the show.
The win-win situation earned him more bucks than ever.
Entertaining Nightly Shows
The posters worked and Alexander’s shows were almost always sold out.
Alexander The Man Who Knows was known the most for his psychic abilities.
Before his shows, the audience wrote questions on a piece of paper and sealed it in an envelope.
One of Alexander’s famous tricks was calling out “random” people from the audience, having them “mentally send” him their question, and answering it on the spot.
And what do you know, of course Alexander never failed to give the correct question and a great answer.
Apart from these mentalism tricks, he littered his shows with other grand tricks to keep everyone entertained.
Private Consultations For the Rich
Sold-out shows earned Alexander money but the bulk of his riches came from wealthy clients.
He held private readings and consultations for a select group of people who can afford it.
There was a certain prestige to be able to afford these readings and rich people then, much like rich people today, flattered themselves in getting privileges others can’t.
Aside from these private meetings, Alexander and his secretaries were also busy answering astrological questions via mail.
People would send him queries enclosed with one or two dollar bills and in return, he would give them what guidance would pop in his head.
And if that wasn’t enough, Alexander also had a booming side business selling merchandise like crystal balls and books.
He was running an empire and the money kept coming.
You’d expect nothing less from the man who dubbed himself as The Man Who Knows, right?
During his shows, all of his tricks and hustles were sandwiched between stage magic that added more pomp to his show.
But even though he had all these things going for him, there were a few other elements that made him a millionaire.
What’s the real secret to his success?
Alexander’s Secrets to Mentalism Revealed
There’s no denying Alexander The Man Who Knows was extraordinary.
This guy got caught up in magic and mentalism at such a young age and made a fortune out of it!
But this part of his life will have you either mind-blown or disappointed in him.
Or both.
Alexander was not only gifted with amazing skill at mentalism, but he also had the cunning and foresight to con his way to even more money.
Everyone knows mentalism tricks aren’t really magic.
It’s done in a way that would appear to be mind-reading but it’s all an act of misdirection and subconscious manipulation.
For Alexander, his bit was even more difficult to pull off.
What was this mentalist’s secret?
Surprise: Alexander had earpieces on under his turban where his staff whispered details and answers to help him through a show.
Remember his reputation as a psychic and how he “randomly” picks people in the crowd for their sealed questions?
Before the show, Alexander’s staff single out people from the audience and keep an eye on them throughout.
They would then whisper in the mentalist’s ear, via innovative earpiece, what he needed to know.
There was no mind-reading happening here.
Magical illusion shattered.
His turban doesn’t look too mystical now, does it?
If this mentalist was alive in the 21st century, he would have gone crazy with all the hi-tech listening devices he could use.
At the end of his career, Alexander was just a man who was confident in his skill of telling people what they wanted to hear.
Confidence plays a huge factor in being a mentalist and Alexander was the very definition of a confident man.
Alexander’s Double Lives
Alexander’s short, illustrious career as a stage mentalist made him one of the highest-paid magicians of all time.
But as much as his stage career is admired, it’s his personal life that was the stuff of legends.
If there’s one thing you need to know about Alexander, it’s that he never talked much about his personal life.
It was part of the mysterious persona he was trying to build for himself.
What facts about his life were discoveries that took forever to gain from remaining friends and family members.
But the discoveries were shocking and scandalous.
While he took to different stages every night to perform and wow the crowd with his mentalist tricks, his personal life was a mess.
He had a string of wives throughout his life, some say the total number was between 12 and 14 wives (shocking!).
Sources even say he was once married to two women at the same time.
As bizarre as his married life was, his career was even more extraordinary — in a bad way.
Alexander was living a double life of sorts — a stage mentalist who amazed people with his “mind-reading” skills and a conman behind closed doors.
It’s as if the money he raked in from being a fraud mentalist wasn’t enough.
One of his most shocking crimes was extorting over $50,000 from oil millionaire G. Allan Hancock.
He evaded paying over $3 million in taxes and had been jailed for other crimes like outrunning officers on a speedboat filled with bootlegged liquor (We swear this is a real story).
It was rumoured that Alexander killed four men and was involved in the shooting of Alaskan con-artist and gangster, Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith.
Interestingly enough, Alexander The Man Who Knows, would almost always evade the law scathe-free every single time.
No one knows why.
As for us, we’ll just chalk it up to his knack for magic that lets him get away with everything.
After the Magic Dies Down
All that adventure (or misadventure) had to end at some point.
As fascinating as Alexander’s life was, he retired from the scene in 1927, ending his entire magic mentalism career in less than a decade.
After the glitz and the glam of being the highest-paid personality on stage, he had enough of the limelight.
He settled for spending his days with his family, hunting and fishing.
Alexander didn’t have to worry about money, he was probably set for life with his fortune.
The media never had a chance to write about him (let alone film a movie about his life).
According to David Charvet, author of the 2007 book Alexander – The Man Who Knows, the mentalist didn’t allow anyone to write his story while he was alive.
The rumors, both good and bad, that followed him everywhere he went were neither confirmed nor denied.
That’s Alexander’s mysterious persona at work for you!
And here ends our interesting story about Alexander The Man Who Knows.
In the end, he was a simple man who didn’t get wrapped up in fame and that’s one of his greatest virtues.
Want to Read More About Alexander The Man Who Knows?
Did our short dive into the life of Alexander The Man Who Knows pique your interest?
We’ve got the ultimate book recommendation for you to know more about the famous psychic and mentalist.
You can add Alexander The Man Who Knows by Charvet, David, and Pomeroy (Hardcover, $149.95) to your reading list.
The book took too long to write that one of the authors even described it as “a book that has resisted being written for over fifty years.”
You’ll find rare curations on pieces of Alexander’s life through his closed-off family and a few friends.
It’s backed by extensive research so carefully written to preserve the life of the mentalist between the pages of a book.
You should certainly check it out if you have time.
Conclusion
What we would give to have Hollywood create a film adaptation of Alexander’s thrilling life story!
Can you imagine it?
It’s going to be a blockbuster biographical feature with an ominous “Based on a true story” tag at the beginning.
His career exploits are one for the books with astounding plot twists that will leave you questioning whether it’s fact or fiction.
Alexander The Man Who Knows might have retired from the mentalist scene early but he was hailed by many as one of the greats until his death.
Aspiring mentalists could learn a thing or two about how he used elements of marketing and advertising to his advantage.
Or how he embodied a mentalist confident about his craft.
You can admire Alexander The Man Who Knows all you want but draw the line with being a conman, okay?
Let us know in the comments what you think about his life story!