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Elbiquet
(England: 8th April 1879 - 18th April 1946)
By real name Major Lionel Hugh Branson, aka "Lionel Cardac" as stage name and (according to his son Tony) "Elbiquet" as pen name. Learned in 1887 from Hoffmann's Modern Magic. Student of Charles Bertram (ca.1889). Amateur sleight-of-hand magus, except in 1913 when as "Lionel Cardac" he played London's Palace of Varieties for 3 weeks and making a 25-minutes conjuring demo film for the Hepworth Company. British Army officer, including two secret intelligence assignments in China in 1904. Also in WW I as Chief Field Censor did some more secret intelligence work. Notable practical joker.
His two younger sons, Tony (b.1909) and Cyril (b.1918), both became amateur magicians.
Wrote Indian Conjuring (1922, 103pp) and two other books as "Elbiquet": A Text-Book of Magic [1913, 200pp] and Supplementary Magic [1917]. Autobio is L.H. Branson, A Lifetime of Deception (1953, 209pp).
