Paul Heuzé


Paul Heuzé was a French journalist and skeptic. He was also an amateur magician who exposed the tricks of fakirs and psychics.

Biography

Heuzé was a journalist for the weekly newspaper L'Opinion, during 1921–1923 he reported on his investigations into psychical research and spiritualism His writings were published in the two volume Les Morts Vivent Ils?.
He became well known as an exposer of fraudulent mediums and psychics. Heuzé and a professional illusionist known as Professor Dicksonn suspected that the Polish medium Jan Guzyk was fraudulent and had duped psychical researchers such as Gustav Geley. In November 1923, Heuzé organized five scientists, including French physicist Paul Langevin to observe Guzyk in a series of séances at Sorbonne. Objects were moved but only in close reach of the medium. The committee concluded that he had freed one of his legs to perform the phenomena. When tighter controls were introduced, nothing happened. Their report published in the L'Année Psychologique, stated that fraud was "complete and without reserve".
Sisley Huddleston has noted that "Heuze was a sceptic who revealed the tricks of the mediums and of the fakirs who for some time made Paris their happy hunting-ground."

Conjuring

Heuzé wrote two books that revealed the tricks of conjurors and fakirs, they were republished in 2005.
On 11 December 1928 Heuzé and a magician known as "Karma" took part in a contest with the Egyptian fakir Tahra Bey. At the Circus de Paris before a large audience, Bey inserted long needles through his cheeks and chest muscles. He also plunged a stiletto into his neck and lay on a bed of nails. Heuzé repeated Bey's needle act and "Karma" replicated all of Bey's feats such as the bed of nails. They contended that no paranormal explanation was needed, the feats were a question of practice and training. A committee of doctors and scientists were also present and supported this conclusion.
Heuzé also performed a buried alive stunt. He did this to demonstrate in opposition to fakirs such as Tahra Bey that there was nothing mysterious about the stunt. In a famous experiment, he remained in a buried coffin for an hour and a quarter.

Publications