Chapeaugraphy, occasionally anglicised to chapography, is a novelty act and a busking trick in which a ring-shaped piece of felt is manipulated to look like various types of hats. It would often be performed as a quick-change act. [1]
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The act originated in 1618 with Parisian street performer Tabarin, the most famous of the charlatans who combined a French version of commedia dell'arte with a quack medicine show. He described his felt hat as "true raw material, indifferent to all forms". [1]
In the 1870s another French comedian, Monsieur Fusier , revived the act and managed 15 hat-twisting styles in his act. The act was first performed in England by the French magician Félicien Trewey, [2] who performed a tribute act titled "Tabarin, or Twenty-Five Heads under One Hat". [1] An 1899 magazine recounts "one or two smart English performers" of that time, including Alfred Leslie. [2]
Although rarely seen today, it was featured in an episode of Saturday Night Live in 1985, as performed by magician Harry Anderson.
Types of hat that can be created:
- baseball cap
- American and British army hats from the Revolutionary War
- pirate's hat
- naval captain's hat
- Mickey Mouse ears
- Ushanka (a Russian fur hat)
- mortarboard (a graduation cap)
- Catholic nun's headwear
- derby hat
and several inventive others.