Shuffling on the Shoulders of Giants - Part 1

When one grows up in a small college town in the upper Midwest, exposure to magic is limited.  By the 1960's and 70's, any traveling magic shows that may have passed through in earlier years had either disbanded or were sticking to larger metropolitan areas.  So it's not surprising that my first exposure to magic came from a relative who could pull his thumb off and put it back on (a trick I've learned that every Grandfather needs in his routine).   It was more amusing than amazing, so it took a bit more mystery to reel me in.  That came from a jumping mummy.

I'm not sure which uncle had bought the trick in the first place, but it had been passed down to my Aunt, who loved to fool me with it.  If you've never seen this miracle, here's what happens... a tiny plastic mummy will just fit inside an equally tiny sarcophagus, but unless you know the secret, he just keeps hopping out.  She drove me crazy with this little puzzle... I could NOT figure out what she was doing to keep him in his place, and she refused to tell me.  I mean, this went on for a couple of years, and 5,6 year old me could never get the secret out of her.  A small spark is all it takes to light a flame sometimes, and that was enough to make me wonder about the world of wonder.

As the years went by, I would scan the TV Guide anxiously looking for any magician performing on variety shows, and to my delight there were quite a few back then.  Among those who amazed me were Fantasio, Al Koran, Jay Marshall, Sydini, and many more.  Among them all, there was one magician in particular who really dazzled me. His name is Mark Wilson.

Mr. Wilson and his wife Nani Darnell started performing on TV the year before I was born; The Magic Land of Allakazam was a staple of CBS's Saturday morning line-up for a couple of years, then moving to ABC and finally became a syndicated show.  While I was too young to experience the program, Mr. Wilson was called on to perform on many other television shows, and it seemed that he had an endless number of amazing tricks... I don't remember him ever doing the same trick twice!  He was everything I thought a real magician should be... smooth, well-spoken, cool, and classy.  Add to it the lovely Ms. Darnell as assistant, and there it was... the blueprint for the perfect magic show.  I remember being very envious of their son Greg, who would appear in their illusions from time to time.  I discovered later that Mr. Wilson became a magic consultant whenever a TV show needed one.  In fact, he became a very important consultant to another TV magician who would mold my love of magic... THE Magician, Bill Bixby.

The Magician premiered on NBC in 1973, and although it only lasted for 21 episodes, it had a huge impact on me.  Bill Bixby portrayed Anthony Blake, a jet-setting professional magician/injustice fighter, who early in the series lived in a 747 called "The Spirit," then in an apartment in The Magic Castle (I was very disappointed when I found out that apartment didn't exist in real life).  He drove a white Corvette, could "magic" his way out of any tight spot, and had the same smooth, cool delivery of all the illusions he performed on the show.

See the opening title of The Magician

Yes, Bill Bixby was an actor playing a magician, but then Robert-Houdin said that all magicians are actors playing the part.  Mr. Bixby WAS an amateur magician, and with help from Mark Wilson, the show could proudly announce in the open that all the magic performed was done without trick photography of any kind... something you don't hear these days.

All of these early exposures sparked my magic passion, but next time I'll unveil a couple that actually got me performing.