("Who IS he?")

Well . . . born back in '45 (as in Nineteen?) and in '57 saw Larry Nelson (brother of the famous Robert) perform magic on stage, at Rialto Junior High in California, I received my Nelson Dollar after telling the gentleman that I now "wanted to become a magician!".

This contact hooked me GOOD which was to be followed soon by witnessing Kirk Kirkham in San Bernardino. This fellow was a most energetic and convincing wizard, being 'pro' to the hilt. Later I was to be honored to share a sales table with him at The Castle in Hollywood, for a Sunday sale of apparatus. And to use an over worn expression 'the rest is history'.

And indeed, it was to be.

My destiny was never to be performer but rather a builder of apparatus, as my mind has always been naturally of the persuasion to design and construct 'things'. After several years of doing this casually, as a teen-ager, I became a piano re-builder for a livelihood, and then an organ builder. Both disciplines added to my skills and insights into mechanics, and to the most handy conceptualizing of same generally.

For a short while I was a member of the S.A.M. Arrowhead Assembly No. 55 in San Bernardino, Dr. Frank Kaeys, D.C., presiding. (It is now dormant.) Some former mates there were Earl Tavares a.k.a. "The Earl of Mystery"; Richard Wagner to soon become 'Rick Wagner' of some renown; and the irrepressible and inimitable, one-and-only and most kind Ralph Burris, who already had been "Baffling Burris" long before, and is the father of the present one named thus. A few others were there too but, as is the case with myself, they as well are now forgotten. (And I must add the notable and estimable Don Wayne, this somewhat before he became himself.)

My Magic Heroes? Well ALL that are no longer with us - from these some highlights being Robert Heller, Petrie of 'P&L', Floyd Thayer, the Bros. Owen; Merv Taylor; Nelson Hahne; Boxley & Marie; Frakson; The Great Thurston and Jane, and etc.

Fast-forward to present and . . . having run across this really nice and neat looking Magic Café with colorful neons a'flashing (this while digging for hard Neyhart information of which most stubbornly, not much has yet to appear), I thought that 'lurking' was not the thing for me and so have now just joined.

Of course, for the imparting there is MUCH, MUCH more but, for the past fifty years the narrative has likely become increasingly boring to the magically-minded of us and so, here mercifully I shall leave-off.

James

("Like Alexander NOW we know but, somewhat suspicious we remain STILL . . .")

Welcome James Maury,

"The Workshop" forum will be a great forum for you.

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewf......26&40932

Have fun. We owe a lot to the builders of Magic.

-Mary Mowder

Thank you, Mary Mowder, for the nice greeting.

Yes, I'll check-out that forum. Sounds interesting.

Before registering I did read some here-and-there, and found it all useful and appealing. The members seem friendly and inclined to be of help mutually.

It's been a long while since I last built apparatus as an amateur, but the time seems to have come around again for something a bit serious: The famous Neyhart card rise in STAGE SIZE, seeming to be the first unmet need appearing on my radar. As I newly conceive it, such a design will be one greatly improved as to both reliability and utility, with no 'cranking' needing to be done any longer. As to this grand planning, and how it will go actually, 'we shall see' . . .

J.M.

Glad to have you!

I think being a Magical Engineer sounds interesting.


Eliot

Most kind of you to say, Elliot, and for it my thanks to yourself, as well.

You are right, it does sound-so, just as you have put it. Too bad though that, presently, the matter is only of the 'would be' category, it patiently awaiting to be seen-about and to. ("As to any actual truth being innate within it, TIME is sure-to-tell.")

Tally-ho . . .

J.M.

Sir,

Now you have intrigued me. I will be looking out for illusions constructed but the Great James Maury!

Good luck on your journey.


Elliot

On all counts much appreciated, Elliot.

(Please, do look for my PM to you flashing at the upper left?)

J.M.

Hi James!
Welcome to our motley crew! Most of the "customers" in the Café are (as Jay Marshall would have said) "a friendly lot". There are only a few of us crusty old curmudgeons--include "me" as one of "them"!

I still own a piece or two of Petrie PROPS (REELS, SILK VAN. WAND,GHOST CIGARETTE)AND Merv Taylor's PROPS (TAMBOR & FUNNEL). I've long since sold many Petrie,Taylor,Thayer,and Owen PROPS. All of them were useful when I had them!

Ha! I even have a SHERMS "Demon" Wonder Box (with the extra load gimmick!) --and an Alexander & Bonner .22cal Wand! (had two, but sold one) and a FRED CATILLER .32cal wand! (sale is pending! Harold RICE's silks (six foot Dragons and 36" Clowns,etc. fill half a suitcase, and still get used in Merv's TAMBOR. Believe it (or else!) I have a PERCY ABBOTT chrome plated, brass FOO CAN (pre WWII!). I showed it to Greg Bordner,and he said, "We never made anything that good!!! Three Russ Walsh VANISHING CANES (2 Deluxe) and a Walsh APPEARING CANE get used now and then. Petrie's GLASS THRU HAT (the "candle stick") gathers dust, and likewise Warren HAMILTON'S JoAnne and Gwendolyn. Warren's WESTGATE BOWL also "decorates" a shelf.

Most of my working PROPS are generic silks, rope, coins etc. My Conrad Haden Breakaway Wand finally wore out and was red lighted years ago. I bought the last of ED MILLER'S Breakaway Fans from Jay Marshall--and they wont wear out!!! Ditto,Frank Radtke's (FAKINI)Golf Balls.

Of course,I had a head start on you! (Mother loved ME best!) I was 13 and had done my first show in the spring of '45!

So...welcome!

Dear Dick:

Thanks a lot for your swell greeting. Wow!

I really like friendly, ebullient people who have a humor-sense and are not afraid to ply it. I am that way myself, when not stuck in 'intellectual' mode, which is work, but happens sometimes.

So, you were entertaining magically while I was busy being born! Ha! Very good.

Most of the items you mentioned I've heard of, a few I even owned such as "Petrie's GLASS THRU HAT . . ." which I regret terrifically having sold. (It was flawless and so beautiful as to workmanship as well as concept!)

You've had some great items through the years, all right. I am jealous. I want them all! (Just kidding!)

Uuh, those .22 and .32 cal. wands you mentioned, they were for unruly hecklers, right? Sounds like the just-perfect solution to such pesky trouble makers. I'd never heard of such before but, the plain sense in their utility asserts itself.

Might you have owned a Neyhart "Any Card Named Rises" outfit? If so, I'd love to hear some of your opinion of it. I am convinced that a Stage Size version of it, performing magicians could really use. (If you have an Abbott catalog No. 4 you will find the masterful Nelson Hahne cut of it in there. You might notice that the item being sold is for poker sized cards BUT, the magician holds a large card sized model. I speculate that Neyhart well may have intended to produce such, but that the Great Depression prevented this. The effect appeared in 1930 I believe, so concept, design and fabrication-wise, it had to have been in-the-works for some fair time before. Such an endeavor, however, would not be a project for the faint-of-heart. (Enough of that or I may break a rule.)

Hang in there, and do let us remember that "Age is not everything."

J.M.

Honorable Sir!

You've reminded me of Jay Marshall's line ("I want it all!") We were having coffee in the 'auditorium' at Magic Inc. after the COLLECTOR'S "CONVENTION" had come to an end. (In the late '70s, I think) A few of the group were discussing what they collected, and why they were interested in their particular area of collecting. One had said, "P&L" was what he wanted. Another: "Thayer". Another: "Donald Holmes" etc. Jay stood up and exclaimed: "I WANT IT ALL!" That, broke us all up. Hekk,i just "did" a "Charlie Miller"! --I used a preposition to end that sentence WITH!

I bought my first .22 wand when I was in the Navy ('51--'55) from Earl Edwards (EdMar Magic Shop in Norfolk,VA). Senor Mardo had done a lecture and had used the wand to shoot the knot off the rope (a version of the Panama C&R Rope). It added a real punch to the reatoration! $12.50, and the wand was mine! I used it for several years as Mardo had demonstrated. When I started doing school assemblies full time, I developed a routine with a "straight" wand, a breakaway wand, the shooting wand,and a breakaway fan plus a string of Weller Wieners and a rubber chicken from two boys sweaters. The whole routine filled 6 minutes and was 6 minutes of laughs. When I fired the wand, it often got a show stop laugh--I could actually jerk out the dead shell, and reload the wand for the next show, during the laugh. The breakaway fan got another tremendous laugh--and applause! (On two occasions, in Senior High Schools, the fan "got" me a standing ovation!

The second .22 was a gift from Earl's widow. (Now, I had a back up!) When my first mentor, Roy Mayer, died, his widow, Bernice, gave me the Fred Catiller .32 wand.

Surprisingly, in the school assembly field, hecklers are extremely uncommon. Because my presentations are "conversations" with the audience, a youngster will occasionally voice a comment that actually adds to the fun. One of the best, was in a college show,about 40 years ago. I opened then, with a 6th f**g*r production of a silk. The silk appeared, and there was NO REACTION! I thought, "Wow, they don't like the opening,and I have an hour and a half to go!" Then, a young man in the back of the house, exclaimed (loudly), "Dam! I didn't see THAT!" The laugh was almost 30 seconds! (then, applause!)

Another fellow, replied, "And, you won't either! --I saw him in the Caféteria, this afternoon, and, he is good!" They were a fabulous audience. I got a standing ovation at the finish. It took an hour for me to "come down" after the curtain closed. ! I had asked, what I thought was a large fee. When the program chairman handed me the check, he said, "You should have asked for more money!" After that, I did!

I do remember the Neyhart card rise! As a teenager, I memorized ths catalog! I never owned the prop, but I think I "coveted it" (cf. the TEN COMMANDMENTS!) Perhaps you can produce it and create a new sensation. (I am of the old generation, and don't have too much faith in electronics!)
The late ED RENO (+1945) used a Prince Albert tobacco can (the type that fit in a bib overall pocket)for a houlette. It was fastened to a 36" length of wooden broom stick. The stick had a sharp pointed nail sticking out of the other end. Ed would f****e the appropriate card(s), shuffle the deck and lay it on his table while he jammed the broom stick's nail into the seat of a wooden chair (borrowed from the backstage furniture). Then he picked up the th******d deck, and inserted it into the tobacco can. The other end of the th***d was knotted to a large nut (nut as in nuts and bolts). He put the nut in his coat pocket, backed up a bit (as necessary) waved his wand and the card(s) rose. Ed was a showman!

In more recent years, my late friend, Billy McComb didn't even bother to f***e a card. He simply had a card selected, shuffled, and put the deck in a hat (which contained one of those electric card fountains) Billy would say, "Watch! you will see your card rise up in the air!" Billy did the "necessary" and the entire deck was shot in a stream up in the air! After the laugh, Billy would ask, "Did you see it?"

Ah! yes! 40 is the old age of youth! --and the youth of old age!

See you "on the next lot!"

Dick Oslund
Sneaky, Underhanded, Devious, and Surreptitious Itinerant Mountebanc