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George Ledo Magic Café Columnist SF Bay Area 3042 Posts |
Hi, Dick,
For many years, first when I was starting out, and more recently reading your posts, I've been intrigued (curious?) about magicians who make a career out of performing at school assemblies. I can't for a split second picture myself doing that, but I wanted to ask if you would tell us a bit about the field and why you liked it. Was it the steady work? Was the money outstanding? (?) Did you really like the audience responses? That type of think. Thanks much.
That's our departed buddy Burt, aka The Great Burtini, doing his famous Cups and Mice routine
www.georgefledo.net Latest column: "Sorry about the photos in my posts here" |
Dick Oslund Inner circle 8357 Posts |
Hi George!
I just wrote a book about "my life in magic"! (Five years to write an "epic" that added up to just over 400 pages!) It was not MY idea. You can blame Jon Racherbaumer! At lunch one day in a little New Orleans restaurant, he put down his coffee cup, looked me right in the eyes, and said, "You should write a book!" I blinked, and asked, "About what?" (I almost did a "Charlie Miller" there! Charlie would have said,"What about?" (thus ending his sentence with a preposition!) Jon said that books had been written about the magicians who had played theaters (in the old days (THURSTON, BLACKSTONE HOUDINI.) Even the spook show showmen had had books (The Baker brothers--the SILKINIS, and, BILL NEFF). Ditto, those who had played vaudeville and night clubs (ROY BENSON JACK GWYNNE, et al.) Even those who put up dramatic end tents on vacant lots to present their show in. --Ah! a "Charlie Miller"!(HARRY WILLARD) Those who performed in auditoriums also had books (VIRGIL). Jon finished by pointing out that nobody had ever written anything about those guys who played the "knowledge boxes on the kerosene lamp circuit". He wrapped up his "speech" by saying, "Tag! --you're "IT"! So, I bought this "infernal electrisch peckenclacker" and started pecking away. There! Now I've set the hook! In the days of Little Orphan Annie, Captain Midnight, and Jack Armstrong (the "All American Boy") the announcer would now exclaim: "Tune in tomorrow! (Or, as Paul Harvey usta say): "...for the REST OF THE STORY"!!! I'll be back! (that's not a promise, that's a WARNING!)
SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED, DEVIOUS,& SURREPTITIOUS ITINERANT MOUNTEBANK
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Magic.J.Manuel Special user I have danced upon 663 Posts |
Hi Mr. Oslund,
Your book sounds interesting, and I plan on getting it. Also, I was interested in performing for lodges like ELKs and Free Masons. Do you have any tips on getting these shows, and what to perform? I would like to do a Gambling Expose and some con game routines. They have speakers monthly, or do a family magic show for holiday parties. Thanks for your insightful posts on the Café! jmk
Nothing would get done at all, if man waited so long that no one could find fault with it.
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funsway Inner circle old things in new ways - new things in old ways 9982 Posts |
Just started reading this book. It will take awhile as ever page has me musing on how I got into magic and the people who influenced me.
"the more one pretends at magic, the more awe and wonder will be found in real life." Arnold Furst
eBooks at https://www.lybrary.com/ken-muller-m-579928.html questions at ken@eversway.com |
Dick Oslund Inner circle 8357 Posts |
Ha Ken!
You have 400 pages "to go"! O
SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED, DEVIOUS,& SURREPTITIOUS ITINERANT MOUNTEBANK
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Dick Oslund Inner circle 8357 Posts |
Greeting[s] jmk!
It has been a few years since I played the "lodge circuit". There was a magician who, every fall would work his way north, from Florida. He worked the same lodges every year! (Once they had seen his show, THEY WANTED HIM BACK!) He could just write a letter advising them of the date(s) he would be available in their area. I'm sure it wasn't that easy when he started out. When he began, he wrote letters to "sell" what he offered. He did a great show! --which "sold" him for future dates. He could work for the lodge brothers, doing a gambling lecture and/or "short con" expose demonstrations. He also had a ladies night club act. I don't know if he did family programs for Holiday parties, but, being an "old pro,", he probably could do that, too. Jay Marshall told me about him eons ago, and I can't remember his name. From what Jay said, he was "another Max Malini". Jay also said that the guy didn't hang around magicians very much. When I was in the Navy, as a young man in my 20s, I worked with two "vest pocket" agents, who kept me busy with lodge ladies nights. I was never a card man, so I didn't do any "stag", after meeting shows. I had broken in as a teenager in carnie side shows, so I was "aware" of "flat stores" on the midway, and "broad tossers" and "nut" games,too. At my age then,I just didn't feel qualified to do that kind of show. In the larger cities, most lodges book acts through agents. Once established with an agent, talent can be reasonably sure of work. Every Christmas season, I played the usual "zoo shows" when I was in the Chicago area. (ZOO shows: Family parties for the Elks, Eagles, Lions, Moose, etc.) Most of those dates were booked by my Chicago agent, Howard Schultz. For family parties, or ladies nights, I could do my regular school show, because my school program could play "almost anywhere" for "almost anybody". In the book, I've written up most of the routines that I used in schools, as that material was generally versatile enough. I wrote up my criteria, or, "NINE IMPORTANT THINGS", which had "guided" my selection of material, most of my life. For several years, I did a pick pocket routine which played very well, especially for "ladies nights". Very few props to carry, which "fit in" with the facilities at most of those affairs. Often, they would book me for a cocktail party to stroll. O
SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED, DEVIOUS,& SURREPTITIOUS ITINERANT MOUNTEBANK
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Dick Oslund Inner circle 8357 Posts |
I intended to start a few comments to reply to George's post. I started. I hit a wrong key, and two paragraphs went into cyber space.
I'll get back later.
SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED, DEVIOUS,& SURREPTITIOUS ITINERANT MOUNTEBANK
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Dick Oslund Inner circle 8357 Posts |
I grew up in a small town (Escanaba)in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the '40s.
My "first magician" was Stanley Susan, who did a school assembly show in the local Jr' High School. We elementary kids WALKED from the several elementary schools to the Jr. High. Admission was five cents! It was 1938, the midst of the DEPRESSION. (A hamburger was five cents!) Stanley's show was wonderful to this first grader! --And, he was very nice to me! I actually had the chutzpah to find my way backstage and say "hello". I decided that I was no longer interested in being a fireman, or a cowboy! My new desire was to be a magician! Vaudeville was waning. A few years later, Keystone (Clifford Withdrow) presented his show in the First Methodist Church. I went.Looking back seventy-five years, it was a very "catalog" show. (Abbott's) But, I enjoyed it, I found a book in the public library by Alexander the Magician ("The Magic Show Book") I made the little props out of cardboard, and did a "show and tell" for my class. My dad's lodge "ladies night" found me doing my first "show". A man there invited me to perform for his church men's club. My first two paid shows! ($3.00 each!) In October 1945, having developed more chutzpah, I booked that same Jr. High, on a percentage deal. We charged ten cents admission! (The DEPRESSION was over! I made $26.00! The local paper ran a photo of me (3 columns x 4" --ABOVE THE FOLD!)and a feature story *2 columns). I was in show business! Through high school, I worked every possible event. My buddies were bagging groceries for fifty cents an hour, and I was doing lots of 30 minute shows for local groups, including other schools in neighboring towns. I was making money! (at from $10.00 to $25.00 per show! The only other magicians that I saw were either school show performers, or circus and carnival showmen. My folks did take me to Milwaukee (an all day drive in those two land highway days) to see BLACKSTONE! (WOW!) The school show magicians (the carnie and circus sideshow performers, too) all became mentors, and, I benefited immensely. After my four years in the Navy, I booked most of the schools in Norfolk, VA,before heading for home. All through college,I booked (mostly schools)dates. Other than BLACKSTONE, and few USO magicians (Paul Le Paul, Norman Jensen, Gene & Jo Eisenbarth, et al, my experience had been mostly school assemblies. TV had "happened" and club dates were slow. A few years later, I signed with School Assembly Service for my first bureau tour. I had "died and gone to Heaven"! I've been "at it" ever since. Yes! STEADY WORK! --and, I KNEW what the schools "wanted". I had found my niche! I was never at "liberty". I liked the road. I played coast to coast and border to border for almost 50 years. I developed a program that could play to Primary Schools, Elementary Schools, High Schools, and senior citizen groups. --And, I trouped it in one prop case, and a dove carrier. Club dates did pay better, (here comes the "but":) but, there were a lot more schools than club dates. Over the years, I did some shopping malls, phone promotion family shows, and, other work, but, school shows were my main work. I just published a 400 page book with a "biography" a "gezillion" anecdotes of "things that happened on the road over those years, some tips on how to produce a show that can play for almost anybody, almost anywhere. I included the patter and presentation for most of the tricks and routines that kept me working. I've been thrilled at the number of magicians whom I met when they were in high school, who decided to turn professional, and have written to thank me. There, I had better quit before I do another 400 pages!
SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED, DEVIOUS,& SURREPTITIOUS ITINERANT MOUNTEBANK
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funsway Inner circle old things in new ways - new things in old ways 9982 Posts |
Once exciting part of the book is that Dick kept a daily journal about encounters with real people and real events.
This may seem strange to people whose only life experiences are YouTube and sitcoms and they may find many stories "hard to believe." Don't be afraid of a book of 400 pages. It can be read one page at a time with cellphone interruptions in between (if you are attached to one) Large print for those loosing eyesight from squinting at the fine print on cable company contracts, and mostly words of 2-3 syllables. Thus there is no excuse for every magician not to get and read this book. Just do it.
"the more one pretends at magic, the more awe and wonder will be found in real life." Arnold Furst
eBooks at https://www.lybrary.com/ken-muller-m-579928.html questions at ken@eversway.com |
George Ledo Magic Café Columnist SF Bay Area 3042 Posts |
Okay, silly question... where do you buy the book?
That's our departed buddy Burt, aka The Great Burtini, doing his famous Cups and Mice routine
www.georgefledo.net Latest column: "Sorry about the photos in my posts here" |
Magic.J.Manuel Special user I have danced upon 663 Posts |
Thanks for the feedback. I didn't realize there were so many Zoo lodges, and the Ladies night events.
Here is a link for getting the book, and I think Stevens Magic also has it. http://fabmagic.com search on "Oslund" to see the softback, hard bound and DVD options.
Nothing would get done at all, if man waited so long that no one could find fault with it.
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Dick Oslund Inner circle 8357 Posts |
I just "found" this thread again!
Since George Ledo started this thread, I've received emails from magicians in Australia, Europe, and "all over" the USA, thanking me for writing it. Magic.J.Manuel was most kind in his thoughts. FUNSWAY, wrote a great review, too. Abbott's, Joe Stevens, Denny & Lee, Eagle Magic (Minnesota) stock the books and dvds. I've found it necessary to reorder the HARDBOUND (Collectors' edition) the soft bound edition, and, the dvds. David Seebach and Payne, both wrote nice reviews in MUM. Jack Shalom reviewed it in his blog, and, said good things. Many friends and acquaintances have made good comments in the Café. As a kid growing up in Northern Michigan, I NEVER thought that I would someday write a 400 page book that would be sold all over the USA, and, also Europe and Australia! The Linking Ring (IBM magazine) has had a review copy since last December. BUT, THE LINKING RING HAS NOT SEEN FIT TO PRINT A REVIEW. I've been a member of the IBM since 1950. I am considering dropping out of the IBM.
SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED, DEVIOUS,& SURREPTITIOUS ITINERANT MOUNTEBANK
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tommy Eternal Order Devil's Island 16544 Posts |
As a fan of magic I really enjoy watching children being enthralled by a magician, as there is something more enchanting about the look on their faces than adults.
If there is a single truth about Magic, it is that nothing on earth so efficiently evades it.
Tommy |
Dick Oslund Inner circle 8357 Posts |
I actually had a principal (of a Junior High School) comment that her students were "enthralled"!!!
To be successful (constantly booked!) I had to produce a 45 minute program that could play almost anywhere Not every school nowadays, has an auditorium with stage, and lighting. 80% of programs were presented in gymnasiums with audience seated on bleachers, and sometimes seated on the floor. In California, many programs were presented on the playground! The program had to entertain almost anyone (In big cities, there were high schools with 2,000 students. In small towns,every possible combination of ages and grades were possible! (Some schools were K-3, others, K-6, or 7-9. In the western prairie states, many small towns had schools with K-12.) About every two weeks I would be booked in a mental hospital, a teen age reformatory, a handicapped kids school or a senior citizen nursing home. I carried one prop case (13" x 20" x 8") and, a small livestock case for two doves, plus a waiter's tray stand. One trip in and one trip out was necessary due to tight schedules. The program could be "set" in 4 minutes, and, packed in 2 minutes. I would average 13 programs each week.
SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED, DEVIOUS,& SURREPTITIOUS ITINERANT MOUNTEBANK
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