144: Marshall Brodien - The Magician's Magician

During one of my visits to Chicago, Illinois to visit my friend, Don Wiberg, he drove us out to Geneva, Illinois to visit a legend in magic, Marshall Brodien. One cannot say that Marshall is best known for this or that because he was a master of so many things and known to so many for different reasons at different times in his life.

To our sons, he was Wizzo the Wizard on TV, The Bozo Show. To some he was a carnival talker on the midway in Riverview Park. To others he was known for his trade show work when he blazed the trail for many of us so many years ago. Still others know him for his magic sets. He created over 230 different sets. Some people knew Marshall from his nightclub act as a hypnotist. The Chicago underworld (or "mob") knew him as a clever magician who was their "go-to" guy when they wanted entertainment for a private party. I first heard of Marshall when he sold his TV Magic Cards on my television set.

During our visit to Marshall's home, I used my Kodak camera to not only capture shots of some of his amazing collection of magic in his basement, but also to record a few segments of Marshall himself. Unfortunately, I did not understand my new camera enough to know not to turn it sideways while capturing a video. So one of the taped segments is sideways. At least now I know. But it is his "bally" that I wanted to capture which I think you will enjoy as well as Marshall's clarity and presence of mind.

I mention that because unfortunately, Alzheimer's is getting hold of his mind. It is unfortunate to see someone, anyone have to suffer this disease. Chicago's television station WGN, where Marshall appeared as Wizzo the Wizard on the Bozo Show for so many years, recently did a story with his wife, Mary Doyle, about dealing with his condition. You can see the video interview at: http://wgntv.com/2015/08/29/author-mary-doyle-wife-of-wizzo-the-wizard-on-living-with-husbands-alzheimers/

While I was a guest in his home, I recorded a bit of history with Marshall. Please enjoy these few video tidbits from the recollection of his early years as a carnival talker.

Marshall Brodien aka Wizzo the Wizard, once worked at Riverview Park in Chicago as a Carnival Talker. Here you can hear him giving his pitch to encourage passers-by to come in to see the shows.

Part 2: A brief bally from Marshall Brodien as a Carnival Barker to attract people to the side show to see the fat man.

Here's a commercial for TV Magic Cards, a product created by magician Marshall Brodien (Bozo's Wizzo) who starts off showing one of his tricks, and then describing what the cards are about. This commercial was memorably parodied by Son of Svengoolie as "Real Life Magic".

Marshall Brodien has a whole "museum" of his life in his basement. It is huge and complete with a bathroom, sitting room and hide-a-bed couch. These are important because there is no way to appreciate all he has down there in just a short visit. It takes time to see his collection and hear his stories. I took several photos as he led us down memory lane of his life. I captured many of these in the photos below.

Although I did not record an interview with Marshall in 2008 when I visited his home, I did recently chat with his long-time friend, Mark Holstein. Mark has known and worked with Marshall for many decades and remains close even today although they are separated only by distance from Houston to Chicago.

Mark talks about Marshall's magical life including his days at Riverview Park as a carnival talker through his war years in the USO as a stage hypnotist, to a nightclub entertainer, trade show performer, bar magician, to the invention and marketing of his TV Magic Cards and magic kits through his appearances on the Bozo the Clown show as Wizzo the Wizard. Along the way, Mark relates a lot of fun and funny stories about Marshall.

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Wizzo the Wizard's magic phrase was "Doody Doody". This toilet seat lid says it all...literally!

I can only recommend that you find a copy of John Moehring's excellent biography, "The Magical Life of Marshall Brodien" or you might find it Here on Amazon. The book may be hard to find and the link here may not take you to where you can buy one now, but if you do a little searching on the Internet, I think you might still find a copy. As I read the book, I could hear Marshall's voice telling those stories word for word as we traveled through time during this magical visit to his home in 2008.

Thank you, Marshall, for all you have done for magic and magicians all around the world and thank you, Mark Holstein, for sharing your memories of your good friend.

Magic & Martinis Thursday

It's not exactly Louis XIII cognac, but "Cheers" anyway to a magical life!

Click on the graphic above to read an obituary, “Now Appearing in Heaven” written by his bride, Mary.

112: T.A.O.M. 2013 Day 2

Day Two started early for me withe the Order of Willard breakfast at 7:30. I coordinate this annual breakfast meeting of those who have 25 years or mnore of membership in the T.A.O.M. This year's speaker was Arthur Emerson who spoke about his seeing and meeting with Kalanag, Klingsor and Sorcar. A fascinating history down the historical lane of magic. Following the stage contest (which only had two adults and maybe three junior competitors) was the close-up contest (with six adults and one junior) that were all strong competitors.

Chip Romero is a cruise chip magician and a noted collector of magic and magic memorabilia. Of particular note, he has a collection of Billy McComb and Doug Henning props. Today he brought along many of the props from his collection including a sub trunk, Disembodied, Shadow Box, Sands of Egypt and more. But Gene Anderson shared the stage as he told stories heretofore never heard about his close association with Doug Henning. Few people have heard what a close confidant, mentor and friend that Gene was to Doug. Fascinating stuff.

The President's Surprise after lunch was honoring Marshall Brodien, Wizzo the Wizard from the Bozo Show and maker of TV Magic Cards and over 230 magic sets. Johnny Thompson has been friends with Marshall since he was 16 and he spoke extemporaneously about his association and friendship and paid homage to Marshall getting him involved in magic and working trade shows. John Moehring, author of Marshall's biography, spoke about how he came to write the book. At the end, books were available for being signed by John and Marshall.

The afternoon concluded lectures by David Stone and David Ginn. The evening show was spectacular and billed as a Comedy Showdown featuring Fielding West, Rob Zabrecky and the Great Tomsoni and Company, all emceed by Tom Mullica. After the "competition" the Judge took the stage, Harry Anderson, costumed in his robe as Harold T. Stone from Night Court, and declared them all winners. He also gave one of the most memorable lines of the convention, "Rob Zabrecky looks like Edgar Allen Poe looking for Sudafed." Later, Tom Mullica later said, "it was Rob's dancing that kept him out of the military."

Following the show, there was a charity auction that benefited the Alzheimer's Foundation and the Ronald McDonald House. Several thousands of dollars were raised for many items that were non-magical such as a script from Blazing Saddles signed by Mel Brooks, signed boxing gloves by Carl Weathers (Apollo Creed from Rocky 3) and other movie memorabilia.

The late night lecture was on using social media as a marketing tool in magic.

Time stamps for this podcast:

00:00:08 - I introduce Arthur Emerson who gives an interesting mini-lecture about some of his magic history and his brush with some of the greats in our history including Kalanag, Klingsor and Sorcar.

00:30:25 - T.A.O.M. President, Mark Jensen, talks about some of his challenges in putting together this convention and all the talent, plus his vision of the convention.

00:44:10 - Walter Blaney gives us a story about meeting his idol, Harry Blackstone, Sr. and Russell Bruce, who worked in the prop department with Siegfried and Roy. Russell tells us several anecdotes about the Masters of the Impossible including his perspective from back stage when Roy suffered his tragic accident on October 3, 2003.

01:04:27 - I.B.M. International President, Bill Evans, and his wife, the First Lady, Pam, talks about his convention tour of the world as part of his duties as President.

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108: MAGIC Live! 2013 - Day 3

Day three was another fun and exciting day that began with the Opening Session hosted by Justin Flom A highlight of the show was Xavier Mortimer's incredibly innovative routines. He is currently featured in the Cirque du Soliel show here in Vegas, "Michael Jackson One".. But it was Wayne Dobson being interviewed by Jeff McBride which received a standing ovation.

00:00:07 – Tom Vorjahan, Daniel Herron and Eddie Wade give a recap of the Documentary Live 1 show from last night that featured the Long Beach Mystics hosted by Stan Allen and Mike Caveney. It featured David Deeble, Victor and Diamond, Michael Weber, Dana Daniels, Mark Kalin and Jinger, Armando Lucera, Kevin James, and James Hamilton (as Alexander Hamilton).

00:08:33 – I give a short review of the General Session that was hosted by Justin Flom and featured Master Payne, Bill Abbott, Xavier Mortimer, and Wayne Dobson being interviewed by Jeff McBride.

00:13:00 – I chatted with random people dining at the In ‘N Out and how much they enjoy this place. It is one of my regular, mandatory places to dine while in Las Vegas.

00:15:02 – Simon Coronel talks about creativity and how he developed his routine.

00:26:00 – Photo time with Criss Angel

00:26:50 – David Hira talks about this convention and conventions in general and their appeal to different age groups.

00:34:45 – Scott Hunstler was one of the winners on the Sunday night Welcome Party. He talks about what he won. Mark Weidhaas, S.A.M. Past President, and Errol Lipschitz, from Vancouver, talks about their experience of this convention.

00:39:56 – We viewed the documentary about Ricky Jay’s life, Deceptive Practices. Here I get to talk with a few people who know Ricky and have a perspective and opinion on the movie. It isn’t anything like Siskell & Ebert, but I think you will enjoy this discussion by Peter Samelson, Tim Felix and Jon Stetson.

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144: Marshall Brodien - The Magician's Magician

Magic & Martinis Thursday

112: T.A.O.M. 2013 Day 2

108: MAGIC Live! 2013 - Day 3

The Magic Word