Chapter 11961

Overture and BeginnersHow did you get interested in magic? Did a favourite uncleproduce coins from behind your ear or did you see a magicianon the television or even see one in real life at a theatre or aparty? My lifetime affair with magic started, as did those ofmany others, with a “box of tricks”, in my case an “ErnestSewell Cabinet of Conjuring Tricks”.

For many youngsters, to progress from the box of tricks to amore serious and competent interest in magic has always beenquite difficult. Many of those who have a box of tricks fall bythe wayside as a result of finding other interests in theirformative years. Only a few continue with magic as their mainhobby.

Having to his surprise won the British Ring Shield at Brightonin 1954 Derrick Speight mused on ways in which youngpeople could be encouraged in magic. Back in the 1950’s therewas no Internet with magic on You Tube, no DVDs to learnfrom and only a few magic books in public libraries, usuallyin the “grown-up” section under 793.8 in the Dewey DecimalSystem.

Even though Derrick was by then 26 and earning, he recalledthe difficulties he had experienced in finding enough funds tosupport his hobby. He had needed to rely on friends to lendhim books and to assist him in making his own props. At anAnnual General Meeting of the British Ring of the Internation-al Brotherhood of Magicians he proposed that the Ring shouldinstitute a magical scholarship to fund the training and devel-opment of one or more young magicians of ability, possiblytowards a professional career. Although the suggestion cameto nothing, Derrick also started to think about the selectionprocess for such a scholarship and to formulate ideas for aCompetition.

In June 1959 Derrick was co-opted to the Council of the MagicCircle and later that year he raised the idea in Council. Withthe encouragement of the Council he put together a plan for a

“Young Magician of the Year Competition” which was againdiscussed at the Council meeting in January 1960. He recom-mended that when the winner reached the age of eighteen heshould be admitted to full Membership of the Magic Circle,without having to pay an entrance fee and with his first year'ssubscription waived. It was further discussed over the next fewmonths. His initial proposal (Minutes of Council, 4th March1960) was that applicants should be between the ages of 12-18on the 1st January 1961 and that they should present an act of8 to 12 minutes duration. The prize would be given to theall-round most entertaining act. Eliminating rounds wouldtake place at the Magic Circle Headquarters at the Hearts ofOak building with the Finals to be held at King George's Hall.An announcement would be placed in the Magic Circular inSeptember to coincide with a similar announcement in "Abra-cadabra". Twelve finalists would be chosen by the end ofJanuary 1961 and the finals would be held by the end ofFebruary. In the event the Abra notice appeared first in Sep-tember 1960. It was recommended that in addition to magi-cians there should be lay persons on the judging panel.

Figure 1 Abracadabra 764 p. 15517th September 1960

A Committee was formed consisting of Derrick Speight, JohnSalisse, Norman Cooper and Anthony Brahams. Although theoriginal suggestion had been for a competition for the HomeCounties it was felt that wider coverage would be appropriateand, should the size of entry justify it, an eliminating roundshould be held in "the provinces" to assist entrants with longdistances to travel. Notes were circulated at the May CouncilMeeting2 and the Council approved the proposal. Advertise-ments appeared in Abracadabra 764 (17th September 1960)and the Magic Circular for October 1960 inviting entries fromboys (yes, it was only boys) who would be over 14 (a changefrom the original proposal of over 12) and under 18 to applyto enter an OPEN COMPETITION to find The Young Magi-cian of the Year.

The first heats were held in the Hearts of Oak Buildingon Saturday January 14th 1961 with approximatelytwenty competitors coming from all parts of the coun-try. The standard was reported to be very high. Asecond eliminating round was held on Sunday Febru-ary 12th and seven finalists were selected.

In addition to the prizes already agreed it was furtherdecided that all finalists would receive a trophy and abook, the latter donated by Harry Clarke, a member of

the Council of the Magic Circle. He was the printer who had produced“Routined Manipulations” by Lewis Ganson and “It’s Easier Than YouThink” by Geoffrey Buckingham. The Winner, in addition to receiv-ing free entrance as a Member of the Magic Circle at the age of 18 andthe payment of his first year's subscription would also receive a MagicCircle tie, cuff-links, pack of cards and Jewel of Member of the MagicCircle. A Winner’s trophy would be presented, with an additionalbook, again donated by Harry Clarke. Additionally, Gilly Davenportwould donate a book token worth five guineas, redeemable at his shop.

Reminders were published. The first Final was held at King George's Hall, AdelinePlace, Great Russell Street on Friday 24th March 1961replacing one of the regular Magic Circle Concerts. Therewas thus only just over a month between the second heatand the Final. Clifford Davis, the compère, introduced BillyMcComb, who presented some comedy magic to get theaudience in the mood.

Victor Fiveash aged 16 then became the first competitorever to appear in a Young Magician Competition Final. Heperformed Stick to Silks, Dove from Silks, Silks fromNewspaper, more doves, card fans and manipulations andfinished with the reappearance of his stick.

In contrast, Christopher Cox, also 16 and from the Isle ofWight, produced billiard balls and cigarettes, then per-formed mental magic with the assistance of a spectator,divining a chosen card and a number of pictures drawn oncards and sealed in envelopes.

David J. Clake, 17 presented what Goodliffe described as“visually...about the most attractive act”. This started with theproduction of a magical cocktail (Magical Cocktail) and pro-ceeded to a miscellany of magic with silks and liquids includ-ing Blow-Dye and Anti-Gravity Glasses. He finished with theproduction of a pint glass of milk from a miniature Magic Bar.

He was followed by Johnny Hart from Preston with VanishingCane, silks and dove magic, and a patter section which includ-ed the appearance of doves in silks in a spectator's hands. Theproduction of three budgerigars (which later became a featureof Johnny’s professional act) and the reappearance of the canewhich had been vanished at the start of the act closed hisperformance and brought the Competition to its half way point.

After the interval, Toni Nansen from Birmingham performedRope Through Neck, Unequal Ropes, Egg Bag, card fans,Anti-Gravity Glasses and a huge silk production from a WundaVilla, part to music and part patter.

David Longley aged 17 did a patter act with a silk vanish,Sucker Silk, Cups and Balls and Linking Rings (with DavidNixon as volunteer assistant) and finished with Unequal Ropesand comedy rope stretching.

The last competitor was Davani, a young man from Edgeware,with Stick to Silks, Dye Tube, further silk magic and a Zombieroutine.

The judges, Frank Boynett, Henry Francis, Louis Histed, Geof-frey Robinson, Stanley Thomas and Peter Warlock, retired todeliberate and while this was happening the audience wereentertained with lightning cartoons by Rhoda Diane and amind-reading act by The Amazing Margoes. Francis White,the President of the Magic Circle, then introduced DavidNixon, Britain’s favourite television magician of that period topresent the prizes.

As is now well known, the first ever Young Magician of theYear Award was presented to Johnny Hart, a schoolboy fromPreston. The Runner-up was Davani. Each competitor re-ceived an engraved plaque and one of the Dai Vernon books.The tradition of presenting a plaque to each Finalist continuesto this day.

D'Arcy, who reported the show for the Magic Circular com-mented that, although many of the acts lacked a strong finish,every performer could have taken his place in a normal CircleConcert. He felt that it was a pity that several had "to someextent based their acts on those of better-known performers"and noted that it would be a good idea to tell the audience that,as it was a competition some duplication of effects was possi-ble. Anthony Brahams, who was on the original Committee,took his new wife to all the heats and the Final, and did warnher of this possibility. They sat through many presentations ofthe Dancing Cane, which was then very much in vogue andwhich was and is probably Anthony’s least favourite trick.

It is interesting to note that on the whole, the sort of magicperformed doesn't appear to have been much different fromthat regularly seen in recent Young Magician Competitions!

Even before the heats, one of the entrants had already beenreported to be exceptionally good. Anthony Brahams, afterreading about him and talking to friends, did not want thevagaries or eccentricities of judges to eliminate him in an earlyround. Accordingly, with the agreement of Derrick Speightand Norman Cooper, the young man was given a bye into theFinal without the necessity of his appearing in earlier rounds.This confidence was justified as that entrant was Johnny Hart.Christopher Cox had also received a bye into the Final.

Johnny Hart, with an act excluding the patter section, appearedin the Magic Circle Festival at the Scala Theatre that year totremendous acclaim; John Holland reported that it was the bestact in the show. On the Tuesday of the Scala week, CliffordDavis went along to the impresario Val Parnell and told himwhat a great magician Johnny was. "Good enough for thePalladium?" asked Mr. Parnell. "Certainly," Clifford told himand, without seeing him, Val Parnell booked Johnny for Sun-day Night at the London Palladium, thus giving him his firstbreak, and launching him on his professional career.

Harry Stanley, of the Unique Magic Studio, became Johnny’sagent and within a relatively short time he was presenting hisact in Las Vegas. His subsequent successful career is a matterof history. Although many thought of him as original in theuse of budgerigars, he was by no means the first, and Gwendie(Voltaire) had used them in her act for the Magic CircleFestival at the Scala in 1960. The reporter of that event, JackGittings, did however comment that as a reporter he found

"dove" easier to write than "budgerigar".

Figure 5 Finalists 1961 Top Left : Toni Nansen Centre: Johnny Hart Right: Davani Centre Left : David Longley with DavidNixon Right: David Clake Lower Left: Christopher Cox Right: Victor Fiveash and Partner

Johnny Hart

Johnny Hart remembers coming to London for the Competi-tion on an overnight bus from Blackpool, accompanied by hisbrother - two provincial boys in the capital. They headed forthe YMCA and found lodgings there. On the day of the FinalJohnny turned up at King George’s Hall and was somewhatdaunted to see the other competitors with masses of equipment,accompanied by relatives and teams of helpers, while he wasthere with his entire show carried in suitcases by him and hisbrother. To win was unthinkable, but the unthinkable happened.

As described above, after his win Johnny performed at theLondon Palladium Theatre and also appeared on televisionwith the Beatles at the height of their fame. He was invitedback year after year to guest on the celebrated Ed Sullivan TVshow in New York, which was seen live across the UnitedStates by 60 million Americans.

He performed in many of the world's most spectacular loca-tions, including The Lido in Paris, and the Flamingo, AladdinHotel and Desert Inn Hotels in Las Vegas. He was for twoyears the featured attraction at the M.G.M. Grand Hotel,Nevada, U.S.A. While in America, he used his skills to pro-duce the latest automobiles and company products on stage.

Figure 6 Johnny Hart and Budgies

Johnny presented his own two hour illusion show at the Cam-bridge Theatre in The West End of London for ten weeks. Hewas invited to appear at the prestigious "Bal de la Rose" forPrince Rainier and Princess Caroline of Monaco and hasperformed for the King of Sweden in Stockholm.

Johnny’s fame has not been solely in the Western world. Hewas the first European artist to be invited to the New China'sCultival Festival in Shanghai, where he performed live ontelevision for 100 million viewers! In Tokyo he was the guest

lecturer and featured performer at the World Symposium ofMagic.

On world cruises for Royal Caribbean and Costa Lines heperformed magic and illusions from Alaska to Bombay.

A poor quality video of Johnny at the Lido, Paris can be seenat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcrL8yt8MZM

and a slightly better quality video of an appearance in “TheGood Old Days” at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzXUBA3dWZ4

Having lived for many years in Denmark where he advised onmagic and animal training for films and television, Johnnynow lives in retirement near Blackpool.

Christopher Cox writes:

In January1961 I felt delighted and honoured to have beenasked to be one of the Finalists of the first ever “YoungMagician of the Year Competition”. It had come as a verygreat surprise as I hadn't actually gone through any formalselection process. I think it was Ali Bongo who later revealedto me that it had been several prominent members of theMagic Circle who had put my name forward. Although I wasonly sixteen at the time I had already appeared on an ITVtalent show and had just passed an audition to appear on asimilar regional contest to be broadcast from the newly openedSouthern T.V Studios in Southampton in the same month.

I had been doing public shows since 1954 while belonging totwo different Concert Parties working mainly in the Londonarea. In 1958 I gained a contract to perform in a number ofRitz Cinemas to do shows in between films at what were thenthe popular Children's Saturday Morning Clubs. So with allthe exuberance and over confidence of youth I thought I wouldhave a great chance to win YMotYC.

What a salutary lesson I was to learn on that eventful night inMarch at the Magic Circle. Johnny Hart the outright winner ofthe contest was such a brilliant performer he was quite simplyin a totally different league from the rest of us. I stood at theback of the theatre watching his whole act in a state of shockand jealousy. Even before David Nixon eventually handed outthe awards at the end of the evening I was already determinedto work and practise harder at this profession on which I wasabout to embark.

I had already started working on comedy tricks butat that time Mentalism seemed to be the mostpopular branch of magic with Chan Canasta and AlKoran having highly successful and publicitycreating T.V. Shows currently running. So I quitewrongly surmised that by putting into my spotwhat I believed to be an original sequence of mindreading I would have

impressed the judges. Nevertheless, I gained a great deal outof the event and apart from being brought down to size it gaveme a considerable amount of local publicity and an assuranceI would automatically become a full member of the MagicCircle immediately on reaching the age of eighteen. Only twoyears after this I became an A.I.M.C. yet 47 years on and20,000 recorded performances later I am still not M.I.M.C.Maybe I am still being brought down to size.

I have been thinking about interesting thoughts on the after-math of the Contest. One astonishing fact is that I have neverever spoken to four of my fellow contestants since that nightin 1961 after all these years. The only exception to this wasVictor Burnett on one solitary occasion over 35 years ago. Allthis of course is probably due to my very infrequent attendanc-es at the Magic Circle Headquarters. In the last 50 years I haveonly visited maybe 20 times at most, although I meet fellowmembers at conventions etc. and latterly at the inevitablefunerals.

To answer the question what happened to me after the event?Well I had already moved down from London to live on theIsle of Wight when my parents had retired there in 1960. Ihave remained there ever since maintaining a base eventhough at times I have worked for extended periods abroad.This move proved to be an unexpected assistance to my career,in fact it would not be an exageration to claim that had I notdone so it may have been many years before I could have evenconsidered becoming a truly full-time professional. The Brit-ish holiday trade was at its zenith and the I.O.W. boasted 25holiday camps and over 700 hotels many of which werewilling to book acts. During the sixties I accumulated anumber of regular weekly bookings over those years culminat-ing in doing 31 shows a week for a season lasting over fivemonths in 1969.

The seventies continued the success story with me starting todo work abroad after the summer seasons had ended. I touredin Saudi-Arabia, East Germany, Majorca, Spain, Portugal,Cyprus, Malta and many others. I became a regular performerfor 'Combined Services Entertainments' (the modern equiva-lent of ENSA) and travelled to all the places in which theBritish Army were then serving. In 1982 I was asked by theMinistry of Defence to organise the first ever Christmas showfor the troops in the Falklands. It was entitled 'Mixed Nuts' andcould be described as a similar type format or mini-version ofthe famous 'Crazy Gang' Shows'. It was made up entirely ofpro-comedy acts all of whom had associations with the I.O.W.either living or regularly working there. We gained six TVappearances on the strength of it. If anybody is interested asequence of the show can be found on YouTube 'Crisco OneLittle Kiss'

www.youtube.com/watch?v=awM5C2f7GdI

Incidentally, in 1981 exactly 20 years after the YMotYC I wonthe Shield Competition and two other awards at the BritishRing Convention in Great Yarmouth. At that time this was thehighest number in its history, and resulted in another five TVappearances, proving to the younger generation, if it wasneeded, the often unexpected benefits that can be achieved bymaking the effort to participate in such competitions.

The eighties brought me further contacts including ThomsonHolidays, starting a run of work lasting over ten years andtaking me to many parts of the world. Eventually, and inretrospect belatedly, I started 12 very enjoyable years workingfor different Cruise companies. I have found this by far themost enjoyable work I have ever done. Yet I often meet fellow'Pros' who can't stand them, finding them monotonous, toodisciplined and regulated and of course fearing the occasionalvery bad weather. (But as in all of life, its 'Horses for Courses')

Intertwined amongst all of this were over 80 TV spots includ-ing appearances on Pebble Mill, Welsh TV, children's showssuch as 'Get This', 'Sooty Show', Wayne Dobson's 'A Kind ofMagic', Sky & Cable TV etc.,etc. Like many other pro magi-cians I have supported numerous stars in theatre tours aroundthe country.

Figure 7 Chris Cox 1961

In conclusion, one photo shows me as I was in 1961 and theother as I am now as a veteran performer doing shows in whatis left of the live entertainment industry. I am at the momentluckily in reasonable health, still performing, adding newideas to the act, constantly practising and advising other age-ing humans in keeping active.

It can be seen from the latest photograph that I present thepersona of a very old comedy magician, a guise that I havebeen acting now for over 30 years. The advantage of this isthat as each year passes I fit more naturally into the part. Notfor me the constant striving to appear young with face lifts,wigs and tight clothes or pretending to understand alternativehumour.

Figure 8 Chris Cox 2011

I now have to be content in being able to indulge in an oldman's pleasure of reminiscing about events in the long dis-tance past such as the first ever 'Young Magician of the YearContest.'

Victor Fiveash

After the Competition Victor became a professional magicianworking under the tutelage of Bobby Bernard as Victor Bur-nett and later worked as a double act with June. He was a verysuccessful professional, with many engagements at the Lido inParis and in Australia and other parts of the World.

He is noted for the inclusion in his act of fire magic. Itincluded the production and vanish of fire fans, dove magicand a floating ball, performed to Isaac Hayes's theme from

“Shaft”. A Firebox designed and used by him was soldrecently (2011) on eBay and one is available atwww.topsecretmagic.co.uk/secondhand.html (June 2011).

Figure 9 Victor Fiveash and David Nixon

Photo from Magic Circle Archive

Among many performances he appeared at the fourth Con-vention staged by International Magic in 1975 and wasfrequently seen on television, including the David NixonShow in 1977, the Sooty Show

and the Wheeltappers and Shunters Club

www.comedykings.co.uk/index.php/videodvd/wheeltappers-and-shunters

Figure 10 Victor Burnett & June

After retiring from performing he became well known in thefield of Treasure Hunting and was renowned as the builder ofthe Red Heat range of Metal Detectors. These were describedas “Detectors that worked better than most machines in thetrashiest and worst Iron conditions that exist in London”, thatis, they found worthwhile items but ignored scrap iron. Ademonstration by Victor can be seen on YouTube at

http://www.youtube.com/user/heatdetector

Victor died of Cancer on November 6th 2007 at the age of 62.

Toni Nansen

Toni Nansen remembers a cold Friday night, but a warmreception from the audience, not to mention the thrill of meet-ing his magical hero, David Nixon.

From his records, the Young Magician Final was his fortiethshow, though his first magic competition. He was pleased thatthe judges commented that his act “had a strong entertainmentcontent”.

Not only was it Toni’s first competition, it was his first trip toLondon. However it was somewhat of a disaster. During theafternoon he broke his glasses and lacking a spare pair he,accompanied by his mother, had to find an optician. Being

“blind as a bat” without his spectacles, he would have beenunable to perform. Fortunately, with about two hours to spare,a new pair was obtained and the day was saved.

Figure 11 Toni Nansen and David Nixon

Photo from Magic Circle Archive

Although unplaced in the Young Magician Final, Toni won anumber of Talent Competitions in the Midlands. During thecourse of these he met an up-and-coming young comediannamed Don Maclean who later went on to host his own radioshow. They worked a number of clubs together and had a greattime.

After some years Toni took up Children’s magic but at the ageof 60 decided to put away his magic wand and concentrateonly on the social side of magic.

Magic has served him well and he would recommend anyyoung person to enter the Young Magician of the Year Compe-tition. It will give them a lifetime of memories and, if they win,or even if they don’t the possibility of going on to great things,just like Johnny Hart.

Figure 12 Toni Nansen and Partner

David Clake

David’s interest in magic had started as a child and continuedthrough his life. He was probably the dealers’ best friend as heaccumulated large amounts of magical props, books and mem-orabilia even building an outhouse specially to keep them in.He was renowned for his hospitality to visiting magicians.

Magic did not become his full-time occupation; he was theowner of Clake’s Estate Agents in Sussex. However he wasfor over forty years a member of the Sussex Magic Circle andwas, at various times, President, Secretary and Chairman ofthat Society. He was also a member of the Magic Circle, theI.B.M and the South Downs Magicians and had contacts withthe Magicians of Blois in France. His main magical interestwas Mentalism.

A man large in stature and in personality he died of a massiveheart attack on December 14th 1999 at the age of 55.

Davani and David LongleyI have been unable to trace these two competitors, one ofwhom, Davani, was runner-up in the Competition.

I am informed by Godfrey Shackleton (see next Chapter) thatJohn (David) Longley became the executive producer of thetelevision programme “This is Your Life”.

1 Magic Circular March 1960 p.116

2 Magic Circular April 1960 p.135, May 1960 p.157, June1960 p.179, July/August 1960 p.199, November 1960 p.37

3 Magic Circular May 1960 p.157

4 Abracadabra 793 p. 204, Magic Circular, May 1961 p.141