Mark Wilson obit

Mark Wilson, R.I.P.

 

 He was not on the list.

We've lost another great magician…and a personal boyhood hero of mine. Mark Wilson, the Master Magician of The Magic Land of Allakazam, died last Tuesday afternoon. His son Greg, who followed in his old man's footsteps, posted this on a magician's forum…

Whether you know him from his TV appearances, his Live productions, the Mark Wilson Complete Course in Magic book, or one of his many in-person Magic University classes at the Magic Castle, or through one of his many other achievements…Mom and Mike and I are so proud that he brought "Happy Magic" into not only your life, but the lives of more people around the world than he could possibly meet.

Mike is another brother. Mom is Nani Darnell, aka Mrs. Mark Wilson and maybe the loveliest assistant who ever got levitated, sawed-in-two and vanished from an endless series of boxes. To Greg's list of his father's achievements, I would add that I think Mark Wilson has the world's record for inspiring young people to take up magic and also perfecting and popularizing the presentation of magic on television.

The Magic Land of Allakazam was on CBS and later ABC Saturday mornings from 1960 to 1964. Most professional magicians have enough tricks in their repertoire to fill thirty minutes…a few can do an hour…but Mark Wilson somehow managed to fill 98 half-hours over those years. To do that, he had to be an expert at every kind of magic there is — close-up, sleight-of-hand, grand illusion, parlor magic, the works. And almost every week, he also taught home viewers a trick they could do at home with everyday objects.

That's where I learned my first feeble feats of prestidigitation. That's where an awful lot of kids learned their first tricks and a hefty number of them went on to do that professionally. I cannot tell you how important this man was to the Art Form. One of the great perks of being a member at the Magic Castle was that you occasionally got to talk with Mark and sometimes even see him perform.

One evening when I was there with friends, we went into one of the small showrooms to see a magician perform. The scheduled gentleman had a sudden emergency and had to run so, to everyone's delight, Mark Wilson walked and did a completely-unplanned half-hour show. He hadn't gone there that evening to perform. He didn't even have any props with him but it isn't hard at The Castle to scrounge up a deck of cards and a couple of hankies…which was all he needed.

He was in his early eighties at the time but he was just as skilled and charming as the star I watched on Saturday morning when I was eight. And like everyone else in the room, I was just as entertained…and well aware we were in the presence of one of the world's great entertainers.