Sorry, this content is for members only.
Click here to get access.
0 comments
By
0 comments
Session expired
Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and return to this page.
Hello Wilson Family,
The new website is looking well…MAGICAL and FANTASTIC! THANK YOU to Greg and everyone involved for putting in all the work to make this site another legacy milestone for the TV Shows and Mark & Nani Wilson.
I truly enjoyed watching and still remember a lot from the MAGIC CIRCUS TV Specials. I’m told by my parents that I watched many episodes of ALLAKAZAM. Through the special magic of videotape, I have many of the shows and can watch them anytime and relive the moments that made me want to be a magician too.
Wow..way to bring back the memories! I’m sure I ate more than my share of the various cereals just to get down to the “box” (had to be empty before mom would let me have it!) Greg, thanks for taking the time and for making the enormous effort to archive and make available all of this, with more to come, to fans everywhere! Always been a fan of your mom and dad and always will be!
Thanks so much for re-airing these shows…brings me back to my childhood! One question: I thought the bunny was named “Bernard the Baffling Bunny” !
Hi Mike,
How wonderful of you to remember Bernard…
“The Biggest Bunny in the Business!”
He’s one BIG BUNNY!
Do you remember any of the other critter characters?
This is awesome that this is happening & ironically, met Nani & Mark at Denny Haney’s Magic Shop a few years ago. Meeting the two of them, was like meeting the Beatles. But, when I saw the TV Guide page of the Debut & saw it was going up against Sheri Lewis… I’m guessing Shari must have said, “Oh, crap…” Tell them THANK YOU, for making a place where I could smile & escape to, as a abused child.
Another Great One of Baltimore, Md. has passed! Denny, take your place among the Legends of Baltimore, Md. with Phil Thomas & Lou Walston!
Go in Peace & leave a small amount of your kindness behind!
This is such a great project. I’m having so much fun watching all of these episodes that have made me the magician that I am today.
Wonderful to see these. I was between 2 and 6 years old when they aired. Even then I had an idea about “a Magician, his Assistant, & a Clown”. For some reason (sorry to whom it may concern) Lanie Kazan kept coming to mind. I’m more a “Mark Wilson’s Magic Circus” from the 70’s fan. Thanks for airing these shows again.
Oh my Stars and Garters, I thought I would never again see my favorite toy from the days of First Grade! That Floating Tony (the Tiger) went everywhere with me and my green wooden yo-yo.
Loved the voice over by everyone in episode 9. it makes that episode even more special! hopefully there will be time to do more this year.. Thanks again!
Truly magical. What energy on the part of the stars (Mark Wilson, Nani Darnell, and Bev Bergeron). Mark Wilson’s presentation of the “Three Marbles” displays his great skill with close-up magic on television (notice that there are no camera cuts – Wilson says this is important to maintain the illusion of live magic for the viewing audience). The Canvas Covered Box has never been better.
I was very fortunate to visit David Price in his home/museum. I was a total stranger to him, but asked to visit and he so graciously allowed me to do so. There was so much there I was overwhelmed and didn’t specifically ask about collections that now I wish I had. I was so pleased by David’s willingness to share his valuable collection, not just with me, but with anyone that had a serious interest. So happy he did his book. It is a true treasure in my magic library!
The Canvas Covered Box has always been one of my favorites!.. How long had Mark and Nani been performing this leading up to the t-v appearance?
Hi Thomas, That’s a good question. I know it was one of their early purchases in Dallas TX, so they had probably done hundreds of fair shows with it before moving to LA.
The commentary by Mark, Nani, and Greg is fascinating and educational. Anyone interested in magic can learn a lot from these shows. The handling of props like the Hippity Hop Rabbits is always very original (e.g., the use of the tray held by Nani and the addition of the characters of Nani and Rebo turn a small trick into a showy magical routine). Mark Wilson’s handling of the Cards to Pocket is indeed flawless and filled with showmanship (Dai Vernon said that genius is in the details – this presentation proves it).
What memories this brings back. I was 10 when it first aired. I remember saying to my Dad while watching the show, “Dad, he has every trick in the catalog!”
Great fun watching these again.
Best,
Bill
Wow! With all the wonderful parlor and illusion magic, I forgot how good Mark was at sleight of hand!
Enjoyed episode 12. The castle went a lot smoother without hitting the “Gong” (one of your parents performance when they were in Dallas).
I was 13 when you first aired in NY I loved your show, learned many tricks, some of which were my first magic show of which I charged 10 cents to my friends to come see. I have been a children and family entertainer in Florida for the past 15 years. I am a member of the Bev Bergeron (REBO) IBM 170 group out of Orlando. Thank you for all the wonderful years of magic and for being my first mentor. Norman Jay ‘Mr. Jay’ ‘Jaybo’
I remember your father on the Mark Wilson Magic Circus back in the 1970’s, I was about 10 at the time. After seeing him do a trick with cards and a goblet,and have all the cards fly out but the selected card I was sold, I wanted to be a magician. I was just born when the World of Allakazam but still enjoy watching these. Your dad was great then too, along with your mom.
Thanks for sharing, Mark and Nani inspired me to become a full-time professional Magician. Thanks again and thanks for these moments. Warmly & Magically, Mandrini the Magician, remet your Mom and Dad at the Magic Castle with you and Dia after my performance there the night before. Thanks for the inspiration you all are magic at the highest possible level.
Number 15 was wonderful. Torn and Restored Napkin is one of my favorite “need something quick” illusions. Just wondering is Edgar Landsbury (know I misspelled the name sorry) related to Angela Landsbury of Murder She Wrote. And I remember Jackie Joseph being on the Doris Day Show when “Doris” moved to San Francisco and worked for a “newspaper?”.
Yes, Edgar is Angela’s brother. And his twin, Bruce, was the producer of the Magician with Bill Bixby! What a small world.
It always delighted me how quickly Mark & Nani would zip through these routines without seeming to rush. It kept us kids (already hyper from sugar cereals!) attentive, yet the storyline and the final effect always used just the right amount of time. Until I (much later) worked onstage, I never realized how impeccable the sense of timing was on this show and the later Wilson-Darnell specials. There is STILL so much to learn upon each viewing.
Thanks for sharing the love and magic.
Keep up the great work.This means a lot!
#19 is the show I’ve been waiting for! Both routines I remember from age 9 were in this show. The Card Duck and Coins Across went deep into my long-term memory, and I carry Mark’s demeanor in my mind as I do magic today. Great fun! Thank you for making it possible to relive those memories.
I saw the Asrah (Azrah) Levitation for the first time in fall 1960, when I began viewing the Magic Land of Allakzam. I know I saw the Wilsons’ version, because I have thought about it many times during the intervening years (as you get older, it’s easy to forget how startling some magic effects can be to a young person who is developing an interest in magic, but I have never forgotten the impression this version made upon me). Like a lot of the Allakzam magic, the presentation of the Asrah Levitation is a great lesson in staging and theatricality. The use of a giant fan (rather than a hoop) adds to the atmosphere and mystery – and it is just as effective in getting the point across (“no wires”). The ingenious appearance of Nani as one of the attendants is quite unexpected – and the teaser at the beginning of the show with the two mysterious attendants insures that the viewer will register these characters in memory. Therefore, the exchange, when it occurs, is that much more effective. An astute viewer interested in the “art” of magic can still learn a lot from these shows.
fantastic show and love the magic commercials!
Loved the coins to glass routine.
Would love get 33 for a week
Do they still have the dollhouse? Fred and Vida are my great grandparents and our family has been looking for one to have for a long time!!
How wonderful to hear from you, Ivy! Yes, we have the Doll House, it was the first illusion that my folks purchased, and I believe it cost a huge $100. Lots of money back then.
Can you confirm what they sold for? I have not found the receipt yet! Best Wishes, Greg
Yes, I remember traveling from my home in Pittsburgh to New York City in Summer 1964 with my family to the NY World’s Fair. I remember the buttons and still have one that says “meet me at the the smoke ring” which introduce you to the hall of magic. There were two”the” words. Either a mistake or an optical illusion that perhaps Mark Wilson contrived. As a 9 year old I loved magic and the Magic Land TV show. Your site is a real trip down memory lane from nicer times.