Roy Benson
| Roy Benson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Edward Emerson Ford McQuaid 17 January 1914 Courbevoie, France |
| Died | 6 December 1977 (aged 63) Forest Hills, New York USA |
| Occupation | Magician |
| Parents | Dora Ford Edward Emerson McQuaid |
Roy Benson (Jan 17, 1914 to Dec 6, 1977) was a stage magician born in Courbevoie in France. He was an accomplished musician. He is credited for Special Effects, having created the monster for the film "The Flesh Eaters" [1] directed by his first cousin,[2]Jack Curtis. He died of emphysema.[3]
He studied with Nate Leipzig, creating the bell and bowl routine and elaborating the Chinese Sticks routine (using weights within the sticks) which are published in "Benson by Starlight".[4] This also describes Benson's Bizarre Bag (an egg bag variant), The Dice Box, Bell and Bowl (rice bowls), The Wines of Beelzebub and Hydrostatic Cravis (where a drinking glass is inverted without the contents spilling).
A photograph of Benson, signed and dedicated "To Dai [Vernon], Jeanne, Neepie in admiration and affection, Roy. 1946." was auctioned in January 2010.[5]
Publications
- Benson by Starlight. Published by Miracle Factory 2006 (Levent, Todd Carr). ISBN 0971040540 9780971040540)[4]
- The Second Oldest Profession (republished within "Starlight")
- Benson on Magic (republished within "Starlight")
Chinese Sticks
(Also called Mora Wands after Silent Mora - Louis McCord[6]).[7] The method for the Chinese Sticks as well as a number of routines by magicians including Howard Hale, Aldo Colomini, Pete Biro, Joe Stevens and Charlie Miller is presented in the DVD "Chinese Sticks" published by Greater Magic Video Library.[8]
Benson elaborated his Chinese Sticks in "Starlight"[4] on The Pillars of Soloman and the Magic Bradawl, published in Hoffman's Modern Magic.[9]
Benson Bowl
The Benson Bowl is a Cups and Ball routine popularised by Benson.[10] The method and routine is published in "Starlight"[4] and "Classic Secrets of Magic" by Bruce Elliott.[11] The routine is included in the DVDs "Pat Page Spongeballs",[12] "WGM Spongeballs",[13] "John Mendoza Vol 2",[14] "Steve Dacri Volume 3".[13]
See also
- 1955 USA Television show "It's Magic" clip showing Chinese sticks and trick with salt shaker. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOfzp4Wt-pE (Re-published in DVD http://miraclefactory.net/zenstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_19&products_id=17)
- http://www.illusionwiki.com/Roy_Benson
References
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058101/fullcredits#cast
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1154523/bio
- ^ http://geniimagazine.com/magicpedia/Roy_Benson
- ^ a b c d http://miraclefactory.net/zenstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=81
- ^ Photograph auction http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/6941247
- ^ http://www.conjuringlights.com/CL/Portraits/Mora/Mora,%20Silent_1.htm
- ^ http://geniimagazine.com/magicpedia/Chinese_Sticks
- ^ Chinese Sticks DVD http://gmvl.com/details.asp?id=85
- ^ Hoffman's Modern Magic Page 330 (1876) http://archive.org/stream/modernmagic00hoffgoog#page/n346/mode/2up
- ^ http://geniimagazine.com/magicpedia/Benson_Bowl
- ^ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Classic-Secrets-Magic-Bruce-Elliot/dp/1406793906
- ^ http://www.llpub.com/zenshop/index.php?main_page=product_info&manufacturers_id=&products_id=2148
- ^ a b http://www.llpub.com/zenshop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2313
- ^ http://www.llpub.com/zenshop/index.php?main_page=product_info&manufacturers_id=&products_id=2351
