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There are clips of his old unaired show "The Orsen Welles Show." of him doing like two mentalist effects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG6a8HPYbfI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxYCIEedoc4

Orsen was a wannabe Mentalist that screwed up more times on live Tv than most anyone I've ever heard of. He was so full of himself and so damned boring that Johnny Carson wouldn't let him back on the show for the longest time

Trust me, he was a royal pain to be around.

ive not been on here for a while as theres a fair amounty of verbal (poop) talked on here so i can only stand so much of it then i have to go to bigmamajugggerama.com or something in order to feel clean again

but surely

surely

for the love of god

and all that is holy

(and craig i have learned and absorbed amazing stuff from you and ur opinionated...... but concise, insightful and with a wealth of experience that can only benefit this forum)


HES ORSON WELLES for goodness sake lol


verbalpoopage is a spudgun copyrighted word..........as is bigmamajuggerama

I understand, but I've had to work with the miserable old cod

He wasn't the worse VIP had had to deal with back in the day, I think that title goes to Grace Jones or maybe Paul Rubens... that's a close call.

You've got to give Orson Welles credit for Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil and The Trial. Oh, and his voice. But I'm well aware of his reputation for tragically dull magic and mentalism. I saw him on TV many years ago doing a stint as a stage illusionist, pushing light rods through a glamorous assistant.

I was only a lad at the time, but obsessed with movies and magic. I was aware of Welles' immense talent in the movie world - and remember how bitterly disappointed I was that I couldn't bring myself to get excited about anything he did in that stint as an illusionist.

Who would have thunk it?

Pete

Yeah the guy sounds like he was an ass. It's a good thing he didn't screw up those two effects he did. Tho they they were on an unaired TV pilot..

It is a bit odd that an actor like him would screw up so many times on live TV with effects. You'd expect the guy to understand how to rehearse and practice till he can't screw it up. Since he was able to do it with his movies and other roles.

The one card thing he did, did look rather boring and dull. Tho I am not sure how one would be able to make that sort of effect exciting.

Everyone has their "moment in time" and sadly, many live off that moment long after it has passed.

Yes, Orsen had a wonderful speaking voice, one of the legendary voices if there ever were one. But some of his antics in life were more akin to King Henry at a feast

It's sad, knowing what someone was at one point in their life and then watch them kind of "melt away" with time. Fortunately most of the legends do so with grace and quietly.

That YouTube video of him talking about shut-eye psychics is fascinating, but I really think he lost his way a bit with his art. Just look at F For Fake, which may as well have been called "I Know Elmyr De Hory, I Do".

In fact, in his later life, this might be my favourite thing he did: Maaaaaahhhh the French!

madvillainy wrote:That YouTube video of him talking about shut-eye psychics is fascinating, but I really think he lost his way a bit with his art. Just look at F For Fake, which may as well have been called "I Know Elmyr De Hory, I Do".

In fact, in his later life, this might be my favourite thing he did: Maaaaaahhhh the French!

That's funny! (not to mention, a classic)

If you were to ever get your hands on the Stan Allen "Broomstick Illusion" book (was originally part of the deal with his & Bill Smith's Broom prop), you will see Orson floating a young lady on the broom... I think the shot was taken at the old Dessert Inn in Vegas. The woman on the broom is none other than Phyllis Kirkham, my mentor's and if memory serves, Chuck himself is in the background, serving as "the boy assistant" as it were, to Orson.

A great amount of the Magic used by the man came from the Kirkham, Abbe Dickson and Blackstone warehouses (or ended up there, over time)

It's interesting though, the number of Hollywood VIPs that ended up with a Magic show late in the careers vs. the plethora that started off as magicians, such as Johnny Carson. Dancer Donald O'Connor did a wonderful show for a number of years in Vegas as did the legendary Danny Kaye and Jackie Gleason (who was also an avid student of the Occult).

Never knew Donald O'Connor did a stage magic show.

I'm intrigued! I can imagine him being fab as an illusionist!

if you can watch it, this show featured o'connor playing a magician...

http://video.tvguide.com/Simon++Simon/G ... oplay=true

I dont know what he did in it. Im not able to watch it from here....

D.

The requested video cannot be displayed in your region

thats what i got. But if you search on line for the title of teh show, there are many sites offering it for free.

One might just work in this country.There may even be a clip on youtube.

I remember that episode (my father watched that show religiously). If I remember correctly, the younger mage was named Oliver Twist (compare his look to a certain other story book character named mage of the day) and everything took place at the Magic Palace...

The O'Connor show featured a lot of the older Vaudeville classic effects such as a Thurston styled Sawing, the Stretching and Girl Crusher. If my thinking is right, he had Debbie Reynolds and Mitzi Gaynor as co-stars (and victims) from time to time.

I'm trying to recall which Casino he was in... I want to say it was downtown at the Nugget but I'm not positive. Orson and the Rat Pack has the Desert Inn and Sands more or less tied up in those days and Liberace was at the Slipper... oi! I so miss my mind


Speaking of Stars & Magic, I've got one for you all...

Who was the famous female singer/dancer/actress that had a very special large scaled vanish illusion created for her act at Caesar's Palace and what was the effect?

daleshrimpton wrote:if you can watch it, this show featured o'connor playing a magician...

http://video.tvguide.com/Simon++Simon/G ... oplay=true

I dont know what he did in it. Im not able to watch it from here....

D.

Scrolling down the page quickly, for some reason I read this as Sinead O'Connor, who as far as I know never styled herself as a magician. Then again, she did do that trick where she made all the Catholics in her audience disappear!

Maybe it's time I got my coat.