talkmagic.co.uk

I just got an email... Billy McComb passed away earlier this evening... just thought I'd let everyone know.

Sad news indeed. He was due to appear at Blackpool in February but his doctors wouldn't let him fly due to health problems.

Craig Browning wrote:I just got an email... Billy McComb passed away earlier this evening... just thought I'd let everyone know.

It's a sad loss to magic. Billy helped me many years ago in the 70's I think when I was producing a rabbit out of a volunteers jacket. He was so knowledgeable. Last saw him at The Magic Circle centenary last year. He was still amazing then and I feel fortunate that I was able to introduce my 15 year old son to him at that time. A memory that he will surely treasure for a long time.

I made this post about 10 minutes after I got the word and thus, hadn't really let things sink in.... that's not been the case today, lots of memories and even getting a hint choked up.

Many years ago Billy stayed with Abb Dickson at the Magic Hotel in Hollywood (I was working for Abbner back then) so I was able to listen to his tall tales day in and out. You could learn more in one afternoon just listening to that man, than you could from any dozen books I think. Of course, some of the stories he told of dear Mr. Harbin are probably best kept secret (I guess they were drinking buddies... one of Billy's favorite hobbies).

I was doing a spur of the moment show one weekend and had three days to pull together a Girl & Cannon routine... I didn't have access to one at the time and was pulling my hair out. That's when Billy told me about one he'd put together for a show... I think it was with Harbin, not certain, in which the had the tail end of the cannon cut back into the wings just a bit... the girl dropped into a big black bag inside the barrel and four hefty lads back stage ran like the dickens to pull her out and into teh wings...

I laughed my butt off, but the darn thing worked quite well!

I think, performance wise, my fondest memory of Billy working was the first time I saw him do the Slow Motion Bird Cage Vanish. It was so slow, deliberate and elegant I wanted to cry... I'd never seen anything quite that magical ever before in my life.

Though we didn't always get along (I even threatened to kick his butt one night at the castle... for the wrong reasons) I still count my blessings that I had at least a bit of time around the man and discovered what it really means to be a "magician"... he was one of the few "real ones" I'd ever encountered.