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Bill Amac

Bill Amac (ca. 1890 - 1961), born Robert William McFarlane, was a Birmingham mechanical engineer and British magician who presented an original illusion called the "Elusive Lady".

Biography

Known as 'Mac', hence his stage name "Amac", was also said to be for "A Most Amazing Conjuror".

Amac began performing around 1916 in English theaters. In 1921, he presented his original illusion "Find the Lady" (also known as the "Elusive Lady"). The illusion using three huge cards suspended from the flies and his lady assistant on stools behind them. As in the Three-card Monte, she could never be found, and finally she vanishes and reappears from the back of the theater.

During the 1920s, he toured America's Vaudeville theaters, with just this one act, and also did a European tour with his "Elusive Lady". The illusion and sole performing rights were bought by The Great Lyle for his "CAVALCADE OF MYSTERY" show in 1941, when Amac became his stage director. Amac also create the pocket tricks: Educated Pencil, It's That Girl Again (1951) and Third Man.

At the 38th Annual Magic Collectors' Weekend in Schaumburg Illinois in 2007, Jim Steinmeyer delivered a keynote lecture entitled "Why Amac Drank."

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-[[File: DellODell1.png|right|thumb|200px|[[Dell O'Dell]]]]
+[[File: Amac1.png|right|thumb|200px|[[Bill Amac]]]]
-'''Dell O'Dell''' (b.1897-d.1962), born Nell Odella Newton, was an American magician regarded in her profession as a pioneer who provided a role model for modern female performers and noted for being one of the first magicians to appear on television.
+'''Bill Amac''' (ca. 1890 - 1961), born Robert William McFarlane, was a Birmingham mechanical engineer and British magician who presented an original illusion called the "[[Elusive Lady]]".
 == Biography ==
-At the height of her career she was billed as "The World's Leading Lady Magician" and "The Queen of Magic."
+Known as 'Mac', hence his stage name "Amac", was also said to be for "A Most Amazing Conjuror".
-Nell Newton's father worked in carnivals and she began learning magic from him when she was young. She developed a style that featured snappy patter and cute rhymes, which became something of a trademark. Dell was known to hire writers for her special rhyming patter, with some being printed in [[Genii]] magazine.
+Amac began performing around 1916 in English theaters. In 1921, he presented his original illusion "[[Find the Lady]]" (also known as the "Elusive Lady"). The illusion using three huge cards suspended from the flies and his lady assistant on stools behind them. As in the Three-card Monte, she could never be found, and finally she vanishes and reappears from the back of the theater.
-She married [[Charles Carrer]], a famous juggler, who managed her show and constructed props for her.  She and Charles established homes in New York, Florida and California.
+During the 1920s, he toured America's [[Vaudeville]] theaters, with just this one act, and also did a European tour with his "Elusive Lady". The illusion and sole performing rights were bought by The [[Great Lyle]] for his "CAVALCADE OF MYSTERY" show in 1941, when Amac became his stage director.
-Early on  O'Dell bought the rights to the comedy magic act of [[Frank Van Hoven]] (1886-1929) and was successful with her own version.
+Amac also create the pocket tricks: ''Educated Pencil'', ''It's That Girl Again'' (1951) and ''Third Man''.
-She became a pioneer of television magic when The Dell O'Dell Show began transmission on a local station in the Los Angeles area in California on 14 September 1951.  She thus pre-dated several other noted pioneers of television magic, such as [[Mark Wilson]], whose first television show began in 1955, and [[Richiardi Jr]] who made the first of his record run of appearances on the [[Ed Sullivan Show]] in 1956.
+At the 38th Annual [[Magic Collectors' Weekend]] in Schaumburg Illinois in 2007, Jim Steinmeyer delivered a keynote lecture entitled "Why Amac Drank."
-O'Dell wrote extensively on the subject of magic. She contributed a column titled "Dell-lightfully" for the magicians' magazine [[The Linking Ring]]. Her Stamp Album presentation was published in volume 4 of the [[Tarbell Course in Magic]].
+[[Bill Amac|Read more about Bill Amac...]]
-[[Dell O'Dell|Read more about Dell O'Dell...]]

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Revision as of 16:42, 6 April 2025

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