Friday, January 22, 2021

Mark Wilson, 1929-2021

Yesterday saw the passing of yet another magic legend, Mark Wilson. Mark Wilson was a big part of my early discovery of magic, appearing in just about every magic magazine I purchased and always on television. In my mind he was the model magician.

Wilson was no stranger to the Magic Castle's Houdini Room. He also created the "Aquarian Illusion," a cross between Houdini's Water Torture Cell and Metamorphosis. You can watch him perform it on the 1981 HBO special Mumbo Jumbo. It's Magic! on YouTube.

It was always a thrill to see Mark, his wife Nani, and son Greg at Magic Castle functions. I never got over the fact that I was in the same room with a legend.

R.I.P. Mark Wilson. One of the greats!

Photo from 'The Original Houdini Scrapbook' by Walter B. Gibson.
at

2 comments:

  1. John SimpsonJanuary 23, 2021 at 9:06 AM

    End of an era. He'll be missed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Leo HeviaJanuary 23, 2021 at 11:22 AM

    I saw Mark at the MCW in Chicago back in 2012, and he looked frail. He looked strange to me with long white hair, not the young, and robust young man I remembered watching on television as a kid. He was wonderful to talk to. Very kind and friendly.

    ReplyDelete