2009-05 Musings on John Calvert

ADVENTURES
IN MAGIC LAND

THE MAKING
OF ENIGMA THE DVD

John Calvert,
98 years young on August 5^th.....AND STILL GOING STRONG.

WOW!

When I heard John was going to give a lecture for the Leesburg club and then the next night he was going to perform as their head-liner at a show in the Villages I was elated.

Growing up in suburban Philadelphia where the magic bug bit me in the early 40's I had read about John Calvert and the exciting world traveling life he lead, entertaining the stars in Hollywood, becoming a film star in his own right... as The Falcon and a lot of evil doer parts in many westerns... visiting in many countries around the world and entertaining royalty and the public alike...hunting in Africa and on and on and on...as reported by Bill Rauscher in his bio-book of John's life written in 1987. Calvert was right up there with Dante and Blackstone in my estimation. I had seen Dante and Blackstone in the 40's but not the illusive world traveling Calvert.

FLIP WIPE to the by pass around Jacksonville.

I was driving on my way from New York to Florida when I looked up and saw a giant billboard advertising the Calvert Show at the Morocco Shrine Auditorium. My mouth went dry and my brain went numb. I was going to finally see John Calvert in person. I was wrong. The final shows were the past week. The billboard had not been changed. Thwarted!

FLIP WIPE to the Florida Keys in the early 90's

Chris and I were vacationing in a little out of the way campground when I picked up the local newspaper and was knocked on my ....uh!...lower anatomy. There I saw a full page ad for the John Calvert Show appearing ..NOW.. in the next Key north of us! Needless to say we jumped in the car and attended the show.

I was selected with a few other men to join John on stage where he did a ping-pong ball routine directing us in stage whispers unknown to the audience. I felt awed to be a participant.

Chris was selected to come on-stage. On the way up he somehow lost his wrist watch to the nimble-fingered Calvert and when they got to the stage John presented it to him. Unbeknownst to Chris he had volunteered as the person whose head was severed from his body via THE BUZZ SAW ILLUSION. (A bit of byplay was Calvert playing football with Chris' severed head. Putting Chris back together John helped him from the stage and then held up Chris' watch for all to see. Calvert had filched it again!

After the show I introduced myself and John graciously invited us back to his boat, The Magic Castle, in which he had traveled to the Keys. That evening we spent three or four hours of reminiscing with John and Tammy and being entertained with John's close-up tricks. He could nap a coin up his sleeve with the flick of his fingers. One time he had me hold the sleeve and the coin still disappeared. (He had placed it on his pant leg and it slid down into the pants cuff)....simple stuff but in John's hands...... UNBELIEVABLE

FLIP WIPE to Melbourne, Florida 2007

We had contacted John & Tammy to videotape an interview. We met him at the Masonic Lodge in Melbourne where we would tape it. He had two huge trailers of equipment parked in their compound ready to start a tour. John challenged me to race from the trailers to the lodge location. I declined telling him that I had just recuperated from a hip replacement. I am twenty years younger than John but I'm sure he still would have won the race. (That night in the Villages lecture he challenged two burlys to a test of strength where they each tried simultaneously to unbalance him before he could unbalance them. OF COURSE, HE WON.)

The interview went well and was in ENIGMA the dvd # 4. We had fun and this is how we ended the tape...the old Shirt-Pull Gag! I still have that shirt and any of you who attended the lecture saw me wearing it.

I can’t wait to see his performance at the London Palladium on his 100^th birthday.

I’ll be there!!!!!!!!!!

Chuck STYLESMITH Smith