Roy Benson

Roy Benson
Born Edward Emerson Ford McQuaid
(1914-01-17)17 January 1914
Courbevoie, Seine, France
Died 6 December 1977(1977-12-06) (aged 63)
Forest Hills, New York USA
Occupation Magician
Parent(s) Dora Ford
Edward Emerson McQuaid

Roy Benson (January 17, 1914 – December 6, 1977) was a stage magician born in Courbevoie in France. He was an accomplished musician. He is credited for Special Effects, having created the monster for the film The Flesh Eaters (1964) [1] directed by his first cousin,[2] Jack Curtis. He died of emphysema.[3]

Magic career

He studied with Nate Leipzig, creating the bell and bowl routine and elaborating the Chinese Sticks routine which is published in "Benson by Starlight".[4] This also describes Benson's Bizarre Bag (an egg bag variant), The Dice Box, Bell and Bowl (rice bowls), The Wines of Beelzebub and Hydrostatic Cravis (where a drinking glass is inverted without the contents spilling).

A photograph of Benson, signed and dedicated "To Dai [Vernon], Jeanne, Neepie in admiration and affection, Roy. 1946." was auctioned in January 2010.[5]

Publications

  • Benson by Starlight. Published by Miracle Factory 2006 (Levent, Todd Carr). ISBN 0-9710405-4-0. ISBN 978-0-9710405-4-0)[4]
  • The Second Oldest Profession (republished within "Starlight")
  • Benson on Magic (republished within "Starlight")

Chinese Sticks

(Also called Mora Wands after Silent Mora - Louis McCord[6]).[7] The method for the Chinese Sticks as well as a number of routines by magicians including Howard Hale, Aldo Colomini, Pete Biro, Joe Stevens and Charlie Miller is presented in the DVD "Chinese Sticks" published by Greater Magic Video Library.[8]

Benson elaborated his Chinese Sticks in "Starlight"[4] on The Pillars of Soloman and the Magic Bradawl, published in Hoffman's Modern Magic.[9]

Benson Bowl

The Benson Bowl is a Cups and Ball routine popularised by Benson.[10] The method and routine is published in "Starlight"[4] and "Classic Secrets of Magic" by Bruce Elliott.[11] The routine is included in the DVDs "Pat Page Spongeballs",[12] "WGM Spongeballs",[13] "John Mendoza Vol 2",[14] "Steve Dacri Volume 3".[13]

See also

References

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