The Magical Adventures Of
Robert F. Brown
“The Magic of Make Believe”
By Dale Lorzo
Robert Forester Brown
“The Magic of Make Believe”
By Dale Lorzo
Bob Brown is celebrating that he is about to become a nonagenarian and leaving the octogenarian years behind. Another first for Mr. Brown! Bob has become a Master Salesman and
Master Magician while traveling the road to his ninetieth birthday. Now, Bob Brown would be
the first to say, that he may not be the very best magician in the world. Now don’t get it
wrong, Bob’s “Magic of Make Believe” is a very smooth, high quality, polished and entertaining act. However, he is one of the very best at what he does, and that is promoting and marketing his magical talents! This fact alone, has allowed him to travel and see the world while
staying in the finest hotels! One would not be able to attain this high stature in the entertainment business if one was not a quality performer.
It all began, when Robert Forester Brown was born on Friday, July 22, 1921, in Sacramento,
California to James A. and Grace E. Brown. Mr. Brown was a $200 per month accountant, for
the State of California. Times were tough for him trying to raise a family of eight, in the years
leading up to the Great Depression. Bob was the second born with an older brother, James.
Next came his fraternal twin sisters, Margaret and Marion, born on April Fools Day. What a
surprise for their parents! Then along came Theodore and his youngest brother, Richard.
The family lived on 23rd street, between O and P streets in midtown Sacramento. When Bob
was a child, the Brown family would move to four different locations on 23rd street. It wasn’t
until Bob got married that he had an address that did not have 23rd street in it. In time he
would move to the more prestigious Land Park Area of Sacramento.
Like so many other kids, the magical adventure for Bob Brown all started with a Gilbert Mysto
Magic Set #1 which he received for Christmas at age 11. Sets #2 and #3 arrived under the tree
for the next two Christmas’. He was now beginning to feel like a “real magician”, since he
knew so many magic tricks. Bob continued his interest in magic by reading through Hoffman’s Modern Magic. Magic would be a big part of Bob’s life for ever after.
An entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to hard work struck Bob at an early age. Like so many
boys in their pre-teen years, he wanted to find a way to earn some money. Their opportunities were to either open a sidewalk shoeshine stand or deliver newspapers. He took the latter
choice and became a paperboy for The Sacramento Bee, delivering papers on his bicycle. During this time, he discovered F&R Weideman Novelties at downtown, near 7th and K Streets
selling novelties, gifts and also a little magic.
The Sacramento Bee newspaper sponsored a big Christmas Show at the Sacramento Memorial
Auditorium for several years. When Bob was about 14 years old, he went to one of those
shows. There was a magician on the bill, Arthur Bull form Oakland, California. Bob went up to
Mr. Bull after the show and told him he was a magician, too, and that he really liked the torn
newspaper trick that he did in the show. Now, Bob figured, since it was just a newspaper, it
would not be an expensive trick to learn. He asked the magician if he would teach him the
trick. Arthur asked him if he knew about magic catalogues? Bob’s answer was, no! The magician suggested that Bob write to a Thayer’s Magic Studio, in Los Angeles and ask for a catalogue. Bob did. Every day when he came home, he asked his mom if the package had arrived.
This went on for many days. When it finally arrived, and Bob opened the catalogue, he was in
heaven! Here was a boy’s lifetime of dreams. Oh, so many magic tricks to buy! He spent many
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hours perusing all the tricks and there was the Torn and Restored Newspaper, so he bought
it. Bob was now on his way to being a great magician!
All of Bob’s youth was not just devoted to just the classroom, and then running home to play
with his magic. While attending Sutter Junior High School, he also took up music and played
the alto clarinet. Upon articulating to Sacramento High School, he wanted a bigger sound. Bob
was now part of the school’s Military Marching Band, playing the bass drum. His penchant for
performing before people, would guide him the rest of his life, although the emphasis would
turn toward legerdemain.
In 1939, the Pacific Coast Association of Magicians (PCAM) held their annual convention in
San Francisco, to coincide with the World’s Fair on Treasure Island. The teenage Bob Brown
headed west to San Francisco, to join in these magic festivities. He remembers staying at the
Y.M.C.A. for only $3 per night. During this event, he saw many magicians perform, including
Art Gross who was only nineteen and producing wonder fans of cards out of thin air. After the
World’s Fair closed, Art became an assistant to Arthur Bull and his “Francisco’s Midnight
Spook Frolic.” Art would later move to Sacramento and become a very good friend of Bob.
This teenage Sacramentan also made friends with Lloyd E. Jones, a pharmacist and semiprofessional magician who was active in the Oakland Magic Circle (OMC). Lloyd was also a
dealer in magic tricks and books. In time, he would have the largest magic library, in the
United States. Bob could now be found frequenting many of the OMC meetings and events, as
there was not much magic happening in Sacramento at the time. Sometimes he did not return
back home about 2 or 3 AM, after spending an evening sharing magic with friends.
He remembers that on one of his visits, where an attorney who also did magic, invited Bob
over to his house to view his collection of tricks. The attorney would sometimes go out and
do magic shows for a couple of his clients in the afternoons. Bob was impressed at the attorney’s ability to make a good living and also getting paid to go out and do magic. Bob
thought, “What A Life!” He never dreamed that he himself would one day do the same thing.
During this time, he was also able to visit one of the outstanding magic dealers at the time,
Golden Gate Magic Company in San Francisco run by a gentleman named Tom Dethlefsen.
A different type of magic took place, when Bob was introduced to the girl his friend was dating, she worked at the Martha Washington Ice Cream Parlor. The young lady behind the
counter at the ice cream parlor on J Street, between 31 and 32 streets, was Norma Jane Mahan. She dished up the most delicious ice cream, while working there during her senior year
of high school. Bob was attending Sacramento City College at the time, studying aeronautical
engineering. When it came time for the Sadie Hawkins Day dance, instead of asking her boyfriend, Norma asked Bob to the dance. This was the downfall of the romance with her boyfriend, and the rest is history for our budding magician.
In December of 1942, when Bob was 21 years old, Norma Jane Mahan became Mrs. Robert
Forester Brown and they would raise four wonderful boys who would all go on to have successful careers in their own right: Robert, Junior (born in 1943), became a doctor, Steve
(1949) a real estate investor, David (1952) a certified public account at Lake Tahoe, California
and Garrett (1956) a hydrologist engineer in Boise, Idaho. Robert’s son, Russell, one of Bob
and Norma’s eight grand and great-grandchildren, would become a magician like his grandfather, doing table magic while working at restaurants in Hollywood, California.
Right after graduating from City College, Bob went down to Los Angeles to work in the aircraft business. Saturdays would once again find Bob talking shop with other magicians, this
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time at Thayer’s Magic Studio. Here he met Marvyn Roy and they became life long friends
through magic. The United Sates was now in the middle of World War II, so shortly after being
married, Bob said goodbye to Norma and enlisted in the United States Air Corps. He figured
he was just about to be drafted, so he enlisted in the Air Corps to further his engineering education.
The Air Corps became the aviation arm of the United States Army Air Forces, just before
World War II broke out. After the war, it became the United States Air Force. Bob was about to
become one of 2.4 million airmen in charge of almost 80,000 aircraft. Bob received his basic
and technical training in Florida. After which, he was transferred to Chanute Field near Chicago, Illinois. While stationed there, Bob made good use of his spare time by taking the opportunity to visit Ireland’s Magic Shop in Chicago, run by Laurie and Francis Ireland. After Laurie’s death in April of 1954, Francis married Jay Marshall three months later and would eventually rename the store, Magic Inc. It was Laurie Ireland who taught Bob the “second deal and
bottom deal.” These card sleights he would use throughout his magic career. Many local and
professional magicians, passing through town would stop by the magic shop for a visit. Bob
met several great magicians here, including the lovely and witty lady magician, Dell O’Dell
and her husband Charles Carrer, who was an outstanding juggler in his own right.
Then, about 1943 or 1944, Bob was transferred to New Haven, Connecticut, so he could attend Yale University as a cadet in the United States Air Corps. The cadets stayed in the dorms
at Yale during their classroom studies, and were very nice. While they were taking hands on
lessons, at the airfield a few miles away, it was a different story. Here things were anything
but neat, in fact things were all in shambles. The cadets felt more at home. In spite of this,
they would all still graduate.
Between studies, he had a chance to meet John Petrie of the Petrie-Lewis Company, which
happened to be located in New Haven as well. Known as P&L Magic, they supplied some of the
finest quality magic apparatus for the novice and professional magician alike. They were
premier manufacturers of toys and magic, and the Mysto Magic Sets. John Petrie was also an
inventor of many great ideas, including the magneto ignition for the automobile in 1900,
which he just gave away. Otherwise he could have been a very wealthy person. The New Haven Theatre was an off-Broadway theatre that had many good shows opening there. The
amazing Ted Annemann, who was a great card and stage magician, even performed there,
prior to his untimely death at age thirty-five.
It was about this time that Bob joined The International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM), becoming member #6224. He always looked forward to that special mail call once a month,
when the IBM’s The Linking Ring magazine would arrive. In time, Bob became a member of
several other magic organizations: The Society of American Magicians, member # 20691, the
Magic Castle, Associate Member of Inner Magic Circle (Silver Star) and an honorary member of
The Indian Magicians Academy.
The favorite part of the week for Bob Brown was when Saturday came around. He would head
up to New York City to visit Louis Tannen’s. Tannen’s was a popular magic shop in the center
of the New York magic scene, where some of the country’s top magicians would gather on
Saturday afternoons. This was where a young Bob Brown first met John Scarne, Dai Vernon
and other stars of the magic world. When Bob met Mr. Scarne, he said that he was from California and in the military, and asked if Scarne would show him a trick? Scarne’s reply was, “I
don’t know, you know that there are a lot of spies out in California?” This was some of the
East Coast versus West Coasty rivalry of the magicians at the time. John did end up showing
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Bob some magic. In time, he became good friends with Dai Vernon and several years later,
would convince Dai to give him private magic lessons.
Bob graduated from Yale as a 2nd Lieutenant and worked on the B-29 bombers. Before being
deployed overseas, our new 2nd Lieutenant was stationed in Salt Lake City, Utah for a couple
of months. That was long enough for him to meet several of the magicians in the area. Bob
was then shipped overseas. He went first by ship to Guam and then was stationed in the Philippines for the last seven months of his duty, as an engineering officer in charge of maintenance, keeping the B-29s in top condition.
About two months before his tour ended, Bob was in the engineering officer’s seat, revving
up the engines and checking out a B-29. Now the engineering officer’s seat is right behind
the pilot’s, but faces the rear of the plane with his back to the front. Bob did not see a weapons carrier (a truck without a top to it) pull up and park in front of the plane. Well, he revved
up the engines just a little too much and as luck would have it, the plane lurched forward over
the wheel chocks, and WHAM! The plane had “bumped” the weapons carrier, totally customizing the plane’s prop by mushrooming the tips. Bob had his crew quickly replace the prop and
bury, or place the damaged prop behind a hanger out of sight. He figured if anyone found
out, he might still be in the military paying for that new prop, even to this day! Bob mustered
out of the service on time, without any reduction in rank or pay.
When Bob returned to Sacramento after getting out of the military in 1946, he went to work in
the sheet metal department at McClelland Field. Seeing a chance for advancement and to
make more money, he transferred over to Mather Field as an inspector. In 1947, his friend the
very skilled and well-informed magician, Art Gross moved to Sacramento. Art was joining the
building materials business with Atlas Shower Door Company. Bob was glad to have another
magician in town.
About this same time, Bob met two other magicians: Fred Bronner and Sam Bocklich. Sam who
was very much into the circus, and a magical “dreamer.” Fred, Sam and Bob found a few other
magicians in Sacramento. They all joined together to form a group to share magic with other
magicians, The Sacramento Magic Club. Fred really took to magic, doing some very creative
performances, and made many of his own magic props. It was their love of magic, which
helped Fred overcome his speech impediment. It taught him to have more confidence. Thus,
he learned to speak so people could understand him more easily. Shortly before this meeting,
Bob had discovered a gift shop in downtown Sacramento, at 5th and K streets that also sold
magic. He saw a needle and string trick that sold for a $1, but he thought that was an awful
lot of money, and it was in those days. This may have been the magic shop run my El Marteen, the magician.
In was 1948, when Bob saw an advertisement where one could make more money than one
ever dreamed possible, and have a very good income. When he followed it up, Bob found out
they were looking for salesmen. No, he was not interested in that! The gentleman tried convincing him that it would be a good profession, but Bob was not yet convinced! Then a couple
days later, Bob met a fellow from Mutual of New York life Insurance Company (MONY), and he
convinced Bob to join them. After the other gentleman had already done all the work to convince Bob of this great career move. Bob started with Mutual of New York on August 2, 1948,
at $35 per week or $140 per month, which was a struggle to survive on those first couple of
years. He stayed with MONY for fifty-two years, before retiring from them and joining Pacific
Life Insurance, selling specialty products for three or four more years. Bob still spent five
hours a day at the office when he was 81. For decades, he spent twice that much time build-
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ing his business. It was Bob Brown’s smooth demonstrations of magic that helped warm-up
clients and put them at ease so that they would be receptive to what he had to say.
It was this work ethic and devotion to business that made Bob Brown among the Elite “Top
25” producers for MONY. He was a lifetime member of the Million Dollar Round Table, which
is a worldwide organization for those that produce over a million dollars each year. After
writing his first million-dollar year in 1954, Bob consistently attained the Million Dollar Round
Table goal every year until his retirement, 46 years later. There are not many salesmen who
have ever achieved such a goal. This really gave Bob a tremendous insight and experience on
the promotion of how the big producers got it done. It was not just some clever sales talks,
but how they really think, act and kept motivated.
He wrote over $500,000,000 dollars worth of investments and life insurance during his highly
successful 52-year career as a salesman, helping municipalities, individuals and even some
magicians. The State of California was one of his largest clients with a five million dollar annual premium for their retirement program. Bob helped write a five million dollar disability
policy for Lance Burton when most insurance companies would not touch entertainers. They
are classified as self-employed individuals with consistent employee hard to keep verified. He
even helped some of the stage crew with $100,000 incomes invest wisely. Lance Burton,
Marvyn Roy and Peter Raveen were a few of the magicians for whom he wrote policies, helping both their careers and investments goals. Success as a Master Salesman and Master of
Public Relations helped Bob to be known and be booked around the world!
In the early 1950s, Jack Payne, a local fireman was doing a “tramp hand balancing act,” with a
friend in the fire department. In time, he taught his wife, Lillian (Jackie) to take over the
friend’s part of his hand-balancing act. About this time, Bob Brown was putting on a show at
the local junior high school, near Land Park Drive and Vallejo Street. He asked Jack and Jackie
if they would like to join him on the show with their new act? They of course accepted his
kind offer. Both acts must have been a success, because Jack will leave the fire department to
take the family’s hand balancing act overseas, to perform in Europe with their young sons,
Jack and Larry coming along with them. When they returned from Europe, Jack Payne went
back to the Sacramento Fire Department, where in time he made Chief Fire Master.
When young Jack grew up, he joined the Army and was stationed in North Carolina. While
there, he taught a lovely young lady some of the juggling and unicycling he had learned,
when in Europe with his parents. Upon his discharge from the military, Jack asked his friend
and student, Brenda to be his new bride. This “Southern Bell” from North Carolina had won
the title, “Miss North Carolina” when she was 17 years old. They performed their high-energy
juggling and unicycle act, as “The Saxons” while performing across the country as they headed west to California. It was 1970, when they returned to Sacramento and Jack then decided
to also join his father at the Sacramento Fire Department, for the stability and benefits of a
fireman. “The Saxons” would now continue to work casual and shorter length dates, semiprofessionally.
In 1955, having nurtured a friendship with Dai Vernon, Bob asked Louis Tannen at Tannen’s
Magic, if Dai Vernon would give him private magic lessons? He did not think that Vernon
would, but he just might. Dai did agree to give Bob the magic lessons. Bob flew back to New
York twice, to learn from “The Professor,” as Dai was affectionately known. Bob learned the
Linking Rings, Cups and Balls, Balls in the Net, Torn and Restored Thread and Cards Through
the Hand. Vernon dissected and explained the basics of these wonderful classics of magic.
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A few years later, Vernon was about to book a tour, lecturing for magicians across country.
The other magicians were charging $110-150 for lectures. Bob told Vernon he should charge
nothing less than $1,000 for his lecture. Vernon said, “Nobody would pay that!” Bob sponsored Dai for his first $1,000 lecture at the old Senator Hotel, in downtown Sacramento. Magicians came from all over California to learn from the “The Professor,” Dai Vernon who was a
great philosopher on magic. His philosophy was that if a performer was too fancy and clever
with flashy moves, this was not good magic. The audience will think the performer is just a
very tricky person, that can do almost anything, and “The Magic” is therefore lost.
The globetrotting magician Channing Pollock, a former Sacramento childhood friend of Bob
Brown’s, was about to retire from magic, while at the zenith of his career in 1960. Bob remembered as kid, when Channing who was five years younger, asked if he would come over
and show him how to do “Blendo.” The Blendo magic trick blends several colored silk handkerchiefs, into a beautiful, larger, single handkerchief. It is a very pretty effect, but not easy
to do. Bob Brown knew how to correctly present this magic trick, so he hopped on his bicycle
and rode over to Channing’s home. He went in and showed Channing how to correctly setup
the handkerchiefs, so the trick would work properly. Bob then abruptly got back on his bicycle and left. Thinking back on the day, Bob wonders if he might have also learned something
had spent more time with Channing that day.
Even though Channing Pollock was the highest paid magician and at the pinnacle of his profession, he wanted to quit magic. Channing had the charm, elegance and poise to perform in
the very best nightclubs and casinos of the world. However, he was quitting magic for a new
career in films, becoming a Movie Star.
They both respected each other for their professional achievements; Channing for his expertise as a world-class magician and Bob for his skills and acumen as a topnotch businessman.
Since Channing retired from magic, Bob convinced Channing to teach him his bird act. Bob
learned to produce two doves, the floating “Zombie” ball, fountain of silks, the big birdcage
vanish and card fan productions. Channing only had to teach Bob the routine for the cards, as
he already knew the basics from the lessons by Dai Vernon. This act was designed like Channing’s; the magic was performed to music with very little talking, music being the universal
language in all countries. This was not the last act with which Channing Pollock would help
Bob Brown.
Besides learning and practicing magic routines, Bob also spent much time listening to albums
of music, trying to select just the right music to fit each routine. He bought music albums by
the hundreds, and spent countless hours searching for the correct combination of music and
magic. This came fairly easy, as Bob knew music. His six years of playing in a band now
proved useful. Plus the many nights he spent going to shows in New York, when stationed in
New Haven didn’t hurt either.
Another thing Mr. Brown learned while stationed in New Haven came from meeting the magician, Dr. Jax. This revered magician and mentalist always bought the very best of everything;
whether it was a costume, stage prop or a crystal ball. Dr. Jax figured that if one were really a
man of quality, it would be obvious to clients. Bob remembered these words of wisdom, and
they became words to live by!
Bob Brown’s show, “The Magic of Make Believe“ has thrilled audiences around the world since
1967, when he first trudged off to Europe carrying illusions and heavy equipment all by himself. His lovely wife, Norma, was not interested in helping Bob on stage, but she was always
behind him with support for his business adventures. This did not deter Bob, using his per-
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suasive personality he convinced several beauty queens to join him, either as an assistant or
partner over the years.
It was 1967, when the “Million Dollar Roundtable” held their convention in Europe for the first
time, at The Palace Hotel in Lucerne, Switzerland. Bob wasn’t sure he wanted to go until the
very last minute. This turned out to be fortunate for him. All the cheap rooms were already
booked, so he had to stay in a more deluxe room. All his associates said that their accommodations were not nearly as nice. In fact, MONY had asked Bob to do a little magic for the attendees during the conference, which he did. After the convention, Bob talked to the general
manager of the hotel. He told him he had two professions; one was a salesman and the other
one was that of a magician. Now Mr. Bob Brown was staying at his hotel as part of the Million
Dollar Round Table, so the manager assumed all his guests were millionaires. Bob was not
one to correct him, as he continued to portray the persona of a very successful businessman.
Bob could see a real market performing in these Five Star Hotels. He offered the manager a
deal he could not refuse. If the hotel would supply his room, meals plus expenses while staying there, Bob would pay his own way back over to Lucerne the next year. He would do both a
stage show and some table magic. At this time, Bob was very much into skiing and was a
member of the Far West Ski Association. His membership offered a discount airfare to Europe
for only $250. So for the price of this ticket, Bob was able to get a foot in the door to the exclusive European hotel market. He had developed his first contact. This foot in the door led to
his performing on the French Riviera for three years in a row.
When Bob Brown’s act was booked in a European hotel, he would approach them about doing
additional magic for their customer’s at the dinner tables. Now, they had never heard of such
a thing, as ”table magic” in Europe at this time. They asked, “Wouldn’t this interrupt the
guests during dinner?” With his powers of persuasion, Bob showed them how this would be
an added feature for their guest’s dining experience. This is exactly what happened at The
Palace Hotel in Lucerne.
In 1969, Iris Kobsef was going door-to-door selling cosmetics. Norma Brown bought some of
her cosmetics. Additional conversion revealed that Iris was an ex-Miss England circa 1964,
who had just moved to Sacramento with her husband. In 1969, Iris became the first of many
beautiful ladies to assist Bob, which she did for two years.
By 1970, Bob needed another assistant to help with his bird act. This fact came up during a
conversation with his friend, Jackie Payne. She said, “Why don’t you use my new daughter-inlaw, Brenda?” Now Bob knew that she was part of the “Saxons” juggling team with her husband, and had some concerns about her availability. Jackie told him that her son, Jack was
going to be a fireman like his father, and they would not be doing the juggling act that much.
Bob called Brenda and she was excited about the possibility of working with Bob. Now what
was to make Bob’s act so unique, was that Bob and Brenda were partners in magic. Brenda
was not to be just a pretty girl, who brought props on and off of the stage. This act would
now have two performing magicians, in a partnership that lasted almost thirty years.
During Brenda’s first show, Bob helped her set Pavel’s Newspaper and Silk Knotting for the
act. In this routine, three different colored silk scarves are put into a paper cone, one by one.
The bottom corner is torn off the cone, and the silks are pulled out the bottom. They are now
all tied together. Well, the scarves came out in the wrong sequence. Bob took the blame for
setting it incorrectly, but that did not matter. Iris was sitting out in the audience and saw the
mistake. Brenda would never let Bob help her set any of her props again. She always set them
herself!
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An agent from Japan, booked “The Magic of Make Believe” to perform in Madrid, Spain. The
agent suggested to Bob, that he might think about having a second act, so that he could do
two different shows in an evening. Upon their return from Europe, he received additional
coaching from Channing Pollock, and learned a new second act. Channing Pollock now approached magic from the standpoint of a theatrical performance, from what he had learned as
an actor. The props were put back in the bag; you needed to start with an understanding of
what you wanted to do first. Your stance, poise and walking on stage were of utmost importance. The magic could come later.
This time, Bob paid him $500 to learn the Double Dove Production, which Channing had originated. One could be standing right in front of Channing, and you could not see where those
two doves came from. It was amazing! This was the only thing that Bob ever paid him for.
Everything else that he did for Bob was free, because of their friendship. Channing Pollock
was a great guy! He even helped Bob to develop two to three different acts for cruise ships
(where Bob would be working surrounded). Bob Brown would now book one act, and he was
then able to add another for additional shows. This would prove to be very lucrative.
When the agent from Japan called Bob again in 1971, Bob and Brenda were ready to head off
to the Orient. Bob was only 50 years old when they flew to Tokyo, Japan with both acts, as the
agent had requested. “The Magic of Make Believe” with Bob Brown now included Pavel’s sliding knot off of a silk handkerchief, along with the bird act and the new double dove production. They were performing at the AKO Plaza Hotel, which was part of the Intercontinental hotel chain. The hotel even had someone film their shows with an 8 mm camera, at a time when
nobody had videotape recorders. Never missing an opportunity, Bob had the show’s footage
copied to film, to help him promote the act in the future.
Everything worked well during the filming, except for the card catch, where Bob spreads a
deck of cards across his raised arm, quickly jerks his arm downward and catches all the cards
in his hand. At least that is the way it is suppose to be done. During the show, Bob missed the
cards, and they went flying all across the floor instead. All Brenda could do was laugh, which
was the only response to play it for comedy. Bob then turned around produced some large
cards fans and changed them into a “Card Castle.” The audience never really knew the difference.
Bob’s biggest challenge was to find the best hotels in Europe that he wanted to perform at,
and then use his salesmanship skills to convince the management to book him. It started with
a first contact, to let Bob send his promotion packet to the manager. This was a huge package
of successful bookings; press releases and other materials explaining the virtues of hiring the
magic of Bob Brown’s “The Magic of Make Believe.” This was what Bob called the “avalanche
approach,” by overwhelming the client with lots of this positive information! Every time after
Bob did a performance, he would ask for a letter of recommendation from the client, hotel
manager or person of influence. This, he would send on to the next hotel he wanted to work
with his dinner club/stage show and close-up magic. It made it so much easier to book with
the two-headed approach, all of these positive letters of influence to other people of influence, recommending “The Magic of Make Believe.” Bob then followed up with long distant
phone call to work out the details, until he was booked for the venue he wanted. Bob was very
impressive, nobody in Europe at that time received phone calls from the United States.
Bob continued working the top Five Star Hotels: in the leading European cities from Monte
Carlo to Budapest, plus so many others around the world. He started making annual trips, as
he would say traveling with a deck of cards and a piece of rope. In reality, he really had many
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more props than that. “The Magic of Make Believe” was performed in over sixty-four worldclass cities, on six of the seven continents. They were, however, seen on the seventh continent of Antarctica, when their show was beamed by satellite and transmitted to local televisions.
Brenda Payne was the one person who worked with Bob the most over the years, and the act
became known as Bob Brown and Brenda, “The Magic of Make Believe.” On a rare occasion,
“Brenda” might be a different person, due to scheduling conflicts with “The Saxons.” Bob
Brown and Brenda performed three times doing illusions at the elite, World Championships of
Magic hosted by Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques (FISM). In 1979, they presented Bob’s Ultimate Levitation in Brussels, Belgium, while also working the Hilton hotel. The
Hilton hotels were one of the top hotels chains with which Bob nurtured a close relationship.
They returned to FISM and presented The Impalement, to be seen for the first time in Europe,
at the 1985 convention in Madrid, Spain. Their third appearance was at the 1991 FISM Convention in Lausanne, Switzerland. This time Bob vanished Brenda from the top of a table, and
reappearing out in the audience. Bob needed an extra assistant to help with Brenda’s vanish.
It just so happened that magician and fellow Sacramentan, Lloyd Rich was attending FISM with
his wife, Sharyn. Lloyd was more than pleased to share the stage with Bob and Brenda, for
this beautiful presentation of magic.
Bob’s Ultimate Levitation was the one illusion that everyone wanted to see. It opened many
doors at hotels, conventions and magic societies to help secure bookings. It was a hit at FISM,
and everyone talked about. Bob had approached Les Smith, the owner of Owen’s Magic Supreme about renting his latest illusion, The Impalement to perform at the upcoming FISM
convention. Because of Bob Brown’s stature in the magic community, Les rented it to Bob at
amore than fare price. This was a very wise decision by Les. He later told Bob that he sold
four of the Impalement illusions, after Bob and Brenda’s dramatic presentation at FISM
Linda Jonason, ex-Miss Sacramento joined “The Magic of Make Believe” the first time in 1972.
She would perform with Bob many times, off and on over the years. One of their memorable
engagements was on a cruise for Holland America in 1978. This was a cruise where none of
the performers got paid. The reason being, this was Holland America’s 20th Around the World
Cruise on the S.S. Rotterdam, one of the most eloquent first-class ships in the world. Everything was so high class; they figured it was an around the world vacation for the performers,
as well as their paying customers. Tickets normally cost several thousand dollars, and it was
“free” for them, except for a performance or two. The performers were treated with the same
service and respect as the paying customers.
Norma Brown was to join her husband and Linda on this month-long cruise. However, because of insurance commitments, Bob could only perform for the final two weeks. Norma
sailed for the Orient by herself with three staterooms: one for herself, one for Linda and one
for Bob’s equipment. Well, almost by herself, she had to tend to Bob’s birds for the first two
weeks. Bob and Linda caught up with the cruise in Singapore for the last two weeks. Not only
did Bob and Linda do their act presenting American, European and Oriental Magic, Bob held
some free classes for the passengers on basic magic during the daytime. He even did a little
extra-sensory perception presentation, “What’s On Your Mind?” one morning while out at sea
on the Pacific Ocean. The three of them thoroughly enjoyed the World Cruise, while being
treated like royalty!
Bob and Norma would spend several weeks each year, at their summer home at Laguna Beach
in Southern California. Bob thought that he would like to do some magic while there, but he
needed an assistant. It was at a nearby modeling studio where he met Kathy Thiere, a fashion
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model in 1974. She would help Bob out from time to time for the next ten years. Kathy was
interested in assisting Bob, but was worried about being able to handle the birds at first. She
and the birds got along fine; she even traveled to England with the act.
Sometime in the late 1970s, Bob was asked back to do his second cruise to Hawaii and Japan.
Now, at this time, cruise lines were not interested in booking jugglers to perform on the
ships. His reply was that he would do the cruise, if they also booked the “Saxons” with their
excellent juggling act. This meant that Jack and Brenda Payne could enjoy their first cruise together. The company agreed and both acts were booked.
In 1987, Becky Bayne became one of Bob’s assistants for a short time. She was his secretary,
and had also acted as his ghostwriter for about 10 years. It was easy for her to fill in, as she
knew everything about Bob and his act. The “Magic of Make Believe” was booked for another
tour to the Orient and England in 1988. Bob’s regular assistants were busy and not available.
Linda was unavailable due to a pregnancy, and could not have all the shots needed for the
trip. This was when Eileen Tichenor joined Bob briefly. They were asked to perform in Hungary, which was still behind the “iron curtain” at that time. “The Ultimate Levitation” was just
what they needed on the gala show for a major magic convention in Budapest. They convinced Bob there would be no problem getting them into Hungary. This illusion helped open
another door for Bob.
When they were traveling between cities by train, Eileen was not impressed, and said the train
smelled like a “tea party.” Now, when it came time to return home, the performers and their
baggage could leave. However, since Hungary was still behind the “iron curtain,” they were
not allowed to take any money out of the country. It had to be spent in Hungary, so that is
how Bob and Norma Brown got some nice Hungarian crystal and silverware.
Bob Brown’s magic always continued to improve and gain polish, because he constantly
worked on his magic education as much as he did his investment education. Bob learned from
the very best. Dai Vernon coached him on cards and coins, like the using of a glass for a misers dream adding eloquence to the act. Phoa Yan Tiong, of Holland taught Bob the “Snow
Storm in China” that he used for many years, because it was good for closing. In time, it was
dropped from his act for the sole reason: “Who was going to clean up such a mess on stage?”
Fantasio taught him the nuances of using canes and candles in his act. Pavel taught the proper use of silks, ropes and his Zebra Paper Tear, because it was simple, humorous and yet still
mystifying. Marconick taught silk presentations, adding to what Channing Pollock started
during his refined dove and card work training.
Dai Vernon was 82 years of age, and wanted to do one more lecture across the United States
in 1976. This was going to be his “Farewell Tour,” because of his age. Bob arranged to kick
off this tour and do it right in Sacramento. The Professor’s lecture was held at Sacramento’s
Woodlake Inn. Joe Casarrio and Hy Berg, close friends of Dai’s from the Magic Castle in Hollywood, came up with him. Casarrio delighted everyone when he performed his famous card
manipulations, as a “lecture bonus.” This was followed by a big banquet in the evening, with a
performance by Art “Victor St. Leon” in honor of Vernon. He and Vernon also had a great
evening discussing magic. The event was a huge success with magic with 68 magicians in attendance. Lloyd E. Jones, whom Bob Brown met as a youngster came up with Gene Matsumura
and Jack Browne came up from the Bay Area. Another great event that Bob help put together
for the local magic community! This was so successful that Vernon continued to have “Farewell Tours” for a number of years, prior to his death at 98 years of age.
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Bob also brought many top magicians to Sacramento, to lecture for the local magicians. Thus,
increasing their knowledge from the best in the profession, as he had done. Some of these
lecturers were: Absolon, David Berglas, John Calvert, Daryl, Art Emerson, Fantasio, Fukai, Erhard Liebenow, Martin Lewis, Marconick, Jean Merlin, Niberco, Pavel, Petrick & Mia, Manfred
Thumm, and a host of others besides Dai Vernon. The Brown residence became full of crazy
magicians who also appreciated Norma’s presence as the ever-gracious hostess, serving
them refreshments and offering up interesting conversation.
Over the years, some of the magicians that attended these lectures were; Art Gross, Fred
Bronner, Don Banks, Bob Brewer, Bill Devon, Joe Chez, Leo McCauley, David Fiscus, Lee Forrester, Dale Lorzo, Walt Rice, Lloyd Rich, Tom Turk and a host of other magicians from the
area, plus some of Bob’s business colleagues.
Bob always wanted to help promote more magic in the Sacramento area, so was the case in
the late 1980s with a local toy store in town. He was a friend of the owners of the “Toy Shop,”
so he convinced them to carry magic for a few years. Bob helped them purchase some of the
better quality magic, to sell to a youngster just getting started or an amateur in magic. There
were three “Toy Shop” locations in the area: Arden Fair Mall, Florin Center Mall and Downtown
Sacramento.
Bob Brown, the ever-astute businessman, was always aware of using his superb salesmanship
skills to promote his magic. Whenever he had a show or promotional write-up, he would
make sure he received copies of all the advertising materials and photos, to use for future clients. This was how Bob was able to offer a new client an avalanche of promotional materials,
if they showed any interest in booking one of his shows. Bob never missed an opportunity to
tell the world about “The Magic of Bob Brown.”
One of the largest booking agents in the country, handling fairs, service organizations and
trade clubs, was based in Sacramento. This was Bette Kaye Productions with Bette Kaye and
Jackie O’Dell. O’Dell was the professional name for Brenda Payne’s mother-in-law, Jackie.
When Bette and Jackie needed quality acts for casuals or fair dates, they did not have far to
look, with “The Saxons” and Bob Brown and Brenda close at hand. Bette was trying to get Bob
Brown and Brenda booked on one of the national television shows in New York City. She had
the idea of having Bob up on top of one of the city’s skyscrapers, with Brenda being floated
out of a window. Bob said what would you do if something went wrong, that’s a long way
down? Bette dropped the idea.
During some of his engagements, Bob met many top entertainers around the country. Max
Baer, Abbott & Costello, Glen Campbell, Rich Little, Rose Marie, Art Buchwald and Jim Neighbors are just a few. Many opportunities were at hand to rub shoulders with the giants in magic, also. Milbourne Christopher, Lee Grabel, Grace Thurston, Moi Yo Miller, Lance Burton,
Doug Henning, Frances Willard, Glen Falkenstein, Harry Blackstone, Sr. and Blackstone, Jr.
plus most of the contemporary stars in magic. Many of them also attended the Brown’s Laguna Beach Party each August, in Southern California. He would arrange the party, for example when Lance Burton’s show was dark, so he could attend. These parties were the only time
that working professionals were able to spend time with their peers. Bob and Norma also met
other celebrities, like the time they attended a golf tournament with MONY, and had their picture taken with Curtis Strange.
Bob stopped performing internationally in 2000, after globetrotting around the world for almost thirty years. By now, Brenda was no longer working with him, but Linda Jonason was
back, helping Bob with plans to expand into the corporate speakers field. Companies usually
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hired magicians to thank employees for a job well done. Now, Bob Brown’s idea was to incorporate his talk on “self improvement” for employees, using magic to emphasize this message.
He positioned himself as a resource and needed commodity for companies.
He would no longer be just a magician getting a few hundred dollars per show. Positioned as
an expert, one can demand fees of $3,000 or more for a talk. The business of talking has value for companies, especially when using his 50 years of experience, to highlight the presentation. By drawing on his successful business background, Bob would impress them businessman-to-businessman. It is the perceived value that sells! This enabled Bob to teach
salesmanship, to those making $80-100,000 or more.
This lecture on the Art of Promotion showed how to get the most out of your business. He
wrote “The Fine Art of Persuasion” in 2004, designed with a $1,000 course on how to promote and start your own business. The Fine Art of Persuasion had a hefty investment of several thousand dollars in the equipment, scripting, advertising, CD duplicating and booking
the halls putting it all together. One of their presentations was even for the State of California.
Bob planned to present this talk two to three times a year, for $5,000 per presentation. Being
able to share his marketing and salesmanship expertise with others, at 81 years of age, made
him very happy. Bob’s health started slowing him down a bit, so he was not able to continue
as planned. He has also written several articles on public relations in magic for Genii, Magic
Manuscript and Oui Magia magazines.
Bob has always been willing to share his ideas and knowledge with others. Whether it was in a
lecture, one on one or with a group of friends. In 2009, Bob Brown came out with his table
magic version of “Sawing A lady In Half – on a shoestring” for other magicians. Don Banks
showed him Stewart Judah’s, “Pencil, Straw and Sting” many years earlier. This trick impressed
Bob so much; he performed it around the world for a number of years.
Magic for Bob was not just a hobby. It became his avocation that helped to relieve his tensions along the way. Performing before an audience gave him a tremendous amount of selfassurance that translated into great success for his investment business.
One might think that all Bob did was work continuously. He did work hard, but he also gave
back to his community. Being part of the local community and giving back were also part of
his life. He was a trustee for the Boy Scouts of America, on the Sacramento Mental Health
Board of Directors, and a Deacon at the Fremont Presbyterian Church. Even when he was just
starting out and trying to make his business grow, Bob was very active in the Sacramento Junior Chamber of Commerce. He was the chairman of the 1951 Miss Sacramento Pageant. The
following year the Sacramento Junior Chamber of Commerce named Bob Brown – “Man of the
Year.”
Bob enjoyed performing immensely, but it wasn’t all work and no play along the way. One of
his favorite countries was Switzerland with its beautiful mountains and countryside. This was
possibly because he booked the first show here, and the fact that he loved to ski. Brenda
learned to ski the second year they went to Europe. She would not let Bob watch her learn,
she sent him over the hill to ski on the other side. One time when they were skiing, and everyone was going to lunch, Bob decided to make one more run down the mountain by himself.
He wiped out on the way down, without hurting himself, however he thought what would have
happened if he crashed with life threating injuries? There would have been nobody around to
help him. Right then and there, he decided to never go skiing by himself again.
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They were able to enjoy many wonders of the world over the years. A visit to the ancient cities
of Europe that were hundreds of years old was impressive. Seeing the pyramids of Egypt or
the Iquazu Falls of Argentina, took your breath away. Plus there were the memories of seeing
the Taj Mahal or riding elephants and camels. Probably the most memorable, but indescribable experience of all was walking among the ancient ruins where Jesus had walked hundreds
of years before. There were times when Bob was able to bring his family to share these experiences.
The life of magic has been good to Bob Brown and his family, through the additions of training and promotion. He appreciates the successful selling arena in insurance and investments,
while making a very good income. Magic has allowed him to play the fifteen to twenty super
deluxe supper clubs, hotels and to appear on television around the world. It also offered the
opportunity to put his four sons through college, while seeing the world on a high level that
most people would never get the opportunity to do.
Bob Brown’s “Magic of Make Believe” with his beautiful assistants, has truly performed before
heads of state, including a command performance for Princess Grace and Prince Rainier of
Monaco. This was arranged by his agent Dieter Friedrich and led to a twice a year gig from
the successful performance. Other dignitaries included Ethiopian Minister of State, Tekle Tsadik, Ali Alireza the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia, Prince Youka & Princess Marcia Troubetzkoy
of Russia and the Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz of Saudia Arabia.
Bob Brown with Brenda or one of his other assistants, had to have their bags packed and
ready to travel. It may have been to Washington, DC, the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco or
on to the beautiful islands of Hawaii. The “Ultimate Levitation” helped open doors to Japan,
Korea, Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong, China. So, current passports had better be ready
for use.
Passports were stamped for most of the major cities in Europe, from England, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, and Czechoslovakia to Hungary.
The French Riviera and Monte Carlo, Monaco to Greece, Turkey, Dubai, India, Egypt and many
of the fascinating countries in South Africa were on their itineraries.
One time, when Bob Brown and Brenda were booked in Bombay, India, their appearance was
promoted with a billboard 14 feet high and half a block long. They looked at each other and
hoped they could live up to the advertising and hype. The shows were packed and near the
end of the run, they had a problem. Bob had hurt his shoulder and they would have to cancel
the levitation. They told the manager to go out and tell the audience that the show was cancelled and to refund their money. He refused to refund any monies. The audience was getting
very disturbed and upset! It was left to Bob to go out and stop any riot, by explaining to the
audience what had happened. It all ended well, without any major disturbance or riot.
The doors were opened and passports stamped with stops in Chile, Peru, Rio de Janeiro and
Buenos Aires, Argentina in South America. Exotic locations in the South Pacific opened from
Samoa, Tahiti, Bali, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Malaysia included for
good measure. If you read through Bob Brown’s passport, it would read like a travel log or
advertisement for a travel agency.
From around 1960, until his death in 1971, Sorcar the magician from India, used the initials
TWGM after his name, for “The World’s Greatest Magician.” Bob Brown should use TWGTM, for
“The World’s Greatest Traveling Magician.”
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Thank you Bob for sharing your magical accomplishments around the world, as a top class
magician, while staying in the best accommodations and seeing the wonders of the world
with your family. By setting high stands and striving for those goals, you made it happen!
Your friends and family wish you a Very Happy Ninetieth Birthday! Thanks for being a good
friend to one and all.
•—•—•
All Rights Reserves- Dale Lorzo 2011
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