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Monday
March 15, 2010 Since 1922 |
Bev’s book full of mirth and magic
By Wanda Orton
Contributor Published October 21, 2009 Proving he can entertain on the printed page as well as on stage, Bev Bergeron has written "The Magic Connection," a rollicking novel about a troupe of gold-smuggling entertainers trapped in the Far East just as all hell – that would be. World War II – breaks loose.
A 1949 graduate of Robert E. Lee High School, the magician/comedian/writer dedicated the book to all of his teachers but especially to Jane Mitcham, “who taught me more than she ever imagined.”
Miss Mitcham, who was a force in the English department at REL, would have enjoyed "The Magic Connection.”
As will you.
Indirectly, Bev pays homage to his roots when he mentions the gumbo supper served by the Baytown volunteer fire department chief after a magic show. Locals may recall that his Cajun dad, Rufus Bergeron, once led the volunteer firemen in old Baytown.
Furthermore, one of the main characters in the book is named Joe Boudloche, and if you know the Bergerons in Baytown, you know the Boudloches. They're closely kin.
A New Orleans priest in the story is named Father Kennedy, bringing to mind the real-life Father Kennedy, the pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church when Bev was an altar boy.
The story starts in Pelly, Texas, with the hero conducting a magic show under a big tent. Did you see that? He just sawed a lady in half!
Bev said that “Willard the Wizard really did play Pelly in September of 1948, maybe a week or two. I helped put the tent up as I did all around the area. The last tent I helped with was in South Houston and then the show (Willard’s) moved to League City where it spent the winter. My last show with them was New Year’s Eve and then it was back to school.”
School was Bev’s senior year at REL. He went pro when he was at Baytown Junior High, working his magic in shows all over the area. He grew up on Nebraska Street a short distance from the neighborhood park named in honor of the Bergerons.
While attending the University of Texas, he shared the stage with such future celebrities as Fess Parker, Jayne Mansfield and Rip Torn and later appeared on TV and stage with Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Johnny Carson, Bob Hope, Steve Allen, Carol Burnett and other big stars.
Bev’s biggest claim to fame on TV came in the role of Rebo the Clown on the CBS-TV show, “Mark Wilson’s Land of Allakazam.” More than just a funny clown, he was a magic inventor, creating many of the illusions featured on the show.
In Orlando he spent 16 years as the comic lead at the Diamond Horseshoe at Disney World and later performed at Sea World of Florida. He has appeared in shows in Las Vegas, Reno, Atlantic City and Radio City Music Hall in New York and has done three USO tours in Vietnam.
The author of a book about Willard the Wizard, Bev also edited a book about magician Tony Marks.
Selected as one of the best 12 books ever written on magic, the Willard book is used by the Smithsonian Institute for research on the American Tent Theater.
A former president of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, he is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Fellowship Award given by the Academy of Magic Arts and Sciences in Hollywood.
Wanda Orton is a retired managing editor for The Baytown Sun.
Contributor Published October 21, 2009 Proving he can entertain on the printed page as well as on stage, Bev Bergeron has written "The Magic Connection," a rollicking novel about a troupe of gold-smuggling entertainers trapped in the Far East just as all hell – that would be. World War II – breaks loose.
A 1949 graduate of Robert E. Lee High School, the magician/comedian/writer dedicated the book to all of his teachers but especially to Jane Mitcham, “who taught me more than she ever imagined.”
Miss Mitcham, who was a force in the English department at REL, would have enjoyed "The Magic Connection.”
As will you.
Indirectly, Bev pays homage to his roots when he mentions the gumbo supper served by the Baytown volunteer fire department chief after a magic show. Locals may recall that his Cajun dad, Rufus Bergeron, once led the volunteer firemen in old Baytown.
Furthermore, one of the main characters in the book is named Joe Boudloche, and if you know the Bergerons in Baytown, you know the Boudloches. They're closely kin.
A New Orleans priest in the story is named Father Kennedy, bringing to mind the real-life Father Kennedy, the pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church when Bev was an altar boy.
The story starts in Pelly, Texas, with the hero conducting a magic show under a big tent. Did you see that? He just sawed a lady in half!
Bev said that “Willard the Wizard really did play Pelly in September of 1948, maybe a week or two. I helped put the tent up as I did all around the area. The last tent I helped with was in South Houston and then the show (Willard’s) moved to League City where it spent the winter. My last show with them was New Year’s Eve and then it was back to school.”
School was Bev’s senior year at REL. He went pro when he was at Baytown Junior High, working his magic in shows all over the area. He grew up on Nebraska Street a short distance from the neighborhood park named in honor of the Bergerons.
While attending the University of Texas, he shared the stage with such future celebrities as Fess Parker, Jayne Mansfield and Rip Torn and later appeared on TV and stage with Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Johnny Carson, Bob Hope, Steve Allen, Carol Burnett and other big stars.
Bev’s biggest claim to fame on TV came in the role of Rebo the Clown on the CBS-TV show, “Mark Wilson’s Land of Allakazam.” More than just a funny clown, he was a magic inventor, creating many of the illusions featured on the show.
In Orlando he spent 16 years as the comic lead at the Diamond Horseshoe at Disney World and later performed at Sea World of Florida. He has appeared in shows in Las Vegas, Reno, Atlantic City and Radio City Music Hall in New York and has done three USO tours in Vietnam.
The author of a book about Willard the Wizard, Bev also edited a book about magician Tony Marks.
Selected as one of the best 12 books ever written on magic, the Willard book is used by the Smithsonian Institute for research on the American Tent Theater.
A former president of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, he is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Fellowship Award given by the Academy of Magic Arts and Sciences in Hollywood.
Wanda Orton is a retired managing editor for The Baytown Sun.