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Jess Kelley
| Jess Kelley | |
| Born | Justin A. Kelly ? |
|---|---|
| Died | 1948 |
Jess Keylly (?-1948), a clever Boston magician, once showed the Nate Leipzig several coin moves that Leipzig later used in his act.[1]
Biography
In 1910-11 he assisted professional magician Bill Baker in a vaudeville billed as "Bill Baker and Jess".[2]
A comical card manipulator, he also began doing a magical clown act throughout New England in the 1920s.[3]
By 1927 he was working clown comedy with Silent Mora.[4]
Max Holden writes in his "TROUPING AROUND IN MAGIC" column for The Sphinx (January, 1928) that Kelly was working at the Jordan Marsh store in Boston doing clown magic he was one of the most talked of entertainers in Boston.
In the October, 1928 issue of The Sphinx, U.F. Grant in the column "NEWS FROM PITTSFIELD, MASS." said that Kelly "should be known as the man of 500 tricks and 1,000 stories."
Honors
- Most original effect at the Boston Society of Magicians "Originality Night" 1924[5]