Allan Shaw

Allan Shaw
Born	Alfred John Crankshaw January 26, 1875 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Died	June 25, 1953 (age 78) Sydney, Australia
Nationality	Canadian

Allan J. Shaw (1875 - 1953) was one of the great vaudeville coin manipulators, known as the Prince of Coins.

Biography

Shaw performed for over 35 years in major theaters of Europe, North America and Australia. He spent the last part of his life in Australia were he died in Sydney.

He started performing magic professionally in 1897 and opened engagements in Australia with the World's Entertainers about 1901. Thurston often used other magicians for skilled sleight-of-hand exhibitions and when in Australia he used Shaw.

On a 1918 bill of the Theatre Royal Hippodrome, Shaw was listed as The Money Making Wizard.

Arthur Buckley, a pupil of Allan Shaw, described his act in Principles and Deceptions (1948) and Holden's description of his act can be seen in Programmes of Famous Magicians. Shaw's Card Production can be found in Dai Vernon's More Inner Secrets of Card Magic (1960).

References

• The Sphinx, Vol. 2, No. 8, October 1903, Cover, page 85
• The Sphinx, Vol. 31, No. 10, December 1932, Who's Who in Magic, page 407
• The Sphinx, Vol. 48, No. 7, September 1949, The Story of Allan Shaw, by Arthur Buckley, page 175
• The Linking Ring, Vol. 33, No. 6, August 1953, Broken Wands, Allan Shaw, page 111
• Obit - MUM September 1953
• Tops Magazine, Vol. 18, No. 10, October 1953, Allan Shaw Dies, page 27
• The Linking Ring, Vol. 51, No. 12, December 1971, Memoirs Of A Magician's Ghost, by John Booth - CHAPTER 57, page 56
• Creative World of Conjuring By John Booth (1990)
• The Complete Rich Cabinet of Magical Curiosities by Edwin A. Dawes (2005)