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[[William J. Nixon]], known as Doc, was a magic inventor, builder, writer, and performer.
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{{hatnote|For the dentist and builder of automatons, see [[Dr. Cecil E. Nixon]] (1874-1962).}}
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{{Infobox person
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| image                    =
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| image_size                =
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| alt                      =
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| caption                  =
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| birth_name                = William John Nixon
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| birth_day                = 
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| birth_year                = 1884
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| birth_place              = Brooklyn, New York
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| death_day                = December 13,  
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| death_year                = 1945
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| death_place              = New York City
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| resting_place            = In an unmarked grave in Brooklyn
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| resting_place_coordinates = 
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| nationality              =
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| known_for                =
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| notable works            =
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| flourished                = 1890-1940
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| awards                    =
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| box_width                =
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| misc                      =
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}}
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'''Doc Nixon''' (1884-1945) was a magic inventor, builder, writer, and performer who started out in [[vaudeville]] in the 1890s.
  
Nixon a feature [[Vaudeville]] performer whose "Where Do the Ducks Go?" routine, Checker Cabinet, Spirit Paintings routines became standards of their day.  
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== Biography ==
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Nixon a feature vaudeville performer whose "Where Do the Ducks Go?" routine, Checker Cabinet, Spirit Paintings routines became standards of their day.
 +
 
 +
By 1900, he may have been operating the Jaynix Amusement Company (named for his middle initial "J" and "Nix" from "Nixon").
  
 
No one knows what happened to Doc Nixon after he was last sited some time around 1940.  One story was that he had joined a religious order and retired to a monastery.  [[Todd Karr]] has been researching and thinks he might know what happened.
 
No one knows what happened to Doc Nixon after he was last sited some time around 1940.  One story was that he had joined a religious order and retired to a monastery.  [[Todd Karr]] has been researching and thinks he might know what happened.
  
Colorful American magician (real name William J. Dixon) who started out in vaudeville in the 1890s
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==Valadon’s Show and Shanghai Mysteries==
By 1900, he was operating the Jaynix Amusement Company (named for his middle initial "J" and "Nix" from "Nixon"), it is also believed that it is the known masked Magician's alter-ego like  [[Magister MaskMelin]].Nixon um  providing game machines at the Pan American Exposition.
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By 1906, he had become a professional magician, touring South America with a show heavily based on [[Valadon]]'s show.  
When President McKinley was assassinated at the fair, Nixon was the second on the scene to assist the fatally wounded President. Supposedly he was an agent of The Seven Circle,uma organization secretes involved in the attempt of trying to protect the American president of the plot for his murder.  
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==Valadon’s Show and Shanghai Misteries==
 
 
By 1906, he had become a professional magician, touring South America with a show heavily based on Valadon's show.
 
 
In 1909, he traded his home in Brooklyn, NY to Okito in exchange for Okito's stage show.
 
In 1909, he traded his home in Brooklyn, NY to Okito in exchange for Okito's stage show.
  
He performed the Oriental show (called "Hong Kong Mysteries" or "Shanghai Mysteries") under many names: "Neek Suen", "Neek Seun", "Ling Chan Yuen", "Dr. Omar", "Will Savant", "Willie Foo Lee", "Yuen Chan Foo", "Chan Omar", "Nixon-Okito", "Chang Foo Yuen", "Wjaynx", "Chanamar", "The Great Nixon", "Savant, the Japanese Magician", "Savant Nixon" and even "Chandu". He was very litigious, threatening suits against Count Beaumont (for stealing equipment), Henry Clive (for stealing his Spirit Painting act) and even Okito (for attempting to steal the "secret" of the Where Do the Ducks Go trick).  
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He performed the Oriental show (called "Hong Kong Mysteries") under many names: "Neek Suen", "Neek Seun", "Ling Chan Yuen", "Dr. Omar", "Will Savant", "Willie Foo Lee", "Yuen Chan Foo", "Chan Omar", "Nixon-Okito", "Chang Foo Yuen", "Wjaynx", "Chanamar", "The Great Nixon", "Savant, the Japanese Magician", "Savant Nixon" and even "Chandu". He was very litigious, threatening suits against Count Beaumont (for stealing equipment), [[Henry Clive]] (for stealing his Spirit Painting act) and even Okito (for attempting to steal the "secret" of the Where Do the Ducks Go trick).  Ironically, Where Do the Ducks Go was actually invented by [[Servais LeRoy]], and first performed by [[Dante]].
  
Ironically, Where Do the Ducks Go was actually invented by Servais LeRoy , and first performed by Dante ; Nixon was really the copyist and occult agents missing.
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In 1922, Nixon sold the equipment and rights to "Hong Kong Mysteries" to [[Grover George]]. In 1924, Doc Nixon left magic to pursue a career in Radio, which apparently was short-lived. By 1927, despite having sold the rights and equipment of "Hong Kong Mysteries" to Grover George, he was back performing magic, this time under the title "Shanghai Mysteries".
  
==Popularity and Fade==
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==Vanished from the magical stage==
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In 1939, Nixon suddenly "vanished" from the magical stage. In 1940 Annemann wrote, "Doc Nixon is not dead. Those ‘suicide’ cards that he sent to many of his old friends didn’t make a Merry Xmas for anyone. For him, if he wanted to go, nor for his enemies when he didn’t. His friends were worried." (Jinx #89, page 562, 1940)
 
   
 
   
Selbit’s tour allowed many magicians to see the effect, and because its secret was not overly difficult to unravel when seen in person, a number of performers began to present their own versions. Vaudeville magician William J. Nixon ,aka Doc Nixon performed his Spirit Paintings in his stage shows. An Australian painter named Henry Clive, who later became a renowned illustrator, toured with his rendition in the 1920s. Clive(1881-1960)Australian-born magician (real name Clive O'Hara) on the American vaudeville circuit from 1903 to 1912. Billed as "Clive, The Debonair Magician". Claimed to have invented the Spirit Painting act, though Doc Nixon accused Clive of staling it from him. Retired from performing to become a commercial artist.
 
 
Abbott’s hard-earned secret was soon common knowledge in the magic world. Nixon published the technique in his 1916 booklet, The Spirit Paintings. Will Goldston exposed the secret in his Annual of Magic 1915-1916. Alexander included the effect in his book The Life and Mysteries of the Celebrated Dr. Q in 1921. By the 1930s, Thayer’s Magic Company was selling a ready-made version in their catalogs.
 
Nonetheless, this very visual effect is today rarely seen. Like many magic effects, the Spirit Paintings can today be all too easily explained away by audiences as the result of electronics.
 
 
==Vanished from the magical stage==
 
  
In 1939, Nixon suddenly "vanished" from the magical stage, in the same time of the disappearance of the controverted magic and agent of occult MaskMelin.Doc Nixon, who gained fame working in Oriental costume, literally vanished in late 1939. Persistent rumors that he had abandoned all to become a Tibetan monk were never proven.
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Persistent rumors that he had abandoned all to become a Tibetan monk were never proven.
  
==Reference==
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== Fictional? ==
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Nixon was providing game machines at the Pan American Exposition.  When President McKinley was assassinated at the fair, Nixon was the second on the scene to assist the fatally wounded President. Supposedly he was an agent of The Seven Circle, a secret organization involved in the attempt of trying to protect the American president of the plot for his murder.
  
*The Life and Mysteries of the Celebrated Dr. Q in 1921.  
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{{References}}
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* http://en.metapedia.org/wiki/Doc_Nixon (webpage no longer exists)
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* [[The Life and Mysteries of the Celebrated Dr. Q.]] in 1921.  
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* [[Magic:_A_Pictorial_History_of_Conjurers_in_the_Theater]]
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* http://magicpostcards.wordpress.com/2010/10/24/doc-nixon/
  
*''The Percyfaw Code'',C.S. Scriblerius-E-book manuscript publishing by Intercontinental Press(2007)
 
  
==External Link==
 
  
*Article Doc Nixon [http://www.magictricks.com]
 
[[Category:1884 births]]
 
[[Category:Date of death unknown]]
 
[[Category:American]]
 
*Reference magician Doc Nixon[http://www.magicgizmo.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63&catid=64&Itemid]
 
* http://en.metapedia.org/wiki/Doc_Nixon
 
  
==Books==
 
* [[Hong Kong Mysteries]] (1921)
 
  
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[[Category:American magicians]]
 
[[Category:Biographies]]
 
[[Category:Biographies]]
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nixon,Doc}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nixon,Doc}}

Latest revision as of 21:54, 20 March 2015

For the dentist and builder of automatons, see Dr. Cecil E. Nixon (1874-1962).
Doc Nixon
BornWilliam John Nixon
1884
Brooklyn, New York
DiedDecember 13, 1945
New York City
Resting placeIn an unmarked grave in Brooklyn
Flourished1890-1940
CategoriesBooks by Doc Nixon

Doc Nixon (1884-1945) was a magic inventor, builder, writer, and performer who started out in vaudeville in the 1890s.

Biography

Nixon a feature vaudeville performer whose "Where Do the Ducks Go?" routine, Checker Cabinet, Spirit Paintings routines became standards of their day.

By 1900, he may have been operating the Jaynix Amusement Company (named for his middle initial "J" and "Nix" from "Nixon").

No one knows what happened to Doc Nixon after he was last sited some time around 1940. One story was that he had joined a religious order and retired to a monastery. Todd Karr has been researching and thinks he might know what happened.

Valadon’s Show and Shanghai Mysteries

By 1906, he had become a professional magician, touring South America with a show heavily based on Valadon's show.

In 1909, he traded his home in Brooklyn, NY to Okito in exchange for Okito's stage show.

He performed the Oriental show (called "Hong Kong Mysteries") under many names: "Neek Suen", "Neek Seun", "Ling Chan Yuen", "Dr. Omar", "Will Savant", "Willie Foo Lee", "Yuen Chan Foo", "Chan Omar", "Nixon-Okito", "Chang Foo Yuen", "Wjaynx", "Chanamar", "The Great Nixon", "Savant, the Japanese Magician", "Savant Nixon" and even "Chandu". He was very litigious, threatening suits against Count Beaumont (for stealing equipment), Henry Clive (for stealing his Spirit Painting act) and even Okito (for attempting to steal the "secret" of the Where Do the Ducks Go trick). Ironically, Where Do the Ducks Go was actually invented by Servais LeRoy, and first performed by Dante.

In 1922, Nixon sold the equipment and rights to "Hong Kong Mysteries" to Grover George. In 1924, Doc Nixon left magic to pursue a career in Radio, which apparently was short-lived. By 1927, despite having sold the rights and equipment of "Hong Kong Mysteries" to Grover George, he was back performing magic, this time under the title "Shanghai Mysteries".

Vanished from the magical stage

In 1939, Nixon suddenly "vanished" from the magical stage. In 1940 Annemann wrote, "Doc Nixon is not dead. Those ‘suicide’ cards that he sent to many of his old friends didn’t make a Merry Xmas for anyone. For him, if he wanted to go, nor for his enemies when he didn’t. His friends were worried." (Jinx #89, page 562, 1940)


Persistent rumors that he had abandoned all to become a Tibetan monk were never proven.

Fictional?

Nixon was providing game machines at the Pan American Exposition. When President McKinley was assassinated at the fair, Nixon was the second on the scene to assist the fatally wounded President. Supposedly he was an agent of The Seven Circle, a secret organization involved in the attempt of trying to protect the American president of the plot for his murder.

References