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[[File: WillAlma1.png|right|thumb|200px|[[ Will Alma]]]]


'''Will Alma''' (b.1904-d.1993), born Oswald George William Bishop in Malvern, Victoria, Australia, was described in March 1987 issue of [[The Linking Ring]] as "Australia's most famous magician" and "a successful club and vaudeville magician, manufacturer and dealer, teacher of magic, editor and publisher of conjuring periodicals, a writer and outstanding collector of magicana."
[[File: JonRacherbaumer1.png|right|thumb|200px|[[ Jon Racherbaumer]]]]
 
'''Jon Racherbaumer''' (b.1940) spent his early years in Elmhurst, Illinois (Harlan Tarbell’s hometown), a western suburb of Chicago. His interest in magic was sparked by seeing Dr. Tarbell perform in 1950. Tarbell’s daughter, Marian, was involved in community theater with Jon’s mother at the time. Soon thereafter, he received his first magic book, [[Tarbell Course in Magic]] – Volume 1, on his eleventh birthday. After discovering that Dr. Tarbell had donated his entire course to the local library, Jon spent many hours diligently studied each volume along with other magic books in the library.


== Biography ==
== Biography ==


Alma's father was [[Oswald Henry Bishop]], a tinsmith by trade, but also performed professionally as "Alma, the Court Magician" and his mother, Rose, who was Australia's first "floating lady" in 1903.
Jon joined the Mazda Mystics Club (Juniors) in 1953, a club started by Russell Shaw and his wife in Oak Park, Illinois. Meetings were held in the basement of the Mazda Magic Shop. He maintained his interest throughout his schooling and thereafter when he moved to New Orleans in 1963. The Big Easy, home of the Mardi Gras, jazz music, and voodoo, is often called the Dream State, an ideal place for all things magical to ferment. From 1957 to 1965, Jon attended four universities and worked at various jobs: radio programmer, disk-jockey, promotion man, salesman, restaurant manager, male model, tree-trimmer, blackjack dealer, construction worker, warehouseman, program consultant (voluntary health agency), institutional house-father, social worker, gym instructor, bartender, ambulance driver (at a race track), and finally he went to work for Eastern Airlines from 1965-1990 as an airlines business person.  
Alma began doing magic against his family's wishes, studying [[David Devant]]'s book [[Magic Made Easy]] (1903) while working at engineering firms (which helped him develop the skills in constructing apparatus). His father however deserted his them in 1913, making his way to American Samoa and finally settling in Hawaii.
From 1926 to 1931, Alma was touring country towns with his own illusion show.
In 1927 he married his dancing partner, Florence Stemming, but they eventually were divorced in 1947.  


[[Will Alma|Read more about Will Alma…]]
[[Jon Racherbaumer|Read more about Jon Racherbaumer…]]

Revision as of 13:12, 29 September 2024

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Jon Racherbaumer (b.1940) spent his early years in Elmhurst, Illinois (Harlan Tarbell’s hometown), a western suburb of Chicago. His interest in magic was sparked by seeing Dr. Tarbell perform in 1950. Tarbell’s daughter, Marian, was involved in community theater with Jon’s mother at the time. Soon thereafter, he received his first magic book, Tarbell Course in Magic – Volume 1, on his eleventh birthday. After discovering that Dr. Tarbell had donated his entire course to the local library, Jon spent many hours diligently studied each volume along with other magic books in the library.

Biography

Jon joined the Mazda Mystics Club (Juniors) in 1953, a club started by Russell Shaw and his wife in Oak Park, Illinois. Meetings were held in the basement of the Mazda Magic Shop. He maintained his interest throughout his schooling and thereafter when he moved to New Orleans in 1963. The Big Easy, home of the Mardi Gras, jazz music, and voodoo, is often called the Dream State, an ideal place for all things magical to ferment. From 1957 to 1965, Jon attended four universities and worked at various jobs: radio programmer, disk-jockey, promotion man, salesman, restaurant manager, male model, tree-trimmer, blackjack dealer, construction worker, warehouseman, program consultant (voluntary health agency), institutional house-father, social worker, gym instructor, bartender, ambulance driver (at a race track), and finally he went to work for Eastern Airlines from 1965-1990 as an airlines business person.

Read more about Jon Racherbaumer…