Manfred Thumm

Manfred Thumm
Cover of Genii 1984 March
Born	? Germany

Manfred Thumm is an award winning magician from Germany.

Biography

In 1948 at the age of 15, he saw a magician named Bellachini in Freiburg, Germany who invited audience members to come on stage as part of a hypnotism experiment. Manfred wasn’t interested in hypnotism, he just wanted to get a closer look at the magician’s props.

Growing up in war torn Freiburg, Germany he had no money to buy magic tricks. Once he managed a trip to Hamburg where he visited Rosa Bartl of Bartl’s Magic Shop and left the shop with a silk trick called Silk Wonder. This began his love affair with silks. He practiced magic along with his brother Rudi and became a skilled magician.

In his early teens he performed in restaurants and theaters in the Black Forest around Freiburg. His father encouraged him to learn sales as a trade and he landed his first job with the Black Forest electric company Zander. Learning sales and business he advanced in the company and later changed to Philips.

Thumm married Emma Hess in 1958 and enjoyed a successful sales career with Philips. Never losing his passion for magic, he joined the German Magic Circle in 1958.

He developed a black light show which he called “the magic hands” where a pair of white-gloved hands were seen performing abstract magic to pulsating music (the magician was never seen). Manfred had his debut with this act in 1964 in Neuenauer at a Magic Circle Convention and was later invited by Willi Faster in 1965 to perform in Triberg, Germany where Willi was Mayor of the town as well as President of the Magic Circle.

Awards

• Baden-Baden X World Championship FISM Stage Illusions (Germany) (1967)
• Special Fellowship from the Academy of Magical Arts (2003)