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Alan Shaxon

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Alan Shaxon
BornAlan Arthur Howson
December 28, 1933
the south of England in Harrow
DiedOctober 28, 2012 (age 78)

Alan Shaxon (1933-2012) was a professional magician and a former president of The Magic Circle (2003-2008). He specialized in cabaret performances and is billed as one of England's foremost magicians.[1] [2]

Biography

He learned magic while confined to the house for two weeks after contracting measles. A neighbor loaned him some books to read, one of which was C. Lang Neil's The Modern Conjurer. By the time he was eleven, he was amazing fellow pupils at school and in his Scout group. His first public appearance was with the Scouts. It was around this time he was also introduced by his father to Ernest Noakes. At 18, he was called up to do his National Service and joined the Royal Air Force, where he was posted to the Suez Canal in Egypt and spent much of his service time performing shows for the Army.

He changed his name to Shaxon because no one could ever spell his real name (although it sounded good) and to have a continental sounding name.

Shaxon would appear on television and cruised the world with a cabaret show on luxury liners, and entertained on four occasions at Buckingham Palace.

Shaxon taught Tom Cruise the sleight of hand for "Mission Impossible", and appeared in Rowan Atkinson's "Mr. Bean".[3]

He had a great deal of the apparatus of Robert Harbin.

Note: Often misspelled as "Shaxton."

Awards and honors

  • The Magic Circle gave Shaxon its highest award, "The Maskelyne", for services to British Magic.
  • David Berglas Award
  • Murray Award
  • Performing Fellowship from the Academy of Magical Arts (2002)
  • Inducted into the SAM Hall of Fame

Books

  • My Kind of Magic (1970)
  • Practical Sorcery (1976)

References

  1. Classic Shaxon by Elizabeth Warlock, Magic Magazine, March 2004
  2. http://www.geniimagazine.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=276106
  3. Alan Shaxon is a professional magician and a former president of The Magic Circle.
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  • The Magic Circular, Vol. 75, No. 815, April 1981, THIS IS YOUR LIFE Presenter—PETER D. BLANCHARD, A.I.M.C., page 95
  • The Linking Ring, Vol. 68, No. 10, October 1988, Memoirs Of A Magician's Ghost, ALAN SHAXON: FROM BANKING TO WIZARDING, page 66
  • The Linking Ring, Vol. 71, No. 1, January 1991, OUR COVER ALAN SHAXON, page 76
  • Alan_Shaxon at the Internet Movie Database
  • http://www.britishpathe.com/video/the-magic-circle
  • Obit Genii 2012 November December