Here is a clip of my favorite #1 magician - Duke Stern - ca 1973

Hope you enjoy . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ittVn3GlueU

Thank you for this. I have heard of Duke Stern, but never have seen him perform.

GREAT TO SEE DUKEY... memories of he and Karrell Fox.

...and the hilarious Abbott's Get Togethers with Abb Dickson!

Julie

Thank You

Leo Jr

You are most welcome....it is fun to share..

Thanks for posting that. I got to see Duke perform twice. He was amazing. He was one of the funniest people I ever met.

He was first magician I ever met. At age 7 visiting in Colon I remember him selling me ball vase, chinese sticks. Some folks came in behind us and they were picking stuff up and looking at it and I remember vividly Duke saying "Excuse me folks. This isn't a *** hardware store! Please do not handle the merchandise!"

He looked at me smiled and continued on demo'ing magic while the other people stormed out.

Glad you are enjoying Dukey..there isn't much film footage of him out there. We do have some interesting pics of him while he was living with the Abbott's and working there. A neat story about him in our new Percy Abbott book.

This wouldn't be the story about the "wrappings," would it?

The first time I met Duke was at the TAOM in Abilene, TX. I was just getting back into magic after a decade or so away from it. I watched Duke perform a trick called "Farky Hollis Predicts," which I thought was one of the coolest things I ever saw. I still have that thing.

No..I think you are referring to the time after Duke died...his ashes were at the Abbott shop. A few weeks later Karrell Fox wrapped up the box of ashes for burial. Later that week, then owner of Abbott's Recil Bordner, asked what had happened to the stencils for the new catalog? Guess what ...they are buried with ole Dukey Karrell had 'wrapped' the cremation box with them....at least I think this is the story you were referring to...this is how Karrell explained to me anyhow...

That's the one. Karrell told me it was the stencils for the prices in the new catalog. I think that at that time, the catalogs were offset printed without prices, and the price lists were an enclosure.

Yep, that's the one!

You can see the clips of Karrell Fox telling this story at
http://www.magicgettogether.com/aboutlakeside.html