tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290325563858268812.post8514321354009105253..comments2024-02-16T07:40:05.034-05:00Comments on Canada's Magic: [Guest post] Remembering Ron Leonard (1923-1998)Canada's Magichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06072987021622281260noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290325563858268812.post-68457100097621525262021-11-29T15:45:59.924-05:002021-11-29T15:45:59.924-05:00We're pleased you found this site, granddaught...We're pleased you found this site, granddaughter of Ron Leonard. He was a fabulous magician and a wonderful person!Canada's Magichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06072987021622281260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290325563858268812.post-62211437379215556772021-11-29T12:51:32.110-05:002021-11-29T12:51:32.110-05:00Thank you for your kind words Matt wrong Leonard w...Thank you for your kind words Matt wrong Leonard was my grandfather I really appreciate reading what you had to write hereAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05824405615250729680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290325563858268812.post-3974419787843051162021-11-29T12:50:54.697-05:002021-11-29T12:50:54.697-05:00Thank you for your kind words Jeff I am Ron's ...Thank you for your kind words Jeff I am Ron's granddaughterAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05824405615250729680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290325563858268812.post-72617049554548651992021-11-29T12:49:53.372-05:002021-11-29T12:49:53.372-05:00He was my grandfather I miss him too.. thank you f...He was my grandfather I miss him too.. thank you for your kind wordsAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05824405615250729680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290325563858268812.post-87698493377370504062021-11-29T12:49:17.898-05:002021-11-29T12:49:17.898-05:00Thank you for your kind words Ron Leonard was my f...Thank you for your kind words Ron Leonard was my father's father..💞Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05824405615250729680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290325563858268812.post-76405856747323399412012-02-22T14:26:38.787-05:002012-02-22T14:26:38.787-05:00More from Matt DiSero:
I just found a old VHS tap...More from <a href="http://www.mattdisero.com/" rel="nofollow">Matt DiSero</a>:<br /><br />I just found a old VHS tape of a hat and rabbit club show I was on with Ron from 1996... he was the emcee. Black Tux, Red cummerbund. White Hair. It was later in his life...but he was still great. He did the production of the oranges and lots of great emcee bits. Man he's fun to watch. I miss him. Jeff Pinsky is right...he was an amazing business man... I STILL to this day, every day, use bits of professional advice he gave me.<br /><br />He had an older style of performing, but people loved him.<br />What stuck me most after watching this video was, that most of the acts on the show were younger " up and coming" acts... the new guys... all slick with their tricks and style of performing....but when you really watch the tape, you could see the audience still liked Ron best. Man he was funny. A zillion one liners... Just goes to show ya... no substitute for a solid, worked in act.<br /><br />For me, Ron embodied something you don't see much of anymore. A guy who liked to PERFORM. Not just come up with tricks and moves to sell...but he liked his act. He impressed upon me the importance of always working on it, and always loving to perform. Its good advice. You don't hear it much anymore.... I wonder what Ron, or Herb Morrisey, or Len Cooper would think of the state of acts of late?Canada's Magichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06072987021622281260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290325563858268812.post-62481728314741780882012-02-17T08:47:02.151-05:002012-02-17T08:47:02.151-05:00From Jeff Pinksy:
I have fond memories of Ron Leo...From Jeff Pinksy:<br /><br />I have fond memories of Ron Leonard. I was born in 1966. Thus I really only have my childhood memories during the decade of the 1970s.<br /><br />Of course for those of us who were bitten by the wonderful magic 'bug' in Ontario Ron Leonard was an important figure.<br /><br />How exciting it was to learn at the beginning of the Uncle Bobby Show that magic guest Ron Leonard was on. If memory serves me right he was not on all of the shows. That I learned many years later was due to his strong business acumen; busy with many professional performances and a gifted commercial painter.<br /><br />In an era when there were about 12 television stations - one being in French - anything to do with magic appearing on television was exciting. Can you imagine the first Henning special? Or seeing for the first time Slydini on the Dick Cavett Show?<br /> <br />What was for me particularly wonderful about seeing Mr. Leonard perform on the Uncle Bobby Show was that he was using at times props which I might be able to afford if I saved my money. I could not dream of buying something I saw Doug Henning perform. And of course until I studied 'Magic of Slydini' I had no idea how Slydini's effects were done.<br /><br />It was sort of a video catalogue for a magic shop well before there was any video! Watch Ron Leonard... then decide if I like the trick... then look it up in the (printed) magic catalogue and find out the price.<br /><br />Years later after I took over Browser's Den of Magic I would have the pleasure of meeting Mr. Leonard. He was quite different than his TV personality. And why wouldn't he? On the show he was performing for little children at home.<br /><br />But he was always pleasant when he would visit even with his poor hearing and health beginning to fail. One could tell it was affecting his enjoyment of life but at least he still had some 'magic' in him.<br /><br />Jeff Pinsky<br /><a href="http://browsersden.ca/wordpress/" rel="nofollow">Browser's Den of Magic</a><br />Toronto, Canada<br />February 16, 2012<br /><br /><br />[With thanks to The Magic Demon for passing this along.]Canada's Magichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06072987021622281260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290325563858268812.post-69689131608671788392012-02-17T08:39:07.855-05:002012-02-17T08:39:07.855-05:00From Matt DiSero:
Ron was so nice to me as a kid ...From <a href="http://www.mattdisero.com/" rel="nofollow">Matt DiSero</a>:<br /><br />Ron was so nice to me as a kid at the magic club...when I got to be on a show with him for the first time it was one of the biggest thrills of my career at that time. He was so nice, and generous.... I miss him.<br /><br /><br />[Copied with permission <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CanadasMagic/posts/352287641458885" rel="nofollow">from Facebook.</a>]Canada's Magichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06072987021622281260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290325563858268812.post-60691764431635375802012-02-15T06:57:47.494-05:002012-02-15T06:57:47.494-05:00James, thank you very much for making the time to ...James, thank you very much for making the time to put some thoughts about Mr. Leonard together to share.<br /><br />(And thank you to The Magic Demon for making this happen!)Canada's Magichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06072987021622281260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290325563858268812.post-70448223565242757722012-02-15T06:55:13.879-05:002012-02-15T06:55:13.879-05:00I recall that one of the very first magicians I ev...I recall that one of the very first magicians I ever saw - live - was Ron Leonard, at a large theater somewhere in Toronto. I sat in the very front row, the music played, and Ron stepped out fanning and manipulating cards. Then he paused for applause, riffled through the deck until he was told to stop, and extracted that card, its face toward him. He pointed at a man on the aisle and asked him to name a card - "any card." The gentleman did, and Ron flipped the card around - it was correct! Only backstage in his dressing-room, did he reveal the secret. It had been a total fluke! His usual line, he told me, was to simply reply to the card named, with "Absolutely correct, sir!" - without revealing the face of the card. He was only right about once every 52 guesses, but I'd been lucky to witness such a moment...<br /><br />Handsome, well-dressed, well-spoken and elegant, Ron Leonard was one of my early heroes, though he was only five years my senior. In fact, when I was on my own in Toronto as a teen, I responded to an ad offering a room for rent, only to find that it was being rented out by Ron's mother, a spare room that she had available! It was a couple of months before that lady noticed my interest in the conjuring profession, and proudly announced the identity of her son...! I was appropriately floored by the coincidence.<br /><br />Ron, along with Johnny Giordmaine, Ross Bertram, Dai Vernon, Raymond Lowe, Howard Lyons, Bruce Posgate, Tom Ransom, Sid Lorraine, and our spiritual father, Harry Smith, saw me through the tortures of a top-change, multiplying billiard balls, and various rope-ties until I was able to head off to the USA as a pro. I'll never forget these chaps, all of whom made it possible for me to enjoy a long and happy career as a performer...<br /><br />James (The Amazing) Randi.<br /><br /><br />[via The Magic Demon]Canada's Magichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06072987021622281260noreply@blogger.com