Lon Mandrake in The Runner

From the February 12th article "Lon Mandrake brings magic to KPU TALK event" by Kyler Emerson in The Runner:

On Feb. 10 as a part of KPU’s Third Age Learning at Kwantlen (TALK) program, Lon and his wife, Linda, gave a presentation about Leon’s life, Lon’s experience growing up around magic shows, and performed one themselves.  

Whereas his father started magic performances at a young age, Lon did his first show at age 38. Some of the students Lon taught at the time asked him why he didn’t do magic like Leon, and after he dreamt about performing magic that night, he performed some the next class.

“It really blew their minds because everything had worked really well,” Lon said. “They dropped a sledgehammer on me and I was doing various kinds of mental effects where you read their minds.”

He’s been performing ever since.

In 2018, Lon and his wife Linda collaborated together to write the book The Real Mandrake the Magician, a biography that describes Leon’s career through over 100 photos and text of behind the scenes stories. 

Read more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Real Mandrake the Magician virtual talk [Oct 13]

From the September 22nd media release by the city of Surrey:

The legendary career of world-renowned Mandrake the Magician is the focus of Surrey Archives’ next free virtual talk ‘The Real Mandrake the Magician’ on October 13 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Lon Mandrake, also a magician, along with his wife, Linda, will delve into the compelling local history of their late father (and father-in-law) – a mentalist, illusionist, escapologist, ventriloquist, and stunt performer whose career spanned over 60 years.

“We invite the public to join us for this unique opportunity to explore the early life and career of Leon Mandrake, including the challenges and adventures of being a family on the road, and his lasting legacies,” said Archivist Allie Querengesser.

Leon Mandrake was born in Washington state in 1911 and raised in New Westminster, where he began performing at the Edison Theatre. His career took him, his wife and assistant Louise “Velvet” Salerno, and their four children on the road frequently. After many years travelling, the Mandrakes eventually settled in Surrey in the late 1950s on Grosvenor Road and Kindersley Drive where they lived until the 1990s. The house, which was destroyed by fire in 2016, contained secret rooms and passages.

Lon Mandrake has carried on his father’s legacy as a performer. An award-winning science educator, he has also performed internationally as a mentalist and magician. Over the course of his career, he has served as president of the Society of American Magicians Assembly #95 and as Regional Vice President of the Society of American Magicians.

During the online program for Surrey Archives, audience members will be treated to a special performance.  

Read more and register.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mandrake the Magician in the Comic Book Bin

You may remember that the Museum of Surrey hosted a "Mandrake the Magician" exhibit  last year.  You can still visit the online tour at the Museum.

 

From the January 1st article "Mandrake the Magician: The first Superhero in Comics and Life" by Hervé St-Louis  at the Comic Book Bin:

Born in 1911, Canadian Leon (Gioglio) Mandrake was a stage magician based in Vancouver, Canada who starred on stage under the label Mandrake the Magician as early as 1927. He travelled North America and performed as Mandrake the Magician across North America. Ironically, according to Don Markstein, Falk had created the comics strip Mandrake the Magician in 1924 but only submitted it for print years later. The comic strip character that looked eerily like Gioglio.

The resemblance between the fictional character, and the stage magician was acknowledged early on, and the King Features creators and Gioglio would play with meta-narrative crossovers over the years, without any conflict involving copyrights nor trademark. These were the days! Both the stage magician wore tuxedos, were skinny and had fine moustaches. Both enjoyed a living entertaining guests and audiences for years.

Read more.

Magicians in the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame

From the October 15th Facebook post by Shawn Farquhar:

I was super impressed to learn there are three magicians in the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame!   Peter Rolston, Leon Mandrake, and Francis Martineau. I had the honour and pleasure of knowing all three of these amazing magicians. The search also brought up Ray Buchanan who was an amazing costume designer who worked with Mandrake. Sadly, I learned Ray just recently passed due to Covid.  He was a delightful and talented human.