Wizard Wednesday: JB Bobo

In today’s Wizard Wednesday, we find ourselves face to face with J.B. Bobo. Bobo was a pioneer of school shows beginning in the 1930s. He’d travel with his wife from his home in Texarkana, Texas performing magic shows for children in schools with elegance and humor. Bobo was so successful in this niche of show business that at one point he was performing more shows than days in a year. However, truth be told, this was long ago and many of those children are gone, few remember those shows. So the gentleman from Texas should now be largely forgotten, and yet instead his name is uttered every day across the world and within the walls of Tannen’s Magic Shop, not because of his performances but because of his writing. J.B. Bobo’s great work, Modern Coin Magic, was an instant classic. It has become the undeniable resource every magician needs in regards to coin magic. To this very day, Modern Coin Magic is one of the most popular books at Tannen’s and it’s always a delight to see magicians come into the shop and share some magic they’ve learned from the book. He begins the compendium with an introduction including “A well-presented trick is like a beautiful piece of music- audiences never tire of it… And if it is your desire to master this art, take heart; for ‘No man is his crafts’ master the first day.” 

 

If Bobo’s masterwork is absent from your bookshelf, don’t fret. Get your copy here