It doesn’t take long for most magicians to start collecting magic stuff. Of course most of them accumulate a bunch of props and effects they never use. Over the years they buy duplicates (either on purpose or by accident). When they have three of one thing, it’s a collection. Some people collect magic books and magazines, magic tapes and DVDs, or something more categorized like cups and balls or handcuffs or magician autographs.
Mark Horowitz is a magic collector. A serious magic collector. In fact, in his house in South Florida he has what he calls a “Magic Mini-Museum.” That means four rooms are completely full of magic things and stuff. There are magic books, of course (over three thousand), and magic DVDs and magic magazines. Everyone has those. But there are also five hundred and fifty magic sets, over sixteen hundred magic comic books, ten thousand business cards, and lots of other magic stuff we’ll mention later. But how did Horowitz become a major magic collector, especially of so many different things?
Let’s go back to his roots, in Brooklyn, New York. He was born April 29, 1948 and spent his youth there with his father (a salesman) and mother (a seamstress) and sister. At age twelve he went to a flea market in New Jersey with his father, who had a booth there. While wandering through the flea market young Horowitz was captivated
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by a vendor who was using magic tricks to attract hoards of women to his booth, at which he sold them hosiery. That effective use of magic grabbed Mark’s attention and he has been hooked ever since. About the same time, in 1959, he got his first magic set, called “Sneaky Pete,” which he still has. That was collection piece number one; the collecting seed was planted. He found out about a magic store in downtown New York City, and took the subway by himself to spend several hours every Saturday at Al Flosso’s Magic Shop. Albert Levinson owned and operated Martinka & Company, 1939-1976, and it became a destination and hangout for magicians from all over the world. Al took Mark under his wing, letting him help out in the store, sending him for coffee to bring back for magician visitors (such as Dai Vernon and Joseph Dunninger), and teaching him magic tricks and giving him some to take home (another start at collecting). Mark also spent time at Tannen’s Magic Company, not far away. The foundation was being built, including some early items for later collections. Throughout his teen years, Mark maintained his interest in magic, but none of his friends were interested in it, so he busied himself in collecting (there’s that “C” word again) stamps, coins, and baseball cards, like they did.
It wasn’t until he got to college that he returned to being more active in magic. He started at Queens College but soon tired of the long commute and iffy weather. Having become a fan of both Elvis Presley (yes, Mark was a collector) and barbecue, he decided Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis) would be a good school to attend (and maybe he would even meet Elvis; more later on
that). While in Memphis, he helped pay expenses by performing magic at events like adult birthday parties, weddings, and even some trade shows; got his first magic comic book from a college friend who knew of his interest in magic; and decided his college’s School of Optometry would prepare him for a nice career. And yes, he met Elvis -- twice. In 1966 Mark was flying from Memphis to Nashville on his way for a visit home in New York. He was dressed somewhat crazy, on a dare, including a cowboy hat. As he passed through First Class he noticed Elvis sitting there, so Mark tipped his hat to him. After he was seated, one of Elvis’s Memphis Mafia came back to Mark and said Mr. Presley invites you to come up and talk with him. Of course he went and they had a pleasant conversation for most of the hour flight. Mark even did a coin trick for him. Then a year or so later back in Memphis, Mark and his date were sitting in his car at a Shoney’s drive-in restaurant, when up drove Elvis on his motorcycle, right next to them. Mark said Hi and reminded Elvis that they had talked on an airplane. “Oh yes,” Elvis said, “and you showed me a coin trick.” And that’s why Mark’s Elvis collection (over one hundred items, including an autographed photo, a thick scrapbook album of three-hundred pages, thirty or more record albums, and assorted other memorabilia) has special meaning to him. (This guy knows good stuff to collect!) He did attend optometric school and received his Doctor of Optometry in 1973. Since his parents had moved to Florida, he moved there upon graduation. He practiced with a firm for one year in Miami Beach before moving north and opening his own optometry business in a mall in Deerfield Beach, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. There, as he puts it, he played doctor by day and magician by night -- for twenty-five years. Since his location had a display window in the mall, he featured magic items in it, such as magic posters and props. They were attention-getting and stopped people. In 1996 he sold his business and has been working for two other firms ever since, both in the greater Fort Lauderdale area. One is an optometrist in Delray Beach; the other is an ophthalmologist in Deerfield Beach. He still works four to six days a week, but with flexible hours to pursue his magic interests (mostly at night and on weekends). For nine years he was an active trade show magician, for every industry imaginable, from optical (of course) to insurance. Revlon was a client for several years. For five years he was the house magician every Saturday night at the Vanderbilt Mansion on Fisher Island, an exclusive gated community. That’s most of the basic biographical information on Mark Horowitz. But wait, there’s more (as those infomercial guys tell us). Here, in no particular order, are more of the notes I took from my interview with Mark, both direct quotes and paraphrased thoughts: ON USING MAGIC IN HIS BUSINESS: Over the years I have found that magic has been a great way to put people at ease and to relax them, both kids and adults. Also, depending on the circumstances, I often have used magic as a type of “reward” for being a good patient. And I have received many engagements from using magic on patients and their families -- birthday parties, anniversaries, etc. Also, when I have been asked about how to get into magic, I have brought dozens of people to our Ring meetings over the years. Some became members. ON MAGIC MEMBERSHIPS: Of course I believe in magic associations and believe every magician should be a member of at least one. There is great value and pleasure in rubbing elbows with fellow magicians. It’s a lot of fun, too, and you pick up many valuable tips and ideas. I have been a member of both the I.B.M. and the S.A.M. almost as long as I have been in magic. Wherever I have been I have been active in the local magic clubs, including serving on boards, in most officer positions, including president. I am proud that Ring 150 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida is named for me. I also am an active member of the Florida State Magic Association. We are holding our Fifty-first Annual Convention in Orlando, May 27-30, and I will be lecturing. ON ATTENDING MAGIC CONVENTIONS: I am a big believer in magic conventions -- of all sizes. Over the years I have attended one hundred and eighty-one magic conventions! How do I know? Because I have the convention program from every one. (Now there’s another worthy collection.) ON HIS MAGIC MINI-MUSEUM: My magic mini-museum takes up most of four rooms in my house in XXXX XXXXXX, where I live. Currently I have over three thousand magic books (seven hundred and fifty which are autographed); ten thousand business cards (all related to magic); an unknown number of posters; five hundred and fifty magic sets; and over sixteen hundred magic comic books. The business cards, postcards and other paper items (such as magic postage stamps) are in over fifty binders on bookshelves. A separate category of books is those which have actual magic tricks included in them, such as “Gibson’s Magic Manual;” I have about twenty of those. I also have about XX cereal boxes with magic tricks still inside. ON WHAT MAKES A “MAGIC” COMIC BOOK: When I received my first magic comic back in college, I decided it would be a neat thing to collect, and I also made my own rules as to what is a magic comic book. My criteria: if the entire comic is about magic (such as Mandrake the Magician); if one story in the book is about magic; if it contains one or more magic tricks; or if magic is shown on the cover (such as Mickey Mouse in a top hat with a magic wand in his hand). There are no “officia;” qualifications of a magic comic book. ON OTHER ASPECTS OF MAGIC COMIC BOOKS: I have many duplicates of many magic comic books because I buy as many as I can find, including used book stores, flea markets and garage sales. Also other people give and sell them to be. I take duplicates to magic conventions and sell them, and I sell some through e-mail and Internet contacts. There are other people who collect magic comic books, but no one comes even close to the number I have. I have been told by numerous people that I have the largest collection of magic comic books in the world. ON COLLECTING MAGIC SETS: I have always been amazed at how many magic sets have been produced over the years. More often than not, magicians tell how they got started in magic by getting a magic set for Christmas or a birthday. Magic sets come in all shapes and sizes, in all sorts of materials -- cardboard, wood, plastic, and even metal. Some come in a briefcase-type container with a handle. Some come which make into their own table stand. The oldest one I have is from the 1930s. ON MAGIC HISTORY: Having collected bits and pieces of magic’s history for over fifty years, it is not surprising that I am passionate about the history of magic. I feel so strong about it, in fact, that I think every magic convention -- small to large, local to international -- should always have at least one magic history session on their program. We who stand on the shoulders of the magic giants who came before us, have the responsibility to know about them. That’s one reason why I make myself available to lecture at magic conventions of all sizes. I have lectured at the I.B.M. conventions in Reno, Miami, Nashville, and San Diego, and at the P.C.A.M. Convention in Calgary. I call my lecture, “Sex, Lies, and Magic Obsessions.” I ask magic trivia questions and give magic comic books as prizes; I am the Alex Trebek of magic. ON MY FAMILY: My parents are both gone now. My son is Lee Asher, the professional magician who lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I began teaching him magic at age eight and he was a natural. He won Florida’s Junior Championship five years in a row, and then the World Junior Championship the two years after that. My daughter, Alexis was a special effects make-up artist and talent agent in Los Angeles, but now she lives with me in Florida, and works for an entertainment group. ON THAT SIGNATURE MUSTACHE: I grew a big mustache when I was eighteen and liked it for a time, but shaved it off. Then at age twenty-two I grew it back and have had it ever since -- going on forty-five years and counting. ON COLLECTING STUFF: Coming full circle, I have been collecting all my life and am still collecting. I get a great deal of pleasure in the search, as well as finding some specific elusive items. I guess I should compile a “Wanted List” and put it on a Web page, but I don’t have time for that. Maybe some day. ON A HEADLINE FOR THIS ARTICLE: Well, I am an eye doctor as well as a magician. You could say, “When seeing is not always believing.” ON CONTACTING: Mark Horowitz can be reached at drmagicmh@gmail.com END
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