Las Vegas Weekly

December 16, 2008 · 1:37 PM

Magician headliners pay tribute to veteran Vegas illusionist Marvyn ‘Mr. Electric’ Roy

By Robin Leach

Marvyn "Mr. Electric" Roy.

Photo: TVT

Abracadabra! There is nothing more intriguing in showbiz than having one magician trying to trick another. Even they want to know how it’s done!

Las Vegas is home to more magicians than any other city on Earth, and there was a full turnout of old-timers and newcomers when the Fantasma Ring of the International Brotherhood of Magicians honored Marvyn “Mr. Electric” Roy as the Magician of the Year. Marvin won the nickname for his amazing illusions with light bulbs, one of which was a showstopper when he made his wife, Carol, appear inside an oversized working bulb!

Siegfried of Siegfried & Roy, Lance Burton, Johnny Thompson, Jeff McBride, Mac King and Mel Larson were just a few of the magical names at the salute to “Mr. Electric” held at The Orleans Hotel that was emceed by V Theater Planet Hollywood star Jeff Hobson. Stan Allen, publisher of Magic Magazine based here in Vegas, even performed to honor the veteran, and Spain’s top magician Jorge Blass flew in from Europe.

Marvin’s incredible 50-year magic career dates back to his early days selling tricks at a magic shop before he developed his own world famous light-bulb act. It won him appearances in top nightclubs and hotel shows across the U.S. starting in 1950, and by 1955 they had appeared at the then top nightclub in the world, the Lido in Paris. When the Stardust hotel here on the Strip opened the U.S. edition of the Lido show, Marvyn and Carol Roy were the headliners!

Ed Sullivan not only had them on numerous of his TV shows, but also on his 15th anniversary program and when he traveled to Russia as a government-sponsored cultural exchange program. They were headliners on Garry Moore’s historic TV special World’s Greatest Magicians and played everywhere from London’s Palladium to Radio City Music Hall and several Las Vegas Strip showrooms.

Siegfried told me: “Before Roy and I started out, we’d read about this amazing man with his light-bulb act. He was absolutely amazing. We never dreamed that one day we would leave Germany and wind up working in competition with him on the Vegas Strip. Now here tonight, we are paying him respect as one of the most revered magicians of all.”

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