American Masters : Johnny Carson

[Magic Newswire]

While working on work stuff tonight, I started watching random documentaries. My favorite of the day is the American Masters series profile of" Johnny Carson : King of Late Night". If you are interested in such things, the first half hour of the show talks about his interest in magi and the influence that it had upon him as an entertainer. Enjoy!

[Magic Newswire]

Not only is Mr Carson's love of magic a persistant theme throughout this film, but, in my opinion, this is a fantastic tribute to an amazing entertainer. For me, this is a must watch film that touches on the craft that we all love.

[MManchester]

For additional Carson reminiscences, Scott Wells' most recent Magic Word podcast includes an interview with Dean Dill who met Johnny and taught him magic. (13:37 - 29:00)

http://themagicwordpodcast.com/scottwellsmagic/2013/6/14/my-week-at-hollywoods-famed-magic-castle

[MManchester]

For U.S. residents, the complete American Masters episode is available to watch on the PBS Web site.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/johnny-carson-king-of-late-night/watch-the-full-documentary/2093/

[Chas Nigh]

You can watch it on Netflix.

[Bill Marquardt]

Not really trying to resurrect an old topic, but I thought i should mention that I watched an old Jack Benny Show yesterday. Johnny was Jack's guest. Johnny actually performed a short set of card flourishes, including the usual fans and productions. He was quite good, with a flawless back palm.

So, he did perform magic on TV at least twice. I saw him do a similar routine on his own Tonight Show, which I believe was the only time he performed magic on his own show. I bring this up because people have claimed he never performed magic on television.