Great Clip of the Coney Island Fakir (aka Al Flosso)

[Tom Klem]

Mark Wilden

This thread has gone far from viewing Al Flosso on a TV show from the 1950s. My post was intended to tell you more than the video could about the man, Al Flosso.
You saw him as rude to a boy in doing his routine. Al Flosso actually loved kids. Many a youngster from the 1950s who visited his magic shop on 34th Street would tell you so. He would almost always as them if they had car fare to get home and many got magic for a song as well. The adults not so much.

I believe the buying of the Martinka/Hornmann Magic Shop after owner Frank Ducrot died in 1939 was a turning point in Al Flosso's life. Like Max Holden, Mike Bornstein and others he looked for a way of making a living in magic that was less hard than club dates that required constant traveling from hotel room to hotel room night after night. Al certainly coutinued to perform but not as much after he bought the shop.

Mark I do not know you. What you do in you act certainly is your choice to do. But I believe to judge Al Flosso from one video tape is wrong. Honestly Al Flosso was in his prime before TV. Those like Peter Biro who performed with him live saw the real Al Flosso at his best. and at the right time.

I never did. What we do have is a little "Punch and Judy" footage and a few TV shows like Don Alan's Magic Ranch.

It is sad were have so little footage of many of the greats in magic.

[Guest]

Here's a clip of an older Flosso doing much the same act in an amusement park. Unfortunately, the picture quality is not so good and the audio is not in sync with the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJx_Np1ichg

[Pete Biro]

Great clip. Imagine working with all that background activity?

[Tom Klem]

I have this clip which was shot in Coney Island it is later than the Magic Ranch Show. I have a video tape of a silent film in which it has few minutes of Al Flosso doing a "Punch and Judy" routine. I believe he also is in one of the Marx Brothers films.

Jackie told me Al Flosso was the first magician to apear on the Ed Sullivan Show. Now that would be a clip to find.

[Jim Maloney_dup1]

I believe he also is in one of the Marx Brothers films.

Wow! I never realized this -- and I've seen all of their movies, several times. I just looked it up on IMDB, though, and it says he's the guy doing the Punch & Judy show in Monkey Business (which Harpo proceeds to take over), but is uncredited. I'll have to watch it again to see.

Thanks for that, Tom!

-Jim

[Tom Klem]

Genii Volume 31 No. 5 January 1967 on which Al Flosso appears on its cover has some very nice articles on Flosso. Perhaps it would be nice to reprint one of these article so future magicians will rememer the great Al Flosso.

[Matt Stevens]

I enjoyed the act very much. The act was very pitchman oriented, it appeared to be an act that was to help sell products from his store. If I were to see this today I would probably go visit his store and tell him how much I enjoyed the effects then probably buy a svengali deck or an egg bag. I also believe this kinda of act would be pertinate today as it were yesterday.

This may have been pointed out in the thread, but I got tired of reading whose opinion is better early on.

Thanks for posting the clip.

[David Scollnik]

Re: Al Flosso in Monkey Business.

I was reading "The Coney Island Fakir The Magical Life of Al Flosso" by Gary Brown just last week ... in which it states that Al Flosso knew the Marx Brothers through their grandfather, Louis Schoenberg, who was a neighbour of one of Al Flosso's mentors, Louis Krieger.

(Apologies to the many here who already knew this.)

[Tom Klem]

Louis Krieger or Pop Krieger was not just a mentor. Al Flosso married his Daugther.

[Guest]

Pat Page always says his two favourite magicians were Jay Marshall and Al Flosso. If it's good enough for Pat, it's good enough for me!

[Brandon Hall]

If I recall correctly the Marx Bros grandparents were magicians in the old country...