Karrell Fox on The Magic Palace

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Q. Kumber
Posts: 1851
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Tom Whitestone

Karrell Fox on The Magic Palace

Postby Q. Kumber » July 14th, 2016, 12:10 pm

The late Karrell Fox who passed away in 1998 was one of the finest magical entertainers I have had the pleasure to know.

His books, which cover all aspects of magic from close-up to stage have pride of place on the "workers" shelves of my library where they sit alongside those of Billy McComb, Faucett Ross, Pat Page and Ken Brooke.

You could be guaranteed that with Karrell's name on any convention bill, it would be a success.

At the Hastings, 1978 British Ring convention, Karrell was MC'ing the two Saturday gala shows both of which overran considerably. There were numerous technical hitches with Karrell ready to introduce the next act only to have a whisper coming from backstage, "Do another four minutes." That happened many times during the second house gala that I was at. (Max Maven can verify this as he was on the bill). If you have ever MC'd a show, you'll know that will put a shiver down your spine, never mind it happening between nearly every act.

Only those of us out front had no idea there were such problems. Karrell was a total pro and kept everything moving along. It was only in talking with him afterwards, I heard about the problems and he said it was the hardest gig he had ever worked in his life.

His routines always had original touches and presented with good humour, and he could also bring the house down with real belly laughs.

Here he is with some close-up magic from Dale Harney's Canadian TV show, The Magic Palace, early 1980's. Enjoy.

Thank you Dale Harney and Magicana for making this available.

http://www.magicana.com/video/karell-fox-close-magic

Jackpot
Posts: 236
Joined: June 8th, 2016, 12:38 am
Location: Santa Rosa, CA

Re: Karrell Fox on The Magic Palace

Postby Jackpot » July 14th, 2016, 12:47 pm

Very enjoyable to watch a master.

Since MCs need to keep the show moving and prevent dead spots when there are problems, your anecdote reinforces the old saw "Acts are hired for what they do while MCs are hired for what they know." It's a good think Karrell Fox had extensive knowledge.
Not the one who created the Potter Index.

brianarudolph
Posts: 404
Joined: February 26th, 2012, 9:22 pm

Re: Karrell Fox on The Magic Palace

Postby brianarudolph » July 14th, 2016, 1:29 pm

I always loved and admired Karrell's ability to both entertain and mystify an audience - as well as his ability to leave us rolling in the aisles. Thanks for posting that link, Q.

It was a sad day for magic when the Foxy Follies were no longer permitted to close the Saturday evening show at the Abbott Get Togethers. But it was a far, far sadder day when we lost Karrell at the Desert Magic Seminar in 1998. One day I was talking to him for two minutes, the next day word came that he had passed away overnight.

Karrell was one of the first magic pros I ever met as a youngster. I echo Mr. Kumber's thoughts on his books. I'm thrilled to have acquired most of my copies directly from Karrell over those years (and had him autograph them, of course) and to still proudly have them in my magic library.


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