Favorite Dove Acts

Discuss your favorite platform magic and illusions.
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Glenn Farrington
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Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Glenn Farrington » June 19th, 2004, 3:44 pm

Ok gang. I would like to hear your feedback on this one. Who are you favorite "Working" dove acts.
Comedy's Easy...Dying Sucks.

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Pete Biro
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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Pete Biro » June 19th, 2004, 5:20 pm

Why?
Stay tooned.

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Glenn Farrington
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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Glenn Farrington » June 19th, 2004, 6:54 pm

Geeez Pete...why do you think. Sheeeesh.
Comedy's Easy...Dying Sucks.

Jeremy Medows
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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Jeremy Medows » June 19th, 2004, 8:42 pm

Amos Levkovitch - it looks like his birds just love him. I once sat through his lecture at a magic convention and he explained how he takes care of his birds. Any magician considering using animals in their show should sit through his lecture.

David Oliver
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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Jonathan Levey » June 19th, 2004, 8:49 pm

Jason Byrne
Lee Eyun Gueol
Tony Clark

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Guest » June 20th, 2004, 12:27 pm

James Ceilen and James Dimmare come to mind.

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Kendrix » June 20th, 2004, 12:57 pm

Greg Frewin: My wife hated the fact the doves were dyed.
Lance Burton: Classic music and act.
Shimada: Great style and utter smoothness.
Channing Pollock: Grand master. "European Nights" truly something to see.

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Steve Bryant
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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Steve Bryant » June 20th, 2004, 12:59 pm

Lance, Greg Frewin. And while they are more colorful than doves, Brett Daniels and his birds.

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Michael Close » June 20th, 2004, 1:49 pm

On his new 3-DVD set, Frewin mentions that he no longer dyes his doves, and he explains why.

M. Close

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Guest » June 20th, 2004, 5:32 pm

My vote goes to the ultra-sophisticated General Grant! You'll never see a smoother act! --Asrah

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Guest » June 21st, 2004, 8:57 am

In no particular order..

Tony Clark :genii:
Amos Levkovich :genii:
Ice McDonald :genii:
Eric Buss :genii:

Dale Shrimpton
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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Dale Shrimpton » June 21st, 2004, 9:22 am

I have been told that Harry Vendres used to do a wonderfull dove act. It was before my time, but i am sure some of our older writers might be able to shed some light...


Dale

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Pete Biro » June 21st, 2004, 9:59 am

My favorite dove worker is "The Maestro" :genii: -- why? Because he is FUNNY TOO. Real name: Nowlin Craver. :D I believe he placed VERY HIGH in the scoring at FISM (the one before Den Haag). :cool:
Stay tooned.

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Guest » June 21st, 2004, 5:52 pm

Fielding West, with BoB the Bird. When that head

comes off like silly putty I almost debated on

myself ( no pissing allowed on this forum ) .....

....Mike..... ;)

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Guest » June 21st, 2004, 7:18 pm

Hello All:
Mr. Shrimpton is right. Harry Vendryes had the most beutiful dove-act, I ever have seen. Channing Pollok was good, but in my humble opinion Harry Vendryes was in the same class, if not better.He did a few dove-steals, which were sensational and unexplicable.His finale trick was an absolute "killer",because it wasnt the usual cage vanish, it was something even more spectacular. In his free time, Harry was fumbling around with electronics, which he wanted to incorporate into his act.
Unfortunately I saw Vendryes never again. He "vanished" without a trace and I wish, I could locate him.
Maybe this post helps me to find him eventually.
In advance THANKS!

musketeer :whack:

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Pete Biro » June 21st, 2004, 8:23 pm

Glenn is looking for "current/available" bird acts.

James Dimmare is no slouch, but been seen at WMS.
James Cilein is dynamite, but maybe too busy to come to a convention.
Not seen Tony Clark lately, but many say he can do a great job.

Shimada still KO's the audiences... both acts. I have worked with him twice, and both shows got Standing Ovations.

How many of you know that Channing Pollock taught his English cab driver his act? The cabbie used to always drive Channing to his shows. He was a pal of Ken Brooke.

His stage name was Franklin. I saw him work and he did it as good as Channing, but didn't have the Charisma. When Channing worked nightclubs the women went gaga over him.
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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Dale Shrimpton » June 22nd, 2004, 4:48 am

I knew that about Franklin.
And as said above it would be wonderful to find out what Happened to Harry. My magic mentor was greatly infuenced by him, and has passed on so many things to me that Harry told him.
By the way, i gather that Harry had, due to an acident, a very large hollow on the right side of his body, and this was used to advantage in hiding birds.

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Guest » June 22nd, 2004, 10:39 am

Harry was to the time as we met the first time the "Ladies delight", also. Harry did know his bird-act in- and outside, but beside his great act he did know one single trick only: The paddle trick, which he performed quite well.
His agent was Mrs. Carmen Bajon from Paris and I think, if I go to Pareis the next time I`ll contact her to find out something more about Harry Vendryes.

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Dale Shrimpton » June 23rd, 2004, 12:47 am

I am under the impression that He returned to the west Indies to Retire.Laurie Gleeson My mentor, tells me that that was the last thing he heard.
Did you ever hear about the "silk from fly" thing?
very amusing.

Carl Mercurio
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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Carl Mercurio » June 23rd, 2004, 6:52 am

Maybe 25 years ago at one of the Tannen's Jubilees there was this guy who dressed up like a giant dove and produced little men. That was funny....As for favorite dove acts, I'd have to go with Pollock...Carl

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Richard Kaufman » June 23rd, 2004, 7:56 am

The act Carl is referring to is ... I can't remember the guy's name: he was an Italian doctor who died last year. Zeli, Zelpi, perhaps? Either way, it was either him, or Bob Little, who copped his act!
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Pete Biro
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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Pete Biro » June 23rd, 2004, 9:29 am

It was Zelpi... and Bob Little did steal the act.

Most posters here are missing the point of Glenn's question.

He's looking for current, wonderullest act now working... to book.

Not a show for the history channel... :whack:
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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Richard Kaufman » June 23rd, 2004, 12:04 pm

The act that will make everyone go crazy is the kid from Shanghai (or was it Hong Kong) who won the contest at the convention in Shanghai, China, last December.
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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Richard Kaufman » June 23rd, 2004, 7:15 pm

Just received an e-mail from Stefano Pascale with more concrete information about the guy who did the comedy act dressed as a giant dove. His name was Giampaolo Zelli (Zelpy), and he was born in Rome on March 18, 1936.
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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Guest » June 24th, 2004, 2:28 pm

Jason Byrnes has a beautiful dove act!

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Pete Biro
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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Pete Biro » June 24th, 2004, 2:40 pm

Zelpy also did an act where he was a STATUE, ini white, like plaster, a bust on a pedestal ... but forget the bits.
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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Bizzaro » June 28th, 2004, 2:38 am

No one has mentioned Jonathan David Bass. That boy has always been a bit off but in a good way. Unique is always a good way to go. Dimmare is always one of my faves, Jason Byrne (Not to be confused with David Byrne) has a great style and act. I saw Saterial at a TAOM and despite tha fact it was very basic stuff.. it was still a pretty act.

As far as old skool goes (off subject that it is) Channing had a smoothness that most just don't have still.

and bob the bird is great...
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Stefan Nilsson
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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Stefan Nilsson » July 2nd, 2004, 4:05 am

Marko Karvo.

(And yes, I've seen most of the performers mentioned earlier in this thread.)

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Guest » July 5th, 2004, 5:38 pm

Joseph Gabriel....many forget him, but he's performing in Vegas now, and is simply amazing. His steals are real foolers, and some are a mystery to all of the magicians in the show watching him over and over....
Yep, Joseph Gabriel...

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Gregory Schultz » July 6th, 2004, 10:57 am

Years ago I used to see Tom and Sherrie frequently. They had a real high energy act. Sherrie was also really hot looking, and a terrific assistant. Sadly I read that Sherrie died a few years ago. One complaint I have with a lot of new school dove workers: A lot of them just have the doves suddenly appear, they have done nothing "magical" to bring about the sudden appearance of the dove. I think that breaks a cardinal rule of magic. If you produce something, you should do something to cause this phenomenon.

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Guest » July 19th, 2004, 5:19 am

David Oliver's dove act is truely incredible, one of the finest.

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Guest » December 19th, 2004, 5:42 pm

This is my 1st post/reply, so bear with me if it has been said before, or if my comments are for much earlier posts.
I believe there are many excellent Dove Acts performing today. Some that come to mind are George Saterial, David Oliver, Amos Levkovitch, Tony Clark, Gen Grant, Lance Burton, Shimada, Jason Purdy, Jason Byrne,
Greg Frewen, Dan Birch, Joseph Gabriel,and Johnny Thompson to name a few. They each have things in their act that are original and some things that are standard/public domain, but with an original twist. I can't say who my favorite is since each performer is unique in his own way. However the two Dove Workers that had the most impact on me are Gen Grant (still working) and Channing Pollock, the greatest ever in my opinion!

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Guest » December 26th, 2004, 2:19 pm

I,INADVERTENTLY,left out some names of other Dove Workers in my previous post that I also consider excellent: James Dimmare, Rick Thomas, James Cielin, Jonathan David Bass, Dave Womack and Dan Sperry.Again, this is not a complete list. I hope I have not offended anyone whose name I left out.

I certainly do not consider myself an expert on the subject of DOVE Magic, it is just an area of magic that is dear to my heart. When I was a kid, 14 years old, I did a dove act. That was about fifty years ago, yes, I said 50. I saw Channing Pollock perform on TV on the Ed Sullivan Show, I believe it was March 7, 1954. Later that year I met Gen Grant at Holden's Magic Shop in Boston. I also saw him perform later, about 1955. He helped motivate me a great deal. We are still friends to this day.

There has been some controversy about who first did the dove toss to silk effect, Channing or Gen. If any of you happen to have heard or would like to contribute your ideas on the matter, I would be very interested in hearing about your story or version of the account. I happen to have my own opinion which I have posted on other magic websites. Please understand, I do not wish to start any problems or conflicts over the controversy, it is just that I am interested in the history of Dove Magic. As many of you may know, the dove toss to silk is done by many Dove Workers today and is consequently considered public domain.

In case some of you have not seen some of the Acts mentioned above, I was thinking to describe them on this site without giving any secrets away, but not to review or critique them. If anyone out there thinks it would be beneficial, just let me know which act would interest you.

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Guest » December 27th, 2004, 10:30 am

I first began working with doves after seeing Lance Burton at the Midwest Magic Jubilee in St. Louis, Missouri. Believe it was 1981, certainly before he became a phenomenon. He was and is, incredible. The other magician that made a huge impact on me was Shimada. He performed in St. Louis at the old American Theatre, a beautiful old hall. I believe it was the 'It's Magic' show. At any rate, I was introduced to him, his wife and daughter by Harry Montieth. A really wonderful memory. I still have the playing cards that Shimada, wife Deanna and daughter Lisa. When he threw two doves into the air and they morphed into two white scarves, it was pure magic!

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Guest » December 28th, 2004, 12:43 pm

Hi,

Here in The Netherlands we have Dion van Rijt.
That kid is 14 years old and has a dove act older magicians can learn from him!
He is training now for upcomming FISM and I shall eat my shoe if he do not win any price!!

if interested I can look if there is a video of his act.

Richard Stooker

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Guest » January 3rd, 2005, 8:56 am

To:rsmagic
I would very much like to see a video of the boy, Dion, you spoke of.

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Guest » January 3rd, 2005, 12:07 pm

As a follow-up to my previous post, I remember seeing a Swedish magician, Tim Starr, perform a linking ring routine where as a final effect, a live dove suddenly appeared perched within the three linked rings. Tim had a knack for approaching standard effects and adding a little twist that made them really stand out. Tim used to spin products for Rings 'n Things and was an incredible close-up and stage talent. I wonder whatever happened to him?

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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Guest » January 27th, 2005, 6:52 pm

Check out Puck's act... He's at a theater on International Drive in Orlando, FL.
My Favorite Part of his act is Cockagamie' with his cockatoo, But his dove work kicks butt too. He also performs at the castle occasionaly usally with Denny Haney.

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Pete Biro
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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Pete Biro » January 28th, 2005, 9:07 am

Tim Starr? Last I heard he was in real estate.
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Re: Favorite Dove Acts

Postby Charles Spector » January 30th, 2005, 10:13 am

Mike Elkin, subtle and humble. I hope he can continue.

Charles Spector


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