Baritone magicians

[Peter Ross]

Watching a clip of Blackstone Jr. with his deep, baritone voice, I was reminded of Max Maven, another baritone magician.
Any others, living or dead?

[Edward Pungot]

Eugene Burger & Orson Welles

[JHostler]

Rafael Benatar, Roger Linden

[Tarotist]

Your voice is very important in magic whether baritone or not. It can make a massive difference if you have an attractive voice. Of course this is a gift of the Gods and there may be nothing you can do about it. Actually you can to a degree. The very least you can do whether your voice is attractive or not is to vary the tone, the volume etc;. Too many performers speak in a monotonous tone and do not vary their speech.

[Edward Pungot]

Another vote for Rafael Benatar. He is also a musician and the way he patters and talks is very Latin/Spanish and therefore very romantic/expressive and beautiful to listen to. Also add Billy McComb for very same reasons mentioned by Mark.

Larry Jennings too along with Max Malini.

[Tarotist]

One problem with Billy McComb (and he actually admitted it in print) is that he had a tendency to mumble somewhat and that can be difficult to hear. He did have an attractive Ulster accent which of course helped him. A great fault of performers is that you can't always hear them properly even if they are using a microphone because of the mumble factor. This is a particular problem with older people in the audience who can't hear as well as they used to.

I have actually noticed a lot of magic lecturers have this issue too. Half the time you can't hear them properly and you have to sit in the front row to know what they are trying to say. I have always thought to myself, "These people are supposed to be in show business. Why the hell can't they speak up?"

[Edward Pungot]

I don’t think this was specific to Billy but a regional observation which he played on for comic stereotypical effect (along with his old age). American comedy such as SNL and even 90s children’s cartoons parodied this trademark mumbled English (see Animaniacs).

During my teens I got to listen to Billy talk on almost a monthly basis for about 4-5 years. And always it was charmingly expressive, clear, and resonate. I also got to see him work all the rooms at the Magic Castle and he never failed to get his points across that sometimes the patter didn’t mean a damn thing, then return to the clarity once the laughter subsided. It was always fun to watch Billy work a room.

[Tarotist]

Oh, I knew him quite well. He was very good. However, you should have seen him in his younger days. Then he was REALLY good! As for the mumbling issue it will take a lot to convince me that it is a good thing.

[Ian Kendall]

Everyone should go through voice training if they are a performer. Even if they use a microphone instead of projecting, it's still important to know how to use a mic properly. It's shocking how many don't...

Having a deep voice with a soft Scottish accent is also a bit of a plus...

[Rafael Benatar]

Here is a clarification of what “baritone” really means. The term is usually employed to refer to a low-pitched voice in general, as is commonly understood, but technically not quite accurate.
Voices in a choir are often divided into four overlapping ranges, soprano (high female voice), contralto (low female voice), tenor (high male voice), and bass (low male voice).
Each of these categories has subdivisions, baritone being the highest overlapping range of the bass voice. In choir music, which is typically 4-part, these four categories are enough, for the most part.
In opera or lyrical singing, where ranges need to be more specific, some of those subdivisions, namely mezzosoprano (between soprano and contralto) and baritone (between tenor and bass) are often referred to as categories for their own.
If we are talking of magicians with a low-pitched voice, “baritone” would technically exclude the deepest bass voice, and we wouldn’t want to leave out Eugene Burger.

[Dustin Stinett]

Max Maven's voice always reminded me of José Ferrer's. (When I told Max that, he was quite flattered.) Rafael's is the deepest I can think of at the moment, so, Rafael, do you consider yourself a baritone?

[AJM]

I'd do anything for a tenor.

(Ok, so you have to be a Brit to get that one - please yourselves)

[DennisLisi]

I always found it fascinating that Harry Blackstone Jr had a deep rich voice, and enunciated every word he spoke, whereas his father tended to be more "mumbly". To me the latter sounded like the doctor on Gunsmoke.

Similar to father and son, Walter and John Huston.

I think The Age of Radio had something to do with the trend towards baritone voices. It's easier to hear the words in the event of "static' and other distractions. It commands attention too.

I fake it myself. Someday I'll annoy you folks with my "Harry Blackstone Jr, The Second" act.

[chetday]

I haven't talked to or spent any time with Jon Racherbaumer since the late 80's/early 90's, but my recollection is that he had a deep and memorable voice.

[Dustin Stinett]

Another is David Charvet, who can do an uncanny impression of Blackstone Jr.