A group of like-minded enthusiasts that’s been meeting since before the end of World War II is still at it, marking its eighth decade with performances a member said “will put some wonder in your mind.”
The Magic Masters of Chicago will present two shows Dec. 28 at the historic Roxy Theatre in Lockport.
“It’s very entertaining and very mesmerizing,” said club member Ron Centanni, of Tinley Park. “The magic that’s displayed really knocks the audiences off their feet. I’m amazed at what some of these magicians do,”
Even as a magician himself, Centanni said some of the tricks leave him just as stunned as the audience. “How in the world do they do that kind of stuff?”
The club will present a show at 3 p.m. geared toward children and another at 7:30 p.m. geared toward adults, but still appropriate for people of all ages. A portion of ticket sales will go to Trinity Services Inc., which provides services for people with developmental and mental disabilities.
Starting an hour before the show, Magic Masters members will be in the theatre’s lounge performing “table magic.” The stage performers are mainly outside professional magicians but will include a few members who do stage shows.
Club President Don Wiberg, of Frankfort, called the benefit “good, wholesome entertainment.”
“It’s fun to be fooled,” he said, adding that the Roxy is a “beautifully restored theater in the Deco style. There’s a lounge where they have drinks and snacks and another place where there’s a theater.”
Prepackaged snacks will be sold, and a cash bar will be available. “While you’re enjoying your drink, there will be other magicians doing close-up magic or a magician performing for small groups as opposed to stage illusions,” he said.
Among the strolling performers will be Centanni, a retired Marian Catholic High School guidance counselor who joined the club a decade ago and has performed for tours and on small cruise ships. His magic is focused on close-up work. “I have a couple of tricks I do with making things disappear, and I’ve got a card trick that kind of blows people’s minds,” he said.
Wiberg, who joined the club at age 18 back in 1954, enjoys attending its monthly meetings to show off magic or to listen to an outside lecturer talk about how to do tricks.
Centanni also likes to learn new ways to do magic. “Sometimes our president will say the theme this month is card tricks, so everyone will come in with something they’ll do for that,” he said.
Magic Masters, which began in 1944, is Chicago’s “longest-running magic club dedicated to the advancement of the art of magic as an entertainment art form,” according to its website.
The club has about 20 active members who come from throughout the Chicago area, especially the southern and western suburbs, but also as far away as Merrillville and Valparaiso in northwest Indiana.
Some of the money raised Dec. 28 will help pay for additional professional lecturers as part of the club’s mission to promote the field of magic, an effort that’s increasingly important to practitioners of the venerable craft. Although Magic Masters once boasted 40 members, it’s facing the same decline as other organizations, Wiberg said. “I was president of the International Brotherhood of Magicians 30 years ago, and we had about 15,000 members. Today we have about 7,000.”
The club began moving south from Chicago, hosting banquets in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood, Oak Lawn, Hickory Hills and finally Gaelic Park in Oak Forest. Initially 600 to 700 people attended the events but numbers dwindled to about 250 before those ended.
With the club celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, members wanted to do something special.
“We’ve had some excellent entertainment over the years. When this opportunity at the Roxy came up, we had to do something,” Wiberg said, adding that the club’s first show in April 2024 went so well it was invited to do a holiday show and another one in the spring. “This has worked out beautifully.”
Beyond the performance opportunities, he likes the club’s “camaraderie, the friendship and the sharing of ideas,” especially as brick and mortar magic shops have been disappearing when they once were plentiful in Chicago. “In Chicago and the general area, there is one magic shop up on Lawrence – Magic Incorporated,” he shared, adding that magic legends Chuck’s House of Magic in Homewood and Riley’s Trick Shop, most recently in Palos Hills, have closed.
Wiberg, a retired high school teacher, said club members are mainly hobbyists rather than full-time, professional magicians. Nearly all its members are men.
“Historically, women were assigned to the role of being assistants,” he said. “My wife could get sliced and diced. We had an act and would work some of the regular hotels around town on club dates.
“That goes back hundreds of years, but of late there is a resurgence of women taking a leadership role in performing. That’s good. There’s no question about it.”
In addition to performing a nightclub act with his wife, Joyce, where they magically produced doves and other illusions, they were on “Bozo’s Circus” a number of times, he did a standup act with some magic involved. Wiberg at one point took on the role of Corny the Corn King Clown to promote Wilson and Co.’s Corn King bacon. He also was one of 20 magicians from across the country “invited to do strolling magic for the inauguration dinner for George. W. Bush,” he said.
When reminiscing about the club’s long history, Wiberg shared a story about an unusual performance. A member who was a dentist wanted to perform during an event to show off a particular skill. After he was introduced on stage, he said that with hypnotism, he could put patients out and they wouldn’t experience pain or bleeding.
A friend of his who wanted her ears pierced volunteered and was hypnotized on stage, even slumping in her seat. “He uncovered the tray and washed his hands and pierced her ears and said she didn’t feel a thing,” Wiberg recalled
Next, the dentist magician said he had another patient who was “deathly afraid of dentists” but agreed to come on stage. “He put the second one under hypnosis, and he actually pulled her tooth!” Wiberg exclaimed. “There was not one bit of bleeding, not one bit of pain, and he snapped her out of it. We’ve had acts that are strange but no acts like that!”
Keeping the club running smoothly isn’t always easy. “I’m trying to keep this thing going,” Wiberg said. “I’ve got some really cooperative people involved with me. With this show coming up at the Roxy, it’s amazing how many people have stepped up and are doing their share. Every little bit helps.”
Tickets for the afternoon show cost $15; evening tickets cost $20. Tickets are sold online at magicmasters.ticketspice.com/magic-of-the-holidays.
Anyone interested in practicing or performing magic is invited to join Magic Masters of Chicago, which meets from 7 to 10 p.m. the fourth Wednesday of every month except July and August at Station Pub & Restaurant in Tinley Park. Dues cost $35 per year, and magicians younger than 18 must be with an adult. Visit atmagicmastersofchicago.com or by call 815-263-8698 or 815-464-0414.
Melinda Moore is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
