Al Flosso - *MAGIC LEGENDS presented by Lee Asher*

[Lee Asher]

AL FLOSSO

Albert Levinson (1895 - 1976) was an American magician and entertainer, better known by his stage name - Al Flosso. Levinson was born in Brooklyn, New York, and his stage name was taken from a vernacular name for cotton candy: Floss

Al Flosso was a Vaudeville-era magician who perfected the Misers’ Dream at Coney Island in the 1920's. He was later featured on early TV shows such as Toast of the Town, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Steve Allen Show and Wonderama, among many others.

In 1939 he took over the then called Hornmann Magic Company on 34th Street in New York City after death of Professor Ducrot. He renamed it to Martinka magic and at one point, it became America's oldest magic company.


Watch Al Flosso ‘The Coney Island Fakier’ perform The Miser's Dream on the CBS series "It's Magic" (circa 1956).





You are encouraged to learn more about Al Flosso by visiting his official MagiPedia Page.

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MAGIC LEGENDS

Watching professionals only increases the chances of you improving your own magic. It also helps educate you about magic's rich past. In turn, the art of magic advances. Magic Legends a free resource for you to use, study and benefit from.

Read more about Magic Legends here.

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[Brandon Sheffield]

His timing on the misers dream was perfect. That is by far one of the best Ive seen. Thanks again for sharing Lee, this made my day!

Brandon

[Lee Asher]

That is by far one of the best Ive seen.

Yeah! It's pretty stellar.

When you watch the Miser's Dream performed by most magicians today, you can clearly see the Flosso influence.

Asher
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[arvindj227]

Great video, Lee! Thanks once again for sharing that. I love watching a well performed miser's dream, this was very nice. I've seen Jeff McBride's version of it live and Teller also does it very well. Looking forward to more videos!

Cheers,

AJ

[Lee Asher]

I've seen Jeff McBride's version of it live...

McBride's handling of the Miser's Dream is clearly influenced by Flosso.

On a personal note, my father took lessons from Al Flosso when he was a kid. This meant I grew up listening to stories of Al, the Magic Shop and the assorted cast of characters who frequented.

My dad says Al Flosso was the best. Wish I could have met him...

Asher
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[Brandon Sheffield]

My dad says Al Flosso was the best. Wish I could have met him...

Asher

I'm sorry you never got to meet him Lee.

On a side note I want to ask you something. How does it feel to be our hero in magic, that guy we hope to meet someday? Ive always wondered what it feels like to be an icon in what ever it is that one chooses to do. Hopefully through the In Session I will get a chance to meet you soon.

I know I speak for a lot us when I say thank you for taking the time to post these. I for one have learned a lot!

Brandon

[Marcus Christiansen]

I know I speak for a lot us when I say thank you for taking the time to post these. I for one have learned a lot!

I don't have a whole lot to add, but I just wanted to agree with Brandon about this. I take something with me from all of these videos you're posting.

Thanks, Lee!