Lakewood Lore

Weldon has wielded magic wand since his childhood

Bill Weldon, Lakewood's Mr. Magic, has been plying his avocation here for 45 years and has no intention now of packing up his wand and calling it quits.

"I'm still up to my ears in magic-both in creating and writing, and in the performing end," said Bill, who did four shows last month.

Through the years, hocus-pocus has been a godsend to him -- enriching his life through the entertainment of thousands, enhancing his former workaday selling job and earning for him the reputation of being one of the nation's tops in the field of legerdermain.

During World War II, Bill, who is now in his early 70s, was an Army private on loan to the USO (United Service Organizations), a civilian group formed in 1941 to improve the morale of the armed forces.

As such, he performed as a magician and master of ceremonies in more than 600 shows before 180,000 servicemen in seven different countries.

Since then he has put on thousands of shows throughout the Cleveland area -- for civic and corporate groups, service clubs, veterans associations, schools, nurseries and nursing homes -- and has appeared before just about every church in Lakewood.

For someone who contends, "There hasn't been a day in my life that I haven't thought magic," it all began without trumpet sound in the small town of McAlester, Okla., where he was born Billy J. Weldon and became interested in make-believe during grammar school days.

"An uncle, who knew a little magic, sparked my interest, and I bought my first trick, 'Chandu Magic Cones,' with soap coupons," Bill remembered.

Bill was drafted into military service while working his way through the University of Oklahoma with magic shows. During performances in the European theater of operations, his closing trick required an egg.

"I spent many an hour around the English countryside trading GI candy and cigarettes for hard-to-get rationed fresh eggs," he said.

"American servicemen received only powdered eggs, which were awful-tasting. Thus, my show eggs, though broken, never went to waste.

"As I rushed off stage after my act with a broken egg in a glass, there would always be GIs vying to gulp down a raw but welcomed egg."

While in London, Bill used a 22-cal. pistol as a gag in his act. One day he learned that the Bobbies were looking for him. Seems there was a British law against carrying firearms on stage without a license.

After Bill was forced to obtain a license, Yank Magazine heard about it and ran a story publicizing how out of all the thousands of armed American soldiers in London, Bill Weldon was the only one who had permission to carry a gun.

After the war, Bill returned to the University of Oklahoma to receive his bachelor's degree. Then, while in the midst of graduate work there, he was offered a position with the Newspaper Enterprise Association, which supplied editorial feature material to newspapers.

The job took him first to Chicago then to Cleveland in 1947 where after a year he left to join the general advertising department of the former Cleveland Press.

In 1949, Bill married Lakewoodite Sarah Virgina Barr in Lakewood Christian Church. They eventually moved to Niagara Drive here where they have lived for the past 35 years. Today the couple have three grown sons (all whom attended Lakewood High School) and two grandchildren.

Bill spent 34 years with the Press, advancing to head of the advertising department and retiring after the newspaper's demise in 1982.

Our prestidigitator credits his avocation with helping his former advertising salesmanship career.

"Pocket tricks, one of which I developed into a special calling card, were attention-getters and door-openers for me that were easy to use in any client's office," he said.

In the last few years he has specialized in tricks for youngsters. One of his most popular is that of making a mountain of scarfs that blend together as to create a picture of Donald Duck. Another turns a $2 bill into two $1 bills before the viewers' eyes.

A favorite among adults is one where he tears up a four-section newspaper into tiny pieces and then restores it perfectly intact.

Bill can throw his voice, and at one time carved and sold ventriloquists' dummies and used ventriloquism in his act. He also used hypnotism, which he dropped after finding it too slow for today's audiences.

Bill has had more than 40 original tricks and routines published in The Linking Ring, a magazine of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, an organization that has honored his as one of the best performers in the country.

As a sidebar hobby, Bill collects cartoonists' original drawings -- those that have magic themes. Some of them were done by famous local artists, such as Art Sansom of "The Born Loser" strip, Jim Berry ("Berry's World"), and the late Jim Herron and Lou Darvas.

This article appeared in the Lakewood Sun Post June 10, 1993. Reprinted with permission.

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