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To view past articles or propose a new feature article for the main page, visit the [[MagicPedia_talk:Today%27s_featured_article|discussion page]].
Previous featured articles are located in [[:Category:Featured Article]]


Proposed candidates are listed in [[:Category:Featured Article Candidate]]
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{{Infobox person
[[File: JNHilliard.png|right|thumb|200px|[[ John Northern Hilliard]]]]
| image                    = Papa_Promotional_2.png
| image_size                =
| alt                      =
| name = Marcelo Contento
| caption                  = Promotional Photo
| birth_name                = Marcelo Alejandro Rodolfo Contento
| birth_day                =  January 19,
| birth_year                =  1955
| birth_place              = Haedo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| death_day                =  July 3,
| death_year                = 2012
| death_place              = Waltham, Massachusetts
| awards                    =
| box_width                =
| misc                      =
}}
'''Marcelo Contento''' (1955-2012) was a magician, shadowgrapher, jazz drummer and arranger, and engineer from Argentina. He owned and operated Marcelo Contento Productions (Marcprod), a business manufacturing magic effects, in Watertown, Massachusetts with his eldest sibling and brother, Victor.


For many years, Marcprod was considered the top producer of Magicians' props and effects in the market.  Contento and his brother put together everything by hand. When Contento was diagnosed with a Brain Tumorand, the company slowly lost its' prominence and eventually was forced to shut down its' workshop in Watertown in 2008.
'''John Northern Hilliard''' (1872 - 1935) was a Rochester newspaper man and clever amateur magician.


Born Marcelo Alejandro Rodolfo Contento on January 19th, 1955, to an Italian Physician and a devoted, Italian-born mother, Contento started practicing magic at the age of eight, and at the age of eleven took up drumming after spending some years on the piano and guitar. In his teenage years, he was mentored in magic by the late great [[David Bamberg]] (well-known by his stage name, Fu Manchu), and already playing jazz gigs around Buenos Aires, Argentina's capital.  
== Biography ==
Hilliard was dramatic critic with The Chicago Herald and later on the staff of The Rochester (N. Y.) Post Express. After moving to New York, he met [[Howard Thurston]] while a reporter on The New York World and became interested in magic. John was credited with securing the master magician with his first engagement on the stage. Several years later Thurston induced Hilliard to give up his newspaper work and become his personal representative.


Bamberg taught Contento an art that was then known as "Chinese Shadows" (now more commonly referred to as "[[Shadowgraphy]]" or "Hand Shadows"), which he would carry alongside with him through life and eventually develop and hone into a unique skill and performing routine. One particularly important piece of advice Bamberg gave Contento was to finish school and go to College, regardless of what he wanted to do in life, and Contento did just that. He graduated College with the Argentine equivalent of a Master's in Electromechanical Engineering, and began working as an Engineer in companies around Buenos Aires. Concurrently, he diligently continued to practice and perform Magic and Jazz, at one point playing with then-well-known Argentine Guitarist Oscar Alemán and his troupe.  
With the urging of [[Floyd G. Thayer]], John starting writing for [[Thayer's Magical Bulletin]] magazine. In 1925, Hilliard became an advance man for The Thurston show. During this time he accumulated notes on what he was learning about magic. In 1932, Carl Waring Jones urged him to turn his notes into a book, offering to publish it. But Hilliard suddenly died of a heart attack in 1935 while in a hotel room in Indianapolis.


 
[[John Northern Hilliard|Read more about John Northern Hilliard…]]
 
[[Marcelo Contento|Read more about Marcelo Contento...]]

Latest revision as of 09:23, 20 February 2026

Previous featured articles are located in Category:Featured Article

Proposed candidates are listed in Category:Featured Article Candidate

John Northern Hilliard

John Northern Hilliard (1872 - 1935) was a Rochester newspaper man and clever amateur magician.

Biography

Hilliard was dramatic critic with The Chicago Herald and later on the staff of The Rochester (N. Y.) Post Express. After moving to New York, he met Howard Thurston while a reporter on The New York World and became interested in magic. John was credited with securing the master magician with his first engagement on the stage. Several years later Thurston induced Hilliard to give up his newspaper work and become his personal representative.

With the urging of Floyd G. Thayer, John starting writing for Thayer's Magical Bulletin magazine. In 1925, Hilliard became an advance man for The Thurston show. During this time he accumulated notes on what he was learning about magic. In 1932, Carl Waring Jones urged him to turn his notes into a book, offering to publish it. But Hilliard suddenly died of a heart attack in 1935 while in a hotel room in Indianapolis.

Read more about John Northern Hilliard…

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