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Bob Sherman

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Bob Sherman
BornRobert Sherman
June 15, 1892
Minsk, Russia
DiedMarch 28, 1969 (age 76)

Bob Sherman (June 15, 1892 - March 28, 1969), born Robert Sherman in Minsk, Russia. Bob, was a performer, magic manufacturer and magic shop owner.

Biography

At the age of two, his parents moved to Brooklyn, New York. After a few years, the moved to Paterson, New Jersey until Bob was eight, when they finally settling down for good in Bridgeport, Connecticut,

He quit school while in the seventh grade, and in 1906 joined the Barlow & Wilson Minstrels playing one night stands in vaudeville. While playing Philadelphia he saw a small magic store and got the urge to open his own. He built a three-story building of magic and hired a Carl Brema to turn out brass specialties.

After a couple of years Bob, returned to vaudeville as "Sheroma." He then met Cliff Green, and they worked up as Green & Sherman. While playing theaters in Canada, Bob saw the possibilities of starting a magic shop in Toronto and opened the Jap Novelty Store.

Bob then returned to the States to serve in World War I. After the war, he opened magic shops in Grand Central Station and the Hudson Terminal in New York City, which he ran for 15 years while also running a magic and puzzle factory in Bridgeport, Connecticut known as "Sherms".

Bob Sherman then help bring the old unprofitable Martinka Shop on Sixth Avenue back up to breaking even. But the location was poor and it was finally agreed that it was best to close it up for good. The Martinka name was passed to Al Flosso who used it to rename the Hornmann Magic Company on 34th Street in New York City.

Sherman and Hardeen Jr. once had a stage show entitled, "Houdini Lives again" in which they used several numbers passed on from Houdini to Hardeen and then to Hardeen, Jr. Sherman also set up complete routines for Ed Wynn in his "Simple Simon" and "Perfect Fool" shows; arranged some effects for Ziegfeld; handled the Eddie Cantor Magic Club, a radio promotion for Pebeco Toothpaste; and a similar promotion for the Howard Thurston series.[1][2][3]

Some of his reminiscences were published in the Linking Ring Magazine in the March, April, and May 1968 issues under the heading "I Remember."

Due to a highway that was built through the shop, Sherman closed the shop and sold a majority of the equipment to a company in New Mexico. Bob passed away shortly after in 1969.

Contributions

  • Vanishing Alarm Clock (Tray Method with Stand Ringing angle);
  • Second Load Gimmick in the Uncanny Silk Casket
  • The first to develop and market what we call The Chinese Wands, originally the secret of the Hang Pang Royal Pekin Troupe.
  • The cast Rice Bowls, which may be tossed in the air with no risk of spilling water.
  • "Noma, the Woman of 1000 Lives," is a bewildering butchery of a girl in a small cabinet.
  • "Levitation of Princess Adel." The girl rises over five feet from the back drop having to use a short ladder in order to pass a hoop over her.

Quotes

  • "Magic is without limit-endless and everlasting. When that guy says, 'Magic is dead', it's not magic! - he is the dead one!"

References

  1. SHERMS By David E. Haversat
  2. "SHERMS" by David E. Haversat (1997)
  3. Linking Ring Vol. 49 1969 , page 101 - Broken Wands