Born on April 8, 1896 in El Paso, Texas, Abel
Maldondo lived in the United States for eight years before moving to Mexico
City in 1904 with his parents, Ignacio and Izabel. According to Maldo, his older
brother, Benjamin taught him what he learned from magician Jesus Lopez. At that
time, Lopez was performing under the name “El Brujo Monderno or The Modern
Sorcerer (As an aside, Lopez changed his name later to Alonzo Martini and
performed in the Los Angeles area creating a show that included mind reading,
magic, and illusions). While in New Mexico, young Abel was instructed by Lopez
and learned the finer parts of magic that he would use for the rest of his
life.
With the knowledge he had learned from Lopez and with
a handful of performances under his belt, Abel returned to the United States in
1911 and toured the southwestern states of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona using
the name Abel McDonald. He presented a show with varied card tricks, Shadowgraphy, audience participation. His featured effect was “The Burial Alive”. There’s no telling when Abel
met Floyd Thayer (1877-1959), but their friendship continued throughout their
lives. Floyd included a few of Maldo’s ideas and effects in the Thayer catalog.
Maldo continued performing adding effects to his show
besides working with coins, cards, cigarettes. In 1935, he put out a booklet
titled, Get It? A Book of Tricks and
he put other effects and tricks under the name “McDonald”. It was during that
time Abel had stepped into the guise of “Señor Maldo”
dressed like a Mariachi in full colorful wardrobe and
a wide-brimmed hat from Mexico called a sombrero. His magic show was filled with assorted skilled manipulations,
paper-cutting effects, and he would include a special feature. Maldo would
present his version of the Substitution Trunk and the audience thoroughly
enjoyed it for each performance. At the 1936 Pacific Coast Association
of Magicians Convention in San Jose
, California
he received the Houdini Trophy, presented to him by Mrs. Beatrice
Houdini for his performance of the substitution trunk trick.
|
This was one of Señor Maldo's first use of a playing card for advertising. |
He continued to
perform throughout California at magic conventions and personal appearances. Maldo’s
Six Card Repeat was different enough that
Harland Tarbell asked to have it included in his course of magic. It was said by
a number of those who saw Maldo present the effect, he performed his “Six Card
Repeat” effect in a way of counting the cards and merely throwing the cards
from on hand to the other. His way of flourishing nonchalantly and then tossing
the cards gave the audience even more reason to be astounded by his
presentation. And the magicians were complete impressed in seeing a personal
style added to the effect they had seen so many times before.
|
Señor Maldo used the bridge sized Aviator back as another form of advertising as well. |
In the 1930’s, Maldo and his wife lived and worked
locally in the Santa Barbara. During World War Two, in 1942 Maldo registered
for the draft and then was one of the many magicians would volunteer their
services on the USO tours. Whether Maldo had only time to show the troops a few
card tricks or other magic effects, his audiences were enthralled having a time
away from their duties. In a portion of an article written reviewing one of many
of Maldo’s tours, the one that took him to the Mediterranean was one to
be repeated. It said the following, “…Maldo, the Mexican Magician, relied on
more than a deck of cards to beguile GI audiences during his ten months tour of
the Mediterranean for USO-Camp Shows. His egg trick was a soldier favorite and
a GI never failed to eat the all too rare egg after the stunt. ‘Eggs are just like
nuggets of gold over there’, said Maldo. ‘I always managed, through very good
fortune, to have three or four dozen with me, carrying them in a special
container. I did the trick, which involves bouncing a piece of paper on a fan until
it gradually expands to take the form of an egg. You should have heard the
'Ohs' and 'Ahs' when they saw a fresh egg! Invariably some soldier would eat
the egg raw . . . that's how hungry they were for one.’ Maldo is a one of a
kind…”.
|
Señor Maldo was one of the many magicians who entertained the troops during WWII. |
In 1951, Maldo along
with the clubs and organization performances, he was played fair shows and
fiestas. Also in 1951, Abel and his wife could be found at their Mexican restaurant
Maldo’s El Charro on Santa Barbara Street. In
1952,
he was included in the list of performers at the Abbott's 17th Get
Together in full colorful Mexican costume. Maldo was involved with the
magic clubs in Santa Barbara. In 1952, he served as President for the Pacific
Coast Association of Magicians. That particular year the P.C.A.M. and Society
of American Magicians had their joint magic convention in Santa Barbara. Maldo
would freely give his time to be ‘a man of many hats’ for that convention.
|
Señor Maldo always presented his show dressed in full Mexican attire. |
During the early 1950’s, Maldo accepted a particularly unique tour. He traveled
with a seventeen-member troupe around the Midwest appearing at state fairs and
small theaters with Miss Sally Rand famous fan dancer. Their tour schedule took
them across Oklahoma, Texas, and then Washington. Maldo was one Milt Larsen’s
choices to perform in his new production of “It’s Magic”. He was also one of
the chosen magicians to appear on Art Baker’s “You Asked For It” television
show. Señor Maldo presented his substitution Trunk.
|
Here is Señor Maldo entertaining both the audience as Geri Larsen in the 1950's. |
Maldo had made a
good living with magic and his life in Santa Barbara among his friends and
family; it was always satisfying. In the later part of 1959, he had found that
after a doctor’s examination he needed an operation to remove a small lump on
his neck. The operation went as planned, but the diagnoses wasn’t good. Even
though all that he went through during that time, he continued to perform shows
and never allowed what he knew was inevitable to slow him down. Three months
after his operation, Abel Maldonado passed away on December 8, 1959.
I just acquired, via my father estate, a 1935 Magic Trick instruction book from Maldo, type written, stamped from Bert Wheelers Magic Shop in Hollywood.
ReplyDeleteAs a teenager in Santa Barbara in the 1950’s I was crazy about magic tricks and gags (exploding cigars, etc.). I bought all of the stuff at Maldo’s Magic Shop in the old El Paseo, a little store in one the passageways. He may have moved it to a corner store in Anacapa St., now a restaurant.
ReplyDelete