Mac King, Kentucky and the World

Our Friend Bill Mullins has submitted this fine guest post:

When I first got interested in magic, Gary Oullet’s “World’s Greatest Magic” specials were still in production, and Mac King would teach a simple trick on them. So I’ve known of him, and been a fan, for as long as I’ve enjoyed magic. In the intervening years, I’ve gotten to see him perform live a

few times, and even have dinner with him occasionally. In addition to being one of the best comedy

magicians, he’s a great guy to hang out with.

Recently, the Frazier History Museum in Louisville hosted Mac and fellow Kentuckian/magician Lance Burton for a panel discussion about growing up in Louisville as magicians, working at the Tombstone Junction amusement park during summers, and their careers since. And of course, afterward they each did some magic. My son has been asking to accompany me to a magic show recently, and it was a great opportunity for him to see two pros at the top of their craft.

Afterwards, we stopped in the gift shop of the museum. There on the display tables they had for sale a deck of playing cards titled “Kentucky to the World,” featuring drawings of prominent people

from the Bluegrass State. One of the Kentuckians pictured was Mac King. I’m not sure it’s the best

likeness, but it is a magician on a playing card (and he’s the only one it the set – somehow, Lance

Burton wasn’t chosen).

The deck is available for sale, if you are so inclined:

https://www.kentuckytotheworld.org/shop/illustrated-playing-cards

https://www.kentuckytotheworld.org/illustrated-playing-cards-profiles/mac-king

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Thanks for that, Bill!  

Collectors might also be interested in tracking down some of Mac King's effects.  Though sold in pharmacies and toy stores, they are well made effects with novel twists on conventional magic apparatus.  The one pictured (which I owned at one time, and was a favorite), the "Mesmerizing Monkey Brain" is a ball and vase-type effect with a monkey brain substituted for the ball, and it includes a bonus card prediction!  

Ru Xian: the Mysterious Card Thrower

Bill  Mullins provided me with this magnificent throwing card, along with a mystery.  Exactly who is this woman - a mysterious propeller of pasteboards?  The card presents an unusual problem: other than the tiny words "Happy Kingdom" on the reverse,  it contains information written solely in Chinese.  Without the help of some friends, this would have been a dead end.  And yet, I have a story for you.

We begin with Mr. Mullins, who advised that the magician featured is named Ruxian - sometimes transliterated as Ru Xian or Ru Xian Guli.   Bill saw her perform just once, in 2010, at the "Gathering for Gardner" in Atlanta.  At that event, she performed a silent card scaling act, where Bill collected this rare specimen.  Bill advised that Ru Xian performed illusions at the Happy Valley Amusement Park in ShenZhen.  He notes that although Ru Xian lives in China, she is ethnically Uyghur, a group whose sad plight has been featured in news reports in recent years.

Though a relentless magic researcher, Bill was not able to give any further information about her, noting that Google and AskAlexander produced little.  One website discusses Ruxian's involvement  in the 2018 Shenzhen International Magic Festival, and lists her as "vice director of China Magic Committee and part-time vice-president of the Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles."  But Bill was able to give me another lead: he advised that magic inventor Mark Setteducati might be able to help.  And indeed, Mark did!

A quick email to Mark -- who has been quite generous with his help with other research projects -- once again produced a rapid and thorough response.  He wrote:  

I first met Ruxian in Shenzhen China at an amusement park at which she was performing, probably about 15 years ago. I was with Eddy Au, who owned a magic shop there and also own Eddy's Magic Company.  Eddy is from Hong Kong. 

Ruxian does not speak any English and I don't speak Mandarin, so although we both know each other and have been together several times, communication has been limited. She attended and performed at a "Gathering For Gardner" along with another Chinese female magician.  They were a smash hit as both acts are very beautiful.

 I last saw her about 3 years ago in Shenzhen, but hadn't heard anything since.

Mark provided this photograph in which he appears with Ru Xian and magicians Mark Mitton, Lennart Green and John Horton Conway, among others:  

A rare photo of Ru Xian (on left) at the Happy Valley Amusement Park.
Back row: Mitton, Conroy, Green & Setteducati (courtesy Mark Setteducati)

The throwing card, featured above, is a a beautiful full color piece, printed on hard plastic. Like many of my favorite throwouts, Bill advises, this one was scaled before being collected.  Tiny corner pieces are broken, which may have shattered after being forcefully scaled by this talented performer. 

And that brings us to one last interesting fact.  Sterling Lee, vice president of the SAM's Parent Assembly in New York City, took a copy of Ru Xian's throwout card and had someone translate the text on the card.  Turns out that, not surprisingly, the side with her picture bills her as  "leading magician of the Happy Valley Amusement Park in South China."  The reverse, though, the side with the large characters and the Eiffel Tower, is an ad for a travel agency.  It turns out, then, like so many of the items we've featured on this site, Ru Xian's card has a cosponsor.   

I have not had the pleasure of seeing Ru Xian in action, and a search of the Internet yielded no videos, but based on the descriptions by Bill and Mark, hers is an act not to be missed. Many thanks to Messrs. Mullins, Setteducati and Lee for their kind assistance, without which this post would not have been possible.