Dell O’Dell
Posted By thecircusblog on August 29, 2011
The Funsation Femagician, The Lady Magician with a most outstanding magic act. This lady was class, so much so that KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles gave her her own TV show that aired for more then one season. Each week she would present a half hour themed magic show that was always different……..never repeating a trick.
Her husband Charles (whose last name I’ve forgotten, I’m afraid), was a extraordinary prop builder, which is so necessary for a magic act. Charles had his own act. He was a terrific juggler from the old country, and while he was juggling, he would use the expression “OH BOY!” during every juggling trick. It was kind of a running gag.
We were always doing casual dates together, especially Christmas shows. At one of the shows, I told Dell that I had found five abandoned Barn Owl chicks and I was raising them. There was a serious expression on her face when she asked me, “What do you plan to do with them and are they tame?”
Of course I proudly said yes, and believe it or not, they were. I hand fed them horse meat every day and I could move then with confidence from a gloved hand to a perch. The owls became very docile and easy to handle.
I guess she was impressed because she asked me if I would like to sell them. When I asked her why, she said, “As you know, I use birds and rabbits in my act, but I think it would be very unusual to use five owls in a Magic trick.
I don’t remember if I sold them or gave the owls to her, but she did create a trick where the owls appeared and disappeared, only to reappear again in a little red barn. Later Dell told me that she had turned them loose in the countryside up in the hills of North Hollywood.
