“It’s easy, once you know the secret.” A well-remembered commercial that ran frequently in the Chicago area during the 1970s showed my husband, Marshall Brodien, performing magic card tricks. His pitch was how easy the tricks were when using his TV Magic Cards.
Today, July 10, 2024, would have been Marshall’s, 90th birthday. Since so many of my blog readers are unfamiliar with his history, I’d like to tell you a little about him.
Marshall was most known in the Chicago area for the character Wizzo, a crazy magician, that he played on the children’s program, WGN TV’s Bozo Show, for 26 years. He was also recognized across the country for the magic sets and cards that he created.
Marshall’s love of magic began in childhood when he saw a woman magician at his school. As a teen, he worked as a magician and side-show barker at Riverview Park, an amusement park in Chicago. He later performed magic and stage hypnosis at lounges, clubs, county fairs, and trade shows.
After being drafted into the army in 1957, he was commissioned to the Special Services Entertainment Division and performed more than 700 shows at hospitals, officer clubs, and private parties.
After the army, he opened nightclubs and a restaurant and continued performing. This is when he also began appearing on the Bozo Show and formed his magic production company.
Marshall and I met in 1993 when I interviewed him for a feature article for the Chicago Tribune newspaper. He was an incredibly loving and funny man who made me laugh even when Alzheimer’s took so much from us.
Marshall wasn’t ever good at remembering names, but he treated everyone as a friend. He was happiest wherever he was and whoever he was with.
His local popularity capitalized on his private time with friends and family, which he never minded. And he ensured that I was not neglected.
Marshall made me feel loved every day of our twenty-three-year marriage and the dating years before that. He called me “My Mary” and “The love of his life.” He wouldn’t hesitate to publicly point to me and say, “I love that girl.” I never doubted I was in his heart, and I greatly appreciated the kindness and joy he brought to me and my children.
Here is a clip of my favorite trick of Marshall’s. You can watch it repeatedly, but you’ll never see how he does it.
And here is one of the last times we performed together. The video isn’t very clear but you can see that the blades go directly through the box that I’m in.
Marshall was well into Alzheimer’s at this point, yet he got on stage and performed amazingly well. Our dear magic friends, Ken Mate and Steve/Chezaday, guided Marshall along, but as you can see, he needed little help. Marshall had repeated his banter for so many decades that it remained engraved in his brain until nearly the end.
Marshall passed away in 2019 after showing symptoms of Alzheimer’s for 15 years.
**For helpful guidance and what I learned from caring for Marshall, see Navigating Alzheimer’s, The Alzheimer’s Spouse, and Inspired Caregiving.
©2024, Mary K. Doyle
Midwest Mary 
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