Vicki Lewis as Victoria the Lady magician, 1984V

MAGIC !!

Vicki Lewis-Thumm                                                                         My magic background isn’t nearly as interesting as that of my husband, Manfred Thumm’s. To read about my magic background, see “My Story”. I started out as Victoria, the Lady Magician around 1983. My magic career on stage faded away when I married Manfred, the owner of a magic business. I became too busy packing magic tricks and helping him run the business to practice or work on a stage act. I was thrown into magic full time, but not on stage. I guess I was meant to be in the world of MAGIC but not to become an accomplished magician even though I dreamt of it.

Manfred Thumm                                                                                              Manfred’s background in magic goes back to the year 1948 when he was 15 years old. He saw a magician named Bellachini in Freiburg who invited audience members to come on stage as part of a hypnotism experiement to smoke a cigarette. Taking one puff he immediately choked since he’d never had one in his mouth before. The magician called out, “See! The hypnotic trance is working already!” Manfred wasn’t interested in hypnotism, he just wanted to get a closer look at the magician’s props. He was fascinated with the magician, and the magical seed for his life was planted.

Manfred Thumm, 2002

Manfred, 1997

    Growing up in war torn Freiburg, Germany there was no money to buy magic tricks. Once  he managed a trip to Hamburg where he visited Rosa Bartl of Bartl’s Magic Shop. Being a stern woman she asked how much money he had to spend. Wide eyed and full of hope, he wanted to buy a miracle for a few german marks. He left the shop with a silk trick called Silk Wonder.

     A young Manfred began his immediate love affair with silks. He practiced magic along with his brother Rudi and became a skilled magician.

     In his early teens and 20’s he found himself performing in restaurants and theaters in the Black Forest around Freiburg. His father encouraged him to learn sales as a trade and he landed his first job with the Black Forest electric company Zander. Learning sales and business he advanced in the company and later changed to Philips. 

     Manfred married Emma Hess in 1958  and they had a son, Thomas in 1960. Enjoying a successful sales career with Philips, Manfred never lost his passion for magic. He joined the German Magic Circle in 1958.  Later he created a black light show which he called “the magic hands” where a pair of white-gloved hands were seen performing abstract magic to pulsating music. The magician was never seen; only a pair of hands. This act was performed by two people; Manfred and his wife Emma who was dressed in black in the background and never seen. Manfred had his debut with this act in 1964 in Neuenauer at a Magic Circle Convention with much acclaim. Thereafter he was invited by Willi Faster in 1965 to perform  in Triberg, Germany where Willi was Mayor of the town as well as President of the Magic Circle. Manfred received much adulation from the magic fraternity after his performance.

the magic hands - Black Light Show

     In 1966 Bill Strickland from the British Ring International Brotherhood of Magicians invited Manfred to perform in Hastings, England where he again received much praise from the magic society. Tony Spina from Tannen’s in New York invited him to perform at a Tannen’s Jubilee where there was a young, unknown magician in the same show who introduced himself on stage as David Copperfield.

     Manfred continued to have success with the black light show winning many awards but a highlight for him was winning a Gold Medallion in Baden-Baden at the FISM World Convention in 1967.

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the magic hands

the magic hands Kongress

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