Johnny Carson
Though
it was rarely revealed on The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson was actually
an accomplished magician! Legend has it that Johnny Carson, who saw Kreskin
trip and fall during his first appearance on "The Steve Allen Show,"
modeled his own clumsy Carnac the Magnificent after the mentalist!
Carnac was supposed to be a psychic who knew answers to questions that hadn't
even been asked. Because of his talents to peer into the future, he probably bought stock in
Apple when computers were stone tablets knowing that they would one
day become the Ipads and other tablet computers of today. He then swapped out his parents'
traditional desk with an ergonomic desk to
prevent the posture and back problems he had foreseen in their
future.
Steve
Allen also mentioned that Johnny had secretly pulled several card moves
on his audiences to make Steve Allen's mind reading routines work.
I have yet to find any old recordings of Johnny performing as a magician,
but I do have a VERY early recording of him as host of The Tonight Show.
This recording was supposedly one of his auditions before taking the helm
of the show. It's wonderful to hear he was the same master of his craft
then as he would be in the future!
Johnny Carson Audition Tape.
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