Johnny Thompson - Laughing Matters

Johnny Thompson is the "Godfather of Magic" accoring to an article from the Niagra Falls Review whic promotes his participation in this weekend's Niagara Comedy Magic Seminar at the Greg Frewin Theatre. Thompson is joined there by Frewin and David Acer where they will attempt to help magicians understand the importance of humour in their performance. Thompson discusses the development of "The Great Tomsoni" in the piece when he relates the details of a performance at the NY Playboy VClub in which he based the act on the materian of Tom Palmer's character, "an arrogant performer who screwed up everything he did." "You fill another man's shoes, you don't know why he did what he did," explains Thompson. " 'You don't know what the subtext is. It was uncomfortable. It was OK, but I didn't get real laughs out of it.' He slowly put his own spin on it - walking on stage with the fly open, with two mismatched shoes, etc. He then created the persona of The Great Tomsoni - Poland's Finest Magician. Crowds ate it up and Thompson had his meal ticket. His wife Pam Hayes became part of the act playing his assistant and Thompson became a Vegas institution." Article:: Laughing Matters