Paul Potassy

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Paul Potassy with his wife Lita

Paul Ludwig Alexander von Potassy (born October 23, 1923 in Vienna , Austria ; † September 14, 2018 in Manila ) was an Austrian magician .

Life

The parental home

Paul Potassy was the only child of Louis Bartolomä von Potassy (1887–1956) and Laura Lenke (1900–1980). The father came from Hungary, but went to Austria in 1923. Paul Potassy first briefly attended a cadet school in Lower Austria, then went to the Normann boarding school in Graz, where he stayed for four years. Then he went to Berlin and graduated from high school here.

The magical beginnings

When he was 13 he first saw a magician. From now on he began to be enthusiastic about the art of magic. In his uncle's library he found the book "Columbus Eggs", in which mainly physical and chemical tricks were described, but also magic tricks on the last 20 pages, all of which Paul rehearsed.

In 1936 he gave his first performance in front of his classmates.

The semi-professional time

Paul visited the then well-known variety theaters Wintergarten , Scala , Cabaret der Komiker and others in Berlin . In 1940 he also met the then very famous magician Fredo Marvelli . That year Potassy decided to become a professional magician, but only partially at first as he was still in school. During the long vacation he went to the Baltic Sea and introduced himself to the Kapellmeister of the Kurhaus in the town of Miedzyzdroje in order to apply as a magician for the guest evening. He was hired for six evenings and received a daily fee of 10 DM plus room and board.

Then he went to the city of Bansin and took part in a talent competition led by cabaret artists Claire Schlichting (grandmother of Meret Becker and Ben Becker ). Potassy won. A present vaudeville theater owner from Eden in Leipzig wanted him immediately engaged for two months, but what Paul Potassy refused because he wanted to bring his school to an end. The Leipzig director referred Paul to Swinoujscie , where he could appear for several days without having to give up school. The director of the comedians' cabaret, Willi Schaeffers , spoke to him at the bar of the Kurhaus theater and asked Paul to introduce himself to him in Berlin. However, since he was only 17 years old, he was not allowed to appear in the evening, but in the afternoon shows. He went to school in the morning and performed in the afternoon. In 1941 he finished school with the Abitur. In November he was called up for labor service.

Captivity

On February 25, 1943, Potassy was sent to the prisoner-of-war camp in Lebedjan . In the summer of 1947, since his father was Hungarian, he was released to Hungary.

The professional magician Paul Potassy

Potassy no longer wanted to study. He applied to the Royal Revue Theater in Budapest in 1948 and has now performed here for a year. Further engagements followed and over time Paul Potassy became a well-known magician in Hungary. He also made guest appearances in Poland and Austria. Here he was discovered in 1957 on a television show by Peter Frankenfeld . He then traveled to Germany and stayed there. In the same year he was invited to another television show with the Dutch magician Fred Kaps . Since Paul Potassy spoke several languages, he now took on many foreign engagements. One of his other important appearances was at the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels. This was followed by appearances in London , Stockholm , Helsinki , Beirut , Casablanca , Madrid and Chicago . In 1959 Potassy bought a large plot of land and a house on Mallorca , where he was the star guest in the then famous Tito's nightclub for 25 years , for one or two months a year. In the rest of the time, Paul Potassy made guest appearances in exclusive hotels and exclusive events.

Paul Potassy lived in Manila with his third wife (marriage in 1968) until his death.

The magic of Paul Potassy

Paul Potassy has always accompanied his arts with humorous words, and from the beginning he has appeared in several languages. So he was able to appear in front of an international audience as one of the few "speaking" magicians. For many years the repertoire consisted of only a few tricks, which Potassy presented simply through charm and intelligent pun. Paul Potassy is a role model for many magicians. His attitude to magic was documented on 3 DVDs in 2006, which were released by the US publisher L & L in Tahoma. Potassy has published articles in several professional journals.

Publications (Articles)

  • Dear readers! In: Magical Magazine. 6th year, August 1956, No. 5, p. 52 f.
  • 88 days as a magician in Moscow and Leningrad. In: Magical Magazine. 6th year, August 1956, No. 5, p. 104 ff.
  • De onmogelijke force. In: Triks. 22nd year 1965, p. 130 f.
  • A "simple" trick. In: magic. 53rd year 1973, p. 194.
  • Mental magic in miniature. In: magic. 53rd year 1973, p. 330.
  • The interview: Paul Potassy. In: magic. 55th year 1975, p. 79 ff.
  • Seminars and workshops (report from the FISM Congress in Brussels) in: Magic. 59th year 1979, p. 206 ff.
  • Dear Mr. Keaton! (Reply to an open letter). In: Magie, 75th year 1995, p. 415.
  • End at 32. In: Magical World . Issue 2, 2003, p. 78.
  • Paul Potassy's Encounters, Episode 1: Harry Steffien. In: Magical World. Issue 1, 2005, p. 46.
  • Paul Potassy's Encounters, Part 2: Lord from Budapest. In: Magical World. Issue 2, 2005, p. 109.
  • Paul Potassy's Encounters, Episode 3: Ade Duval, Recha, Chefalo. In: Magical World. Issue 3, 2005, p. 164.
  • Paul Potassy's Encounters, Episode 4: Balton. In: Magical World. Issue 4, 2005, p. 234.
  • Paul Potassy's encounters, episode 5 and conclusion: Corodini. In: Magical World. Volume 5, 2005, p. 287.

literature

  • Uwe Schenk, Richard Hatch: The Magic of Paul Potassy. H&R Magic Books, Humble, Texas 2005, ISBN 0-9727938-7-9 .
  • Uwe Schenk, Michael Sondermeyer : The Paul Potassy Show. Sic-Verlag, 1997, ISBN 3-9804150-4-X .
  • Joe Wildon : Potassy. In: Magical Magazine. 6th year, June 1956, No. 3, p. 50 ff.
  • Gisela and Dietmar Winkler: Paul Potassy. In: The great hocus-pocus. Henschelverlag, Berlin 1981, p. 490 f.

TV appearances (selection)

  • 1958: July 9, Paris, artist show
  • 1971: 7 × in the program Hokus Pokus Musikus with Dagmar Koller , Jürgen Feindt
  • 1972: September 9, London, Saturday Variety
  • 1976: Churning out the Rudi Carrell show
  • 1979: November 5th, Spain, Fantastico
  • 1982: August 20, Spain; Un, dos, tres ...

Web links

proof

  1. ↑ Alfred Czernewitz: Paul Potassy, The entertainers in the world class. Rheinbach 1991, p. 23.
  2. ^ Uwe Schenk, Michael Sondermeyer: The Paul-Potassy-Show. Sic-Verlag, 1997, ISBN 3-9804150-4-X .
  3. ↑ Alfred Czernewitz: Paul Potassy, The entertainers in the world class. Rheinbach 1991, p. 32.
  4. ↑ Alfred Czernewitz: Paul Potassy, The entertainers in the world class. Rheinbach 1991, p. 35.
  5. ^ Uwe Schenk, Michael Sondermeyer: The Paul-Potassy-Show. Sic-Verlag, 1997, ISBN 3-9804150-4-X .
  6. ^ Uwe Schenk, Richard Hatch: The Magic of Paul Potassy. H&R Magic Books, Humble, Texas 2005.
  7. ^ Uwe Schenk, Richard Hatch: The Magic of Paul Potassy. H&R Magic Books, Humble, Texas 2005.
personal data
SURNAME Potassy, ​​Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Potassy, ​​Paul Ludwig Alexander von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian magician
DATE OF BIRTH October 23, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna , Austria
DATE OF DEATH September 14, 2018
Place of death Manila