Dr. Sidney and The Great Eads' Become Friends on Meeting
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If I can just get my arm over my head.
By GEORGE H. BELL
Mail Tribute Staff Writer
"Dr. Sidney" and "The Great Eads" met for the first time
one afternoon recently.
Since both had a consuming Interest In "escapes" and
sleight-of-hand tricks, they hit it off well right at the start.
That one was a 14-year-old boy and the other an estab
lished Medford businessman in his 40s and, hence, felt'
no sense of rivalry or competition served only to heighten
their interest in each other. -
Dr. Sidney Is the stage name of Ed Reeves, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Wilton Hopkins, 111 Newtown St., and a student at
McLoughlin Junior High School.
Has Magic Bag Bite '
Ever since he was a third grade student in Memphis,
Tenn., (the family moved to Oregon about a year ago), Ed
has been suffering from the apparently incurable bite of the
"magic bug."
"The Great Eads," familiar and beloved of local audi
ences for years, is John W. Eads, 356 S. Groveland Ave.,
manager of federal Sign and Signal Company.
Eads is an old pro when it comes to prestidigitation. He's '
been charging audiences to watch him perform since he was
a boy about Ed's age. When he was 13, he earned 65 cents
by holding a "kid show" in his parent's garage. He's been
at it ever since.
Was Given Magic Set
Young Eddie was given a magic set for a present when
he was about nine years old. The kit contained a "Siberian
Chain Escape Set," and after the intrigued youngster mas
tered that, he began to look around for other escape equip
ment. . When he was 10, he read a book on famous magicians,
part of which was devoted to the life and exploits of the great '
Houdini.
Eddie found his hero in Houdini, and still considers him
"one of the most intelligent men who ever lived." As he
grows older, Eddie says, he would like to recreate all of
Houdini's tricks and escapes for modern audiences.
At 11, Eddie began to take up magic and escapes in dead
earnest. He started buying books and equipment, which his
tolerant and understanding mother says now are all over the
house. The youngster estimates he now has about $400 worth
of magic equipment in his repertoire.
Mother Goes Along
"Whatever he does is fine with me," his mother says, "I
go along with him all the way."
Eddie recently put the equipment of the Medford police
department to a severe test and the officers' handcuffs and
straitjacket came out a poor second.
After a pair of standard police handcuffs were fastened
to his wrists by Lt. Rollie Pean, the youngster left the room
and returned a scant two minutes later. Grinning broadly, he
handed the cuffs back to the officer.
The department's straitjacket admittedly oversized
couldn't hold him either. Pean strapped him in, but in full
view of several policemen, Eddie wriggled out of the jacket
in an astounding three minutes. '
. Fascinated by Thumbcuff 8 '
A pair of thumbcuffs, which the fascinated Eddie said he
' "had never seen before," proved even less of a challenge.
He left the room securely locked in the steel cuffs, but re
turned less than a minute later and handed them back to their
owner, bewildered Detective Gene Depuy,, , -
Eads developed an immediate interest in the youngster
v when they met the next afternoon. Eddie pot out of Eads'
specially tailored straitjacket almost as eat as he had the
tent-like police jacket. The two did a few card tricks for
each other and then settled down in Eads' office for a talk.
. Eads told the boy that he had learned his trade from some
' old-time magicians, strict taskmasters who emphasized basic
fundamentals and not a lot of phony "make-believe appa
ratus." Estimated Investment
From a skimpy beginning with a 10 cent Johnson and
Johnson magic catalogue, Eads has now progressed to an
estimated investment of $20,000 in his magic equipment.
The profession just isn't what lt used to be, Eads com
plained. During the heyday of vaudeville, there were several
thousand magicians who earned their bread and butter with
their patter and sleight-of-hand. But since then, the number
has steadily declined until now there are probably fewer than
55 professional magicians in the country.
That fact alone would have been enough, perhaps, to whet
Eads' interest in Eddie.
Displays Interest In Magic
"If a man walks up to me after a show and says he's
'interested in tricks,' I haven't got time for him," Eads
said, "but if a young fellow like Eddie here displays an inter
est in magic, I'll tell him everything I know."
Obviously that transfer of knowledge representing years
of experience and countless performances couldn't take
place on the spot.
But judging from the spirit of (hat first encounter, It prob
ably will happen. The old master seemed eager to take the
young apprentice "under his wing," and, as it were, pass
the flickering "magic" torch down from one generation to the
next.
Features
Medford
. Sports
TRIBUNE
SECTION B
MEDFORD, OREGON, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1963 PAGES 1 to 8
4
Hold your leg up here so I can frisk you.
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Okay, now, let's get these cuffs on you.
- -T.''l But judging from the spirit of that first encounter, It prob-' ' 1' Ljf n ! h tM'-, . '."I
Xrr - AT"V7r5 , 1 ably will happen. The old master seemed eager to take the f - v V "W i SMl' ' '
S h v 1 X'frC ,-.! young apprentice "under his wing," and, as It were, pass , . , , ' f V' , , ' P SMli ' ,' I
'vAII-. V.,., j rrVrVrz!rl (All pictures by Kenn Knackstedt) i (ft '
tP ' t . 'i I'; :f .. . v ; -gH c,ickl There' ,hat 0U3ht ,0 hold you-
i , Jr . y. 1 "1 , ! ' , I f-&im " ' - - Yt
':',i?'47 iS r;v ( o i! f
Three minutes laten Whewl That wasn't easy.
Back in the offieei How are you at card tricki?
Two minutes lateri Here are your cuffs back.