What about Tony Clark, and his "phantom of the opera" act. It's very polished and deserves credibility for originality.

Jason Byrnes act, is great, and especially his "play-dough" production, as well as his twin birdcage production.

Regards,
MavericK^

Maverick, you are correct. I don't know how I could have forgotten Tony Clark. He was one of my inspirations when I got started working with doves. He should definitely be on this list.

Dave

I always admired Bobby Clark, a personal friend and one of the early pioneers in the work. From what I understand, designed some of Pollock's dove bags. What he may have lacked in grace he made up for in guts and creativity. Very bold productions.

It has to be Amos Levkovitch, by far. Between the character and the dove handling he should be on the top of the list. The end of his show when they all fly back from the audience is amazing.

Can anyone tell me where I can find videos of any of the great dove workers mentioned on this forum, particularly one of Channing Pollock? Incidentally, General Grant does his act on his two part teaching video called "How To Make A Living Stealing...Doves Of Course." It is worth getting if you're serious about doing dove work.

Aren't you guys forgetting Tony Clark and Victor and Diamond.

Dynamike: Tony Clark was mentioned in two previous posts and rightly so. Only my personal opinion but while Victor and Diamond are good, I don't know if I'd classify them as the greatest of all time.

My bad. I didn't see Tony Clark previously. But I do like Victor's lecture tape.

Quite a few of these are a bit 'afore my time, but deserve mention nonetheless, for blazing a new path, for those of us to follow.

The Kardwells
Channing Pollock
Don Alan
Paul Mc Kamy
Cantu
Jack Kodell
Ermando
Richard Cardini
Jack Gwynn
Tung Pin Soo (Al Wheatley, confetti in soup plates to dove creator)
Mystic Hanson Trio
Ron Urban
Ballantine "Come out Flying!"
Carl Naether
Jimmy Reneaux
and of course "DEL RAY"

Respectfully submitted,

While I might not have seen quite as many dove acts as some of you as it is not my forte. I have to say although I love Shimada, Gabriel, Cielen and of course Pollock.

Lance Burtons Gaslight routine is simply the smoothest and most attractive dove routine ever.

I know its been seen a million times and has lost some of its special quality to magicians but it is simply the best.

Matt

I think a guy who has a totally killer act that just makes you sit back at the end and go "WHOA" is Rick Thomas. Although he may not be as original as some other workers, as far as he's not like molding clay to birds and turning doves to snakes (I mean no offense to Jason or Jonathan, p.s. "hey guys") But Rick is just plain smooth and a commanding performer with a strong act that I think deserves a lot of credit.

Has anyone ever heard of Dan Birch, another excellent dove worker. One of the best I've seen. You can catch his act at:
http://www.danbirch.com/video_gallery.htm

Let me know what you think of him.

I have seen Dan perform and think his act is tremendous. He has some very original stuff and is a smooth performer.

I haven't seen so much reference to dove acts, therefore I cannot guess at the greatest.

Channing Pollock however, I have seen clips from his act on television, this was a dream to watch and I look forward to seeing more.

Shimada I know by reputation alone, I also look forward to seeing this act.

As for Lance Burton's FISM act, this is what has recently inspired me to look further into dove's. I may be new to the subject, but I am not new to magic or routine building.

This act is a wonder to watch. His stage presence is second to none. I have seen dove workers produce six, seven or eight doves, vanish a couple here and there and finish with the cage vanish, while this is obviously possible to structure meaningfully, it seems to require a remarkable performer to be able to carry it off. I have seen manipulators go on and on with card productions and vanishes for ever and a day, without structure or meaning. I have seen respected close up workers bore an audience in lecture with fifteen minute card routines.

If I ever see a dove act I prefer to this one I will be over the moon. I'm in no position to disagree with anyone naming great acts I've yet to see. However, I do agree with those who have mentioned this act.

Burtons FISM Grand Prix Dove Act.....


Ok ok..I'm a little biased. Lance has ALWAYS been my favorite magician of all time.



Chris

You can get a 1959 film called "European Nights" for $42.50 from Stevens Magic Emporium. It has Channing Pollock performing his world famous dove act. This is the act that spawned hundreds of other dove acts. His act is still considered one of the best ever, even though some of the new methods of producing doves, such as bare hand productions, were not known then. A very attractive, elegant, polished and sophisticated act.

Tony Clark, Shimada and Gen. Grant who is at ggmagic@aol.com all have teaching videos in which they also perform their dove acts. These are also quite excellent.

Dan Birch can be seen doing his very original dove act on his website given above in my last post. http://www.danbirch.com

George Saterial is on the 1991 NYCAN MAGIC CONVENTION doing his dove act with his signature Grandfather's clock. There are some other great dove acts that can be seen on some of The ABBOTTS Get-togethers from 1992, 1993 and 1994. The clips and portions of acts include Jason Byrne, Dr. Thiet and Amos Levkovitch.

Lastly, Cardini as well as Channing Pollock and Lance Burton can be seen on the PBS SPECIAL two part video which I believe is called "The Art of Magic", is also available at Stevens Magic.

BTW, awhile ago, I actually asked this same question you just asked. The resulting information in this post was obtained by doing my own research. I hope this information helps you.

In fact, I'm in search of two of Amos Levkovitch's teaching videos in which he also does his act in one of them. They are called: "Dove Tails' and "Just do it", which includes his fabulous dove act. His act has a spectacular finish but, I won't tell you what it is for fear of spoiling it for you.
His website is http://www.amosmagic.com

Good luck.

Lance Burton, Rick Thomas and Jason Byrne are among my favorite modern performers, but Channing Pollock is wicked awesome!!

Dan Sperry

If you haven't seen him, DON'T MISS IT!!!

Shimada gets first place with me and has for twenty years among the better known doves acts. But the most impressed I have ever been with a dove act was one that booked through a booking agency I owned in the early 1960s. His name was Mercer Helms and he was among the very first magicians ever featured on HBO. The man was a natural stage act. Not only did he do flawless magic, but he also had looks, could move like a dancer, and charm an audience from "Hello". He married into a well known television family and apparently quit performing. I doubt that he ever belonged to a magic club, wrote a book, took part in a magic competition, or lectured at a magic convention. None of those sound like the man I knew. But his dove work was definitely magic!

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

Johnny Thompson.

Enough said.