Source: Hermann C. Carr

The following story appeared in the Urbana, Oh. Daily Citizen on July 26,2002

CABLE, OHIO NATIVE ENJOYS LIFE OF MAGIC

He has been called "the magician's magician," "the master of a million mysteries" and "one of the top magical entertainers of the midwest.

Hermann the Magician, also known as Hermann Clark Carr, and his wife Marcia have been in the magic industry together since they attended Springfield High School.

Carr was born in Cable and moved to Urbana as a child.  He attended Central School from kindergarten through second grade and South Ward School in third grade.

While in third grade, he saw something that would change his life.  "A magician come to our school and put on this beautiful show, and I thought that would be an interesting thing to do," he said.

He talked to his teacher and he told him to try to find books on magic at the library.

A few weeks later, he was ready to do his first magic show during class.

There was one problem with the magician's first show.  He used a dirty handkerchief, and the teacher called him on it.

"I always make sure I use a clean handkerchief in all of my shows now," he said.

After third grade, he moved to Bellefontaine with his father, then to Springfield when he was in junior high school.

While at Springfield High School, Carr met his wife Marcia in the sophomore year.  She helped with his shows while in high school and on throught the years and still does to this day.

After high school, Carr joined the Army, with the desire to keep performing his magic.  He was placed in the Special Services Division and continued to perform shows.

Carr wanted to continue his magic full time, but also wanted a family.  The conflict was that if he were to have a family he would want to be with them instead of traveling.

The Carrs had three children, Clark, Mark, and Marcia, who all shared with their parents' interest in magic.

Carr joined the Springfield Police Department and spent two years in uniform patrol and three years as a traffic officer before being assigned to the Community Relations Department, where he spent the next 20 years.

Upon retirement Hermann and Marcia began performing magic full time. Currently, they do shows in 10 different states, including shows at colleges, universities, conventions, arts festivals.

Carr prides himself on being mostly self-taught and encourages interested children to do what he did--check out the local library for books on magic.

"We work on tricks for weeks in advance so we know what to expect," the magician said, adding there is no assurance that everything will go well.

"You need to be one step ahead all the time," his wife said.

"I would tell kids that they need to learn at home with small things that don't cost a lot of money," Carr said. "They need to learn the simple tricks to see if they like it.  Many young people try big illusions, which they shouldn't do. They have to learn the fundamentals first."

Carr also stresses volunteering. "They should volunteer to do shows whenever they can.  They need that experience to be in front of people doing their magic."

Hermann and Marcia both agree that to do magic you have to have the extreme desire and determination to continue with it.

Printed with permission from the Urbana Daily Citizen, Urbana, Ohio.

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