Karrell Fox (January 30, 1928 – March 12, 1998) was a 20th-century American magician and television performer.

Initial interest in magic

When Fox was a child, his parents operated a small restaurant in

Rainelle, West Virginia Rainelle is a town on the western edge of Greenbrier County, West Virginia, Greenbrier County, West Virginia, United States. It sits at the base of Sewell Mountain and Sims Mountain, and is bisected by the Meadow River. The only means of transpo ...

. One day, a customer left without paying his bill, and left behind a few small tricks. With these, Karrell began his

magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

career.

Trade shows and conventions

Fox was one of the first trade show magicians and billed himself as "King of Korn". He created the "Magic World of Ford" for the

Ford Motor Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobile ...

Company and toured with it for many years. He was a regular performer at

Abbott's Get Together Abbott's Get Together is a long-running convention for magicians in the United States and around the world, which is held each year in Colon, Michigan. It was founded in 1937 by Percy Abbott and his business partner, Recil Bordner. The Get Toget ...

, surpassed only by Gordon Miller, an Abbott's employee-performer. Fox traditionally MC'ed and performed on the closing (Saturday evening) show of the Get-Together and the "act" was a lampoon of the other acts and notable happenings from that year. Duke Stern and Abb Dickson were both Karrell's "Partner in Fun" for more than 25 years, performing with him at magic conventions all over the world. The scripts for the performances were written by Fox, Stern, Dickson as well as other members of the troupe.

Harry Blackstone, Jr. Harry Bouton Blackstone Jr. (June 30, 1934 – May 14, 1997) was an American stage magician, author, and television performer. He is estimated to have pulled 80,000 rabbits from his sleeves and hats. Early life Blackstone was born in Three Riv ...

, describing Fox's writing style, said, "The strongest possible effects achieved with the simplest possible methods has always been the Fox formula." For several years, Fox wrote the "FOX-TALES" column in ''TOPS'' magazine, which was run by the Abbott Magic & Novelty Company. During the 1993 Get-Together, Fox gave a tour of Colon's Cemetery, filled with legendary magicians that have passed. This tradition has been carried on by Al The Only of Hawaii. Fox appeared on the Australian Magic Convention public show line-up June 8–11, 1984. Contrary to popular belief, Karrell did not have any part of Roy Kissell’s Fox Fun ‘N Magic Shop that was located in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, Michigan, although he and Kissell were dear friends.

Television appearances

As a young man, Fox regularly performed magic on a local Detroit show called ''Junior Jamboree''. He later had his own TV show on local Detroit television, performing as "Milky the Clown". Fox was offered the part after his appearances on ''Jamboree'', but initially had to turn it down when he was drafted, recommending his friend Clare Cummings as a replacement. When he returned from the service two years later, the show was wildly successful and Fox suggested he act as Cummings' understudy despite being offered the main role. The two alternated appearances starting in 1964. Fox also appeared on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

'' in 1946, aged 18.

Personal life

Fox was married to his "child bride" (as he often referred to her , Lynn, and had two sons, Karlin (a combination of Karrell's and Lynn's names) and Darin.

Death

Fox died in 1998 while attending the Las Vegas Desert Magic Seminar, aged 70, from undisclosed causes. He was interred at Lakeside Cemetery in

Colon, Michigan Colon is a village in St. Joseph County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,173 at the 2010 census. The village is located within Colon Township. History Colon was platted in 1844. It was incorporated as a village in 1904. Ge ...

Honors and awards

Between 1986 and 1987, Fox served as the 48th president of the

International Brotherhood of Magicians International Brotherhood of Magicians (I.B.M.) is an organization for both professional and amateur close-up and stage magicians, with approximately 15,000 members worldwide. The headquarters is in St. Charles, Missouri. There are over 300 lo ...

. In 1996, a Golden Palm Star on the

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...

, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him. He also received: *

Sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...

Award (Platform Effect) (1949) * The

Academy of Magical Arts The Magic Castle is a clubhouse for magicians and magic enthusiasts, as well as the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts. It is in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California and it bills itself as "the most unusual private club in t ...

Creative Fellowship * The Academy of Magical Arts Lecturer of the Year (1980) * The Academy of Magical Arts Literature & Media Fellowship (1992) * The Academy of Magical Arts Masters Fellowship (1996)

Contributions

* Bullseye Card * B.S. Miser's Dream Pail * Magical Assets * Nite-Cap * Take It and Stick It * Two Fisted Book Test * Mene-Tekel Book Test * Knifty Knot * No Not * Baffling Blow-Outs

Published works

* ''Kornfidentially Yours'' (1954) * ''Comedy A La Card'' (1960) * ''Clever Like a Fox'' (1976) * ''Another Book by Karrell Fox'' (1979) * ''Abra K Fox'' (1983) * ''For My Next Trick'' (1986) * ''My Latest Book'' (1988) * ''Goodies'' (1991) * ''Much Ado About Something'' (1995) * ''Karrell Fox, The Legend'' (1998) (video)

References

External links

*
Biographies Page FG – Karrell Fox

Karrell Fox bibliography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Karrell 1928 births 1998 deaths American magicians People from Greenbrier County, West Virginia Academy of Magical Arts Lecturer of the Year winners Academy of Magical Arts Literature & Media Fellowship winners Academy of Magical Arts Masters Fellowship winners