Tobias "Theo" Leendert Bamberg (1875–1963) was a professional
magician. Born in the Netherlands, Bamberg performed under the name ''Okito'' which is an
anagram
An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...
of Tokio (
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
). His father had been court magician to
King William III of the Netherlands
William III (Dutch: ''Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk''; English: ''William Alexander Paul Frederick Louis''; 19 February 1817 – 23 November 1890) was King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1849 until his death in 18 ...
, making ''Okito'' the sixth generation in a family of outstanding magicians known as the
Bamberg Magical Dynasty
The Bamberg Magical Dynasty were a Dutch family of magicians, consisting of six generations of Bambergs. The Bambergs were an upper middle-class unorthodox Jewish family. The oldest sons were also magicians and carried on the tradition. This tradi ...
.
Early life
Bamberg was the son of Judic Simon Delden and David Tobias Bamberg. His family were Dutch Jews. As a young boy, Theo Bamberg nearly drowned while
ice skating
Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be per ...
. The accident left him almost completely
deaf
Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an Audiology, audiological condition. In this context it ...
and as a result, he performed entirely in
pantomime
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...
.
[
] As a young man, inspired by a performance of the great French magician, shadowist and mimic Felecien Trewey, Bamberg developed a shadowgraphy routine which he performed professionally, beginning in his early teens.
Early career
In 1893, Bamberg created his first
Japanese-style act in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
at the age of eighteen. Success was virtually immediate, but he eventually abandoned the show to elope with the theater manager's daughter. Shortly after, his new wife convinced him to change his name from "Tobias/Toby" to "Theodore/Theo". When he returned to performing, Bamberg altered his Japanese act to become a
Chinese-style act to better facilitate a new illusion he had designed. Unlike William Ellsworth Robinson who performed as
Chung Ling Soo
William Ellsworth Robinson (April 2, 1861 – March 24, 1918) was an American magician who went by the stage name Chung Ling Soo (). He is mostly remembered today for his accidental death due to a failed bullet catch trick.
Early years
Robinso ...
, Bamberg didn't make an attempt to hide his European identity.
February 1907 brought the birth of his son
David Bamberg
David Tobias "Theodore" Bamberg (aka Fu Manchu) (19 February 190419 August 1974) was an itinerant magician who traveled with his full evening magic show from the early to mid part of the 20th century. In Bamberg's autobiography, Robert Parrish wr ...
(who would later perform under the
Stage name
A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...
''Fu Manchu'') in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
Bamberg and his family eventually moved to
The United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
where, beginning in 1908, ''Okito'' worked as an off-stage assistant/advisor and on-stage feature in the shows of illusionist Howard Thurston. On the Thurston show, he was billed as "Europe's Greatest Shadowist."
[
]
Later career
In 1909, through
SAM, Bamberg had become friends with other notable magicians including Clement de Lion,
Nate Leipzig
Nate Leipzig (born Nathan Leipziger; May 31, 1873 – October 13, 1939) was an American vaudeville magician who performed in Europe and USA. In May 1938, Leipzig was elected president of the SAM (Society of American Magicians). Previous president ...
, and many others. Frustrated with his lack of success, Theo sold his Okito act to a Brooklyn magician and plumbing contractor, W.J. "Doc" Nixon. It was in that year that Bamberg opened, with partner Joe Klein, the Bamberg Magic & Novelty Co. in New York City. The company was the primary representative of the German firm of Carl Willmann. While minding the store and toying with a pillbox, Bamberg invented his famous
Okito box The okito box is a cylindrical box fitted to the size of a coin, used to perform coin magic. Invented by Tobias Bamberg, better known by the Stage name ''Okito
Tobias "Theo" Leendert Bamberg (1875–1963) was a professional magician. Born in ...
used to perform
coin magic
Coin magic is the manipulating of coins to entertain audiences.
Money Magic, pp. 175-221. Because coins are small, most coin tricks are considered close-up magic or table magic, as the audience must be close to the performer to see the effects. T ...
.
Eventually, Bamberg returned to the road (playing vaudeville and variety theatres), selling his interest in the shop to Klein. Bamberg's skills were such that existing handmade props created by Bamberg are highly prized by collectors today.
Many of Okito's props were described by
Robert Albo
Robert James Albo (May 8, 1932 – February 21, 2011) was an American physician, surgeon and amateur illusionist. He was for 40 years team physician for the Golden State Warriors as well as the Oakland Raiders. At one point he held the largest pr ...
in his ''Classic Magic with Apparatus'' and ''The Ultimate Okito'' series.
Eventually, Doc Nixon gave Theo the "Okito" title back. Discarding the old act, Okito built many larger effects that would make him into a legend. When he returned to Europe, success finally found him. He traveled the world working large prestigious contracts. He was reunited with his son David and made him his assistant like his father did and his father's father as well.
Following a
South American
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
and European tour in 1932, Theo decided to settle down and he returned to the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, David had established himself in South America and persuaded his father to come and visit him. ''Okito'' did so just as the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
invaded
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
and the Netherlands. As a result, all of his possessions were either confiscated or destroyed.
Theo Bamberg, known as ''Okito'' and frequently billed on posters as ''The Mystic'' ended his last years in Chicago where he won the friendship, respect and admiration of everyone interested in magic.
and died in 1963.
Squash Publishing is scheduled to release an anthology of selected Okito tricks, illusions, reminiscences and his never-before-published hand shadow routine.
Squash Publishing: About
Accessed February 16, 2020.
Works
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References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bamberg, Tobias
1875 births
1963 deaths
American magicians
Dutch emigrants to the United States
People from Chicago
Dutch Jews
American Jews
Deaf people from the United States
Deaf people from the Netherlands