Tom Noddy is the stage name of Tom McAllister, an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

entertainer An entertainer is someone who provides entertainment in various different forms. Types of entertainers * Acrobat * Actor * Archimime * Athlete * Barker * Beatboxer * Benshi * Bouffon * Circus performer * Clown * Club Hostess/Host * Co ...

whose

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

performances of "Bubble Magic" with

soap bubbles A soap bubble is an extremely thin film of soap or detergent and water enclosing air that forms a hollow sphere with an iridescent surface. Soap bubbles usually last for only a few seconds before bursting, either on their own or on contact ...

in the early 1980s led to a book deal and "Bubble Festivals" at science centers across America. He is the originator of a large number of bubble magic tricks now performed by entertainers around the world. In 1980, Noddy's performance was featured as a segment on an American television program ''On The Road With Charles Karault''. In 1983, Noddy performed on American television's ''

That's Incredible! ''That's Incredible!'' is an American reality television show that aired on the ABC television network from 1980 to 1984. In the tradition of ''You Asked for It'', '' Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' and ''Real People'', the show featured people ...

'' and '' Johnny Carson's Tonight Show''. He subsequently performed on the UK's ''

Paul Daniels Newton Edward Daniels (6 April 1938 – 17 March 2016), known professionally as Paul Daniels, was an English magician and television presenter. He achieved international fame through his television series ''The Paul Daniels Magic Show'', which ...

Magic Show'',

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

's ''Incroyable Mais Vrai'',

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

's ''Die verflixte Sieben'' with

Rudi Carrell Rudi Carrell (born Rudolf Wijbrand Kesselaar; 19 December 1934 – 7 July 2006) was a Dutch entertainer. Along with famous entertainers such as Johannes Heesters and Linda de Mol, he was one of the most successful Dutch personalities active in ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

's ''

Pat Kenny Patrick Kenny (born 29 January 1948) is an Irish broadcaster, who currently hosts the daily radio show ''The Pat Kenny Show'' on Newstalk and the current affairs show ''Pat Kenny Tonight'' on Virgin Media One. Prior to this, Kenny had a 41-yea ...

Chat Show'', Australia's ''Mike Walsh Show'',

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

' ''De Bananasplit Show'', Japan's ''Chikyū Donburi'',

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

's ''Scantertainment'' and several others. Following the attention that this exposure brought to him, Noddy worked with

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

's Exploratorium to develop a Bubble Festival in 1983 that featured Noddy's performance and that of another bubble performer whom Noddy encountered in his travels. With octogenarian Eiffel G. Plasterer performing his Bubbles Concerto and Exploratorium exhibits highlighting the science of

soap film Soap films are thin layers of liquid (usually water-based) surrounded by air. For example, if two soap bubbles come into contact, they merge and a thin film is created in between. Thus, foams are composed of a network of films connected by Platea ...

s and allowing the public to experiment with soap bubbles for themselves, the event attracted an estimated 15,000 people over a weekend in 1983. These appearances came after more than a decade of developing his skill with soap bubbles and inventing the tricks featured in his performances. In 1988, with

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

's Running Press, Noddy's how-to book: ''Tom Noddy's'' ''Bubble Magic'' was published in the US and helped to inspire several other performers to turn their attention to soap bubbles. Some of Noddy's later television appearances included the '' Late Show with David Letterman'' (USA, February 27, 2007), and Germany's ''TV Total'' with Stefan Raab in 2009. Tom Noddy continues to bring his performance and

science education Science education is the teaching and learning of science to school children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education includes work in science content, science process (the scientific method), som ...

to science centers in the US,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and other parts of the world ( Abu Dhabi in November 2011). In August 2011, he featured in the BBC-TV programme ''The Code'', presented by mathematician

Marcus du Sautoy Marcus Peter Francis du Sautoy (; born 26 August 1965) is a British mathematician, Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford, Fellow of New College, Oxford and author of popular mathematics and popu ...

, where he demonstrated the ability of bubbles to form minimal surface structures.

Publications

References

External links

Official website for Tom Noddy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noddy, Tom American television personalities Male television personalities Living people Year of birth missing (living people)