McDonald Birch

Born George McDonald Birch
January 28, 1902
Columbus, Ohio
Died April 28, 1992 (age 90) McConnelsville, Ohio

McDonald "Mac" Birch (1902-1992) was born George McDonald Birch and grew up in McConnelsville, Ohio. Known as Mac to his friends, he began performing on the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits. He quickly gained a reputation for his work offering a full unassisted two-hour show.

Biography
Later, his wife Mabel Sperry, a xylophonist and also played the marimba , provided the musical interlude in his shows, as well as working as his chief assistant. Two of his featured acts were the Vanishing Pony and the Silk Mirage.

McDonald Birch was a contemporary of other master illusionists like Blackstone, Thurston and the great Harry Houdini. In 1924, Howard Thurston made plans to make Birch the successor to the Kellar-Thurston "magic mantle". Thurston, however, never got around to retiring.

After over 50 years as a headliner, Birch retired from performing in the 1960s.

The auditorium of the Opera House Theater in Morgan County, Ohio was dedicated "Birch Hall" as tribute.

Awards
Received the "Master Fellowship" award from the Academy of Magical Arts (1980)
Given a Presidential Citation by IBM in 1990.
Cincinnati Academy of Magic and Allied Sciences (C.A.M.A.S.) bestowed him the "Honored Wizard" in 1990.
References
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The Sphinx, Vol. XXIII, No. 3, May 1924, MCDONALD BIRCH by O.V. Stout, page 79
Cover Genii 1940 January, Vol. 4, no. 5, page 145.
Cover Genii, Vol. 10, No. 1, September 1945, McDonald Birch, page 19
M-U-M, Vol. 44, No. 11, April 1955, MCDONALD BIRCH magician-of-the-month by LESLIE P. GUEST, page 483
Cover Genii 1968 July
The Linking Ring, Vol. 59, No. 12, December 1979, Memoirs Of A Magician's Ghost by John Booth, "MC DONALD BIRCH ATTRACTS HOWARD THURSTON", page 61
Genii, Vol. 55, No. 9, July 1992, Obituaries, MacDonald Birch, page 636
M-U-M, Vol. 82, No. 2, July 1992, Broken Wands, McDonald Birch, page 40
The Linking Ring, Vol. 72, No. 7, July 1992, Obituary GEORGE MCDONALD BIRCH 1902–1992, page 114
http://sdrcdata.lib.uiowa.edu/libsdrc/details.jsp?id=/birchm/2&ui=1
http://www.operahouseinc.com/newmagic.htm


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Birch America's Master Magician and Assisting Artists, the circa 1930s magic show poster used to advertise Birch, Master Magician ("Mabel Sperry Enchanting 'Mystery Miss'"; "Baggage truck 42-feet long carrying 7-tons of stage equipment for the spectacular production!"; "Birch: Master magician and company") featuring great images of Birch holding a mechanical human head and Mabel Sperry in a huge hat! Note that the poster was printed by the "Central Show Prtg. Co., Inc., Mason City, IA.". Our brief research of this poster indicates that the Birch on this poster was "MacDonald Birch" (perhaps "McDonald Birch"), and that he was a midwestern magician who performed throughout the midwest, and advertised that he had performed before the crowned heads of Europe (but that might have just been hype!). Apparently, his prime years were in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and this poster would seem to date from that time.