GHOSTS OF MAGIC: PRESTO

Copyright Estate of Diane Arbus

In an earlier post we paid homage to Hubert’s Flea Circus, a favorite ghost of Old Broadway, the last of the dime museums, and the inspiration for many great artists including Diane Arbus, whose famous photo graces this post.

One of our readers has alerted us to a recently unearthed artifact from Hubert’s: footage of the wonderful magician who worked the downstairs side show for many years, the late Presto. Rarely called by his real name, Earl Everett Johnson, the incomparable Presto’s signature trick was his sponge ball routine, which never failed to bring down the house. Here it is, exactly as we remember it from Hubert’s:

Video link here