JOHN C. MOEHRING

1942-2017

John C. Moehring, 74, passed away in his sleep the early morning of July 9, 2017, after a long struggle with Parkinson’s Disease. He was born in Houston, Texas July 19, 1942 at St. Joseph’s Infirmary to Charles W. and Frances Nannette Rountree Moehring. In 1951 he and his family moved to Rockdale, Texas, where he graduated from high school in 1960.

John became fascinated with magic at a very early age, especially after wandering into Howard’s Fun Shop in Houston.

There he met “Mysterious Howard” Campbell, owner and magician, who gave him his first magic lesson, and became John’s mentor. While attending school in Rockdale, John developed his own magic act and started performing at school functions and other venues throughout Central Texas.

He was also fascinated with tropical fish, and, at age 13, opened and operated his own business, Tropical Streams Aquarium, in the back of his dad’s office in Rockdale.

At age 16, he boarded a train to Chicago and entered the Jr. Competition at the combined IBM-SAM magic convention. He returned to Rockdale with an Honorary Mention Award...and a boost in his confidence as a performing magician. He then began attending the annual Texas Assoc. of Magicians conventions, coming home year after year with 1st Place trophies.

In the fall of 1960 he entered North Texas State University, graduating with honors and a BA in English in 1965. During this time his magic act was part of ‘Fessor Floyd Graham’s Aces of Collegeland Show, touring throughout the North Texas area. He also performed in the Campus Revue at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington. In the summer of ‘64 he worked in the Texas State Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair. It was here that he was discovered by Mark Leddy, booking agent for the Ed Sullivan show. With Leddy’s advice to cut all doves from his act, John returned to NTSU and began working up a new routine.

After graduation in ‘65, John moved to New York City and Leddy put him to work performing on Caribbean and Mediterranean cruises, with his first cruise being aboard the Queen Elizabeth. In the spring of ‘66, while at sea, John received a telegram from Leddy informing him that he was booked on the Ed Sullivan show! Sure enough, he made his appearance on April, 24, 1966, as his family and friends (and the whole town of Rockdale) looked on with excitement and pride.

Shortly thereafter, he appeared on the Merv Griffin and Mike Douglas shows, and had extensive bookings in nightclubs, on cruise ships, and in theaters around the world. After traveling and performing worldwide, John’s career took him in a new direction, as he began staging and producing live shows for theme parks throughout the U.S. Returning to Houston, he was Director of Live Shows at Astroworld until 1970. He later moved to Charlotte, NC to become Operations Mgr. at Carowinds Theme Park and also worked with Magic Harbor in Myrtle Beach, SC and Marriott’s Great America in Gurnee IL and Santa Clara CA. He owned and operated his own audiovisual production company, Panorama Productions, Inc.

In 1986 he wrote and published is first book, A Texan Trixter, a moniker bestowed upon him by world-renowned magician Dai Vernon.

In 1993 John moved to Las Vegas. Employed by Showtex Corp., he co-produced and operated the famous Wizard’s Secrets Show at the MGM Grand. The show ran 7 days a week until 1996. In 1997, he became associate editor of MAGIC Magazine.

From 2001-2008, John had the distinction of being the only person to serve consecutive terms as editor of two different magic publications, MAGIC Magazine and M-U-M Magazine. During this time he wrote two more books, The Magical Life of Marshall Brodien and Del Ray America’s Foremost.

In 2009 John was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. He soon moved back to Houston to live with his sister and brother-in-law. Prior to and after his move, he served as editor for Bill Spooner’s Journal of Magic Research. In Houston, he became involved with the Houston Area Parkinson’s Society where he performed and taught magic tricks at several of their functions.

He also served as a creative consultant to Jody Baran’s KUPANAHA Show at the K`anapoli Beach Hotel in Maui.

In 2014, John was the guest of honor at the Super Session magic gathering in Dallas, Tx. He received a standing ovation following the presentation of Gary Plant’s documentary video “All About TESS.” (TESS being The Ed Sullivan Show.) And on April 24, 2016, John, along with family and friends, celebrated the 50th Anniversary of his performance on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Later that year the Houston Magic Clubs, in conjunction with the IBM and SAM magic organizations, presented John with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his many contributions to the Art of Magic.

There will be a ‘Celebration of John’s Life’ at 11:00am on August 26, at the IATSE Local 51 Meeting Hall, 3030 North Frwy.(I-45), Houston, Texas. The “Broken Wand” ceremony will be conducted by Scott Wells and Jeff Lanes.

John is survived by his son, Charles Patrick Moehring, sister Jeanne MoehringHaley, brother-in-law Frank Haley, cousins Darr Kuykendall and Holly Kuykendall Bryant, and special friend Barbara Richard.

In lieu of flowers, remembrances in John’s name may be made to the Houston Area Parkinson’s Society (hapsonline.org), or a charity of your choice.