Secret Life: Magician has broad Halloween repertoire

• Dolson fell in love with magic as a 5-year-old, so his grandmother gave him a magic kit for Christmas.
• He still performs with fellow professionals he got to know at various magic shops around New Jersey in the 1970s and '80s.
• Dolson did a lot of his special effects for low-budget videos such as Gary Cohen's "Violence Video I" and "Violence Video II."

SCOTCH PLAINS - Mark Dolson fell in love with magic as a 5-year-old, so his grandmother gave him a magic kit for Christmas.

He began working in a magic shop at 16.

At 21, he became the shop's manager, and although the shop closed eight years later, magic has remained a way of life. He began doing magic shows for his friends as a youngster.

Today, he performs with fellow professionals he got to know at various magic shops around New Jersey in the 1970s and '80s. He also did special effects for low-budget horror movies in the 1980s, movies such as the cult classic "Beware of Children at Play." Most of his shows, though, are solo performances.

"People say I've had such an interesting life, but that always surprises me. To me, this is just what I do," Dolson said.

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Dolson as special-effects guru

The special-effects gigs started with the release of George Romero's 1985 zombie movie, "The Day of the Dead." Dolson and a few friends dressed up as zombies and went to the premier in New York.

"We had good zombie costumes," said Dolson, who designed the costumes. "Most of the people who went did not have good costumes. We were so good, we were invited to the cast party afterwards, and CNN had us hovering around Romero while they interviewed him about the movie. You can see a photo of us on my website, www.wingsofmagic.com."

Dolson did a lot of his special effects for low-budget videos such as Gary Cohen's "Violence Video I" and "Violence Video II." Cohen now is the director of Plays in the Park. Dolson said that back then, the special effects were all mechanical, not computer-generated.

"In 'Beware of Children at Play,' a guy cut himself in half and had to walk on his elbows, carrying his lower half. Actually, the guy was in a hole, and his legs were underground. We covered the ground around him, and he walked on his elbows on the ground covering," he said.

Dolson has worked with some famous people, such as John Rhys Davies from the Indiana Jones movies and Bret Radnor, director of the "Rush Hour" movies. But he worked with Radnor back when Radnor was making a movie as a student, and Dolson did his special effects.

Magic and Halloween

Dolson said that magic and Halloween have always had a close association. In the 1970s and '80s, when he was working at a magic shop in Union Center, Halloween was the big season when magic shops made most of their money. He said that changed drastically in the 1990s, when big stores such as Party City and Spirit Halloween began selling Halloween costumes and decorations. The smaller mom-and-pop independent shops couldn't compete.

"They all closed," he said. "It's such a shame that the new generation of magicians will never know what those magic shops were like."

Still, the connection with magic and Halloween lives on. As a performer, Dolson has no busier time of year. In the 10 days leading up to Halloween 2016, he has had 22 Halloween shows, five school presentations in Hillside for their Red Ribbon programs, and three birthday parties. Dolson, who is still making costumes, prides himself on creating characters, either from his own inspiration or to meet the desires of his clients.

For younger children, he has a funny Frankie character who is a comic version of Frankenstein. He also does a scarecrow for little kids. For older children, he does Dracula or a wizard who could be a professor of magic for a student like Harry Potter. He also tries to make the children the center of his shows.

"I like to levitate the guest of honor on a floating table," he said. "For kids, I use a lot of puppets that look like Muppets. Some people think marionettes are creepy, so I don't use them. Also, I bring a white dove to every show. Kids love live birds."

In addition to the costumes he designs and wears, Dolson  plays the characters with different, distinct voices. Some of them, like the professor of magic, have English accents. He also does a safari character who sounds a bit like Crocodile Dundee.

For adults, Dolson has been asked to play some fairly sketchy characters. He said he once performed at a big corporate event for 150 people, and he had to produce the chief operating officer magically. Someone at the company came up with the idea of Dolson becoming a creepy Victorian undertaker.

"They had a Victorian hearse, so I dressed up for that," Dolson said. "I stood there and measured people for coffins. They loved it. And my friend John Bundy, an illusionist I've known since I worked at the magic shop, supplied the cabinet we used to make the CEO appear. It was great."

No creepy clowns

Dolson said he does a clown character and he has a friend, Josh Herman, who does a really good clown.

"He's everything a clown should be — sweet, full of joy," Dolson said.

He and Herman do not like the creepy-clown trend that has developed recently.

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"Clowns should be funny," he said. "Josh and I went to a Halloween clown show recently, and I was terrified to go. I was afraid they would have creepy, horrible clowns and Josh would be offended. But it was all right. They were good clowns, what they were supposed to be. We had a good time."

Dolson prides himself on being able to portray any character a client calls for when he does a magic show. Contact him through his one of his websites, www.wingsofmagic.com or www.wingsofmagicfx, or call him at 908-803-5179.

Staff Writer Pamela MacKenzie: 908-243-6616; pmackenz@gannettnj.com