Wonder, live on NBC
Doug Henning (1947–2000) was a Canadian magician who did something nobody had managed in a generation: he made magic feel modern. No tails, no top hat, no sinister patter — just a man in a tie-dyed shirt and flared trousers, delighted by his own tricks.
He broke through on Broadway in 1974 with The Magic Show, which ran for four and a half years. On Boxing Day 1975, NBC handed him an hour of live network time. Doug Henning’s World of Magic drew an audience of roughly fifty million and became an annual event, running through the 1980s. In 1983 he returned to Broadway as the wizard in Merlin.
What survives here comes from the fan wiki that ran at this address for twenty years: the running orders, the notes people typed up from memory, and a set of stills captured off videotape.
The specials
Seven World of Magic specials aired on NBC between 1975 and 1982, alongside three stage productions. They brought Henning seven Emmy nominations.
Television — NBC, 1975–1982
- December 26, 1975
World of Magic53 stills
Live on NBC, produced by David Susskind and sponsored by Mobil — it ran without commercials in the east. Gene Kelly introduced; Bill Cosby, Shimada and Lori Lieberman appeared. Henning escaped the Water Torture Cell, though not inside Houdini's record.
- December 1976
World of Magic II
Themed “Fire, Water and Air”, again live with only two commercial breaks. Hosted by Michael Landon with Joey Heatherton, and a segment by Ricky Jay. Henning vanished an elephant.
- December 15, 1977
World of Magic III
Live, with Glen Campbell and Sandy Duncan. The advertised illusion was walking through a brick wall.
- December 14, 1978
World of Magic IV88 stills
Themed “A Magical Journey Through Time”. Enough went wrong on air that it became the last special broadcast live.
- February 15, 1979
World of Magic V
Taped at the Las Vegas Hilton.
- February 22, 1980
World of Magic VI47 stills
Taped at Osmond Studios in Orem, Utah. Bill Cosby returned; Marie Osmond appeared. The finale was an escape built around an enormous Rube Goldberg machine.
- 1982
World of Magic VII
The last of the television specials, with Bruce Jenner. Themed around a magical house of past, present and future rooms; it ended by turning a black horse and a white horse into a zebra.
Stage
- 1974–1978
The Magic Show
Previews May 16, opened May 28, 1974 at the Cort Theatre with songs by Stephen Schwartz. Closed December 31, 1978 after 1,920 performances. Two Tony nominations in 1975.
- 1982–1983
Merlin
Previews from December 10, 1982; opened February 13, 1983 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre, closing August 7 after 199 performances.
- 1983–1985
Doug Henning & His World of Magic
Opened at the Fox Theater, Atlanta on October 13, 1983. Reached the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on December 11, 1984, closing January 27, 1985 after 60 performances.
World of Magic — shot by shot
53 stills captured from videotape of the first live broadcast, in the order they aired. The picture is soft and the colour has drifted, which is exactly what a 1975 NBC broadcast looks like fifty years on.
The first broadcast survives as 53 stills captured from videotape, in the order they aired. See the whole show, act by act →
A life in wonder
- 1947May 3. Douglas James Henning born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His father, an airline pilot, is promoted and the family moves to Oakville, Ontario.
- 1953Aged six, he watches a magician float a woman in mid-air on The Ed Sullivan Show. He asks his mother how it was done. She tells him: “That’s magic.”
- 1961First paid show, at a friend’s birthday party. At fourteen he has cards printed for The Great Hendoo and places a newspaper advertisement: “Magician, Have Rabbit, Will Travel.”
- 1963Promotes a high-school assembly show with a publicity photograph of himself levitating his younger sister Nancy.
- 1967Enrols at McMaster to read psychology, intending to go on to medical school. He works Toronto’s coffee houses and club circuit, making as much as $5,000 a year.
- 1971Applies to the Canada Council to study magic as an art. The rejection letter says: “Magic is not a fine art.” He travels to Montreal, performs for the panel in person, and leaves with a $4,000 grant.
- 1972Studies sleight of hand with Tony Slydini in New York, then with Dai Vernon on the west coast. Vernon writes in Genii: “I predict that if he keeps up with his present schedule of study and dedication, Doug Henning will be a great success in magic.”
- 1973With college friend Ivan Reitman he stages Spellbound at the Royal Alexandra in Toronto — borrowing $5,000 from his mother for second-hand illusions. It breaks the theatre’s box-office record, beating Hair and Godspell.
- 1974May 28. The Magic Show opens on Broadway at the Cort Theatre.
- 1975Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. December 26: Doug Henning’s World of Magic premieres live on NBC.
- 1977Marries Barbara De Angelis. December 17: Show Three airs.
- 1978December 31. The Magic Show closes after 1,920 performances.
- 1981Divorces; in December marries Debby Douillard. Show Seven airs — the last of the NBC run.
- 1983February 13. Merlin opens at the Mark Hellinger Theatre. It closes on August 7 after 199 performances.
- 1984December 11. Doug Henning & His World of Magic opens at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, closing January 27 after 60 performances.
- 1987Leaves magic to work full time promoting Transcendental Meditation.
- 1999Magic Magazine asks what he would tell magicians about his return to magic. He answers: “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”
- 2000February 7. Dies of liver cancer, aged 52.