'Mamma Mia Magic' Andie
Colombini
The Better Half or
Second Best? By Andie Colombini
In many
relationships, whether husband-wife, girlfriend-boyfriend
or any other combination, the couple works together.
Usually, in the situation of perhaps a small
store or retail establishment, the couple works
hand in hand, each with their own strengths
and weaknesses and each using their respective
strengths in the areas they find most comfortable.
But usually, in these cases, both partners find
some recognition and ego fulfillment in the
job. In the above case, perhaps they both deal
with the public, befriending their customers
and helping them to find something they would
like to buy, be it salami, a new coat or a computer.
Sometimes working with a significant other means
traveling together. If a couple publishes a
magazine, it could mean covering a story together.
If the couple manufactures dresses, it could
mean going to Europe to see the latest fashions.
Usually, in these cases, there is, especially
if the relationship is going to work, a somewhat
equal sharing of responsibilities and an equal
amount of acclaim (both names on the by- line,
both names on the label.)
In the
magic business this is often a very different
story. Traditionally, most magicians are men.
I'm not making any judgments, this is just what
I see. Now, I have not been in the magic business
for a very long time nor have I studied historic
magical trends, but it seems to me that the
portrayal of early magicians was in a otherworldly
or spirit world manner using satanic images
in the publicity posters and I don't think this
was a nice place to find a lady. So what part
did the female half of the couple end up with?
You got it! The 'assistant.'
Sometimes
a traveling and performing magician hires dancers,
or assistants, in each city as he does not have
a regular partner. Maybe his wife / girlfriend
isn't interested in magic or has a career of
her own. Maybe the size requirements of someone
who must fit into boxes or the ability requirements
of a professional dancer do not fit his life
partner. But many times this helper/assistant/partner
is the wife and this often times requires travel.
Traveling with a magician husband can be exciting
and rewarding at best and ego crushing at the
worst. (Or perhaps there are even worse things,
but let's not go in that direction.) In this
business, as in many of the performing are,
the magician is the star and also, again as
with many other performing areas, this star
usually has a larger-than-average ego. This
usually means that he craves the spotlight,
the attention, the adulation. This can be really
difficult for the hard working, sometimes equally
contributing, other half of the partnership.
With
Aldo and me it usually is not a problem. I am
a business woman foremost. I love magic and
have learned a lot, enough so that I can actually
demonstrate many of our products at conventions
in our dealer booth. But my real strength lies
in the marketing of products, the editing of
manuscripts, the photography for the books,
the booking and arranging of tours, etc. In
other words, the nitty gritty of the business,
but not on the stage. When Aldo is performing
somewhere I stay backstage to hand him props,
to give him my impression of the audience's
reaction to his jokes and performance and to
more or less just lend him moral support. He
loves when I am there and I love to be there.
No problem. But for many wives/girlfriends,
they are onstage along with their magician partner,
working probably as hard if not harder, and
often their names do not even appear on the
program. If you are a woman and a performer,
this can be devastating and may put an enormous
strain on the relationship.
I have
met many successful husband/wife partners who
perform together on stage. A few that come to
mind at the moment are Pam and Johnny Thompson,
Nicholas Night and Kinga and Goldfinger and
Dove. I noticed that in these partnerships the
wife has billing along with her magician husband.
Could this be why the marriages, as well as
the acts, survive? just an observation. But
whether you are a partner onstage or a partner
in the business, each partner needs public recognition
at some level to feel that their efforts are
validated. It's not always enough for the husband
to say to his friends and colleagues, "I owe
it all to my wife and partner." If the wife/partner
is equal to the business or act, it is fair
that her name appears somewhere in the publicity
of the act. Of course this is not always the
case.
From
time to time I have understood this frustration.
While I'm not on stage and do not have the need
to share the spotlight in the performing/lecturing
realm, I do like when my name appears on our
products and catalogues. I am a 50/50 partner
in our company, Mamma Mia Magic and, business-wise,
do at least 50% of the work. While Aldo creates
the magic, writes the manuscripts, packs orders
and makes many of the tricks (along with performing,
of course,) I edit the manuscripts, take the
photographs, pay the bills, keep the books,
pack orders as well, take the phone calls, book
the tours, work the dealer booth, etc., etc.,
etc. Quite a while ago we realized that not
everyone knew that Mamma Mia Magic was associated
with Aldo Colombini and his magic. So, as a
marketing strategy, we decided to put Aldo Colombini's
Mamma Mia Magic' on many of our products and
advertising. In the beginning it was a great
idea to let magicians around the world know
that when they see the 'Mamma Mia Magic" company
name, that it is predominantly Aldo's magic.
It was important, and still is, that the name
Colombini and Mamma Mia Magic are connected.
But from time to time I need people to know
that it's Andie and Aldo Colombini's Mamma Mia
Magic, or The Colombini's Mamma Mia Magic. I
own half the company, I work alongside my husband
in everything we do (except performing) and
I want some public recognition of my contribution.
Now,
Im not complaining. Most people know I am half
of Mamma Mia Magic. Aldo is not the kind of
partner that needs 100 percent of the attention
all the time. He always publicly acknowledges
our complete partnership and he has plenty of
his own time in the spotlight when he is onstage
both performing and lecturing. But being the
female half of a magician team can be hard sometimes.
Especially if the male magician half needs so
much attention from his fans that he cannot
share it with his partner/assistant. Sharing
the spotlight is no different from anything
else a couple shares. We all hopefully find
a good balance in our partnerships, both in
business and personally, or these partnerships
will not survive. Each relationship is different;
we all have different needs. But traveling and
working with a magician husband can be challenging
as well as rewarding. I happen to be of the
feminist persuasion and, while I understand
that the integrity of the act needs to be preserved,
the assistant (wife or girlfriend) should be
acknowledged on the bill. I'm lucky. I married
the warmest and most loving guy in the world.
But its Andie and Aldo Colombini's Mamma Mia
Magic.
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