This 15-minute Sunday morning children’s show from NBC was produced in front of a live audience of kids who participated in a wide variety of magic tricks and games.
The programme was hosted by Zovella the Magic Clown, an illusionist who specialised in sleight-of-hand magic tricks.
He delighted children with his magic, and the show became a weekly ‘must see’ with young viewers.
The exuberant Zovella was eventually replaced by folksier Richard DuBois and his assistant Mimi Walters.
Written and directed by Al Garry, The Magic Clown was sponsored by the Bonomo Candy Company (home of Turkish taffy).
Even by early TV advertising standards, Bonomo’s promotional saturation in this series was excessive, going so far as to have kids in the audience wear fezzes, sing about the company in the show’s theme song (to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell), and shout “Bonomo” as the secret word to tricks done by the clown.
The programme was hosted by Zovella the Magic Clown, an illusionist who specialised in sleight-of-hand magic tricks.
