Abbott's Get Together is a long-running annual convention for

magicians Magician or The Magician may refer to: Performers * A practitioner of magic (supernatural) * A practitioner of magic (illusion) * Magician (fantasy), a character in a fictional fantasy context Entertainment Books * ''The Magician'', an 18th-ce ...

held in Colon,

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, United States. It was founded in 1937 by Percy Abbott and his business partner, Recil Bordner. The Get Together is well known within the magician industry as an event to gather and share information with their peers. There are routinely multiple stage shows, a

close-up magic Close-up magic (also known as table magic or micromagic) is magic performed in an intimate setting usually no more than 3 meters (10 feet) from one's audience and is usually performed while sitting at a table. Sleight-of-hand, also known as pr ...

gala, lectures, contests, and a dealer's room. The 70th anniversary of the Get-Together took place on August 1–4, 2007. The event was cancelled in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, but resumed in 2021.

History of the Get-Together

Abbott Magic Company

Percy Abbott, an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n-born magician who owned several magic supply companies in Australia in the early 1900s, co-founded the Blackstone Magic Company in Colon, Michigan, with Harry Blackstone Sr. in 1927. Eighteen months later, the two parted ways. In 1934, Abbott reopened the business as the Abbott Magic Company with a new partner, Recil Bordner, and in an attempt to boost poor sales, they decided to hold an open house. Fifty magicians from the area of Michigan,

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, and

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

came to watch as Bordner performed with other magicians while Abbott was the emcee. This event was closed to the public, but boosted sales so much that another open house was held the following year to even more success. In 1937, it was opened to the public and moved to

Colon High School Colon High School is a public high school in northeastern St. Joseph County, Michigan. It serves the residents of Colon and the surrounding community including Leonidas Township and other rural areas. Its high school mascot is Magi, a rabbit ...

's gymnasium.The Magic Capital of the World, page 2
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References

External links

Official Magic Get Together website
Recurring events established in 1937 Magic conventions Michigan culture Conventions in Michigan Tourist attractions in St. Joseph County, Michigan {{magic-stub

History of the Get-Together

Abbott Magic Company

See also

References

External links