Roy Cotte

Roy D. Cottee
by Ed Savary

(Reprinted with permission from the Linking Ring, August 1958 Vol.38 No.6)

Superstition plays some part in a lot of people’s lives but not in mine since I hardly believe in it. To me number 13 is a lucky number and I think I can prove it.

March 13, 1928, in Ottawa, Canada, was born a child who, from all appearances, was God’s gift to the magic fraternity: I am referring to Roy Cottee whose picture appears on the front cover.

Roy had a normal childhood until one day he was privileged to attend Cole Bros. Circus during which he witnessed a magician performing the Three Cards Across. This trick created such an impact on his mind that he always wanted to see another magician. About 13 years ago (another 13) Roy paid a visit to the local library and discovered Hugard's Magic Annual which he perused, and while doing so got stung by the magic bug and never recovered from it.

Roy's first love - and he excels at it - is close-up magic and all delight in watching him cleverly manipulate cards, thimbles, sponges balls, etc. His ability is not restricted to this field and enjoyment is obtained watching him during the performance of a stage, mental or comedy act. Numerous organizations in the Canadian capital and surrounding territory have applauded his talent on numerous occasions and he and his charming sister, Dol, once teamed to present a colorful Chinese act known as "Wu Long Pan and Chop Chop;" unfortunately for the act, Dol is now married and living in Germany, temporarily shelving the act. Television viewers have seen him. Some of his effects have been in the Linking Ring.

He looks to Slydini and Vernon as his idols of close-up magic, and claims (but does not regret) that Chanin took most of his money. Roy often dreams he would like to obtain all the newly published magic books, but like most of us he has a hard time to digest the few he buys each year. An ardent admirer of The Linking Ring, he regularly reads the Parade and particularly enjoys Solomon's column, even though he does not entirely agree with all his theories.

At home, Roy and his wife, Margot, experience difficulty keeping conversation away from magic. A lot of admiration goes to Margot who never tires (so they say) of picking cards or confetti off the living-room carpet. Roy solved the problem of assistants with a neat little trick: three daughters, Alexandra, three: Josephine, one and a half (Jo for short); and baby, Pamela. Roy has been employed by the National Research Council of Canada for the past nine years as a glass-blower and recently has been transferred to the Electron Physics Laboratory.

We in Canada are proud of this young magician who is a member of Ring 151.