Tim West KMBC Brush Creek Follies

About The Artist Not your everyday hillbilly performer, but nonetheless, you know by now that the hillbilly music era encompassed quite a variety of entertainment. Tim was a 'magician of renown throughout the middle west'. He did his magic at venues such as the State Fairs, theatres and other celebrations. In 1947 or so, he was a member of the cast of the Brush Creek Follies, heard every Saturday night over KMBC out of Kansas City, Missouri. They said he opened his act with a phrase ... "It's fun to be fooled" and usually the audience would find they agreed with him by the time he was done. One of his specialties was the 'cut-and-restored rope' trick that had twice won him national honors. He did the usual card tricks and rabbits from the hat tricks, too. He also did one of the more difficult magical tricks they called the "Vanishing Birdcage". His career was said to have started on stage at an early age and they called him 'Boy Wonder' back then. As magic is a visual medium, it shows that the old radio shows had something for everyone, including the audience in person. And the radio audience would somehow have to imagine what they were missing.