Richard, the bad violinist and Mal Cross, the bad magician...anyone remember these Bway street entertainers of the 70s?

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 6/9/08 at 2:37am

The 2 of them were fixtures during intermissions of practically every show. And they made good money, too? I miss the old, messy Times Square.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 6/9/08 at 2:46am

It's all Disney fault, the hookers, the porn theatres all gone, just so Disney could wow us for the opening 10 minutes of the Lion King, before boring us to death with the rest of the show.

Bring back the hookers and the porn!

[bwaybabe2]

Posted: 6/9/08 at 3:35am

thetiny...that was cool memorabilia!
Sadly, I never got to experience these characters ... It would have been fun!
Did they go from show to show at intermission...? Seems like most shows might have intermission around same time, so they must have been busy!
Do you have any pictures of them BAC (by any chance).

Oh, rosscoe...that was funny (the statement up to the last bit...I wouldn't know the last part, because I've never seen LK...)

Updated On: 6/9/08 at 03:35 AM

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 6/9/08 at 5:28am

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=49092&forum=92
http://malcross.com (pix on the Mike Douglas Show, is how I remember him)
http://www.ooga-mooga.com/cgi-bin/all/mug.cgi?mode=view&mug_id=148
My friend and I were very friendly with these guys....Mal wore a horrendous, ratty purple cape, and had a waxed handlebar mustache, and was quite the character. Richard probably was a very good violinist in his day, but played classic show tunes, mostly crappily and with great enthusiasm. Everybody knew them. I believe they were written up many times. They had the intermissions for various shows timed out perfectly. Usually where the biggest tourist audiences were, and usually between 44th, 45th, and 46th st. I don't know what possessed me to think of them tonight? We all hung out at the Edison...where the Old Magician's Club met, at the back table. Mal was about 50ish back then,
who knows how old now> I found this link on Google. Amazing!
He was always destitute in the old days.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P285uVZdloQ
Anyone on this board remember these guys?
Pix?


Updated On: 6/9/08 at 05:28 AM

[bwaybabe2]

Posted: 6/9/08 at 5:45am

Gosh, thetinymagic2, THANK you for that clip!!! Way cool!
I love stuff like this, that I never heard of before...I want to learn all about Bway's past, and this is certainly a bonus!
Thank your brain for suddenly thinking about this and bringing it up ;D
BTW, Mal seemed like a rather good magician, actually...at least he seemed to make an impression, no?

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 6/9/08 at 5:54am

Well, it's long story, but I'm actually thinking of contacting him...i might be asking for trouble, no? Anyway, it was 30 years ago..........
I'm very tempted, just for old times' sake nostalgia.
For the ratty, disgusting, pimp, hooker and drug infested Times Square, with the filthy Nathan's on the corner, Orange Julius, XXx rated filthy porno, you could not walk down 42nd, or 41rst without dread of death, 3 HoJo's on each corner, 44th, 46th, and 47th, I believe. etc. It was "good dangerous". I watch "Midnight Cowboy" every so often just for the atmosphere. Long live HAWAII KAI, and that nasty midget door guy. What the hell was his name?
http://www.ooga-mooga.com/cgi-bin/all/mug.cgi?mode=view&mug_id=148
The HAWAII KAI Restaurant (next to the Winter Garden) below:
http://www.arkivatropika.com/cgi-bin/tags.cgi?tags=%22New%20York%20City%22 Updated On: 6/9/08 at 05:54 AM

[bwaybabe2]

Posted: 6/9/08 at 6:02am

Woah! I think that IS a fantastic idea!!! I think the guy could make a decent living nowdays, and tourists will LOVE him! Who, knows, he might become so famous, you might get to be "his" agent
Can you try to do this by August...? I'd love to experience this on my vacation!

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 6/9/08 at 6:15am

Don't get tooo excited, bbabe, this guy was amusing, but a total hack. Maybe he's better now, but all of his very simple tricks are known to most people nowadays. It just all very nostalgic! Goofy, even.
There WAS a guy actually, about 5 yrs. ago that played a TUBA in Shubert Alley for a time, and collect some dough.

[FrontRowCenter2]

Posted: 6/9/08 at 7:57am

Wow, forgot all about Hawaii Kai - thanks for the memory and making me feel old!!

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 6/9/08 at 8:01am

your welcome...BTW my avatar picture is someone else's. WTF is up with this site. The uploading of new photos is "bizarrely broken"?

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 6/9/08 at 11:04am

Anyone remember that character that stood in front of the Majestic Theatre, in Phantom get up, miming Music of the Night, while it was playing on a tape recorder? He was around I think for about ten years.

[cocopelau]

Posted: 5/1/12 at 4:23pm

Mal Cross is doing great. Working for many famous people and travelling from east coast to west. See him on facebook
http://www.facebook.com/MalCrossMagic

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 5/1/12 at 9:03pm

OMG - is that YOU, Mal?

I helped you count your $400.00 in coins 1 night in 1978? on the UWS.

Times Sq. is just NOT the same w/o you guys. NO personality anymore.

If ever you reappear in NY, contact me - (here)

[temms]

Posted: 5/2/12 at 7:37am

I totally remember the "Music of the Night" guy! I wouldn't say I'm exactly nostalgic for him...

My biggest memory of my early Times Square experiences (early-mid '90s) was the Brothers of Islam or whoever they were - 3 guys in colorful robes screaming (yes, actually screaming) about how Jesus was a black man and how no white person could enter the kingdom of heaven. There'd usually be one at a time screaming (often into a microphone) while the other two would respond with the "Amen"s the and "Preach it, Brother"s in a very understated fashion. I think they also had percussion instruments.

Again, I can't say I miss them, but compared to the Naked Cowboy and Planet Hollywood at least they were something.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 5/2/12 at 2:50pm

I haven't seen the Naked Cowboy in the Times Square area for a long time. Has he gone on to big and better things?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/2/12 at 3:34pm

"My biggest memory of my early Times Square experiences (early-mid '90s) was the Brothers of Islam"

Nation of Islam is still preaching on the streets of NYC.

What's so funny about them is they always stick men up there who have zero reading skills. So the main speaker will say "Read it brother" and then the reader will be struggling with words and stumbling over the passages. They need to practice reading from their holy book before they come out to the streets.