News that entertainer and puppet master Eugene Lambert sadly passed away reached us last Tuesday. Irish Magic was represented and the funeral mass last Thursday evening by Pat Fallon, Brendan Byrne, Neville Wiltshire, Tony Sadar and life long friend of Eugene's - past president of the SIM Joe O'Donnell.  We asked Joe, a former prducer/director/writer of Wanderly Wagon, to pen a small tribute.

I have known Eugene Lambert for so long that it seems as though a part of me has died with his passing. We first became friends in the late fifties when Eugene was pursuing his career as a ventriloquist with a cheeky doll called Frankie. This doll was later transmogrified into Finnegan who still surfaced from time to time with Eugene trying to stuff Finnegan back in his case while the doll thrashed around and roared : “Mind me bloody head Eugene, I’m in upside down!”

We met frequently in those days in the garage at the back of Albert LeBas’ house in Rathmines, a place which he dolled up with red lights and called the Druids' Den. In truth it had the faint and sulphurous whiff of a Bombay Brothel. Ostensibly a place where Albert could sell magic stuff, it in fact was more of a magician’s late night club.

When I joined RTE, I was delighted to work on Eugene’s early puppet shows–Cearta Hudaí, Murphy agus a Cháirde, and–inevitably–WANDERLY WAGON. I worked on Wanderly initially as a floor manager and fell in love with the programme, not only for the magical production that it was, but for its sheer potential. The original producer, a Canadian called Don Lennox, left RTE and the Wagon was dropped. I vowed that if ever I became a producer, my first job would be to bring back the Wagon. This I managed to do, and for many years was the producer/director of the programme as well as writing over thirty episodes.

The beauty of Wanderly Wagon was that the format allowed all sorts of experimentation and we were the first to introduce CSO (Colour Separation Overlay) or Chromakey which allowed all sorts of magical effects. For a magician–and I was still practicing at that time–it was like being allowed access to the biggest magical set ever.

Although forever associated with WANDERLY WAGON, Eugene’s undoubted legacy will be the Lambert Puppet Theatre where many generations of children were introduced to the magic of theatre in that wonderland in Clifton Lane.

I’m sure wherever he is, Eugene is negotiating a few special appearances, provided of course the money is right!

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam díilis.

Puppeteer Eugene Lambert dies - Irish Times - Click here

RTE News Report & Morning Ireland interview with Emily Tully , Eugene's granddaughter - Click here

(Ed. Joe O'Donnell was very very close to Eugene.  We sincerely thank him for taking the time to write this tribute at what is a difficult time.  We offer our deepest sympathies to Joe and all of Eugene's family and friends.)

Keith Barry and yours truly were both guests on Scott Wells reports from the Blackpool Magic Convention 2010 for the Magic News Wire.  You can listen to all the reports here.  Other guest contributors include  Tim Trono of Murphy's Magic Supplies, Banachek, Paul Nardini, the Blackpool Kid's Show Champion Oscar Munoz, Keith Barry, Franz Harary, FISM International President Eric Eswin  Hank Moorehouse, Levent, Ian Rowland, Mathew Field & James Clark.  With regard to my own contribution all I will say is that I had had a few beers so no slagging on the slurring please.

Frank Allen "Alain the Teller of Tales" has been added to the line up for the Irish Ring 85 Diamond Jubilee convention from April 30th - 2nd May in Belfast.  Frank will be presenting a lecture on bizarre magic and performing on the Close-up show courtesy of Kaymar Magic who have just released his new DVD.  He joins other lecturers Steve Dela, John Kimmons and Paul Gordon and additional performances from Neil Henry, Lee Hathaway and local prize winners Caolan McBride & Nicola.  Don't forget that if you register for the convention before Monday march 1st you could win back the cost of your registration.  For more information and to register see www.online-usm.com or the convention page on IrishMagicNews here

Read the next installment of the wonderful world of Vandonini by Neville Wiltshire here.  The story of Vandonini is © of Neville and may not be reproduced in any form without his prior consent. You can contact Neville through his e-mail here

(On reading the latest installment it dawned on your editor that although Vandonini was written many years ago...well some things just seem so familiar.)

Hope ye all enjoyed Blackpool, it was nice to catch up with some of ye over there, don't forget to register for the IBM in Belfast. Till 2 keep the FAITH, take care, Brendan.