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Larsen (Milt) variety theater collection
PA Mss 108
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Title: Milt Larsen variety theater collection
Identifier/Call Number: PA Mss 108
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
162.78 linear feet
(58 document boxes, 7 half-size document boxes, 37 flat boxes, 25 flat oversize boxes, 11 cartons, 220 audiotape reels, 337
videocassettes, 3 film reels)
Creator:
Larsen, Milt?
Date (inclusive): 1880s-2000s
Date (bulk): 1920-1959
Abstract: This collection consists of materials amassed during the later half of the 20th century by Milt Larsen, founder of the Academy
of Magical Arts at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, California, and the Society for the Preservation of Variety Arts. The collection,
vast in breadth of format and coverage, documents the history of the variety arts in the United States from the vaudeville
era onwards.
The collection is open for research, with the exception of Series 7. SPVA files (Box 1-6). Many of the materials in this collection
are brittle and will require special handing.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given
on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
[Identification of Item], Milt Larsen variety theater collection, PA Mss 108. Department of Special Collections, UC Santa
Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Gift of Milt and Arlene Larsen, 2015.
Writer, comedian, lyricist, magician and entrepeneur Milt Larsen was born in Pasadena California (1931) to William W. Larsen
Sr. and Giselle Larsen, both performing magicians and publishers of
Genii, the Conjuror's Magazine. Larsen wrote for the audience participation shows
Truth or Consequences (1956-1977) and
Malibu U (1967). As a lyricist, Larsen collaborated with Richard Sherman in the satirical albums
Smash Flops and
Banned Barbershop Ballads. Larsen also collaborated with Sherman on the comedy musical
Pazzazz! In 1956 Larsen produced the still running magic review "It's Magic!" which has run annually since that year. In 1963 Larsen
founded the Magic Castle in Hollywood (1963). A club for magicians, the Magic Castle is home to the Academy of Magical Arts.
In addition to the Magic Castle, Larsen founded the Mayfair Music Hall (1973-1980) and the Variety Arts Theatre in Los Angeles
(1977-1990). Larsen served as a consultant and actor in Hollywood films, and authored joke books and books on magic. In 2007
Milt and his late brother, Bill, received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. Larsen, a theater historian, founded the Society
for the Preservation of the Variety Arts (1975-1990), having gathered a collection of materials from the early days of variety
theater and vaudeville, including scrapbooks, scripts, joke books and photographs. The collection, especially rich in materials
related to Eddie Cantor, Ed Wynn, and Earl Carroll, now forms the Milt Larsen Variety Theater Collection at the library of
the University of California, Santa Barbara.
The Milt Larsen variety theater collection consists of a mix of materials and formats related to all aspects of variety theater
from, roughly, the 1890s forward. Established by Milt Larsen, founder of the Academy of Magical Arts as well as the Society
for the Preservation of Variety Arts, the collection is unique in its scope and breadth, and documents the development of
the variety arts in the United States from stage to radio and film, and finally, television.
The collection is especially strong in materials related to vaudeville, Broadway stage, film, television and radio stars Eddie
Cantor, Ed Wynn, Billy House, Harold Peary, and Earl Carroll, as well as very early and rare materials related to lesser
know vaudevillians. Materials include performer files containing correspondence, clippings, manuscripts, ephemera, and personal/biographical
items; scripts, comedy sketches, jokes and gags; photographs; theater programs and playbills, and theater record and performer
scrapbooks.
The collection includes comprehensive collection of audiotape reels, ranging from 1953 to 1960, of the television show
People are Funny, and many other materials in various audiovisual formats.
In addition, the collection contains administrative files related to the Society for the Preservation of the Variety Arts
(1975-1990), as well files related to the Mayfair Music Hall (1973-1980) and the Variety Arts Theatre in Los Angeles (1977-1990),
all founded by Milt Larsen, and thus documenting his many activities and roles, including that of performer, producer, lyricist,
writer, comedian, magician, and theater historian.
The collection retains, in general, original physical arrangement and folder titles.
This collection has been divided into the following series: 1. Artist Files, Mixed Materials, 2. Artist Files, Images, 3.
Miscellaneous, 4. Scrapbooks, 5. Scripts, 6. Skits, Jokes and Gags, 7. Society for the Preservation of the Variety Arts (SPVA)
Files, 8. Theater Programs and Playbills, 9. Audiovisual.
SPVA = Society for the Preservation of Variety Arts
Copies of
The Jolson Journal Volumes 1-29 (1952-1960) have been separated for cataloging and will be accessible through the UC Santa Barbara Library online
catalog.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Vaudeville
Artist files
Audiotapes
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence
Scrapbooks
Photographs
Playbills
Scripts
Videocassettes
Larsen, Milt? -- Archives
Society for the Preservation of Variety Arts -- Archives