MAGIC IN THE MAKING Artist Chris McDaniels who works under the moniker Zen Mullet for Columbus based business Artisan Rooms begins putting the finishing touches on Harry Houdini during his final day of work on a Wauseon mural depicting the history of magic Shown at the center levitating a woman is building owner and magician Dr Kenneth P Ladd
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
The eyes of Houdini – along with other seminal figures in the history of magic – are now looking down on Wauseon with the completion of a new downtown mural.
The mural looms large on the north side of the Magic Corner building, owned and operated by Dr. Kenneth P. Ladd. Ladd is a magician himself in addition to holding a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is a 50-year member of the prestigious International Brotherhood of Magicians in addition to having a Doctorate of Magic from the Magic Academy.
Depicted in the mural are Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin (1805-1871, considered the father of modern magic) and his blooming orange tree, a chain-bound Harry Houdini (1874-1926) – escape artist and magician extraordinaire who derived his stage name from Robert-Houdin’s, Harry Blackstone Sr. (1885-1965) and his vanishing birdcage, McDonald Birch (1902-1992, a McConnelsville, Ohio native and namesake of Ladd’s magic museum) and his vanishing pony, Dr. Ladd himself levitating a woman, and his great-grandson Aiden with his Hindu basket trick. Looking down over all of it are the massive eyes of Houdini.
“This is probably the only mural of its kind in Ohio and possibly the United States,” Ladd said. Ladd operates the Magic Corner magic shop, Birch Theater, and Vanishing Magic Museum from the 150-year-old building.
He said the building was the first permanent commercial building built in town. Ladd bought the building in 2013, completely gutting the first floor and renovating the entire structure.
After it opened, it and Ladd were featured on an episode of the show “Collector’s Call” on MeTV which can still be seen on YouTube.
“For me personally it’s been very satisfying to know I’m going to leave a legacy in town and that I’ve brought happiness to people over the years,” Ladd said.
Now 85, Ladd said he “passed the wand on” to the 13-year-old Aiden the night prior. After some shake-up early on in the project, the man eventually chosen to complete the mural was Chris McDaniels.
Under the pseudonym of “Zen Mullet,” McDaniels travels across the country completing murals for Columbus-based Artisan Rooms.
Among the past clients of McDaniels and his business partner, artist Michael Boudreault, are HGTV (involving its Urban Oasis project in Chicago’s Trump Tower), actor Channing Tatum, NFL players, and NASCAR drivers.
According to McDaniels, the Wauseon mural took approximately eight days of work, spread across most of October due to weather.
Ladd hopes to register the mural through the Ohio Arts Council, a step he said could provide permanent protection for the mural should he ever sell the building or the museum close.