Th ank You
“Attleboro Heros”
Magic Continued from Page 19
Th ank you to our dedicated staff
who show up to work everyday to
care for our residents in the midst
of these challenging times.

Independent Living, Personal/Memory Care,
Nursing & Rehabilitation Center
290-310 East Winchester Avenue,
Langhorne, Pa 19047
www.attleborocommunity.com 215-750-7575
Robert Malissa started doing magic when he was 10
Photo by Ellen Malissa
Fol low The
And Never Miss A Stor y!
www.jewishexponent.com #jewishinphilly
facebook.com/jewishexponent 20
MAY 14, 2020
twitter.com/jewishexponent Malissa, a civil engineer in his non-magical hours, is used to
making something appear where there used to be nothing. Th e
Northeast High School product and current Lower Makefi eld
resident has performed magic for 50 years, in venues as varied
as an Amsterdam sidewalk to the Cheeburger Cheeburger at
Oxford Valley Mall, and everywhere in between. Malissa hopes
to disabuse you of the notion that there is a disconnect between
his day job and his entertainment career; “a magician,” he said,
“is an engineer with panache.”
Malissa’s magic career began at the age of 10. His parents,
members of Adath Tikvah-Montefi ore in Rhawnhurst, had a
friend named Sy Constantine. Th at was his civilian name, of
course. Onstage, he was Sy the Great.

At a picnic, young Malissa joined the adults for a game of
horseshoes, and struggled to reach the stakes with toss. Seeing
Malissa’s frustration, Sy the Great walked over and turned a
handkerchief into a chain in front of Malissa’s eyes.

Th at’s the fi rst trick he can remember seeing, and it’s the one
that led to his new name: Robert the Great (name courtesy of
Constantine). Constantine would take Malissa along with him
to shows, feeding Malissa’s passion as the newcomer picked
THE GOOD LIFE
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



RomoloTavani / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Exclusive & Luxurious
Assisted Living
up tricks from Kanter’s Magic Shop in
Center City, or books on magic from the
Northeast Regional Library, a “treasure
trove” of such material.

“It was a world that he opened up to
me that I didn’t know about,” Malissa
said. He’d tag along with Constantine on
shows at the Police Athletic League,
and the Philadelphia State Hospital at
Byberry. Malissa was mostly there as a
gopher to Constantine, but every once in
a while, he’d step in to show off his stuff.

Soon, it was time for Malissa to start
putting on his own shows. His first
headlining gig was his family friend Jerry’s
birthday party, all of Malissa’s tricks
stuffed into a blue alligator skin makeup
suitcase. With that first show, Robert the
Great became a known and sought-after
quantity, at least among the adolescent
boys of Northeast Philadelphia. Back then,
you could get a Robert the Great show for
round-trip transportation and $5.

Malissa’s magic habit survived the
glare of a high school social milieu, that
place where many a childhood interest
wither and die. But magic became
valuable to Malissa in ways he didn’t
anticipate. Magic always had a cool factor
for him, (“It just blows you away, and you
wanna be a part of it,” he said), but he
didn’t expect that it would become a site
of competence and confidence in a high
school hallway. On weekends, you could
catch him at Burger Doodle on Castor
Avenue between Longshore Avenue and
Glenview Street, doing six shows in a
weekend if he was lucky.

It was then that he started to develop
Our residents enjoy luxurious living in a
very distinctive community while receiving
the best comprehensive and compassionate
care for their individual needs.

Learn more about the extraordinary experience that
only The Hearth at Drexel can offer. Call 1-877-205-9428
or visit www.TheHearthAtDrexel.org/Luxurious to schedule
a virtual tour or to obtain additional information.

Assisted Living • Memory Care • Respite Care
238 Belmont Ave. | Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
www.TheHearthAtDrexel.org See Magic, Page 22
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM THE GOOD LIFE
MAY 14, 2020
21