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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
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MAY 14, 2020
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