Cool Couples:
Click here to read about more couplesGot Marriage?
The Milk for Health magic couple shares their secrets
of wedded – and working – bliss.
By Bob Davis
 |
Okay, ladies. Place your bets. What odds would you give a relationship when one of the first things the guy asks you to do is climb into a trunk—in front of an audience—at a strip club? Well, if the guy was twenty-year-old magician Rob about to perform the sub-trunk illusion for the first time, and you were his sixteen-year-old girlfriend Carol, you’d be on the road to one of the most successful working marriages in Western New York.
In the twenty-nine years since then, chances are you and your children have enjoyed the magic of Rob and Carol Allen at one of their school assembly shows, the Buffalo Zoo, the Niagara Falls Visitors’ Center, the Festival of Lights, or at a private performance. They’ve entertained on luxury cruise ships, at The Magic Castle, and shared the stage with such stars as Woody Herman, Tiny Tim, Doc Severinson, and Roy Orbison. Since 1976, they have presented a nutrition and magic program sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Western New York. And if making magic with milk has been good for business, it has also helped develop a healthy working relationship.
It all started when Rob, home from college, went to Crystal Beach. “So here’s this nice little friend of my sisters. We went on the æ what was that?”
“The Fun House.”
“No it was the …”
“Laugh in the Dark.”
“No, the Old Mill.”
“The swan boat.”
“A swan boat. Anyway, that was our first date.”
By that time, Rob had already worked his wonders at such venues as the Palace Burlesque, and Frank’s Casa Nova as a single act. When they asked if he performed illusions, he built one. And talked Carol into helping him.
“The owner of The Inferno club told Carol to pick out a costume. We opened the closet and they had g-strings and little tops. I said, ‘No, we either work like this [what we had on] or we don’t work at all.’ And that’s the way we always kept it. People asked, ‘What are you guys doing here?’ I’d say we’re bringing a little class to the place.”
Today, Rob and Carol’s act is not only class, it’s first class, polished, and professional. Don’t tell, but one of Rob’s biggest magic secrets is Carol. No matter what’s happening onstage, Rob focuses on delivering a top notch show knowing that she’s taking care of everything backstage. “Carol does all the work, so that my show looks easy and good.”
“If something goes wrong, I fix it,” Carol says. “I take things on and off, so there are no extra tables out there. When he’s finished and takes a bow, there’s nothing left. And while we’re working, I’m also packing. By the time he’s done, if we have to do another show, we can head right out the door.”
 |
|
Rob and Carol's first publicity photo.
|
Okay. They seem like the perfect couple. Living together. Working together. But, come on now—behind the scenes—what happens when there’s a disagreement before a show?
“We usually don’t get through the whole day being mad at each other,” says Rob. “But if something happens before a show, we’ll be quiet up until it’s time to go on. Then we go out there and smile. And do the same things that we always do when we work. Because the audience doesn’t want to know your problems. They’re there to have a good time. So anything personal — even sickness — you don’t show when you’re out there.”
“And by the end we’re talking anyway. Because …”
“Because so many things happen…”
“During the show. We have to look at each other, and by the end something brings conversation back.”
Rob reflects. “I think it’s because we got together so early. We didn’t have anything when we first got married. We came from the very bottom and worked our way up together.”
Along the way, Rob and Carol parented two children. Their son, now fourteen, still helps out backstage. Their daughter is married with a child of her own. Two years ago, says Rob, she couldn’t wait to get out, get married and get away. “But then, you come to realize, ‘My parents did what they wanted their whole lives. Earned a living. We went on vacations. Had all this life, and yet they still did what they wanted to do.’”
So, how, they were asked, does it feel to be one of the coolest couples in Western New York? “I didn’t know we were. We were just being ourselves,” says Rob. “Until you called and said that. I went out and bought a new shirt.”
Carol laughs, something she and Rob do easily, heartily and often. It’s all part of the magic in this couple’s life.
Bob Davis is President of Wizard Creative, Inc. and a full-time business writer.
Click here to read about more couples
Back to the Table of Contents
Back to Top