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Robert Malissa

Rising Stars: Meet Robert Malissa of Philadelphia

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Malissa.

Hi Robert, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in Northeast Philadelphia. When I was about 10 years old, I found a magic book in the school library. At the end of the book, it said, pick several tricks from this book and find somewhere to perform. I told my Mom I needed an audience. She got me my first gig performing for a family friend with a six year old. “Robert the Great” was born. I packed my homemade tricks into my mother’s blue alligator makeup case and off we went on a forty five minute drive to Lafayette Hill, PA.

Any 10 year old giving attention to 6 year olds is going to be a hit, and I was. More importantly, I discovered I loved getting those kids to laugh and smile. I was bitten by the performing bug.

About two weeks later, one of the kids in the audience told his parents he wanted “Robert the Great” for his birthday party. My Mom received the call. “What does your son charge?” She said, “five dollars and you have to pick him up and bring him home”. I turned pro on my 2nd show! I was picked up by a lot of random parents driving me to parts unknown in the city and suburbs.

I went on to perform magic at birthday parties all continuously through high school. Once on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, I was sitting with my father at one of the pavilions and a young kid walked by and shouted to his parents, “Look Mom, there’s ‘Robert the Great’”. Stardom!

I went to college at Drexel University and became a civil engineer. I spent every weekend going to Head House Square to watch some excellent street performers; among them, Penn and Teller, Chris Capehart, and The Give and Take Jugglers. That inspired me to try street performing. I auditioned for the city permit, got it and started doing a street act in Philly. I stayed with it and after college, I kicked around Europe doing a travel version of the act for the summer.

Afterwards, I came home, got married, and we have two wonderful children, and two magical grandchildren. My career was mostly working for general contractors doing estimating and project management for marine and bridge construction projects around the Philadelphia area.

My magic was pushed to the side for most of that time, I was connected to it minimally, reading magic magazines, and learning the odd trick or two, and performing only a few gigs a year. One of the magazines I read mentioned Noel Britten, a performer in Bath England that was doing “The Bizarre Bath Walk”. It was a walking magic show using the city of Bath as a backdrop.

We did a family trip to London, and a side trip to Bath to experience the tour. I thought I would love to do that in Philly. I asked Noel if he would mind if I tried the concept in the States. He said, many have tried, none have succeeded.

After the trip, it took two years to bring the tour to life. I knew, unlike the Bath tour, that I wanted to mix history and magic. To prepare, I would drive into town after work and scope out areas that inspired cool magic presentations. I needed a route that was dense enough to keep everyone engaged through the entire tour. I explored 4 routes, and the winner was ultimately, Old City. I created original presentations for all the locations and even some completely original magic tricks.

I entered the tour in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival and did 8 tours. I sent questionnaires to everyone that attended asking them to rate all the tricks and provide comments. Based on the responses, I revised the tour. I am continually learning about the city, and tinkering with the tour. Now in its firth year, I have a tour that definitely entertains and slips in just enough information to keep things classy.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Carting the props for all of the tricks around the cobblestone streets of Philly was tough. Also when there is construction, the cart I use has to be lifted onto the sidewalk mid-block. I am on my third version of a cart to haul the tricks around.

The cart now has a handle to lift the cart if I have to get over a curb. The cart also breaks into 3 pieces so it can be transported in a car.

Early on, with version one of the cart, I had props fall out and roll under a parked car. Now everything is stable and easy to transport.

The tricks have also evolved over time as well as the script. I changed the first three tricks to be very fast hard hitting tricks to establish credibility early. Now, I really like the way the crowd responds to the tricks and the flow of the tour.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I love my city, and entertaining people. If someone signs up for “The Great Philadelphia Comedy Magic Walking Tour”, they may not know exactly what they are going to get, but they know they want a unique, entertaining experience. Since they are predisposed for laughter, these are my people and the tour is a love fest. My goal for each tour is to let my enthusiasm shine through and be contagious. It usually is and I feel like I made new friends after every tour.

Add to that, I feel I am an ambassador for Philadelphia. Part of my guide costume is either a Phillies cap, or an Eagles cap, depending on the time of year (that was my wife’s idea). I want them to leave Philly thinking this is an extraordinary city and having a better time than they expected.

What’s next?
In addition to the tour, I have developed a full one hour comedy magic show called, “A Case for Magic”. The show has headlined at the Smoke and Mirrors Magic Theater and I just finished a run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where the show received two, four-star reviews. I am looking into taking the show to New York early next year.

Pricing:

  • $30.00 per person before tax ages 12 and above

Contact Info:

Group of eight women standing outdoors, smiling, wearing matching pink and black jackets, with a blue cart and trees in background.

A man and a woman are talking outdoors, with yellow umbrellas and a building in the background.

Woman laughing and holding a tablet, standing outside with wooden wall background.

Group of six people smiling and clapping outdoors against a brick wall, some wearing sunglasses and hats.

A man in a red cap and vest performs a street magic trick for a group of onlookers outside a museum.

A man performs a magic trick for a group of children outdoors on a brick sidewalk, with trees and a building in the background.

Three people standing outdoors in front of a brick wall, smiling and talking, with one woman wearing sunglasses.

Three people standing outdoors near a tree, smiling and clapping, with greenery in the background.

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