1923-2004 - 81 år

Victor Clifton Topper MARTYN

Topper Martyn

It all started with...

Victor MARTYN
&
Maude FLORENCE 

 Topper Martyn

30 October 1923 – 24 May 2004

Topper Martyn, born Victor Clifton Martyn in 1923 in Maida Vale, London, England, and who passed away in 2004 in Uppsala, was a British‑Swedish illusionist, entertainer, and juggler.

Martyn made his stage debut in 1938 as a juggler, and during the following years he worked with a mixed program of banjo playing, juggling, comedy, and magic. He played the role of the magician in the children's musical Alfie and the Magician, based on Gunilla Bergström's book Hocus Pocus Alfie Atkins. After touring the Folk Parks and performing at Folkan in Stockholm, the production moved to the Lorensberg Theatre in Gothenburg.

Martyn's ashes rest in the memorial garden at Uppsala Old Cemetery.

Biography from the Swedish Magic Archive

Topper Martyn was a well‑known performer who so many times made us laugh and feel entertained. One might imagine that an artist — especially one who was also a juggler — with as many years on stage as Topper would have slowed down a bit. But not Topper!

During his active years he was more energetic than many of us. In 1998, Topper played the magician in the children's musical Alfie and the Magician, based on Gunilla Bergström's book Hocus Pocus Alfie Atkins.

After being performed in the Folk Parks and at Folkan in Stockholm, the hit production moved to the Lorensberg Theatre in Gothenburg. Topper loved that role! But Topper Martyn had accomplished a great deal long before that.

From the very beginning

He was born in England, and his parents were well‑known variety artists. His father began his career as a magician in Australia, and as a curiosity it may be mentioned that it was Topper's father who taught The Great Carmo magic — and in return, Carmo taught him to juggle! During Topper's childhood, the family often worked together with magicians, and he learned tricks from personalities such as Horace Goldin, Cingalee, Edgar Benyon, Fred Culpitt, and many others. What memories Topper could tell from those days — memories we had hoped he would one day publish.

First stage appearance

The first time Topper stood on a stage was at the Alhambra in Paris — at the age of two! In 1938 he gave his first solo performance in magic (mind‑reading), and during the following years he worked with a mixed program: banjo playing, juggling, comedy, and magic. But the original plan was for him to become a serious manipulator. He soon discovered, however, that audiences preferred to laugh rather than admire pure sleight‑of‑hand. And if he had been allowed to choose freely, he would gladly have left the stage to study instead. Fortunately — for audiences around the world — that never happened.

At the age of 18, Victor C. Martyn, as he then called himself, was already a well‑known name in show business, appearing in circus, pantomime, variety, and revue programs. In 1945, Topper had a year‑long engagement in a London revue, during which he trained in ice skating. He began performing as a popular act during intermissions at ice hockey games, and from there the step to ice shows was not far. He toured with such shows for about ten years, mostly with Holiday on Ice, throughout Europe, the USA, Africa, Central and South America.

Sweden

Topper Martyn had lived in Uppsala, Sweden, since 1960, and we have his Swedish wife to thank for bringing him here. They met in Gustaf Wally's Ice Show. Outside show business, Topper's great passion was old objects, and his antique shop in Stockholm's Old Town — more focused on curiosities than valuables — was, until he sold it in 1997, something one simply could not miss when visiting Stockholm.

Naturally, Topper was a member of the Swedish Magic Circle, and he often told the story of when, as a new member who didn't know many Swedish magicians, he arrived at one of their conventions. He recognized only one of the participants, so he walked up to greet him. "You probably shouldn't be here — the magicians are in the room across the hall," said Olof Palme, the one person Topper had recognized…

Grand Prix 

Topper enjoys his job

In 1969, Topper Martyn was awarded the Grand Prix at the international magic festival in Karlovy Vary — and since then he received numerous distinctions and prizes. In 1970, he became World Champion in Comedy Magic in Amsterdam. In 1973, he was nominated by The Academy of Magical Arts for both Lecturer of the Year and Visiting Magician of the Year — and won the latter title. In 1990, he received their Performing Fellowship Award. In 1996, he was honored with the English Carlton Comedy Prize. He received the French distinction Mandrake d'Or, and a gold medal from Asahi Television in Japan for best comedy act. And truly — I could go on for quite some time listing his awards.

A World-Class Performer

Topper performed in 30 different countries, and wherever he wasn't entertaining audiences with magic, juggling, and comedy, he was giving lectures and seminars. I even own one of his seminar booklets — describing 23 different tricks — written entirely in Japanese.

What, then, was the secret behind Topper Martyn's success? He had acquired deep knowledge and developed a style entirely his own. He constructed his act with effects, timing, surprises, and climaxes of exceptional skill. He was, quite simply, a great artist.

Topper Martyn at his final public performance — Magisk Weekend, 10 October 2003.

Photo: Mikael Vanheden – Christer Nilsson Swedish Magic Archive Parts of this article were previously published in the Scandinavian magic magazine Pegasus, issue no. 52 (December 1998).

Film from Portuguese TV
Running time 5.21 min

Topper as a guest of Paul Daniels

Playing time 6.18 min

Japan TV visits Hawaii

Click the picture — the film is on Facebook, and you'll see Topper fall into the pool, but he also performs a juggling act for his Japanese TV viewers. 

Top in the "civilian"

Swedish Flag Day

Sweden's National Day

Swedish Flag Day June 6, 1986
Stefan Haglund - Johnny Lonn - T
opper Martyn and of course the King

Swedish Flag Day 6 June 1986 also Sweden's National Day

The solemn ceremony in which the Swedish Magic Circle (SMC), on the association's 40th anniversary, received a ceremonial standard from His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf was a moment that all present will always remember.

Stefan Haglund – Johnny Lonn – Topper Martyn were not only members of SMC; they were also members of Magiska Bröderna – Stockholm. This unique event highlighted the importance of the magical arts and the recognition and respect that the craft had earned from the Swedish Royal Family.

Receiving a standard from the King symbolized not only an honor for the association, but also an acknowledgement of the cultural and artistic significance of magic. The Swedish Magic Circle and Magiska Bröderna – Stockholm have long been pioneers of the magical arts in Sweden, and their members have continually worked to promote and develop the world of magic.

That His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf personally attended the ceremony was a clear sign of the high esteem in which this art form is held in Sweden.

It was a day filled with joy, pride, and magic — an unforgettable occasion that will forever live on in the memories of those who were there.

Magiska Bröderna also received a ceremonial standard for the association's 70th anniversary in 2021.

Topper Martyn breaks
world record

See film from the TV recording - further down the page

The photo you see was taken in Stockholm City Hall, beneath the staircase in the Blue Hall. The large flag was my private one, specially made for me by Manfred Tumm of Magic Hands, Germany.

How it all happened

Topper Martyn sets a world record in magic.

In 1985, Topper and I, Stefan Haglund, travelled to a magic convention in Norway, partly to see Paul Daniels and partly to gather inspiration for the Swedish Magic Circle's (SMC) 40th anniversary the following year. I had just been elected president of SMC and had recently seen Paul Daniels set a world record in magic on his BBC television show. I thought it was a funny and entertaining segment, and I saw the opportunity to create something equally spectacular in Stockholm City Hall.

Since I don't "steal" an act, I asked Paul what he would think if we attempted a world record when SMC turned 40. He looked at me as if I were mad, but then asked who would perform it.

Paul Daniels says OK

"There's only one — Topper Martyn," I said. I could see the relief wash over Paul, and he said OK. We then spent a couple of hours discussing the project. Paul looked relieved, while Topper looked horrified at what he had agreed to — especially considering that SMC's fee, as usual, was nonexistent. I, however, was delighted.

One person who was not delighted was Topper's wife, Ingalill, who suddenly found her apartment transformed into a rehearsal stage with hundreds of magic tricks spread out everywhere.

Guinness

The next step was to contact the Guinness Book of Records to find out how the attempt needed to be carried out in order to be officially approved and included in their next edition. This was resolved by having a representative — an Englishman — come to Sweden as an official observer, for a fee of 2,000 SEK, payable whether the attempt succeeded or not.

The venue for the record attempt was the Blue Hall in Stockholm City Hall, which added even more prestige to the event.

Now we come to the publicity. TV4, a commercial TV channel, was contacted and offered the opportunity to document and film the record attempt in the Blue Hall. They informed us that they would send a couple of people to see if it looked promising; if so, we would be invited to the TV studios, where we would have to break the record again in front of the cameras!

It was like asking a high jumper who had just set a world record to do it again in a studio — but with an even higher bar — just so it could be filmed.

Many of us helped with props and ideas for Topper, but we were not allowed to assist with the planning.

After City Hall

A month after SMC's 40th anniversary, Johnny Lonn and I, Stefan Haglund, travelled as judges and official observers to the TV studio on Valhallavägen, where we met up with Topper. There were several oddities and record attempts in the same program, but Topper managed to set yet another record: the most magic tricks performed in three minutes.

Topper received quite a bit of work afterwards with a shorter and more comedic act based on his world record — an act that was later copied in several places around the world.

TV recording

TV program "Fantastick" 1986 Topper Martyn did

69 tricks in 4 minutes

Topper breaks the record
Running time 5:50 min

Judges Johnny Lonn & Stefan Haglund
Game time 2:38

Topper's early history will be published here during the spring, where he himself recounts his years as a performer and ice‑skating star. We have 154 A4 pages of notes written by Topper. Unfortunately, they are unsorted PDF files and written in English, which I am now translating and arranging into a chronological timeline so that the stories appear as Topper intended.

It takes some time, but everything will be published on this page. /Stefan