b'THE ARIZONA DUUUDESpinning a Rope & Card Tricks Brad Zinn is Keeping the Old West AliveBy Bob Roloff, The Arizona DuuudeYou can follow Bob Roloff on Facebook.F or over forty years, Arizona comedy magicianhad the character Will Rogers saying. All of Brad Zinn has toured all over North America andBrads material is direct quotes from Will. entertained folks from Canada to the Caribbean and from Hollywood\'s Magic Castle to the Las VegasWhat a pleasure it has been for me to Strip. He has worked with such celebrities as Dicksit down one on one with this master Van Dyke, Lynda Wonder Woman Carter, Richardof comedy and listen to him relate the Crenna, Cliff Robertson, Marty Allen, and manypersonal histories of these once famous others. Brad has also performed internationally onand now long gone comedians. He Holland America, Radisson, Orient, and Norwegianspoke about the Marx Brothers, all five cruise lines, andof them and how Minnie Marx, their even performedmother, had to teach the three oldest at the world- to sing and harmonize. They then put famous Londontogether a vaudeville act to make extra Palladium.money because their dad was a lazy Whats moreguy. Harpo became the silent one in amazing was histhe skits. He came late to a show oneIf I may, may I recite it and try to explain early start doingtime and they had changed the lines,to you the meaning of each word? Brad magic at age 9,not having time to learn the new lineshas been asked to do this at many military then turning Harpo just mimed his way thru. Thatceremonies. You can Google Red Skeltons pro at 14.drew more laughs, so from then on;Pledge of Allegiance, and also go to Brads web pageHarpo didn\'t have to memorize lines.bradzinn.net.Phoenix has been a happyHe talked of W.C. Fields and his brand of humor. HowBrads love of history was sparked as a boy when he home formother Fields and little Billy would sit out on theirdiscovered that his family lineage goes back to John Brad. The cityfront porch after supper and watch as folks passed byGeorge Nicholay, one of President Abraham Lincoln\'s of Phoenix honored Brad by inviting him to be theon the sidewalk. Mrs. Fields would smile nicely andprivate secretaries. This knowledge led Brad to read first magician to appear at the citys newly restoredwave to the ladies and gentlemen, saying good eveningLincoln\'s biography, by Sandburg while in the sixth Orpheum Theater. He returned there in 2002 for aand oh don\'t you look lovely but out the side of hergrade. Two fairly recent books Lincoln\'s Men and standing room only performance of his show, The Greatmouth, so only Billy could hear, would come witch, Comedians. He has also headlined with the Phoenixbum, lazy drunk, or some other non-complimentaryLincoln\'s Boys, 2009 & 2014 respectively, tell the stories Symphony Orchestra.description. You can see W.C. Fieldsof Lincoln\'s two private secretaries. doing the same thing in his movies.Wanting to add some western I have known Brad Zinn for some time and have been touch to his shows, led him to WillBrads wide knowledge of the greata guest at his shows. The humor you will find there is of Rogers. Two TV events shaped hiscomedians he\'s recreated is a story ina time gone by, but sorely missed. The time spent with appreciation for Will, a film withitself. I\'ve listed only a few here, butBrad and the writing of this article has been extremely Will Rogers Jr. and Will Rogershe has stories about them all. He alsopleasurable for me. I encourage you to seek out and U.S.A. with James Whitmore. Bradportrays George Burns, Jack Benny,go to a Brad Zinn production if given the chance. He was hooked and he had to knowand Johnny Carson as Carnac." Bradwill take you to a place you won\'t want to leave. Email, more about this real cowboy fromlearned how to play the violin so bradzinn9@outlook.com. Thanks Brad!Oklahoma, who would go on to behe could perform as Jack sought after by the rich & famous,Benny. Brad said it took him heads of state, and kings & queens.a year to learn to spin two ropes at the same time, like Will Rogers died in a plane crashWill Rogers. Brad is self-in 1935. He and his friend, pilottaught in everything he has Wiley Post, crashed on takeofflearned to do. from a remote inlet on the coast of Alaska. They were supposed to flyBrads Red Skelton is as fun over the top to Europe. This happened 26 years beforeas they all are, but Brads portrayal of Red Brad was born. Brad has always enjoyed history andSkelton doing the Pledge of Allegiance the research of it so what a joy it was for him to readin 1969 will leave a tear in your eye. The the stories and biographies about Will Rogers, andfollowing words were spoken by the late Red watch the old movies.Skelton on his television program, January 14, 1969, as he relayed the story of his teacher, A very popular thing for Will to do on stage was readMr. Laswell, who felt his students had come the headlines in the daily paper and comment on them,to think of the Pledge of Allegiance as merely just as we do today on TV and the internet. Once whensomething to recite in class each day. Ive Brad was mingling with the crowd after the show, he hadbeen listening to you boys and girls recite the to explain to a young couple that he was actually quotingPledge of Allegiance all semester and it seems Will Rogers. They thought he had written the lines heas though it is becoming monotonous to you. 8 October 2019'