Tobias Bamberg

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Okito performing the floating ball.

Tobias "Theo" Leendert Bamberg (1875 – 1963), was a professional magician. Born in Holland, Bamberg performed under the name Okito which was an anagram of Tokio.

As a young boy, Bamberg nearly drowned while ice skating. The accident left him almost completely deaf and as a result he performed entirely in pantomime.

In 1893, Bamberg created his first Japanese-style act in Berlin at the young age of eighteen. Success was immediate, but he eventually abandoned the show to elope with the theater manager's daughter. Shortly after, his new wife convinced him to change his name from "Tobias/Toby" to "Theodore/Theo".

When he returned to performing, Bamberg altered his Japanese act to become a Chinese-style act to better facilitate a new illusion he had designed. Unlike William Ellsworth Robinson who performed as Chung Ling Soo, Bamberg didn't make an attempt to hide his European identity.

February of 1907 brought the birth of his son David Bamberg (who would later perform under the nom de guerre Fu Manchu) in England. Bamberg and his family eventually moved to The United States of America in 1908.

In 1909 he opened the Bamberg Magic & Novelty Co. which he eventually sold. After this, he returned to performing and began a business creating specialty magic apparatus for professional magicians. This enterprise was very successful until 1919 when he ceased producing for others and began performing once more as a Chinese act.

His skills both as a performer and designer/mechanic brought him to the attention of Howard Thurston. Thurston hired Bamberg to open the second half of his large stage show as well as take the position of Thurston's chief mechanic and designer. Bamberg's skills were such that existing handmade props created by Bamberg are highly prized by collectors today.