Vassago (Illusionist)

Vassago is the stage name of Bobby Carlyle, a stage magician from Los Angeles, California. He came to public attention in early 1965 with his "gravity ring" levitation act. He is currently performing weekly shows at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas.

Carlyle was born in 1934 in Tarzana, Calfornia, to Joe and Mary Carlyle, two schoolteachers formerly from Chicago. The young boy was greatly influenced by his uncle David, who was an unknown but competent Los Angeles stage magician known as The Amazing Telesco, who specialized in clairvoyance and mind reading acts. Bobby apprenticed with his uncle and the two earned money by performing at birthday parties and bar mitzvahs.

Bobby attended California Institute of Technology in 1950 where he studied electronic engineering. In 1954 he briefly pursued graduate studies in the experimental field of transistor-based electronics. He left his studies in 1955 after his uncle's death and returned to performing one year later.

Bobby incorporates the stage dressing and manner, including the verbal patois, of a 1930s stage magician. Many of his stage props and much of his stage character is thought to be based on his uncle, though few ever witnessed a Telesco performance.

Carlyle is a founding member of the Academy of Magical Arts.