Well-known magician and children’s entertainer dies in Durban on June 7.Magician Trevor Yates, who also appeared regularly as Joeco the Clown with his wife Duille Oliff, died yesterday at St Augustine’s Hospital after suffering a major heart attack earlier in the evening. He was 67.
A self-taught magician, he was third time winner of the Magician of the Year Award from the South African Magical Society in 2001. An experienced props maker, he worked at NAPAC (now the Playhouse Company) until the organisation’s major retrenchment about 16 years ago. He decided to go freelance full-time as a Clown and magician and worked consistently in these fields since then. A genial and popular professional, he was respected and admired by clients and peers alike in the profession.
“It is a great loss for the magic fraternity,” said Peter Warby, President of the Magic Lodge of South Africa.
“He was my mentor,” said Heather Barclay-Whiffen aka Dilly the Clown.
Trevor Yates was born and raised in Durban, finishing his schooling at Northlands Boys High. He became a carpenter finishing hand (on a building site, he could do all the woodwork from the shuttering for the concrete to the finishing-off of skirting, doors and cupboards).
“Ice-skating was his hobby,” explains his younger brother Dave, “and he got involved with Marjorie Chase and Graham Rich doing the pantomimes and then teaching skating at the Quill Club. His second hobby was photography, an interest which grew to the point where he gave up carpentry and went into photo-camera sales, working for most of the major photographic outlets in Durban. He did almost all types of photography from portraiture to children to modelling weddings. On the side of his car he had written: BBB - Births, Brides and Bar mitzvahs.
“Trevor started lecturing in photography at Technikon Natal and that’s when magic started taking his interest. So there was a change of hobby - photography went out the window and the world of illusion called. He became a member of the Magic Society and the Magic Circle and won awards He always had a love for children and that’s why he gravitated to the line of children’s entertainment. Over the last couple of years, he had started teaching magic and was mentoring a number of talented youngsters.”
Trevor Yates leaves his wife Duille, his two younger brothers Dave and Rodney as well as his nieces and nephews.
The funeral will take place on Thursday June 11 at 11h00 at Frere Road Presbyterian Church.
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