Publisher's Synopsis
In The Greatest Adventure, Geoffrey Williams shares tales about working in entertainment and the greatest adventure of all: falling in love with magician Belle Daily. It's about: show business, magic, comedy, actors and performers, Los Angeles, fighting fibromyalgia, the development of personal computers and the big beautiful country we live in. There are stories about famous actors he and Belle worked with including: Cary Grant (North by Northwest), Victoria Jackson (Saturday Night Live), Buddy Ebsen (The Beverly Hillbillies), Bernard Fox (Titanic), David Carradine (Kung Fu), Robert Hays (Airplane!) and Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny). Mimi Gibson, Geoff's aunt, was a famous child star, who also worked with Cary Grant (in Houseboat.) She also appeared 100+ times on television and her relationship with her mother helped change the laws in California.Ever wondered what it would be like to work in a sideshow? Geoffrey and Belle traveled across the United States performing Metamorphosis under a big top just like Bess and Harry Houdini. Their co-workers were fire eaters, carnies, freaks, and con men while Geoffrey honed his award winning comedy magic routine by performing it hundreds of times. Growing up in Southern California, there is naturally a lot of pop culture trivia like the very first golf course, a 3 story tall Dixie Cup, the bizarre history of the Mission Inn, psychics in Summerland, the writer of the Wizard of Oz and his even more amazing mother-in-law, sneaking into Doug Henning's first magic television special, lots of strange movies filmed in LA, and a very 1970's theme park (with free beer). A must read for magic lovers, Geoffrey shares first hand account of his experiences with many other magicians including: David Copperfield, Doug Henning, Lance Burton, Pam and Johnny Thompson, Carazini, Otto Wesley, Dirk Arthur, Shimada, Diana Zimmerman, Mark Kalin and Jinger Leigh, Mark Wilson and Nani Darnell, Greg Wilson, and Chuck Jones, as he appears onstage at the Magic Castle, and works back stage at It's Magic. There are lots of interesting historical tidbits too about famous magicians like Houdini and Kellar, and even a little about the conman who mentored Geoff when he was a teenager. Geoffrey faces the challenge of his life when he is diagnosed with fibromyaligia. He suffers from a debilitating brain fog and it racks his body with pain every day. They are wiped out financially and things look very bleak. But like all Great Adventures this one has a happy ending. See how the magic of love conquers all in The Greatest Adventure!
