Gene Collins, who insists he's a barber first and a magician second, performs a coin trick for Alexander Nocella, 4, at Gene's Barber Shop.

Photos by James S. Wood / arizona daily star

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Don't ask Gene Collins to take a little off the top. You could wind up with a coin coming out your ear.

That's what happens when your barber also works as a magician — in and out of the shop.

The tricks that Collins performs at Gene's Barber Shop are called "close-up" magic, mainly coin and card tricks. "There are more card tricks than stars in the sky," he says during a lull at the shop.

Just then the Miller family, visiting from Mississippi, ambles in and dad Ken Miller takes his place in the chair of barber Fernando Bojorquez.

While Bojorquez clips away, Collins entertains Miller's two sons, Charlie, 9, and John, 5, with the ol' disappearing coin trick.

As the bedazzled boys look on, shiny gold coins flash in and out of Collins' hands.

"It was cool," says Charlie, who along with his brother accepts both a gold coin and a sucker after the magic is done.

Besides the barbering and the magic acts, Collins performs at various venues around town; he also plays in a couple of bands — one, bluegrass; the other, country rock.

"Everyone asks me how I have the time," says Collins. "But I have the support of three barbers."

That would be Bojorquez; Bob Garcia, former owner of the Bullpen Barber Shop; and Collins' wife, Charlene.

Charlene, 59, mans a chair three times a week at the shop at 2424 N. Pantano Road, and also works her own kind of magic with her husband.

"I tie her up, I slice her and cut her in half," says the mild-mannered Collins. "I also compress her down to 11 inches."

Dear me.

Then there's a little number known as "Geometrics," which Charlene confesses is the only one that makes her claustrophobic. "I'm in this box standing up and he shoves all these things in it. They go right through me."

Right-o.

But Charlene is more than a willing "victim." She also has a few tricks of her own, including a little number known as the dove split.

"I can produce a dove and turn that one dove into two," says Charlene, who first saw the trick performed in Las Vegas a few years ago and worked on it until it was hers.

All that "duplication" must have added up, what with the couple now housing 60 birds in an aviary on their property. They also rehearse at home in a 1,500-square-foot building that contains a full-size stage.

All the birds are doves, save for two pigeons — stronger for swooping out at the audience — and a duck named Gertie.

"I have a hankie that turns into Gertie," says Collins.

Reared on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and Maryland, Collins went to barber college right after high school. "I wanted a trade," he recalls. "I was raised on a poor tobacco farm. I wanted to get away."

In 1974, he came to Tucson, where he met Charlene. They married the following year. That was also the year that Collins, then 30, opened his shop on what was then the outskirts of Tucson.

"I was by myself for three years," says Collins, who worked as a silversmith at the front of the shop.

He also honed his magic skills — something up until then he'd only considered as a hobby — learning from mentors like Danny Johnson and Joe DuPerry.

During the 1989-1992 run of the television Western "The Young Riders," Collins played Top Hat, a — what else? — magician.

He's also done various local commercials, almost all featuring magic acts.

Onstage, he's played everywhere from Vegas to Tucson's Hidden Valley Inn and Gaslight Theatre.

With Charlene and Tucson magician Norm Marini, Collins now appears bimonthly in "It's Magic" at the Gaslight.

He also performs sleight of hand at numerous corporate affairs. "It's good money," says Collins. Even so, he insists he's a barber first, magician second.

Later this month, he'll be appearing in a couple of magic shows locally. Or you can always stop by the shop for a little trim — and to see what may fall from your ears.

You can catch Gene and Charlene Collins and other members of the Society of American Magicians in "The Stars of Magic," 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Aug. 11 at the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. Tickets are $12 for adults, $8 for children. For more information, call 790-4060.

Gene and Charlene Collins and Norm Marini will also perform in "It's Magic" at 7 p.m. Aug. 20 at the Gaslight Theatre, 7010 E. Broadway. Tickets are $14 for adults, $11 for children. For more information, call 886-9428.

About 45 local magicians belong to Assembly 136 of the Society of American Magicians.