Wizard of Odds
On the Illinois Lottery's 50th anniversary, flashing back to my mascot debut at the state agency's 20th anniversary celebration.
Lotteries are a tax on people who don't know math. I didn't coin that phrase, but I've embraced it over my lifetime. Simple as adding two and two to get four, that means I don't buy lottery tickets.
But that doesn't mean I haven't found a way to make money from the Illinois Lottery, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
In fact, my income-earning interaction with the agency came during its 20th festivities. In Spring 1994, a “Millionaire’s Ball” drew lottery winners to Planet Hollywood in Chicago. For a four-hour stretch as the Wizard of Odds, a character that the lottery had concocted, I earned 100 bucks.
My wife Bridgett got me the gig because she was temping for the Lottery at the time. She got in on the act, too, dressing up as a Lotto ball emblazoned with the number 20.
There were a few other Lotto balls bouncing around with different numbers, but because Bridgett was adorned by the anniversary number, her picture graced the next day's edition of the Chicago Sun-Times.
For years, we had a blurry copy of that page lying around our home. It’s MIA, but if you saw it, you’d see her beaming face as she stands next to me in my Wizard garb. Fortunately, for historic purposes, we do have another snapshot from the day, below.
That’s me beneath the costume, really!
Some of my recollections from the occasion:
Having lots of money doesn’t guarantee an elegant fashion taste.
So many of the winners emphasized how they really weren’t that well off. All those taxes and spread out over time, etc. etc. Sweating profusely and struggling for air under my garb, I played the world’s tiniest violin for them.
One guy who’d won a ton of money had devoted his abundance of free time to being a volunteer firefighter—that struck me as really cool.
Several older women pinched me for good luck. I wasn’t crazy about that part of the job but I took it in stride: They weren’t pinching me so much as my alter ego.
My costume was heavy and suffocating, and it really dug into the bridge of my nose. Periodically, I’d retreat to a men’s room stall and remove the Wizard’s head so I could catch my breath for a few minutes.
I was committed to never “breaking character” publicly, as reflected by my bathroom stall sessions. I took the gig seriously and ever since I’ve had heightened respect (and a feeling of camaraderie) for mascots I encounter from time to time.
I distinctly remember being amused that my hourly rate ($25) was at least five bucks more than what I earned at the time from my job as a newspaper reporter. Adjusted for inflation, $25 in 1994 currency is worth about $53 today.
Related post: my May 2023 column on Frank Capaci, whose 1998 Powerball triumph turned acrimonious when bartenders who bought his ticket filed a lawsuit against him. I covered the story during that first night of revelry, as well as 18 months later when the lawsuit was filed.
Read all about it:
Speaking of 50th Anniversaries…
Another notable half-century anniversary yesterday was that of Richard Nixon's resignation as the 37th President of the United States.
I have some memories from that time. I was six…and so perplexed. I remember watching coverage of his departure on the television at my cousins' home in Palo Alto, California. It may well be that I saw this edition below, though I honestly don’t recall.
The entire vibe was "Nixon's a bad guy," which didn't line up with my impression that the President ranked somewhere between Superhero and God.
Innocence lost.
In the Chicago Tribune, Nixon’s resignation was understandably front-page news, while the Illinois Lottery’s inception was relegated to Page 3.
About Last Week’s Poll
Did you vote in the poll that appeared at the end of last week’s column? I ask which of four column ideas you’d be most interested in reading about in more depth.
It appears that my New York Post stakeout is the winner by a landslide (netting 18 of the 27 votes), so unless there’s a surge for one of the other topics, I’ll be expanding on that saga in the future. Probably not for at least a few weeks, mind you, but you won’t have to wait 50 years, either.
The poll is still open, by the way, so if you haven’t cast your vote, go for it!