LA part 5

So now where was I...Ah, yes, Saturday morning. Early, I spend some time stalking Ricky Jay. Just kidding. Before going to LA, I arranged with Ricky to bring out copies of his books to be signed. I fully understand that he doesn’t like to do that sort of thing but he graciously agreed to do this for me. I think, or hope, he sees in me a kindred spirit and lover of lost performers. He really is part of why I love the history of the art of magic and the personalities involved.

Now I get to see the Hooker Card Rise.

Yes, it fools the hell out of me.

No, I don’t care. I am thankful.

After all these years in and around magic, it is such a rare occurrence when I am fooled. It is a good thing. How can we begin to clearly understand our audiences when we can’t experience what they do?

After the show, Jamy Ian Swiss and I talk. He feels that it is his job to figure out how it works. I do not. I want to enjoy the beauty of it. The challenge is to figure out how to give my spectators a similar experience.

Saturday afternoon Jim Steinmeyer does his usual good job telling the story of Hooker. Roxy gives a talk about the history of “lightning calculators”. It doesn’t interest me and his accent is impenetrable. So I leave. Hook up with Mark Kaschube for a couple of pints. We have a good talk, something we hadn’t done since before his divorce, new marriage, and baby. There was a lot to catch up on.

Being with people, hanging, talking, joking, that is the best part of this week.