Familiar Spirits - Ghost Story Anthology

I just wanted to let you know that I've co-created a ghost story anthology with Donald J. Bingle called Familiar Spirits that has been true labor of love. Normally with the books I release I'm the only author, but this time I'm sharing the stage with 13 others.  And I’m proud to say that 9 of the 13 authors are female.

Now, it's your chance to be our partner in Familiar Spirits, also. The Kickstarter for the anthology is officially live!

 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/458568360/familiar-spirits-ghost-horror-anthology 

Be among the first to back and get special pricing on digital or print versions of this unique, spooky, scary collection of ghost stories. There is even a level to help your local libraries. Including performance levels where you can get books and a show!
Here are a few little teases as to the type of stories you’ll find:

"In Cold-Nosed and Cold-Hearted  the hound dogs of Colbert County prove are just as active dead as they were alive."

"A visit to the beach can be a life changing experience in Legend of the Sea Captain."

"In Stepping into October, a boy learns that there is much more to the stories he inherits from his Great Aunt Bernice."

"A woman finds the true power of belief in the otherworldly revenge tale, Green Lady."

"The Hut's snow swept mountain isn't the only thing that will chill your bones."

Check it out and pledge if it sounds interesting; there is special pricing for early backers. But, even if you don't pledge, I'd appreciate your help in spreading the word by clicking on the button on the Kickstarter page to share on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Tumbler, or whatever other social media site you prefer. Letting the world know about a new book is a tough process for an independent author/editor and I appreciate your help.

Thanks, William

Review of Chicago Magic by David Witter

Review of Chicago Magic by David Witter

Magic has been my life. A big part of that magic life has been a devotion to the history of the art, specifically in Chicago. It makes reading the newly published book, Chicago Magic, by David Witter all the more distressing.

The book is riddled with historical errors and out right fabrications. The body of the book is 112 pages of long from the Introduction to the end of the story and I have 10 pages of notes correcting the lack of care Mr. Witter put into his book.

There are more mistakes than I want to recount here, so I will give you an example of a single chapter.

Chapter 8 – Schulien’s

(Note: There is really only one source needed in writing a story on the Schulien Restaurant: The Magic of Matt Schulien by Phil Willmarth, first published in 1959 by Ireland Magic CO. (Magic, Inc.), a book not in the thin bibliography supplied by Mr. Witter.)

 P 61-The chapter starts with a dramatization of Charlie Schulien performing Matt’s Card on the Wall, except Charlie never performed the trick.  None of Matt’s children did Matt’s trademark trick. It was “dad’s trick.”  (Page 142, The Magic of Matt Schulien)

P 62- Throughout the book Witter misspells and, flat out, misnames many performers. He repeatedly calls Don Alan, Don Allen, especially egregious because Don is one of the most important and influential magicians to come out of Chicago.  In Chicago Magic he is mentioned several times, but as no more than a bystander to the magic world. Second, He misnames beloved magician Jimmy Krzak as Mike Krzak. It is just sloppy work.

P 63- On this page there is a lovely picture of Matt Schulien, Jay Marshall, and an unidentified magician at the door of Schulien’s. Except, it is really a picture of Charlie Schulien, Jay Marshall, and Phil Willmarth at that door. The photo matches others used in The Magic of Matt Schulien.

P 64- Witter states that Joseph Schulien bought the saloon Quincy No 9 for the Schlitz Brewing Company. Actually, this was one of many bars Joe bought for himself. He made a business of buying or opening saloons , building up the business, and then selling it off.   He finally settled at 1800 N Halsted creating the first Schulien’s.

He also says that in 1948, Matt moved north to 2100 W Irving Park. It was 1949. He also writes that at Irving Park they started serving food. Wrong again. The “1800” was also a restaurant.

In the same paragraph he misspells the name of the restaurant currently in the Irving Park space as O’Donavan’s (Actual spelling: O’Donovan’s) and he misspells the name of the restaurant across the street, Lashet’s (Actually: Laschet’s). He’ll go on to misspell it later in the chapter, also.

Continuing on page 64 Witter quotes magician Al James on the birth of magic at Schulien’s. He says that Harry Blackstone Sr. performing magic tableside in the restaurant inspired Matt. The story is false. It does not appear in The Magic of Matt Schulien. In the foreword by Harry Blackstone Sr., it is not mentioned. In the wonderful essay, recounting the history of Schulien’s, Not the Best, but the Biggest by Frances Marshall does not include the story. In Matt’s own words, describing how he got into magic, the Blackstone story is nowhere to be found.

P 65- Witter writes that Matt Schulien died in a plane crash in 1959. This is the sloppiest of research. Matt Schulien died in 1967. Matt’s Son, Matt Schulien Jr., died in that plane crash. How you could get that wrong is beyond any reasonable thought. I am left scratching my head.

P 66- Witter now recounts the story of Al James performing the Houdini Milk Can Escape as a publicity stunt at the restaurant. As background, Witter writes about Houdini and the escape.

Excusable is the fact they get Houdini’s birthday wrong, April 6 was believed to be Houdini’s birthday, but more than 20 years ago it was shown to be March 24. If only Mr. Witter had some source, like a book about Houdini where he could confirm the date. Oh wait, he has three listed in the bibliography. Or maybe if he had some convenient way to search the internet to quickly find a source talking about Houdini. Oh wait, he could have googled Houdini and found his Wikipedia page. Wikipedia being a source listed in the book’s bibliography.

He also gets the details of escape wrong as performed by Houdini. If he would have actually read the Houdini books in his bibliography he would have learned that the Milk Can was invented by Montreville Wood from Berwyn IL and the original can was built in Chicago. Not invented by Houdini.

They did not fill the can with water while Houdini was in the can. It was filled before.

Houdini did not let spectators get into the can.

Houdini’s assistant Franz Kukol did not stand by the can with an axe asking the audience if they thought it was time to “hack.”

P 68- Here we go again. For a guy who purports to know Chicago history, why can’t you spell White Sox broadcaster Harry Caray’s name correctly? (Harry Carey)

 First, he writes that Schulien’s moved in 1948, now he writes it moved in 1947. He has two tries at the date and both are wrong.

He implies that Ed Schulien (Matt’s sons, Charlie and Ed, ran the business after Matt retired in 1952.) dropped out of the business and then Charlie sold out in 1999. In reality, Ed left the business in 1974.

And that ends the chapter.

Surprisingly, Witter misses the most important part of Schulien’s legacy. There is an acknowledged Chicago Style of Magic. Matt Schulien developed this style at Schulien’s. It is never mentioned. In a Chicago magic history book. Not once.

Virtually, every chapter that has anything to do with history has similar problems.

Witter also makes two confounding choices to end the book. The second to last chapter is a list of songs with a magic theme. The last chapter is a list of celebrities that do/did magic. Neither of these chapters has Chicago connections, so why are they in a book about Chicago Magic. It is the laziest kind of filler.

Finally, the book is poorly written. Especially shocking because the biography of Mr. Witter tells us that he is an English teacher.  However, as you’ve already seen, being devoid of any editorial process is the least of the book’s problems.

If you like your history fabricated then you’ll love this book , but if you want your history to be…true, then move along there is nothing to see here. Just a train wreck.

One of the worst history books I’ve ever read.

In 1890, Barnum’s voice was recorded on an Edison cylinder. I’ve had a copy for a while, but it has always been too degraded to play in my show. I just found a cleaned up version and made a little video for it. Now, you can see and hear it on my website.

http://williampack.com/?page_id=6

Website

I will be slowly moving the better parts of this blog to my newly improved website. Please feel free to visit me there:

www.williampack.com



Artistic Magic Props

I cannot say enough about the fine wood Chop Cup and Benson Bowls that Evanna hand crafts. They are true works of art that you can perform with in your everyday show. Go buy one. Or two.
knottygirlwood.com

The 12th LA Conference on Magic History 2011

November 12 – Saturday

There will be only two events on Saturday, a field trip and the big show.

Brookledge

The second field trip of the Conference is to what is called’ “the most famous address in magic.” I guess for the west coast centric magic community that may be so. I expect so Midwesterners or east coasters may have their own choices. Either way this private residence is home to a long and great magic legacy.

In 1930, Floyd Thayer opened his Studio of Magic in his home. It was named Brookledge because out behind Thayer built an addition on the home which transverses a small brook that runs though the back yard. This housed his workshop and an ornate theater.

The theater was used as a demonstration platform for the new Thayer products. Every Saturday afternoon magicians, notable or not, would gather in the theater to watch the Thayer demonstrator show off the newest in magic.

The aim of the presentation today was to give us an experience of one of those afternoons. It was a huge success.

We were transported to Thayer’s 1942. Mike Caveney emceed and gave some historical tidbits, like that Orson Wells rehearsed his Mercury Wonder Show on that stage. He then introduced the newest of the Thayer demonstrators, the young Marvyn Roy.

Okay, Mr. Electric isn’t so young anymore, but in 1942 the war had taken Thayer’s demonstrator. The teenage Marvyn got the promotion.

I’ve seen Marvyn at several of these conventions and he has always seemed…old, frail. But on this day, he was also transported to 1942. He commanded the stage with renewed vigor and great humor. He still has all that charm and greatness in him. Marvyn showed off the new Thayer catalog. “Only 1 dollar. I know you are thinking that is a lot of money,” drew laughs from the audience and the line became a running joke every time he announced the 1942 price.

This was the second emotional moment in the Conference. It was a strong one. A lasting memory.

Brookledge is now owned by the Larsen family (In an elaborate deal in which part of the purchase they traded houses with the Thayers.) We have them to thank for opening their home for this event.

The demonstration/show was closed by Brett Loudermilk, a real up and coming sideshow performer and Liberty Larsen. They demonstrated a larger Thayer illusion. Afterward we were treated to lemonade and cookies in the garden just like Jennie Thayer would lay out for the magicians so many years ago.

The Show

The Saturday night show is where it all the previous days’ work comes together. Talk becomes action. The magic of the past returns to life to inspire the magic of the future. It is the lucky position of us historians to reveal this important idea to the public. The show will also bring out a couple of celebrities, Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes sat right behind me.

This night John Gaughan will perform with Robert-Houdin’s acrobatic automaton Antonio Diavolo which, surprising had never before appeared at a Conference. Antonio is a fine performer, restored by John some years back. It has been seen on several TV specials, but is appreciated all the more in live performance. A quick search of youtube will reveal a performance if you are curious.

Mike Caveney reminded all of us as to what a fine performer he is. As a 19 year old he assisted Orson Wells on the Johnny Carson show. Tonight, he would play Orson and recreate the performance word for word. It is a simple vanish and reproduction of a Persian princess embellished with Orson’s Arabian Nights style script. This bit was marred only by a slight technical glitch when the prop gun fails to fire, but saved by Mike’s funny adlib. The act was followed by the original recording of Orson’s performance. It turns out that Mike sucked us all in. This recreation was actually word for word, even the “mistake” and adlib was Orson’s. We the audience was totally invested in the performance and heartily laughed at seeing we were fooled. Orson got a huge audience reaction from the audience present at his performance and Mike got just as huge a reaction for his work.

Jim Steinmeyer will introduce the next part of the show. For years the Conference hosts have avoided the straight recreations of performers of the past, feeling that such bordered on the ghoulish. They rather perform the old as new. Tonight they depart from such thinking in the most successful way, Jonathan Levit performs as Thurston. Using first hand and written accounts of Howard Thurston’s shows, they will give us the experience of seeing the great magician perform his Rising Cards and Sawing a Lady in Halves.

The show closed with a homage to the McElroy brothers, makers or ventriloquism figure by the superstar ventriloquist, Jeff Dunham. Jeff recently had John Gaughan restore one of his figures and after a little of John’s arm twisting, Jeff agreed to fit the conference into his busy schedule. Jeff showed pieces from his collection of figures, demonstrating the progression of the figures through the McElroy’s career and peppering his talk with humorous adlibs. He closed to an ovation with his familiar character, Walter, and some new scripted material. Wisely no one had to follow him and we ended the night on a high note. 

The 12th LA Conference on Magic History 2011

The 12^th LA Conference on Magic History 2011

November 11 – Friday

In the morning is the first of two field trips arranged for the Conference. Starting early buses head out to the Skirball Cultural Center. The Skirball recently hosted the Houdini exhibit and in conjunction created Masters of Illusion, Jewish Magicians of the Golden Age.

The exhibit contained treasures from the collections of Burt Sperber, Mike Caveney, John Gaughan, Bill Kalush, Ricky Jay, Richard Hatch, Ken Trombly, Gary Frank, Les Arnold, Bob Rossi, Bruce Averbook, Cary and Joseph Hanosek, Barry Katz, Chris Woodward, Bob Underwood, Arthur Moses, and Saratoga Ballantine.

John Gaughan’s own magic room was the inspiration for the dark wood Victorian style of the displays. The lavish exhibit presented items from the earliest English book containing magic, Discoverie of Witchcraft, to props from the act of Mr. Electric, Marvyn Roy.

Available from Mike Caveney is a slick exhibit catalog with photos and descriptions.

Afternoon Session

A Magical Romance

Charles McCall tells the story of the courtship of McDonald Birch and Mabel Sperry. First, just hired for the show as assistant and Xylophone act, Mabel was set against any romance with Birch. But like running water on the rock, shore he wore down her objections and revealed the perfect mate. She even handled the business for the act. (A magician’s dream!) Charles really only covered their relationship up to their marriage and this made for an odd moment like when he jumped from the couple’s marriage to McDonald’s death many years later without pause to comment on the years in between.

Poster Restoration

John Davis of Poster Mountain is Mike Caveney’s go to guy for restoring and preserving his legendary poster collection. John will give an illustrated talk of his efforts to do the repairs needed to bring the posters to “new” condition. John is a leading authority on ethical restoration (restoration not to deceive) and has a passion for posters that came through in his talk. One quote in particular stood out, he said he preserved these posters as a “remembrance of the world that once was.”

The Thought Reader Craze

Barry Wiley discussed the rise of the “mentalists” in the late Victorian age. The family tree of these performers started in Chicago with John Randall Brown, who originally practiced contact mind reading and then expanded into other stunts. He begat the celebrated and infamous Washington Irving Bishop, who worked for Brown and stole the act. Bishop’s own assistant, Stuart Charles Cumberland, (Apparently, mentalists, assassins, and serial killers all need three names.) “borrowed” the act and, while lesser known, became the most financially successful of the group. This was a preview of Barry’s forthcoming book on the subject. If it is anything like his Anna Eva Fay book, it should be an excellent piece of history.

Evening Session

Minerva

Gary Hunt spoke on Minerva, the great female “Houdini.”  Minerva had a successful career in the European music halls copying the stunts of Houdini. She was a beautiful, yet powerful woman who could stand the rigors of escaping from straitjackets, water filled barrels, and handcuffed bridge jumps. Although one reviewer thought it was not pleasing to see a woman exert herself like that. It cannot be denied there was a definite sexual and social subtext to the performance of a woman being tied up on stage. In fact, Gary could not resist repeatedly alluding to the various men/husbands in Minerva’s life. To this observer his tone smacked of that same kind of misogyny that has permeated magic for much too long.  Otherwise it was an excellent talk and it looks like another well researched book will be coming out soon.

Sanders and Erdnase

Writer Marty Demarest recaps his research on his candidate for the identity of Erdnase. If you want to know what his talk was, read the article in Genii. It was the same information. After that, get your hands on a copy of the most recent Magicol (#180 August 2011), which is focused on all things Erdnase. There are several well written, informative, and thoughtful articles on the subject. The most I can tell you is that while just about every presenter this weekend was a performer, Marty, a writer, gave the best presentation of any speaker. I am not sure what to make of that.

Brookledge

Phil Shwartz gave a brief history of the “most famous address in magic.” He then hosted a panel discussion of the residence with Marvyn Roy, Irene Larson, and Milt Larson. I’ll write more about Brookledge in my next installment when we actually visit the house.

The 12th LA Conference on Magic History 2011

November 10 – Thursday

From almost the moment the last Conference ended I’ve been waiting for the next one, like a child counting down the days before Christmas. It wasn’t a daily obsession, but always there, in the background. This convention is that special of an experience.

I arrived a couple of days early. Time for me to relax after a busy October and do a few touristy type things including my traditional visit to the Magic Castle. There were quite a few other early arrivers and what is really the best part of the Conference started early, the social interaction. I’ve written about it before and I won’t write a long list of names, but increasingly this is my favorite part. Mostly over at the bar, I got to visit with old friends and make new ones. Had two long conversations with an amazing woman and got to know her a little better, more than confirming that amazing part.

Thursday is the pick-up of the registration packets and where the fun really begins. I specifically avoided any knowledge of what the events might be in order to be surprised. Everyone tears into their packets, again like Christmas morning, to see what they hold.

Inside are our badges, schedules, and the beautiful Conference program put together by Jim Steinmeyer. The program is 40 glossy pages of picture and articles illustrating the days’ events.

The first session will start at 2:30

John Gaughan will begin our day with a tribute to some of our friends who have passed including Burton Sperber, who spoke several times and often provided expensively produced booklets on the subject matter to the Conference attendees at his own expense. He will then introduce Margaret Steele

Margaret is a magician who is widely known for her recreation performances as Adelaide Herrmann. She has been a tireless researcher on the life of Adelaide Herrmann and has some exciting news. After years of following leads and rumors, Margaret has discovered the existence of Adelaide’s autobiography. A manuscript lost to the magic world for 78 years. Adelaide can be considered the first great magic assistant, a true partner to her husband Alexander. She can also be considered the first great female magician, a successful vaudeville headliner. Most of Margaret’s talk will deal with the lavish, expensive book she published containing the manuscript, full color pictures, and her own additions to the story. She does tell us that 25 of the 30 chapters cover Adelaide’s life with Alexander. There she creates a narrative of how she wanted him to be remembered, no warts here. She often takes credit for improving the act and adding a more theatrical sense to the show. The last 5 chapters in the book cover her 30 years after her husband’s death. I eagerly await a non-collector’s version of this important memoir.

Ho Yam was the stage name of William Mayoh, who adopted the “Chinese style” of performance after seeing magicians’ acts such as by Okito. In 1949, he published the book “Ho Yam Mysteries” describing his stage magic. Years ago, Nate Kvetny met Mayoh and purchased some of his costumes and custom apparatus. Because of his accent and halting way of speaking English, Nate chooses to use a friend’s recording of the introduction to Ho Yam’s book as an introduction to the man and his performing philosophies. This goes on for much too long. I begin to think it might be an “Andy Kaufman” type bit and it will just go on and on until the audience gives up. When finished, Nate will perform a series of production effects using Ho Yam’s original props. He wears Ho Yam’s hand embroidered costume. It is a delicate and old fashioned performance that is magical, especially since some of those props are nearly 100 years old.

The last talk of the afternoon is a somewhat bizarre one. Bill Taylor will speak about the set of cups and balls Dai Vernon used. Well, actually, just the cups specifically. Oh, and another set just like them. He gets into the minutia of their construction including the various ways a metal cup can be constructed. He will also talk about their exact measurements (because they were handmade each is a little different). Also, we’ll learn about the silver/lead/copper and other metal content of the cups, all of them. I do give him credit for his diligent detective work, but really, I don’t know who cares about this, beside him apparently.

The Evening Session 7:30

In the first talk Steve Freeman discusses his experiences with Suzy Cottrell. First a little background on Suzy from an article on “sightless vision”: “Outstanding in the field of sightless vision was Susie Cottrell, a student at the University of Kansas, who appeared in the American Johnny Carson "Tonight Show" in 1977, and whose claims were extensively tested by a Denver psychiatrist and parapsychologist Dr Jule Eisenbud, and other highly qualified academics. Susie Cottrell's repertoire included predicting the selection of a nominated card, the order of the cards in a deck, the sequence of suits, the naming of cards in sealed envelopes and predicting which persons would select the highest cards in a simple dealing of the pack…”

Steve was invited to a private party to meet Suzy and to try to discern her methods. Immediately, he recognized she was using trickery, an advanced use of a Matt Schulien card force among other techniques. In one on one “testing” with Steve, she failed terribly. Missing the card more than a dozen times in a row. After Steve broke down her methods and his experience, he played a video of her 17 minute appearance on the Tonight Show.

Following Steve was the most eagerly awaited and most disappointing events of the weekend. The legendary Philip Morris would appear. Did I say disappointing, I meant disastrous. I want to learn more about the man; instead we got a commercial for his business Morris Costumes and all it provides. Then he spoke about his involvement in the Bigfoot film hoax. This went on much to long, as if he was trying to build a case that Bigfoot is fake. We know that already. He showed video clip after video clip, all of them saying exactly the same thing to support his case. Simply said, too much of that other garbage and not enough Morris. I might suggest anyone else considering him for their convention to do an interview format. Philip has to have some great stories to tell, just not on this night.

One of the big surprises and heart warming moments of the weekend was the introduction of Albert Ching. For years, Mike Caveney sent guests to a little hamburger shack called the White Hut, but it wasn’t until Arden James mentioned he did magic that it was revealed that the owner was a magician also. And not just any magician. After serving our country in World War II (Thank you, Albert!), he took advantage of the GI Bill and enrolled in the Chavez School of Magic, where he learned from Benny and Marion Chavez. He went on to perform at the Palace in New York (3 times) and appeared twice on Ed Sullivan’s Toast of the Town. We were treated to a short clip of Ching, The Oriental Mystifier on that same show. A fine performance. Albert and his family were treated to extended applause. It was an emotional moment for all of us.

Quote Me

"The mystery story is two stories in one: The story of what happened and 

the story of what appeared to have happened." -Mary Roberts Rinehart

As good a definition of a magic show as any.

The 42nd Annual Magic Collectors Weekend - May 21, 2011 Part 4

An Evening of Mystery

The weekend finishes up with a show.

The always classy David Charvet acts as our host for the evening. During his part of the show, David will pull out a couple of historical pieces and one of his own. One was a favorite small piece of Jack Gwynne’s in which two drinking glasses are placed mouth down on a board. The board is turned upside down and the glasses stay impossibly “stuck” to the board. David also performed a fine version of his the jumbo nest of boxes. Last, he performs the Rag Picture that he spoke about earlier. David is a classically styled magician. He is entertaining but plays it straight and that is ill suited to this routine. Mostly, he built the pictures while music played. This is not an act. It is certainly possible that there is no entertainment to find in Rag Pictures. I can only imagine how different it would have been if it were performed by someone with more comedic skills instead.

John Carney was also on the show. He performed as he always does, sort of low key fun with impeccable sleight of hand. I hesitate to say too much because John will be performing in Galena, IL five days a week through October and these tricks will be in his one man show. Yet…he performed a multi-phase routine in which several small wooden balls appear, multiply, and disappear. He treated us to a live performance of the hat and glass routine he featured on the David Letterman show. Last, he did a classic Egg Bag routine.

The closer on the bill is Murry Hatfield & Teresa. They are a quality illusion act that has been touring extensively for many years. Their performance style is mostly audience pleasing, but standard fare for the magic set. They performed Jim Steinmeyer’s puzzling Op Art, a bag escape, a rope routine. They finished up with a routine where Teresa was chained to a table and covered by a box. The box, and Teresa, where penetrated with four swords through the top and the entire box was trisected by three large shields leaving her no place to be.

The End

I guess the real question is: “Was the Weekend a success?” The short answer is yes.

It was imperfect, much of it rested on the presenters and not the organizers fault. It is something that can be fixed. Some innovations from the first year were abandoned. Some of what worked the year before wasn’t built on. I am also sure that my opinions may not always be the same as others.

Attendance was slightly down. Investigation will be needed to figure out the reasons behind the drop. After last year’s success attendance should have climbed.  More outreach and education may help improve things. There are some rumors that it may go to every two years instead of being a yearly convention. This would be a sad loss for Chicago.

I did like the themed sets and panel discussions. I did like the bringing in of some of our older icons. They are our last links to a show business that doesn’t exist any more. There are precious few magicians left like Jack Kodell and Celeste Evans. They need to be celebrated more.

As I’ve said many times before, for me these conventions are increasingly more about the people I get to spend time with than the actual programs. I still want the programs to be quality. It makes it easier to survive and later write about. But more often it is the personal, not the public, moments I look to cherish. (Last year’s experience of Walter Zaney Blaney’s final performance was the rare public moment from last year that trumped all other memories.)

There is nothing more exhilarating than spending time with some endless intriguing person, especially when found quite unexpectedly. It is this moment that takes my breath away. You should be looking for your moment also.

It is this thought that keeps me from wanting to rejoin the real world on Sunday. These few precious moments in time that I want to put my arms around and hold on—and, if I can’t make it last forever, then maybe it can last a day, an hour, or even a minute longer.

You can see some pictures, get information about the Magic Collectors Association, and find out about next year’s convention at the Magicol Blog: http://magicol.wordpress.com/

The 42nd Annual Magic Collectors Weekend - May 21, 2011 Part 3

Del Ray: America’s Foremost

Bill Spooner, one of the men responsible for the popular Del Ray book, starts his presentation with an early video of Del performing. It is 1951; Del is on Ed Sullivan’s Toast of the Town. It is an early version of what would become his acclaimed act. Bill needlessly tells us to watch closely. We do, but because it is Del Ray. Del has some problems with one effect. After his set, Ed Sullivan practically exposes the vanishing birdcage. What a dick.

The presentation Bill is about to give is the one Del never wanted to happen. Del was one of the most secretive of all magicians. I say this realizing that there is a long tradition of magician’s wanted their secrets buried with them. Often, our art would be less without the knowledge of them. I also realize my life is often been about an obsession with uncovering secret knowledge.

Bill is about to show the inner workings of Del’s self-created electronic props. It starts with a little geek porn. There are pictures of his workshop. Bill shows us photo after photo of bins full of switches, motors, wires, diodes, transistors, and various other technical bric-a-brac. 

I guess if I were more technically minded, a Radio Shack guy, I might be more interested. The display continues with pictures of the guts of Del’s tables and props. There is a rudimentary explanation of what we see, enough to hint at its workings, not enough to build it. Most of it is just a show of what his props looked like dissected.

Bill is a good presenter, but I feel like I am attending an autopsy. If you’ve seen the videos of Del Ray performing on youtube, if you’ve been amazed by them like I have, you realize this is not the magic of Del.

Del Ray’s real magic was his charming personality and his incredible timing. The electronics were invisible. The props created miracles, but were mostly inert innocents or, in the case of his bird, almost alive. We magicians so rarely get fooled, but Del’s magic did just that. An exhilarating experience.

There is an old E.B. White quote about comedy that can apply, “Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind.”

I Can Still See Me

There is a picture on my desk of Celeste Evans, age unknown. In it she could be 20 or 50. It doesn’t matter. She is a dark and alluring, beautiful, exotic. She is Ava Gardner with doves. Every time I look at the picture I think of the femme fatales from the pulp novels I love, “the kind of woman men want…but shouldn’t have.” A woman who is seductive, strong, and likely to end up on the back end of a .45 looking for revenge.

Now approaching 80 years, her walk is a little unsteady, but she still is that strong, opinionated, feisty woman out looking for revenge. With the help of her “chip off the block” daughter, Evanna, she will tell us the story of her life in magic.

Her revenge comes at the back end of a silk handkerchief and a short routine of knot tricks. At the age of nine she was shown the trick, but she was told she could never be a magician because she was a girl. She’s been opening with that trick ever since.

She developed a sex-tinged, glamorous style. Truly a va-va-voom girl, she worked in sky high heels and low dipped evening gowns. It made the appearance of her doves all the more amazing from the skin tight costumes. Where did she hide them? When pressed in the interview, she said her dove loads were made by Victoria’s Secret.

With those pin-up girl looks, she was the desire of every magician and a serious threat. She was up to the task of fighting off their jealousies. In a male dominated profession often rife with misogyny, she competed on her own terms. She toughened up by years of working the carnival circuit. Independent and adventurous, she then toured around the world for the USO and UN, using up 3 passports in ten years. In one harrowing story had her coming under fire and being held prisoner on a plane in the Belgian Congo.

As the entertainment scene changed, Celeste expanded the act by adding patter routines to survive and even appeared over 30 times on the Bozo show. A young Evanna sometimes played the random audience volunteer after she was admonished repeatedly, “Don’t call me mommy!”

Celeste took over her late husband’s theatrical management company in 1984 and retired in 2003.

The audience warmly applauded Celeste at the end of the presentation. I held my breath wondering if they would rise and give her the standing ovation she deserved. In a deft move, Evanna rose from her seat on stage to applaud her mother. The audience responds in kind.

Later, as I sit with Celeste and Evanna, I am reminded as performers how we live for validation by our audiences. Celeste is a live wire, ready to take on the world, electrified by the standing ovation she received. I am glad I am there to enjoy it.

There is one thing that is missing. Most of the audience had never seen Celeste perform. Like the Kodell presentation, they need to get a video of her performing her famous act. Then, the audience would not need Evanna’s prompting.

Celeste has a biography available. Visit her website www.celesteevansmagic.com to see pictures, read more stories, and order that book.

The 42nd Annual Magic Collectors Weekend - May 21, 2011 Part 2

The American Museum of Magic

On April 1, 1978, Robert Lund opened the American Museum of Magic.  Since that day magicians and public alike have made a pilgrimage to the hamlet of Marshall, Michigan to see the delights the museum holds. For the researcher, there is a treasure trove of over 1800 individual files, over 10,000 books, 1000s more in posters and props.

Museum Director Jeff Taylor is on hand to give a brief update on the state of the museum. Jeff is not a magic guy. He is a museum guy. A great choice to run a museum. It seems obvious, I know, but it wasn’t always so. The real work of a museum isn’t necessarily the management of the collection. The real work is grant writing. The museum needs money to run and it is good they have a professional to move that forward. 

For example: the museum owns Doug Henning’s Zig Zag, but it is deteriorating rapidly. Paint is flaking off on a daily basis. The museum is looking for a grant to restore this precious piece of magic history. This is only one of many. (And if you are so inclined, you can donate.)

The museum is also doing outreach with their magic partners on the board of directors. The have several events a month to boost awareness and foot traffic. They have started magic camps and they are working on expanding their hours. It would be good to a vibrant community to form around the museum. Please visit their website for more information: www.americanmuseumofmagic.org. You can also find them on Facebook.

Going, Going, Gone!

Gabe Fajuri presided over one of the better presentations of the weekend. His business is the auction house of Potter & Potter (potterauctions.com)and he has hosted some of the most important magic auctions of the last few years. His job today is to lay bare the secrets of his business and take us through the auction process, from start to finish. This is not the ebay style of auction he is talking about.

After his presentation, he sat down with Mike Caveney, George Daily, and David Goodman. Mike and George’s experience being running their own auction and David Goodman is one of the most respected auctioneers working. They all made for a great informative panel.

My notes include: Investigate the auction house you plan to use. Take your time. Make sure you are comfortable and understand their terms, many are negotiable. Make sure they will do their due diligence in taking care of your belongings.

The most important point of the talk and panel was one of estate planning. Don’t just dump your collection on someone. Document your collection. Leave an inventory, provenance, stories, amount paid, behind or don’t leave it to someone else. Sell it yourself.

The 42nd Annual Magic Collectors Weekend - May 21, 2011 Part 1

I’m back Saturday morning 10 AM. I think I’m getting used to this. (Sarcasm doesn’t always come across in the writing.) It doesn’t hurt that the bar seems to close way too early. On this mornings schedule is three talks on, The Expert at The Card Table, ending in a panel discussion.

Before I start a brief note: There is no way, even in the two and a half hours allotted for the discourse, that all the research on Erdnase can be imparted to the audience. I will only make the briefest comments on the presentations. There is an extensive amount of discussion about Erdnase on the Genii forum. I recommend you start here: http://tinyurl.com/42h5ltx

Everything Erdnase

Jason England starts the morning with a slide presentation on the book itself. Jason is a gambling expert and has collected over 60 different editions of the book. The slide show takes us through the many and most important or interesting editions. A presentation like this usually can get boring.  “This is the 1^st edition.” Click. “This is the 1905 edition.” Click. “This is the 1905 edition in red cloth.” Click. And so on. Jason actually does a good job of keeping things interesting with his running commentary and quick pace.

Chicago Bound

Hurt McDermott is a filmmaker and playwright who developed an interest in Erdnase from read the Genii forums. He was especially curious as to why the book was published in Chicago and why the author might need to hide his identity.

Hurt had a lot of information, but unfortunately he read his entire presentation from his papers. He droned a near monotone, never making any contact with the audience. I am sympathetic. I remember the mistakes I made in my first presentation. I hope we’ll get more and better things from him. Here is what I’ve pieced together.

The whys of both are traced to a man named Anthony Comstock. Comstock was a politician and United States Postal Inspector. He was dedicated to an oppressive idea of Victorian morality. The Comstock Law made it illegal to send any "obscene, lewd, and/or lascivious" materials through the mail, including contraceptive devices and information.

He had a wide definition of what could be determined as obscene. This included gambling exposés. (This may also be part of the reason the magic section was added, to make the book more palatable.) Comstock would go after the authors and publishers of any materials he found immoral. They would be harassed, framed, arrested, jailed. He bragged he drove 15 people to suicide.

But this was Chicago. It was a wide open town. A live at let live town. The long arm of Anthony Comstock laws got broken off at the city line. The book was “safe” here. With the author and publisher (one in the same, according to the book itself) anonymous, they were safe also.

Reading Erdnase Backwards

For a long time Richard Hatch was the “H” of H & R Books. Besides being a book dealer, he is a performer, writer, publisher and teacher. To call him “the preeminent scholar on the question of the identity of the author of The Expert At The Card Table” is not doing him justice.

I find it hard to find the words to describe his presentation. In over an hour, without notes, he will give us a PhD level dissertation on Erdnase history and the usual and unusual men suspected to be the author. It is a breathless race though a mountain of information punctuated with opinion and tangents. It was a lesson on presentation. He went way over time, but it was an entertainment all on its own.

The 42nd Annual Magic Collectors Weekend - May 20, 2011 Part 3

The last presentations of  Friday will deal with personalties.

Unspeakable Acts

Jim Magus joins us to talk about one of the most enigmatic figures in recent magic history, Timothy McGuire. You might know him better as Tom Palmer, Tony Andruzzi, or Masklyn ye Mage.

Few of us get to live a single full life; Tony was able to create three. A true artist, his life was a mysterious act of invention, creating the myth of himself, rarely showing his true face to anyone.

As Tom Palmer, he created an award-winning comedy magic act. Taking the conventions of popular magic clichés and turning them topsy-turvy. This perverse style of magic inspired many other comedy magicians especially Johnny Thompson.

As Tony Andruzzi, he pioneered the field of Bizarre Magick, again taking stereotypical magician and perverting him in a new (or old, some would argue) darker direction.

As Masklyn ye Mage, he performed, created, and shared this unusual style of magic. He published the magic periodical, New Invocation.  He created highly collectible books and hosted, perhaps the most hedonistic magic conventions ever.

This just barely scratches the surface. Jim does a good job of peeling back some layers in the brief time we have with him, augmenting his talk with many pictures of Tony’s life. The limited time he has cannot do justice to the man. Jim has a new book about Tony, Unspeakable Acts. I never knew Tony, but I have a friend who did. And he knew him as well as anyone. He has given the book excellent reviews, so I recommend you seek it out.

Kodell: Do Something Different

Jeff Pierce (magic dealer, book author and publisher) is on stage to introduce the next presentation. The lights dim. A movie begins.

It is a home movie. The quality is quite good. As I think of it now, whether nostalgia or reality, I see it being not black and white, but sepia toned. It is an old movie. The year is 1943. Silent. The shot is of a young magician about mid-thigh and up. He is performing for the camera in full evening wear. He is handsome with a smile that would be the envy of any actor on those teeth whitening commercials. He is producing parakeets. Not just producing but, interacting with them as they appear, disappear, transpose, and multiply. It is an early view of the act that would make him famous and take him around the world. It is Jack Kodell at age 16.

The lights come up to the realization that, even at just 16, Jack was one damn good magician. And he has one more trick up his sleeve; he walks, unsteadily, out onto the stage with the help of his wife Mary. Previous we had only seen him use his motorized scooter, at this age his legs failing him. Not on this stage, not on this night.

Seeing him on his feet, the audience returns the favor. Like last year, David Ben has found an emotional moment to pin this convention on.

The presentation will be in the interview format moderated by magician Ron Urban. He is a friend to the Kodells and freely admits his debt to Jack who blazed the trail that Ron followed.

Ron is a less able interviewer than Richard Kaufman, but Jack is a less talkative subject. Often questions are answered with a only a word or two until the more loquacious of the two, Mary Kodell, either prompts Jack often filling in the blanks herself.

Jack, we learn, is a man of firsts. He is considered the first bird manipulator. He was the first magician to perform in ice shows. On the bill with the Williams Brothers and comic Larry Storch, he was the first magician to perform in Vegas.

Jack headlined the best shows in the best venues around the world, including Paris, London, and New York. Many of those venues never would use a magician before him. His classy act opened doors for other magicians to walk through.

The interview covered a little of his performing life, a lot of his courtship of Mary, and some of his personal life with his father. It was his father that early on admonished him to, “Do something different.” Jack would take care of him for the rest of his life.

As I look at the convention program there is one nagging unanswered question, in 1960 at age 33, Jack walked away from a successful career. Why? I can only hope that his new autobiography, Kodell: Do Something Different will answer that question.

Jack’s time on stage ended as it started with a second standing ovation.

Friday Evening Triple Bill

It is movie night at the convention. This year it is a triple feature. There is a film of the awarding of Doug Henning’s star on Canada’s Walk of Fame. The second video is of an interview with Doug Henning by Brian Linehan. Last, there is a taped interview of Charles Reynolds by Patrick Watson.

I can’t give you a review or overview of these films because I never got to see them. I was occupied hanging on the every word of Saturday afternoon presenters, Celeste and Evanna Evans who treated me to story after story of her (later, their) performing life. Much of it made it into her book, some of it will make it into her presentation, a little of it won’t make it anywhere. Except that it will make my weekend.

The 42nd Annual Magic Collectors Weekend - May 20, 2011 Part 2

After the trio of marketing presentations, we begin a triplet of presentations on our wonderful toys. The collectors have been waiting for this.

Gimmicks, Gadgets, & Gizmos

The talented John Carney brings his Magicol column to life. He has held a lifelong love affair with the small gimmicks and gadgets that are the tools of the trade, the “secret accomplices to his theatrical deceptions.” This fascination comes from the “spy culture” gizmos that permeated the movies and television of his youth.

John is a funny, friendly presenter. He is at his best when he just talks to the audience, as soon as he starts reading from his notes he loses all that personality. Fortunately, that only happens briefly.

He starts with defining what a gimmick is: “the extra piece of the puzzle that cannot be considered in the solution.” It is an elegant way to answer the question.

In the physical, these are holders and loads and tanks and clips and appendages. Many mass produced, some still in use today. Some are unique specimens, their use only speculative. They are now orphans created by an unknown magician for a problem yet to be uncovered.

There are items that seem the products worthy of a Bond villain, only existing to complicate the simple production or vanish of a silk handkerchief. It is chiefly in that complication why the Goldfingers of the world fail and why these gimmicks have stood the test of time.

He shows us, via photographs, a staggering array of gimmicks in his and other collections. He adds texture by demonstrating several gimmicks in his own collection. He includes the familiar, like the sixth finger and some not so familiar like a silk which vanishes from his hands in a flash by retracting into a small ball. These mini-performances are welcome in a decidedly unmagical morning. They are also evidence of the meticulous thought and consideration John has put into the work of these gimmicks. The type of perfection John is known for.

Cups and Balls

Edmund Gwen lives! Sorry, that is exactly what I thought when the dapper Bill Palmer hopped up onto the stage. That is not an insult, although it does show my age. He has more than a passing resemblance and that same kind of twinkle in his eye, that old world charm Gwen put in his most famous performance. (Look it up on IMDB.com if you don’t know who I am talking about.)

Bill is a veteran performer, mostly known for his work in Renaissance Faires. He has also translated many German magic books into English. He came to collecting late in life, 2003. He has made up for the lost time by attacking his specialized field with ferocity.

He starts with a Q&A.

“What makes something collectable?” You want it.

“What makes it desirable?” One other guy wants it.

“How do you determine something’s worth?” By paying one dollar more than someone else is willing to pay for it.

Bill has built his collection of cups and balls partially by donation and partially by paying that one dollar more. In eight years that collection has grown to over 1700 sets. Grown with the full support of his wife, he adds. I can’t help but feel the love as he serves up her share of praise.

He loves the minutia of the cups and balls. He has sets from famous magicians, several sets from the street performer Gazzo. He has more variations of the Paul Fox cups than I could ever imagine existed. He also knows their history and differences. One whole case in his dealer room display was all Paul Fox style cups.

The bulk of the presentation is Bill asking audience members to yell out cups that they want to see while he scrolls through his website to find the proper set. This is inefficient and borders on the tedious. Bill is too engaging and should have presented a more structured presentation. If I want to go to his website I would...and have...and you can too, www.cupsandballsmuseum.com (The site is password protected. You will need to contact Bill for information.)

During the Friday night honor presentations Dr. Matsuura and Ray Goulet were asked the same question, “What will happen to your collection?” They both answered the same way: They wanted their collections to be dispersed, so that they may live again in some other collections. Bill also answered that question. He wants his collection to live, but in a different way. It will be donated to a museum. The important cups will be put on display and the rest used for hands on teaching. Ensuring the long legacy of performing cups and balls will continue.

The Rise and Fall of “Rag” Time: The Magic of Painting With Cloth

Performer and prolific author of magic history, David Charvet followed Bill Palmer with a look at Rag Pictures, a once popular vaudeville act now lost to the dusty corners of performance history.

What is a Rag Picture act? There is a piece of wool framed on an easel, standing center stage. This is the background of the picture. The performer places various shaped pieces of cloth onto the background, almost like building a jigsaw puzzle. Originally, the pieces were pinned, later, using better quality wool, the pieces stayed in place by friction. A picture, such as a landscape, is thus created when all the pieces are placed. The act of creation is usually combined with a story, poem, or witty banter.

The history of rags started in bible schools where the assembling of the picture illustrated a bible story. Many performers, including Dante and Virgil, put this novelty to their shows to add some variety.

I was surprised by the rags themselves. I always thought they were just plain pieces of cloth. In actuality, many pieces were painted with details, trees with leaves, houses with windows. With the event of fluorescent paints and dyes, the rags became a blacklight act. The picture would be assembled, with the regular lights on, showing a scene. The lights are turned to blacklight and the scene changes to something different. Other rag pictures made one figure right side up and another when turned up side down.

Many of these innovations were pioneered by John Balda. His Balda Art Service in Oshkosh, Wisconsin was the primary supplier of Rag Picture materials for over 50 years.

The presenter, David, is a regular at these events. I don’t know where he finds the time to do all his research. His talks are always well prepared and never boring. He is a performer cut from an old school cloth, commanding the stage with his presence and resonant voice. More later as David performs the Rag Picture act in the Saturday night show.

The 42nd Annual Magic Collectors Weekend - May 20, 2011 Part 1

Friday, day two of captivity, sees us starting at the too damn early time of 10 AM. (Mostly, I expect I am in the minority, but we magicians do like make for a late night at these events.)

This year the organizers of the weekend have decided to try to thematically group presentations. (Ending some of those sessions with a group panel.) This idea, despite some unevenness in presenters, has possibilities and is worth exploring. The first three presentations in the morning session deal with marketing and advertising.

It’s Magic

First, we are treated to a slide show presentation of print ads from the Bob James collection. Bob is a local magician and dealer. Through the years he has collected hundreds of advertisements from the mainstream world that have the theme of magic. The slide show represented a small portion of those ads. The unfortunate thing is that the images flew by and became nothing more than visual noise. I didn’t know what ads I was looking at, just that there were a lot of them. A good idea poorly executed.

Marketing Wonders

Our next presenter was Phil Schwartz. Phil is the world’s foremost expert on the Thayer Magic Company. He has collected over 600 Thayer items including letters, photos, and promotional materials. In 2010, with Dr. Robert Albo, he produced a two volume book and ten DVD set on the history of Thayer from 1877 to1963.

His talk is to be about how and how well magic has been marketed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. With a career in marketing and advertising, he is, with out a doubt, an expert. In fact, most of his speech will cover general marketing ideas and concepts. As to the how well part, the answer is—not very.

Simply, the vast majority of magic companies throughout our history had no concept of marketing 101 or creating a plan to properly market their wares. (Such as branding, logos, motto, etc.)

There are two problems with the speech and they are related. Phil breaks the cardinal rule of Power Point presentations: Don’t read from your slides. This is a real pet peeve of mine. (It is okay, Phil didn’t know.) This is death to any presentation. If you have something written on a slide, like a bulleted list, I can read it. You do not have to read it too me. If you do need to read it to me you don’t need the slide.

Here is some Power Point 101: If your slide has words on it, tell a story that adds or illustrates what I read on the slide. If you need to convey to me a concept, tell me, your slide then can have an image to serve as an example of such.

Hence, Phil spends so much his time reading his slides of bulleted points of general marketing theory that he doesn’t have room for many illustrative examples from the magic world. The few that he does show are interesting, but there are not enough of them.

New Era Advertising

I have mixed feelings about the next presentation by Adam Rubin. Things start off very bad, but there is sound information, yet, there is a big “why?” Adam is the marketing and creative director for the online service, Groupon. His talk will deal with new advertising channels such as blogs, twitter, youtube, and social networking.

Adam starts by telling the audience that this is not the talk David Ben had asked for. David wanted Adam to design an online marketing campaign for an old magic product. This is actually a quite clever way to show how these new online platforms work. Adam told us that he didn’t because his “hourly rate” was too high. Wow, really Adam? Your time is too valuable? We are not worth your time and effort?

In the audience sits some of the great historians and collectors in the history of magic. Individually, they have spent countless hours, even lifetimes, to bring their presentations to the Magic Collectors Weekend. Adam can’t spend a few hours over a few months to produce something of importance.

Instead, he starts out telling us about this great thing he didn’t do for us, so what we get is the low effort cut-rate talk. On the other hand, for what the talk is, he has some useable information. He knows the world of online marketing.

I don’t know how much of the technical aspects got through to this audience. The average age in the room is dirt. Did they connect with what he was saying? Another problem is that he used two incomprehensible charts to augment his talk. One big chart, that looked like a giant flower, showed the various online tools available. They is so much and even blown up stage size little can be understood except if he is trying to tell us that the internet is overwhelming. He nailed that. The second graph showed the online sharing path of a New York Times story or the long term trajectory of Voyager 2, it made that much sense.

He did make some points to consider:

1. We all know word of mouth is the best advertising. Twitter, blogs, Facebook have become the way to communicate that word of mouth.
2. Expert is a relative term. Usually the first responses on a search page are the experts. To become a “search page expert” you need to blog. You need to be consistent, do it frequently, develop trust, and don’t be phony.
3. Online services really allow you to target a small niche and thanks to my friend Gordon, I know there is money to be made on those fringes. Find you niche.

Another thought about this presentation was brought up to me by another regular attendee who is the CEO of a large company, while the presentation was fine, Adam’s talk didn’t belong at this convention. What does the world of online marketing really have to do with collecting magic or magic history?

Adam did allude to a relevant message that got lost in the clutter: as historians and collectors we need to leverage social media to become “the expert” in our interests and communicate to a whole new audience. If we don’t infuse new blood into our mix, the Magic Collectors will die out.

The 42nd Annual Magic Collectors Weekend - May 19, 2011 Part 4

It was now time to present the second honorees, this presentation would be an interview style format moderated by Richard Kaufman. As a side note, Richard handled his duties perfectly, he asked the questions and got out of the way, gently prodded when needed, and never tried to top the real stars—Ray and Ann Goulet.

This couple, too, have been long time fixtures at the MCW. I don’t remember when exactly I met Ray, but I’ve enjoyed every interaction I’ve had with him. He is just a fun and engaging guy, always ready to provoke a laugh. He charmed me then and charmed an audience full of old friends this night.

He was born in 1930 and after wasting 14 years, he became interested in magic. Still in high school, he started performing in USO shows and nightclubs. Many of those clubs could be better classified as “joints,” by Ray’s own admission. Also while in school he met Ann and by 1949 they developed a two-person act. Though retired from performing (1989), their life is still a powerful two person act.

In 1976, they opened a magic shop: The Magic Art Studio. Located Watertown, MA in became the center of the New England magic universe. They would also form the Magic Art Book Company, publishing over 30 books.

Ray was a performer first and didn’t come by collecting until much later. Then, he attacked it becoming an almost indiscriminate collector. Amassing a huge collection, he created the Mini Museum of Magic and happily gives tours by appointment. (The shop is only open about 20 hours a week now.)

How huge of a collection? Here are a couple of numbers: There are over 10,000 books in his collection (33 copies of Erdnase alone!) and 300 Die Boxes. Add to that, among other things, he collected everything Petrie Lewis has ever made including many custom pieces. They are a couple who have given everything to a life of magic. And, magic has given back, with love, respect, and fellowship.

Following the two honor presentations, there was well appointed wine and cheese reception with an opportunity to mingle, catch up with old friends or meet a new one. 

The 42nd Annual Magic Collectors Weekend - May 19, 2011 Part 3

Since 1970, the Magic Collectors Association has chosen a Guest of Honor. This year, like last, we have multiple honorees- Ray and Ann Goulet and Dr. Gene Matsuura.

I’ve seen Dr. Matsuura at several of these collector/history conferences, but never had the pleasure to meet him. This would be my first experience with his story. An experience I was sharing with many others because Dr. Matsuura is sort of the “quiet” man around these gatherings. David Ben introduced him and illustrated his secretive nature with a story:

Dr. Matsuura was drafted to do a “teach a trick” session at one convention. He was having quite a bit of anxiety over this when he was asked to take a look at another attendee who might be having a heart attack. He replied, “Okay, but no teach a trick.” The answer came back to Gene, “we’ll let him die.”

First a brief word about his life outside magic: Dr. Matsuura is a native Californian, born in 1940. He spent his early years in the Arizona desert in a WWII internment camp. Later, after graduating from medical school in 1967 and despite the shameful treatment he received from his country, he served overseas in the U.S. Armed Forces. A former ER doctor, he is retired from active medical practice.

Dr. Matsuura caught the magic bug at age ten with the help of his older brother. That older brother ordered a sent of Chinese linking rings from the Johnson Smith & Co. He wasn’t interested in magic—he needed to know the secret. Once revealed, the rings held no more interest so; he sold that trick (at full retail) to his little brother and created a magician.

He would become student, friend, confidant to some the greatest magicians of the twentieth century: Dai Vernon, Charlie Miller, Ross Bertram, and especially close to Tony Slydini. In the shadow of these greats he became a sleight of hand expert, his personal annotations appearing in The Annotated Magic of Slydini. (2001 L&L pub)

Reluctantly, Dr. Matsuura spoke of his journey to magic, noted his difficultly speaking about himself, and revealed part of his collection. Most of it centers on choice pieces from his influences, Winston Freer, Dai Vernon, Tony Slydini, and Ross Bertram. Many of the pieces being props and costumes directly from the performers’ acts. He also added pieces of fine workmanship like from the craftsman John Martin.

It was an interesting speech. Dr. Matsuura was compelling despite being thoroughly uncomfortable speaking about himself and, perhaps compelling because of that reason. He spoke simply and honestly, revealing his humanness. And the audience went happily along for the ride.

The 42nd Annual Magic Collectors Weekend - May 19, 2011 Part 2

I realize my comments on the Tricks Old and Seldom Seen may seem overly harsh. It was really only one presenter that truly angered me and couple more that caused any real discomfort.  I admit I am not a collector in the strict sense. I really don’t collect the physical. My passion is to collect stories and knowledge, much of it in the oral tradition.

So I ask the question, “Why do you collect?”

Are you an accumulator? Piling up pieces of apparatus with little regard. Do just collect because you love the look or workmanship of certain craftsman? Are these props nothing more than pretty dead things to sit on a shelf?

Or do these things represent something more? Do you see the magic that lives inside them, their inanimate corpses waiting to be revived, if only for a moment in time? If you love the props for what they represent, if you have a passion for their stories, then it is your responsibility to communicate it. Care about it. That is all I ask.

It is not on my nature to write without comment but I will try to describe some of the other TOSS presentations with embarrassing anyone. (I mostly add this to appease my adoring fans…okay, fan. Who says I won’t do what a woman asks?)

Bill Spooner performed an Inexhaustible Production Box circa 1907 in which he could assemble and disassemble the box, repeatedly producing silk handkerchiefs. From 1898 he showed the Six Mystic Numbers which allowed him to divine which of six numbered blocks a spectator chose.

MC Tom Ewing (his official rap name) showed off a Disappearing and Reappearing Opium Pipe (much like the old disappearing wand) and a George Johnstone built Nest of Boxes. This included a nice video of George performing the same boxes on Don Alan’s Magic Ranch.

Ken Klosterman followed with an intriguing transposition effect, Humboldt and Globe, originally in the Dell O’Dell collection and circa 1850s. The “Humboldt” appears to be a small bust of a man on a marble base such as you might see in a library. I assume it is Alexander Von Humboldt (d. 1859), noted German naturalist and explorer. The “Globe” was a…um…globe on a spindle style pedestal. The difference in the two objects is striking. They are opposites in form. One wide at the base and narrow on top, the other a narrow base with a wide top. It seems impossible that they could switch places, but they do, when each is hidden from view by a large canister-like cover.

Gale Molovinsky displayed several bead tricks in his collection. I think most commonly seen as the Tibetan Bead Mystery; several large beads are placed individually into a tube and then become mysteriously linked. He showed U.F. Grant’s Uncola where four “random” letter blocks rearrange themselves to spell COKE and a bottle of the soda appears. Also from Grant, Gale, himself, was puzzled by his flat board head vanish.

Tom Ewing returned to demonstrate a clever Handkerchief Penetration. A hank is tacked to a square wooden frame, placed into a bag, and penetrated through the center by a finger or pencil.

Bill McIlhany finished up the program with two beautifully decorated block tricks, a baffling vanishing wooden block that reappears inside an oriental pagoda type box.

More to come....