Movies, Music, and The Death of Magic

Movies are but an illusion of captured light, still images which create movement due to a trick of the eye and confusion of the brain. Of course it would make sense that one of the earliest movie makers was himself an illusionist. French stage magician, Georges Melies. Melies was not only one of the first feature film creators, he was the first to use "trick" photography in his movies. His very first film was called "Playing Cards" and his first production company was named "Star Film Company." This information is coming to you from a guy who received his magician name, "Ace Star" in this very place, Southern California performing card tricks at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

Magician/Musician/Movie Mogul

My visit to Southern California didn't include a trip to Hollywood, a place where I've ventured many times in my life. But Southern California includes many magical places. I was on a mission to find a magician whom I'd known for many years. His name is Tony Maclaren.  He invited me over to his home in Chatsworth, California, a different kind of movie making capital. (for a laugh, look it up.) OK I won't make you look it up. It's the porn capital of the world. So naturally when this old magician/rockstar friend of mine tells me he's making movies and living in Chatsworth, naturally, I have to wonder to myself. (Then he tells me that he may even have a part for me.) Of course as I drove to his home, letting Nelly, my navigation system lead the way, my mind wandered, exploring the possibilities of the magic this interview might conjure up. LOL!!!

However, I was relieved (slightly disappointed) to discover that he is making a feature film called THE FROZEN TUNDRA, which he described to me during our visit. The story is one of a neurotic guy who fears life, who has a sudden journey almost forced upon him and has to learn to deal with his on phobias. (Wow come to think of it, this is sounding familiar)

Tony Maclaren is one of those rare breed of individuals who is extremely blessed with multiple talents. I've found that many magicians are talented musicians as well and have a knack for writing songs. He is very bright and creative beyond belief. He has been a professional guitarist, and an accomplished song writer, as well as a talented conjurer. As a young boy he was a guitar prodigy, and if you ever hear him play, he'll blow you away. If and when I get to interview him on video we are going to get him to play a little guitar for us too.

As most magicians are, Tony was bitten by the magic bug at an early age and began performing magic when he was only 6 years old. I met Tony when he was a working pro magician in Southern California which he has done for quite a few years. So when he told me that he had finally given up on magic to produce, write and direct movies, I was quite taken aback. The fact that this life long magician would now leave his life's work, was one of the most surprising things I've heard during this amazing journey. Then when he told me why, I was even more astounded and I admit somewhat depressed. You see he told me, "Magic is dead."

From a guy who has been in the magic business for more years than me, that was a seriously depressing remark. What another of my interviews, Jon Racherbaumer, had mentioned was that he believed was a change in  the culture of magic, was now coming out of Tony's mouth as "the death of magic." And after listening to his rational, I was almost ready to agree with him. IS MAGIC DEAD????

For you, the non-magicians, things may appear to be the same. But to the working professional, the world of magic has changed dramatically. When Tony began magic, it was an art which had to be studied and almost revered in order for one to participate in it's realm. Now with the world of Internet, cable TV, and YouTube, the world of magic has been turned upside down. Today anyone with a cellphone can immediately go online and search for the trick which they have just seen performed. And usually they will discover that its secret is readily available for a simple click. Why are kids who learn a trick these days so quick to jump on the Internet and reveal the secret? I'm not sure what they derive from it? Is it is an ego boost for them or something. But they are doing this over and over. Here, I'm going to give you an example:

This is a simple trick and I'm not certainly on  to reveal tricks, so it pains me to even put this on the blog. But this is a well known trick that was easy to master once the secret was known. However, it is so sad to me that some kid goes to all the trouble to put the very secret to a trick he didn't create, and probably learned by watching a video like this in order to somehow gain recognition he so craves.

A long time ago I decided not to put my own magic on the Internet. Years ago, I invented a couple of sleights which were very magical and back then I decided to put them on YouTube. It was a matter of hours and the postings began about how to possibly do the trick, as if I was looking for them to solve a puzzle. So I quickly took them off. It wasn't that the posters had even figured out what I was doing, but that for some reason, they saw my video as a challenge to come up with and post the solution, which of course it wasn't at all. I just wanted to share the magic feeling that they should derive out of seeing the impossible accomplished.  If magic is performed as a challenge to the audience then it's true magic is lost.

When I asked Tony if he'd perform something original to me to video tape for the blog, he politely said no. Without considering my own policy, I'd asked him to do that very thing I was against. He told me that their was no point to putting things on the Internet for others to run over and over again, in order to discover its secret. "For what purpose?" he asked, "so they could then post the secret to show how smart they are?" He told me in his last days of being a working professional magician that he would quit whenever he saw someone recording him with a phone. Is this what magic has come to?

If it's not the YouTube wanna be magicians aren't enough to make one think that magic is over, working magicians have another real problem. He is that guy who calls himself, THE MASKED MAGICIAN. We all know him, and quite frankly he disgusts me.

Sawing a lady illusion I built by hand.

I'll tell you why. Many magicians are making a living doing small shows, trade shows, even birthday parties. These guys don't have a nine to five with health insurance, and for the most of them, they don't make a lot of money. So to improve the show, a guy like me will build or buy a small illusion, such as sawing a lady in half. Time money and effort go into making this a valuable part of the show. An illusion like that may cost him $5000 or even more. For most of us, that is a major investment. But, once the masked magician puts how to do it on his show, that illusion is nothing more than a box with a couple of mirrors. Kids who used to stare wide eyed in amazement now yell, "I know that one! It's a mirror! Right there, look everyone he's a fake!!"

For another magician to reveal the secrets of magic to kids, is the equivalent of running through a toy store at Christmas time and yelling, "Santa isn't real! He's your parents! Don't fall for it kids, your parents put that stuff under the tree."  What is the point of taking that magical feeling away from them. For any of you who are a parent, please don't take that magic away. Let them discover the magic in life.