Many religions have a fear of magicians and their craft, sometimes branding our tricks and illusions as "works of the devil." However, I was born and baptized into the Mormon religion myself. This isn't really evident to anyone who knows me personally as I am not exactly shy anymore about being an Atheist. But I can say one thing about the Church of Ladder Day Saints (Mormons) which I have learned to appreciate, that is, that they do have a love for the performing arts and magic, to them, is a performing art. So when I added a visit to Logan Utah on my journey, I really didn't know what to expect but I knew that if I kept quiet about my Vegas trip, that I'd probably survive the trip.
The drive into Logan is the first taste of that beautiful mountainous country which surrounds Utah and those other Rocky Mountain States through which I would travel over the next week. Coming through the mountain passes and over into the Logan valley is breathtaking to say the least. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and the air was as clean as a Mormon comedian. Invigorated as I was, I was a little anxious when I headed into Logan. I was meeting and staying with a magician whom I had respected and admired for years, yet we didn't know each other well. His name is Richard Hatch, but he began going by "Dick" ever since his name was associated with the controversial contestant on the show "Survivor" of the same name. I didn't know what to expect from Dick Hatch, but I had begun to wonder if I was going to stay in a Mormon household. If so, I'd have to be sure and curb my New York vernacular where, the "F-bomb" is the most often used verb, adjective and noun in the English language. I'd have to not discuss my religious views, and of course worst of all it meant, "no martinis" for me. But I probably needed a martini break anyway.
Magician, Dick Hatch
I first knew of Dick Hatch, from my magic days in Houston. He was a full time pro working the local venues at the time. Dick was the consummate magician. If you look up "magician" in the dictionary I'm sure there must be a picture of him included in the definition somewhere. He is one of those magicians which I could easily pick out of a crowd. He has an air of mystical confidence about him. He has a very professorial look and demeanor. He always seemed to have a very class act, even back in the day, especially compared to my "slightly" risque material.
Dick is an expert in the classics of magic, like the linking rings and the cups and balls. Take a minute to enjoy a video of him doing the classic cups and balls. You can't help but be amazed by his sleight of hand and the way the balls vanish. I've been doing this stuff a long time you know, and I am in awe when I see him vanish those little balls with such ease.
Dick had invited invited me to come visit him in Utah before I'd begun my magic life trip, so when I was coming within a hundred miles of his domain, I decided I'd ask him if he'd be up for a visit. And as fortune would have it, his wife was out of town and he was even performing at the time I was there and he was more than happy to let me flop in his guest room.
Thatcher-Young Mansion
When I pulled up to the location where Dick had his magic school, I almost had my Mormon suspicions confirmed. He was working in a beautiful old Victorian home. This
beautiful restored home is the Thatcher-Young Mansion built in 1878 by
George W. Thatcher and his wife, Eunice Caroline (Luna) Young Thatcher, a
daughter of Brigham Young. Brigham Young actually used to stay there. I felt at home from the moment I set foot inside. Not because of Brigham Young was a father of the Mormon Church, but the guy had so many women in his life, 55 women which were "sealed" to him, that I almost felt a strange admiration, a sort of Lions, Tigers, and Bears, OMG,... kinship.
Dick performs an afternoon show
Now this once den of polygamy, houses a photography studio, magic, and music studio. Up the narrow and quickly rising stairs into the small room, which is the magician's lair, lies the Hatch Academy of Music and Magic. And I got to witness the magical properties which the building itself possesses. Seems that there is a place where gravity seems to have lost it's pull. Dick demonstrated this to a couple of kids who dropped in for a visit.
Right behind this wonderful home lies an amazing theater for the performing arts. Dick was kind enough to take me on a tour of all of the theater facilities. And it amazes me the amount of theater which this small town about 50,000 people, of Logan Utah is able to support. But Mormons, then again, who don't support polygamy anymore, do support the arts. But much to my surprise and fortune, turned out that Dick, like myself was no longer a practicing Mormon. I had been fooled by the illusion, just like so many laymen are by magic, into thinking that a magician living in Utah, working in a former home of Brigham Young, whose magic seemed clean cut, would of course be a Mormon himself. But then, this is my magic life. So we managed to take a trip to a local pub. And as fate would have it, the pub was owned by a magician himself, and we performed magic for one another all evening while drinking some very large beers.
One of the most prominent sights in San Francisco looms in the distance across the bay. Alcatraz island rises out of the water as a monument to the inescapable. There is a question to this day as to the validity of its stated record saying that during its 29 years as a penitentiary, no prisoner had successfully escaped. It is known that 36 prisoners attempted, two men trying twice; 23 were caught, six were shot and killed, two drowned, and five are listed as presumed drowned. The question as to the "presumed" drowned became one of the most famous escape movies of all time, "Escape From Alcatraz" staring Clint Eastwood.
But probably the most cheesy use of this as a backdrop for an escape was done by David Copperfield. This takes me back, back to a time when magic was... well... cheesier than a warm brie wrapped in a wine port cheddar..mmm so tasty.
Escape has been a part of my life for many years. As a young magician many of us read of Houdini and realize the impact escape can have upon an audience. I don't really know why audiences like to watch a person free themselves from bonds, prison cells, etc. But they do enjoy a good escape performance when it is done with the proper flair and death defiance.
I made a small undeserved reputation as an escape artist when I performed my strait jacket escape dangling by the ankles 300 feet in the air from a burning rope. I've even performed an underwater handcuff escape. And I was at one time attempting an underwater strait jacket escape which resulted of my being pulled from a pool and given mouth to mouth resuscitation. And now you know why I wasn't that famous as an escape artist.
Many magicians have an escape or even two in their repertoire. And a
magician who goes by the name of "Big Al Catraz" was no different. As I walked to the back of the Pier 39 shops, there was a very large crowd looking upon a small outdoor stage.There tied to a chair, was a working magician in all his cheesy magic show glory
performing a comedy escape for the tourist crowd and an audience filled with children screaming with delight. It was a classic performance of an often
performed escape. I hadn't seen him actually get tied up, but there he was dancing a rendition of that famous of musical numbers "The Hokey Pokey." It certainly made and interesting addition to his chair tie escape.
Because of Al's "bigness" it made the performance even better. There is something about a big guy doing the "hokey pokey" while tied up to a chair. Of course he eventually falls over and threatened to fall off the stage onto the kids who were at one time clamoring to be in the show. They of course backed up rather quickly when he tumbled.
And the show wouldn't have been complete without him taking his bow to the crowd and his pants dropping to the floor revealing his boxer shorts. I believe that the most successful escapes can be made even better by adding corn ball cheese to them. Maybe this is what made Copperfield so famous. But I'm not sure he was trying.
I had the pleasure of chatting with Al for a while after his performance. I wanted to find out more about him than meets the stage floor. So we talked about the creation of his character of "Big Al" and how it came about. One thing that differentiates Al from other magicians is that he studied acting and was an actor before he became a magician. This gives him a great background with which to derive his character. When he first decided to become a "pro" magician, he knew he wanted something iconic to be associated with San Francisco.
He actually thought of the name when he was driving by a "Big Al's Clothing" store. We talked about how lucky he was to have a permanent stage show. And we talked about a couple of interesting things, one of which was the "DEATH OF MAGIC." Al hasn't been a magician for that long, only ten years. I think that may have shaped his thinking. You see Al doesn't believe that magic is dead at all. In fact he thinks it is thriving. He sees the Internet as promoting and distributing magic to young people, not ruining it's potential.
"The kids who are watching magic on the Internet are absorbing information quicker, they are taking the principles which they learn and creating new ways to use them, better than ever before... I think magic is going to live on, but it is going to change. And people don't like change."
Worries about and early death because of his weight.
He does think that kids posting the secrets to the tricks they learn is a problem, but he has chosen to ignore the magician doomsday preachers and naysayers who say that magic is in a decline. (Of course it is a lot easier for a guy who has an audience every day in a tourist venue such as he does.) And believe me he is lucky to be there and he knows it. Most magicians have to work everyday to find a paying gig. So lucky are the guys who work at Theme Parks, or tourist traps such as Pier 39. But he hasn't seen or felt the decline as many magicians struggling to get a paying gig have. And it would follow of course that he wouldn't fear the death of magic.
He may not have been afraid of the death of magic, but this big guy did express a fear of his own death. He confided in me that he has been concerned for his weight and health. Like all of us, magicians are just people too. I know that is an astonishing revelation, and as such, we worry about things like weight and dieing before our time. It seems that Al's father died when he was too young and Al told me he worries that he too will suffer the same fate. But he is doing something about it. Al has been working at losing "big" from his show through a newly adopted diet and workout. Of course when the subject turned to that I had to tell him about Lions, Tigers, and Bears OMG! my web page and future book for guys in the midst of a midlife crisis.
Of course how could we turn to a discussion of LTBOMG without a workout picture for all of you overweight guys with a lowering libido. (not saying Al had a lowering libido just for the record) So before I go on to my next blogging opportunity, I'll leave you with a picture of Brittnay doing one of her workout poses. I hope this is motivational to you and your lowering libido, LOL. I know it always motivates me.
Well on to Reno then Boise... keep living the magic!
As I took a picture from the window of my Jeep, a Hells Angel appears from nowhere.
It was difficult to leave Southern California behind with it's amazing people and beautiful beaches. Los Angeles is a city of angels (hells angels?) and even more a city of kings. (think hockey.)
However, as I crossed the bridge into San Francisco, I marveled at the magical mysteries in front of me. It is a city like no other, a bay often clouded in mysterious mist, with a history as colorful and rich as the gold which filled the leather satchels of the forty-niners during the gold rush. To this day the song still rings out "open up those golden gate, California here I come."
The city by the bay has a flavor (mostly Chinese) and temperature all its own. It's often said, "the coldest winter I ever spent was the summer I spent in San Francisco." But even after purchasing a sweatshirt because of an unexpected temperature on July fourth, San Francisco is an easy place with which to fall in love. I've often felt as I do now that, "I left my heart ... in San Francisco." It is beautiful, has amazing food, but I'm sure that living in San Francisco must have it's ups and downs (that's a joke.) I once walked up and down the entire city from downtown to the bay. If you don't have good shoes, and strong legs, take the trolly car.
When I got to San Fran I had two wonderful friends to stay with, Mike and Lisa. Lisa reminded me that we have a tradition for spending the 4th of July together. I'm not sure she recalls our very first, but many years ago, 1998 to be exact, we were out with her and her boyfriend on 4th of July in Martha's Vineyard, and I was friends with her boyfriend and really didn't know her all that well. After a night of drinks and fun, I told her and my wife at the time, that we needed to go home. She told me, "A, it isn't happening, and 2, you're a f%$#ing @#!hole" So the next day I brought it up jokingly and she was embarrassed about the incident. So in order to defuse any tension, I told her that now because of that, we were going to be friends for life. I figured we had to be friends because she had my number, and it was the number: "2."
Mike and Lisa and new baby.
Mike and Lisa were great hosts, and we spent the 4th of July at a family BBQ. Of course it wasn't over 'til I did a little magic. Then one of the little girls told me that she knew a trick. Of course it was one with 21 cards. (An inside joke for magicians) You see almost everyone in the world that "knows a trick" wants to show you the 21 card trick. So much so that my friend, magician, Jon Racherbaumer, (from an earlier posting) wrote a book dedicated to what to do when someone brings up the 21 card trick, which is available at H&R Magic Books.
Louie, Louie, Louie, Louieeee
I had a wonderful time and I usually wouldn't complain about anything, but I think this is worth a mention. You see, their dog, Louie, must have had one too many sausages at the BBQ. Seems that he is "sausage intolerant." That dog passed gas sitting next to me that made my eyes water. I had no idea such a cute little guy could be so powerful. I think that Louie would be a great weapon of war because he seems to be filled with deadly gas. However I do believe that I need to switch gears and write about magic, since farting dogs really have nothing to do with magic at all. Unless you need to make an audience vanish, in which case Louie would be a great addition to the show. Okay back to magic.
I had no idea where I'd meet a magician in San Francisco to interview. But, as fate would have it, when I got there Mike told me that right around their house lies a little magic shop. One of the last of a dieing breed. Most Magic shops have pretty much disappeared from existence because of competition with the online magic sites. But there are still a few spread around the country and this one is called, Misdirections Magic Shop. I thought that I had found my magic connection for San Francisco, as I hadn't really booked a magician to talk to and just figured that the magic universe would somehow provide one for me. Now I could just walk around the corner and talk to the proprietor about the vanishing magic shops around the country and once again, the death of magic.
But I found that magic was indeed dead. At least July 3rd through 5th, as the shop was closed for the holiday. So much for my theory that the universe was going to provide everything so easily. I decided that I'd have to go down to Fisherman's Wharf and see if I could find a magician working the street. If not then San Francisco could end up being a total bust.
I found a place to park and wandered the streets for a while searching for someone doing magic. Instead I saw and smelled amazing sea food. My search was looking somewhat bleak, as I wanted to get on the road before 3:00 in the afternoon so I would make it to Reno before night fall. I was beginning to think my San Francisco search was a bust, however, it was a beautiful day down at Fisherman's Wharf and I so I stopped in the oldest seafood restaurant in San Fran. It established in 1925, a place called Alioto's, and at least the food was magical. Of course when you are in San Francisco, at the Fisherman's Wharf, there are two things which I believe you should eat. First and foremost, Crab in garlic butter dip and you have to absolutely have some clam chowder. And this is exactly what I did before I continued my search for the elusive San Francisco magician.A delicious meal and I was once more invigorated to find a magician. Then I saw someone that I just new would point me in the right direction. It was as if the very gold of the gold rush had come to life to show me the way. There he was a shining pedestal of gold. Of course I gave him a dollar and asked him if he knew where I could find a magician performing. "Sure," he replied, "Just go on down to pier 39, you'll find one there." Just as the forty-niners before me I had struck gold.
When I got to pier 39 life was once again shouting, "MAGIC!!" at me. There was a magic shop on location, a theater showing a magician three nights a week, and as I wondered to the back of the pier area, there was the prize, a real live magician performing. His name was ""BIG AL CATRAZ."
.... next time we talk to Big Al about 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.
Life is the synthesis of the passing of time and specific events all of which seem random at first, but eventually they coalesce into something beautiful, and when we reflect on them, they show us patterns, much like the turning of a kaleidoscope. What seems to be just a few objects trapped in a telescopic tunnel, when turned to the sunlight, they shine inspiration and reflect memories for us in magnificent colorful patterns. This is the kaleidoscope of life, it at time appears random and then suddenly when you look into the light, life changes from random events to form colorful concentric images almost perfect in their beauty. Here in Wichita Kansas, I found myself looking into that wonderful color-filled tube of life. This is a moment in my life where I reflected and suddenly it all came into focus if for only a brief moment.
I'd only been to Wichita once before in my life. It was a moment which was almost surreal in my foggy un-focusing memories. You see one of the women in my past was friends with Kirstie Alley's family (she is from Witchita) actually she babysat Kirstie, when she was a kid, as she lived next door to her parents. But that's another story. Anyway, it was Christmas time and we were invited over to their house to have a drink with Kirstie and her husband, Parker Stevenson. Of course I was invited for one reason... to perform magic. So the only memory I really have of that time in Kansas was that I did some tricks for Kirstie and Parker. I never knew I'd be asked to perform magic again in Witchita.
When I began my Magic Life journey I wasn't planning on visiting Kansas. Yet I made a comment that "Magicians are given a rare opportunity to peek behind the curtain and see the workings of the wizard in this marvelous world." That of course is a reference to THE WIZARD OF OZ. Thus I may have inadvertently opened up the heavens and a tornado of serendipity may have caused my path to end up in the land of the yellow brick road. It was after that, that I received a message from a friend from my past asking me if I would be close to Wichita during my travels.
Linda Swafford in High School
Her name is Linda, just think of her as the "good witch" in this tale of magic. Linda was a girl with whom I attended high school. On the acknowledgements page of THE MAGIC LIFE there is a list of
names which are people within my life who have been my teachers. The
list starts with a young carpenter who worked for my father when I was
just a little boy. His name was Marty Barts and everyday I should thank him
for something he taught me. He taught me to tie my shoes. There
is my English teacher in that high school who really inspired me to become a
writer, Carol Allred. These are people all who I treasure in one way or
another. Well, one of those person's on that page, whose name is there in
small print is a young girl named "Linda Swafford." Linda, (as she was then in the picture) was my first magician's assistant.
Well Linda went on to develop something of a love for the conjuring arts herself. Never becoming a true pro magician, she does perform magic at least once a year. Her son has also developed a love for magic and has performed magic in his talent show. She is an amazing person and has devoted herself to teaching, loving, and helping those in need. Over the years I've heard from Linda now and then asking me about magic and where to find a new trick or two.
Linda "Swafford" Dickerson and I Today
I truly believe that life will give us so many opportunities for magic if we simply follow it's flow and stop swimming upstream. I mention this, because it was in a book which my English teacher, Carol Allred, mentioned above, had assigned and the concept stuck with me and changed me and eventually led me back to Kansas. It was this book by Richard Bach, ILLUSIONS, about a reluctant messiah, a pilot, who traveled the country in a bi-plane, barnstorming, and teaching his philosophy that inspired me to write THE MAGIC LIFE. And it was this philosophy which inspired me to "go with the flow" when I received an invitation from Linda. Is it a coincidence that the main character was barnstorming, in a mythical place like Wichita Kansas?
So when I started my drive from Dallas to Wichita I pulled on the freeway and a huge billboard caught my attention, it said, "Be Sure and Try the Magic of Magic Dental." Then I turned on my radio and a song by Heart was playing, "Magic Man." I smiled, knowing I was on the right path that morning.
Later that evening, Linda wanted to share Wichita with me, almost apologetically, since some of the people who posted about my blog had made a few seemingly disparaging remarks. Well her and her boyfriend, Craig, took me to one of their favorite places to hang out, and there was a band playing. The bands name, THE BAND OF OZ, and of course they had to be singing, Steve Miller Band's song "ABRACADABRA."
It was then that the amazing magic life came full circle. Out of nowhere, a girl approaches us at the table. As if to tell me, "Don't ever forget that life is filled with magic" she states that she is with a bachelorette party and is on a scavenger hunt. She asks, "Can any of you do a magic trick?"And now I have two memories of performing magic in Wichita. There may not be two "t's" in Wichita, but there does seem to be magic to be found there. Thanks Linda, you are bewitching. Thank you for inviting, allowing me to stay at your home and again for reminding me of our magic time together.
And so I will continue my journey.. going with the flow of this magic life.
My latest stop on this Magic Life journey was Dallas, Texas where I stayed with my brother, Carl, a master of the smoked meats, especially his home made beef jerky....mmmmmmmmmmmm. He made me a whole batch to take on the road, but now as I ready to leave I've realized it is nothing but an empty plastic bag.
Dallas brings to mind beef brisket bar-b-que, blonde two-stepping divorcee's, and tall glistening glass buildings. I always see in my mind those longhorn statues, dashing through a fountain in front of those big shiny buildings. Perhaps you think of the most amazing professional football team ever known, (for cheerleaders in hot pants that is) the Dallas Cowboys. Not to mention a giant sized stadium filled with over-sized foam cowboy hats. But I often think of Dallas itself as filled with cantankerous cattlemen or billionaire oil barrens, sitting around a Texas Holdem poker table, gambling more on a hand than we make in our lives. Betting those big glass buildings, as we would a stack of chips. Seems that most of those high stakes billionaires, for some unknown reason eventually become real estate developers. I was involved in real estate here in Texas and my younger brother Carl is a developer here in Dallas. I've seen many of those billionaire/millionaire developer types over the years.
This is a typical Dallas girl, so friendly.
Why do they become developers? I'm not sure. Maybe they do it so they can eventually dump the woman who gave them a wonderful family and "land" a beautiful blond trophy wife, whom they then can then buy huge... tracks of land. You thought I was going to say " fake boobs" didn't you? But it didn't really fit in the whole "land" concept now did it?
The real wealth in Dallas comes from the land, and not just from the oil. And one thing Dallas has is lots and lots of beautiful, build-able, flat land. And when I visit Dallas, I think of this land filled with wonderful buildings, and beautiful golf communities with lakes and amazing country clubs. I can almost hear the theme song to the show, Dallas playing in my mind as I write this blog; with scenes of the famous South Fork Ranch, home to JR Ewing. But Dallas is a huge place and has many magical things to offer.
One magical thing they always seem to have an abundance of is beautiful blond women. And they know how to flaunt it. With restaurants like, Twin Peaks, Hooters, and Bone Daddy's you can always find an over abundance of beautiful blonds to bring you a cold Lone Star beer.
Model Brittnay Lynn
I really hadn't planned what magician I'd try to meet in Dallas when I first decided to come here. Mostly I just wanted to spend time with my younger brother Carl and his wife, Steffany and their beautiful little girl. (No, not to chase those blondes) But THE MAGIC LIFE sometimes just hands me things out of thin air, almost like magic. And it did again.
Dallas is a home to two great mysteries of our times and both involve who shot whom? We may never know who really shot JFK here in Dealy Plaza. And we may never really know who shot JR either. But it was a different kind of shooting all together which led me to a Dallas based magician. It was a photo shoot of a beautiful model named Brittnay Lynn (in the previous blog) who led me to a young magician named, Aaron Stone. This is a good enough reason to put in another picture of Brittnay, isn't it?
I called Aaron and told him I'd like to interview him over breakfast and he was as amazing as those mysteries for which Dallas is famous.
Dallas Magician Aaron Stone
Aaron, is a young professional magician here in Dallas and I can see that he is indeed a real pro. It doesn't take long in our conversation to see that I'm talking to one of "us" and not just some kid who wants to be a magician. He drops the proper names and talks good trick trash. Aaron has been performing magic for over 10 years. He reminded me of so many of "us" who started as a teen and found ourselves living with a deck of cards in our hands over a period of years, until finally we have a revelation, that someone will actually pay us to do tricks. He is young and is trying to look cutting edge. He had an eyebrow piercing and a dash of bright red in his otherwise black hair.
There is a point among magicians where one discovers that magic works not on secrets, but upon principles. I think it is around this time that we start discovering our own magic. Watching a magician perform something which he has created in his own mind and then mastered at his own fingertips is always a pleasure for me. Aaron showed me one of his own creations and I've chosen to share it with you on his video.
But I wanted to delve deeper to find what made this guy, who went out
of his way to apologize for his recently died red finger nails, (which
changed colors when he colored the top of his hair) tick. How was he, so
many years younger, and so different on the surface, so much like me.
Many of us grow up with family strife and relational issues in this day and age. Aaron was raised not knowing his mother. And the one thing which most professional magicians will tell you is that, "their father never supported their career choice." Here was something which Aaron and I shared. Both of us decided to become a magician in spite of our father's wishes. My father almost disowned me when I decided to pursue magic, and Aaron's father was no different. They offered no support and certainly would be reticent to come watch their son's perform. I remember when I finally "forced" my father to come watch me perform and recall his eating crow, telling me that he had no idea I was so good at what I'd chosen to do. He said, "if I'd known you were going to be this good, I'd have told you to do it."
But Aaron's story takes the cake in this contest.
All boys want to please their fathers and receive their praise. Many of us spend years trying to please our fathers, and some of us, rebel against having to seek their approval. For Aaron, I think he really took his father's denial to heart. Maybe it was because he was the child of just a single parent. But Aaron, tells the story of how he put a special tribute to his father in his show: and no, not the good kind. During the show he actually tells the audience to give his father the finger, in a clever way of course, for not supporting his choice to become a magician. Well years after he'd used the line a hundred times, he gets his father to come to see the show. When he gets to the part in the show where he says to "give his father the finger," he paused and thought about whether or not to say it. He didn't tell his father to stand, or point him out of the crowd at least before he continued.
However, his good judgement probably derailed due to some emotional train wreck going on in his head, and he decided to go ahead and use the same routine. Maybe it was for a little payback, or maybe for his own pride, but he used his same routine and his father sat there and heard him ask the audience to "give him the finger." I'm sure it was an emotional, if not educational, moment for both of them. I can only imagine his father's hard swallow as that huge crow passed down his esophagus.
However, this story does have a happy ending, as his father was moved by the show and afterwards apologized for not believing in his son. I doubt that my father would have been so generous, I think he'd have come back stage and hit me behind the ear with a two-by-four.
Austin, a strange mix of cowboys and college students, of politicians and programmers, creates an atmosphere where almost anything, even magic can happen. Austin is full of eclectic eccentricities. It's a place where Michael Dell started a computer company and Willy Nelson lost everything to the IRS (and now has a street named after him.) Both strange and wonderful is this city on the Colorado River. And the Austinites know it. In fact you can often see them wearing the slogan on a tee shirt, "Keep Austin Weird." Weird yes, but the one thing that almost everyone says who goes to school there or practically anyone who has ever lived there is, "I love Austin."
Brittnay Lynn in Cid's Apartment
Having spent time as a student at the University of Texas, I too say, "I love Austin."
In my book, THE MAGIC LIFE, the main character, James, first comes in contact with the magician at a street festival in this magical place. The scene in the book is actually based upon my own experience of performing on the street at the Pecan street Festival. Austin is indeed a magical place, which has several note worthy magicians.
When I put Austin on my map, I figured I'd go ahead and stay with one of my old college buddies and call up one of those local magicians for an interview. I called my old college compadre Cid Galindo, an amazing friend I've had for all these many years. Cid gave me the thumbs up and pretty much said, "mi casa es su casa." So Austin was going to be included and I'd also get a chance to see my friend and patent attorney, Anthony Campbell, who was my first editor in grad school.
My intention was to get an interview with one of the local magicians there in Austin, but my magic life seemed to take an interesting turn which never included interviewing a magician. First there was meeting Cid's wonderful little girl Lola. That was where I got to use some of my own magic, Lola wanted me to do a couple tricks for her, so I did. When her Mom came to pick her up, (Cid and her are separated) she wanted to see some too. So I showed her and Lola magic, and also sang them a couple of songs which I figured I'd video for you there in Austin, because after all it is a music mecca.
But I decided to get some work done and unfortunately, or actually amazingly fortunately, work led to fun which led to never interviewing a magician or even recording my songs.
Instead I have to share my wonderful happenstance meeting with a beautiful model named Brittnay Lynn. I decided to shoot some workout shots with her for the Lions, Tigers, and Bears, OMG! website. Which led to trying to find a bikini bottom, which she didn't have, and eventually buying her a pair of tie-dyed shorts for the workout shots. Cid offered the use of his Hilton Fitness Center membership and I was allowed to use their gym for the shoot. This was a great location and Brittnay was absolutely beautiful and she actually got a pretty good workout during the photo session too.
We had so much fun at the shoot that she asked me to take her out afterward for a drink, which led to dinner, then more drinks. She started getting really hot, and I'm not just talking about my "beer goggle eyes" here either. No her skin was getting hot and flushed. We then discovered that Brittnay was allergic to something we had for dinner. Soon she was breaking out with hives. (End of the evening for me unless I take care of her.) So of course we had to go back to Cid's place and get her an allergy pill and lay her down in his bed. I gave her an Allegra and put some cold wash cloths on her, and we watched "Adult Swim" cartoons for a while. Eventually she was OK. And she was actually ready to rally just as Cid came in the door from his evening out. He had quite a surprised look on his face when he saw me sitting on the bed with Brittany in it wearing wet wash cloths. Come on, she was hot, she had to take her cloths off to put the wet wash cloths on her. (I know your minds are in the gutter at this point.)
Even Hot with Hives
But this was the beginning of a wonderful, magical night with Brittnay and Cid in Austin.We went out 'til way too late, and Brittnay led the way. By the end of the evening, or about when the sun was to come up, we had to call it a night, so we went back to Cid's to dance in his gallery and continue the night. My diet certainly seems to be going to hell on this trip as we not only stopped for a slice of pizza but then Cid made us all a sandwich at his place. And of course the magic life wouldn't have been complete without a little bit of the bubbly.
Nothing is more magical than being loved and admired. As I played my guitar and sang for my 10 year old niece, Sugarbean, I felt that magic. She didn't know I could play a guitar and I think she likes her ol' uncle Ace. I did have to take all the dirty words out of my songs though. But simply spending a couple days with my younger brother, Stuart, (my first partner in magic) and his wonderful family was magic beyond compare. One of the maxims in my book, THE MAGIC LIFE, simply states, "Enjoy the time you spend with family and friends." I truly believe this is a key success factor in creating a magic life, one we often forget. I want to thank Stuart, Shannon and Natalie, (Sugarbean) for a wonderful stay with them. Of course I need to give a plug to QuickPoles, his amazing invention, which is a magic trick in and of itself.
Now, as I sit in what is one of the largest Starbucks I've ever seen, here on Post Oak in Houston, I'm amazed at the diversity and activity. Of course it's big, cause everything's big in Texas. Big SUV's, pickups and vans pull up to the drive in window, filled with women with big hair, bigger boobs, and men with big boots, and belt buckles. There aren't many men wearing cowboy hats though, but it's filled with the big dogs, the movers and shakers. Right here in this Starbucks, so many people, all moving and shaking, perhaps from too much caffeine.
Houston, a place where cows and cowboys mix it up with oil barrens and metro-sexuals, is filled with magic memories for me. My father, John Starry, lived here after he and my mother divorced, and so I discovered this magical place during my summer visits as a teen. But it wasn't until years later that I adopted it as my own home. Over the years here, I met and made many fantastic friends, many marvelous magicians, and even a few wondrous wizards. It was a place where there were always opportunities for anyone with a drive and willingness to work to make it happen.
Building a John Starry home
We create ourselves and leave a trail of our creations along the way in life. My father chose Houston to make his mark and he passed away here a few years back leaving a trail, a path, a proof of his life, so to speak, behind.
Same home front view years later
I was living in LA performing magic at Six Flags Magic
Mountain, when my father who was building homes in a northern suburb of
Houston called me. It was the end of the amusement park season, and he asked me to come
and work for him. We built three homes that year all in the same neighborhood.
I decided to go find those homes which my father and I built years ago, just to see what memories they evoked. When I saw them, I teared up. My father, were he alive today, should be proud of his creation, of the trail he left behind. My father died not leaving much behind, but he did certainly leave his proof of life. Those homes all looked amazing, and the neighborhood, which had only a few homes in it at the time, now, just as Dad predicted was filled with beautiful homes. My life is so filled with wonderful memories of my magical youth in this
amazing place spent building homes with my sometimes cantankerous
father.
Sawing illusion built in those houses
Strait Jacket Escape
I remember standing like a wire walker on the rafters and nailing them risking a thirty foot fall (above.) I used the same tools to cut cabinets for the kitchens to build my sawing a lady in half illusion in the garage of that house on the weekends. And it was here in Houston, that I met a magician named Sam Martin, who owned a magic/novelty/costume shop he called "Just for Laughs." It was Sam who first talked me into doing a "hanging strait jacket escape from a burning rope." That was truly a defining moment in my magic life, it was certainly part of my proof of life.
What was meant to be a short stay ended up being a large chunk of my magic life.
Along with the jazz and party atmosphere of New Orleans, are the stories of ghosts in haunted cemeteries, of vampires walking amongst the night, and of voodoo witches who can work their magic on you. None of which would compare with the pure mystical power demonstrated by a magician who calls this mysterious place his home. His name is Jon Racherbaumer. And my meeting with him was mystical, magical, and more than I had imagined.
Jon is one of those magicians which can blend into the scenery, but he has those clues which to the trained eye, identify him as different, as someone special, even someone with extraordinary abilities. First he dresses in black - often a tell tale sign of a magician. When I asked him about if it were some mystical or magical thing, he disarmingly stated, "I started wearing black, because I could never decide which colors went together. I'm just glad you can buy the black underwear to go with it."
I believe that Jon is without a doubt "the expert" on card magic. Even though Jon and I have known one another for a while, for me to perform a card trick in front of him makes my hands shake. To me it's like "trying to do algebra in front of Einstein." We met years ago (when I looked much older) both of us sporting the gray pony tailed look. I drove to his home and when he first greeted me, of course he noticed my change, and we started our discussion with a talk about haircuts and Just For Men beard dye. This was probably the best illusion I was going to do the entire afternoon. But when Jon and I began to talk about "the magic life" he was simply amazing. Jon grew up in a truly historical time for magicians. We talked about the change in culture amongst magicians.
You see, when we started in magic, both Jon and I learned from books and if we could find them, other magicians. Today magicians are really spoon fed from the likes of readily available DVD's and Youtube videos. A couple of clicks and you've downloaded what took years for us to find and read. Well I should say some of us learned from books, and some of us wrote those books. Jon wrote 72 books on magic so far, (mostly on cards) and amongst magicians he is famous for his works. His personal library of magic books is the most impressive I've seen so far in my life.
I wanted to talk with Jon, not about magic and tricks, although we spent hours talking cards, but I wanted to talk about the real magic in life, about life's challenges and mysteries. He opened up to me and we talked about his relationships over the years. Jon has been married three times, he has 7 children and 10 grand children. I can tell what his priority in life is because when his phone rang during my interview, he said, "I don't have to take that unless it's one of my kids."
Jon and I discussed how magicians look at life differently and always look for more information. Magicians are curious by nature. Something about learning that there are secrets behind those things we call illusions lead us magicians to search for those secrets behind the mysteries and the problems or puzzles which life presents to us. Jon told me something quite interesting, which he was told by a former CIA agent. He said, ninety percent of the decisions we make, both large and small are made with insufficient information. All of us, from the President making earth impacting decisions, to you and I deciding which toothpaste to buy. He believes magicians at least take the search for information one step farther because we are skeptical from the start. Jon believes we have an obligation to research our questions thoroughly before making our decisions.
Magicians are almost always infected by what we refer to among us as "the bug." It is the moment that we see that magic trick for the first time that just blows our mind and suddenly we are thrown into the realm of being haunted by not knowing the secret. For Jon he was in the right place at the right time. When he was about ten years old, he saw a magician perform some miraculous illusions in Elmhurst, Illinois. Little did he know that that magician turned out to be the father of the magic encyclopedia (which to this day is a hall mark of magician's education). His name was Harlan Tarbell and his seven volume course on magic written in 1928 became a standard. Jon received the first autographed, volume of the Tarbell Course in Magic, encyclopedia as a kid, and was at that time, injected with the magic virus. He has had a bad case of magicianitus ever since. He showed me some of the results of his almost obsessive studies of the paste boards.
Years later he discovered, as I did, that asking a magician "how do you do that?" was pretty much forbidden. It not only branded you as an amateur, it was in bad form. Magicians then, simply said, "where did you find that?" or if you couldn't find it, or eventually figure out how something was done, you hoped you had something good enough of your own to trade.
Jon was lucky in that respect because he learned much of his magic in a totally different way, one which shaped him into the magician he is today. One magician asked Jon to write his tricks into a book, and after much cajoling, Jon agreed to do it, and a defining moment of his life took shape. Jon learned many of the tricks of his trade by writing books about magic for other magicians.
Quite frankly, I found this leaning method quite a trick in itself. It's no wonder the man is so skilled. Describing a magic trick in writing, especially something involving sleight of hand, is extremely difficult and time consuming. To do it well takes a certain knack for creating and expressing details. This may well be why Jon has been so successful, his attention to details. But also the mere act of writing the trick up for students of the craft, would include learning the trick far better than any student ever would be able. Even today, finding new magic sometimes involves the old fashioned, meeting with other magicians.
As I've stated before, there is just something about a magician which others in the profession or even amateurs can somehow perceive or identify. Perhaps the way they dress (black underwear?) or the way they seem to hold objects in their hands, but there is something about them. When Jon and I went from his home to go have a bite at a local pub, before we practically set down, a young man came up to our table from across the restaurant and asked, "Are you guys magicians?" We both answered, "yes" and Jon told him to come back after we had lunch and we'd talk tricks with him.
His name was Andrew. Andrew was actually studying to be a chef, but he was still bitten by the magic bug. I could see it in his eyes. He had the same eager look which I had when I was young and hungry to find more and more magic. Jon and I shared some tricks with Andrew and I certainly enjoyed Andrew's positive participation in the conversation. I could see his amazement when Jon did certain tricks and could tell that Andrew was dying to ask that age old question, "How did you do that." But I think that the magic culture hasn't changed much in that respect over the years as he only asked for our autographs. I'm sure he had no idea who I was, but he no doubt had heard of Jon.
As for me, I've learned that when you get older and have done magic for what seems like a hundred years, you never even find yourself finding anything which prompts that feeling of "how did you do that?" However, Jon did bring that to me once during this meeting. And unlike our young friend still bound by a brotherhoods conventions, I said "Jon, tell me how you did that one thing where you?" And he did. LOL Older does have it's advantages.
A trip to New Orleans isn't complete unless I venture at least once into the French Quarter to wander down Bourbon Street, drink a hurricane at Pat O'briens bar, sing a song at the Cat's Meow, hug and kiss a strange woman on the street, and suddenly realize it's after 1:00. So was last night. At 1:00 most of Bourbon Street is just getting started, but I realized I had a long drive in front of me today, so I'd better call it an early night. I made my way past the hawkers, all trying me to come check out their nude dancers and live sex shows, which along with a free cover charge and five dollar beer, were almost too hard to resist. Almost? So it's now approximately 1:37 A.M. as I make it to the corner on Canal Street to wait for the street car up to the "Hotel Lyles" on St. Charles. I wait a while and a cab pulls up and tells me that the street cars are about an hour apart. So I decide that I'll go ahead and jump in a cab.
The Sign on the Building Next to Us as We Pulled Up.
An almost magical life event takes place at that magical hour. Out of nowhere a girl appears and jumps into the cab after me. She says she is going up St. Charles and would love to share the cab with me. Who am I to say no? She chats me up and tells me that she's going to an all night restaurant. As we pull up she says, "Why don't you come have dinner with me?" Must have been my charm and good looks, or the sign on the wall which I saw as we pulled up. Magic life is amazing when you just let it guide you. And of course who am I to say no? Well we have the "best Jambalaya you can get at 2:00 in the morning. And before you know it she is telling me her life story, and I'm thinking this is going to be great. However, the life story ends with, "... and I love my boyfriend so much. He is my everything. I want him to have my babies." So ends my magical story and it's now 3:00 A.M. I'm way too tired and I have so much to do before I leave New Orleans.
I'm up at 8:00, have a cup of coffee, pack the Jeep, and now I'm at Starbucks hacking away at my blog. I am bound and determined to get this article on the magician, Jon Racherbaumer out before I hit the trail to Houston town. But I just had to share my last night in NOLA with you before I did. I'm trying to download a little video clip of Jon doing a trick for me and it's pretty cool
New Orleans, a city that is a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, calls to me like an old, silver-haired, black gentleman, strumming a worn out guitar with his time calloused fingers. He's singing a blues from his wicker rocker on his front porch, filling the humid air with his raspy voice between puffs on his long-ashed cigarette. The Big Easy, is that music, moving slowly to the rhythms of that unique sound of blues and jazz. Blues are the heart and souls, and jazz is the music which always remains true to it's source, playing notes and riffs around the true unchanged melody. Through a hundred years NOLA often seems frozen in time. But change is the one true constant in life and even a world tied to tradition such as New Orleans will succumb to it's power.
Jack Lyles "Where's my stuff?"
For me, I've been fortunate enough to have included in my magic life, some magical friends, and through their generosity and love I've included much time in New Orleans in my life's journey. My time spent here will no doubt be some of the most magical and wondrous times of my life.
Living in Houston, years ago I had the privilege to meet the Lyles family, Jack and Pam and their son and daughter, Jeffery and Taylor. When they moved to New Orleans, they took my friendship with them and over the years, I've spent many, nights and days, reveling with them at their home endearingly referred to as "Hotel Lyles." I've learned the wonders of Mardi Gras, walked amongst the topless women on Bourbon Street, marveled at the street magic in the French Quarter, and seen the ravages of hurricane Katrina.
Change is not a welcomed adversary, but like the mythical "trickster" change appears to wreak havoc upon his stealthful visit. But hopefully when he departs, a life lesson has been learned. And as change is the only true constant in life, we must learn to embrace each new chapter, cherishing the memories of that which lay behind us as magical illusions fading in our mind as the years go by. The Lyles offered me a place to stay in New Orleans one last time. And I feel a true privilege being the last real guest of Hotel Lyles. Pam and Jack are embracing a new chapter in their lives too and doing it with gusto. Looking forward to the adventures that await them.
NOLA - A Mystical City Wrapped in Magical Traditions
I'll miss the Hotel Lyles with all it's amazing memories and traditions, but our friendships will be that true melody which only the riffs and notes encircle to make that beautiful magical life sound. I know that all my New Orleans friends and those who have had this wonderful, magical encounter with this amazing family, will miss our times at "Hotel Lyles" but we will always cherish those memories which "the trickster" cannot ever take from us.
