Rene Lavand

Sleight of Hand Without Hands

Toronto-born Mahdi Gilbert is, as far as I know, unique in the world of magic. He was born without hands and feet but created his own system to perform the kind of magic which would, under ordinary circumstances, be called "sleight-of-hand". 

He recently appeared at the EG Conference and you can watch is performance followed by an interview with another celebrated magician, Eric Mead. As far as I know, Eric is the first interviewer who's dared to ask about the specifics of his physical condition. (Heck, I've known Mahdi for about eight years and I've never asked.)

The trick you can see performed is a modern classic known as "Oil and Water" 

Mahdi's work is, in part, inspired by another differently abled magician from Argentina, René Lavand. Lavand lost his right arm in an accident at an early age.

He also worked primarily with cards. Most of his performances revolved around storytelling and even the occasional poetry reading. He described his own work as "Lentidigitation" which was the opposite of "Prestidigitation", roughly translated as "Fast Finger Action". 

If you watch it below, you'll repeatedly hear him say "No Se Pueder Hacer Más Lento" which translates to "It can't be done any slower."