magic is about honesty
everything here is true
except for the bits I made up
The Scientific American Blog posted examples of the kind of symmetrical and visually striking art you can make with mathematical formulae. The pieces are by "mathematical artist" Hamid Naderi Yeganeh and worth taking a look at. As the magician Cardini used to say, "Oh see the pretty thing.
I learned recently that Monsignor Vincent Foy passed away at the age of one hundred and one. He was an important figure in magic in Toronto who also happened to be a distinguished Catholic priest.
As is, I'm sure, true of most disciplines; many of the notable figures in the field go completely unheard of in the world at large. I'm not sure what to say when people ask me who my "favourite" magician is (why would I be boring enough to settle for just one?) because most of the possible answers will involve people they have never heard of. And many magicians make meaningful contributions to the craft, sometimes over the course of decades, as pure hobbyists while maintaining normal human jobs.
In this case, he was the ghostwriter for two very important books highlighting the magic of Canadian master magician Ross Bertram. He also published some smaller pamphlets under the pen name of Dr. George E. Casaubon (in case someone objected to a priest knowing his way around a deck of cards.) Later in life his collection of one-handed cuts with a deck of cards was compiled and released in A Cut Above.
I had the opportunity to meet him twice when I was invited to perform at his residence as part of Magicana's Senior Sorcery program. They were always sure to reserve him a front row seat for the many magic shows hosted there.
This photo was taken in 2015 a few months before he hit triple digits.
Msgr. Vincent Foy
On Friday, magic lost one of its brightest lights to depression. A magician who typically went just by Daryl (like Madonna or Cher) committed suicide at the Magic Castle in Hollywood. Unfortunately, there have been some nasty fabrications that have crept their way into the story — there really is such a thing as fake news. But the truth is he is gone, and that's tragic.
When I was first beginning my studies in magic, someone recommended that I torrent a television special by some new guy called David Blaine. Anyone who remembers those days knows that files were frequently mislabeled for reasons that no one was ever quite sure of. Instead of a network TV special, I found a grainy transfer from a VHS cassette of a guy in a a red bow tie demonstrating something called the "Arthur Buckley Multiple Shift."
While I never found a use for the Arthur Buckley multiple shift, I did learn that the clip was from The Encyclopedia of Card Sleights, an eight-cassette series that was... well... exactly what it said it was. Daryl was considered a master technician and his knowledge of magic — particularly close-up sleight of hand — was encyclopedic to the point where he became known as the "magicians' magician". On top of that he was delightfully entertaining and charming in an over-the-top cheesy sort of way that worked beautifully for him. He was a teacher and inspiration for a generation of magicians. Recently, Jamy Ian Swiss wrote a column about him, which does a good job of summarizing the impact he's had on the world of magic.
Last year I was involved in assembling an online exhibition which included two performances by Daryl on a Canadian television series filmed in Calgary; The Magic Palace. These would have been filmed about 1980, at a point in his career before he had won most of his awards. He had maintained that signature goofy style when I met him twice in Toronto over the past ten years. He gave a fantastic four-hour workshop in my friend's parents dining room.
Mental health issues like depression are hard to imagine in performers because they/we live a life where we are trained to be cheerful on command. In the past year, I've had to do shows immediately after a significant other broke up with me and immediately after the funeral for a friend and colleague.
The surprising thing is that it's not that difficult to do.
The muscle memory of performance — of lines and jokes and well rehearsed choreography — overcomes you and the response from an audience is a very effective way of placing you in the moment and blocking out the outside world. The problem is after, when the emotions are supposed to return, they don't come back quite right. Part of the grief and sadness gets brushed away or buried and never seems to get dealt with properly. Then it comes back in quiet moments. It's a very strange feeling.
For the past two days, this has dominated my Facebook news feed. Hidden amongst the condolences are some uplifting messages of people sharing their own experience with mental health issues. Slowly it's becoming something that people feel more free to talk about which is an essential step towards people being able to seek help.
Psychologist and collector of weird knowledge with a British accent, Richard Wiseman, put together an interesting assortment of optical illusions to make your Wednesday weird:
Next Wednesday, I've been invited to give a lecture for the KW Hat & Wand Club in Kitchener, Ontario. (Having been the president of the Sid Lorraine Hat & Rabbit Club for three years, I can confirm that it is legally required that these clubs have goofy names held over from ages past.)
Years ago, Kitchener was home to a biannual magic convention where I had some of my earliest opportunities to meet world renowned magicians, so I have lots of fond memories. I'm also in the neighbourhood performing at private engagements fairly often.
I don't do this type of presentation often, since I have been performing magic professionally for a short amount of time compared to some. At some of these magic gatherings, I can single-handedly drop the average age in the room by five to ten years.
I'll be sharing some of the material from my show and the thinking behind it. For those interested in seeing how the magic sausage is made, guests welcome.
The lecture is at 7PM on Wednesday, February 15 at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church (54 Queen Street North, Kitchener - map)
David Ben, one of the country's foremost magicians has a new show which officially opens tonight at Soulpepper. Hocus Pocus formally hits the stage after a weekend of previews at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, tucked away in Toronto's Distillery Historic District.
I got to see one of the previews over the weekend and it's an exciting blend of classical conjuring, spoken word, cinema and good old fashioned mystery. The show is family friendly (with a smidgen of mature content.) If you have the opportunity to get down there, I'd highly encourage anyone with an interest in magic to see the show and enjoy a bit of extra enchantment and wonder this holiday season.
Dai Vernon's "Symphony of the Rings" - Photo by David Linsell
Thanks to a little birdie at Magicana, you can use the discount code magic10 for 10% off tickets to shows before December 21.
