My Magic Mentors
Throughout my magic career, I’ve had many magic mentors that have provided timely guidance. A few years after I started, I got in touch with John Milks, a local magician, who was performing shows in my city. He allowed me to tag along to some of his shows where I began to see how individual tricks could be combined into a show. He introduced me to other magicians that belonged to the local club. I was too young to join, but was allowed to attend some of the lectures by visiting magicians. John was great at showing me how to create and present magic that was more advanced than what I was able to read in books from the library.
Another Ottawa Magician
Another mentor was Ottawa magician, Roy Cottee. He presented magic shows on the weekends because his full-time job was a glass blower at the National Research Council. I saw Roy perform at libraries and at shopping malls. His shows were really well put together and very professional. When I was old enough to join our magic club, Roy was always a great source of information. When I was preparing a new trick, Roy would provide me with the names of books where there was more information about the trick. This advice was invaluable, but also helped to lay the foundation for how to research and study the art of magic.
Vito Lupo
I’d seen Vito Lupo perform on a TV variety show, The Monte Carlo Show. It was hosted by Patrick Wayne, the son of John Wayne. Vito presented his award winning act on the show and I was completely enthralled. When Vito was on the cover of a major magic magazine, I read his bio and some of his thoughts on the presentation of magic. It also mentioned in the article that he had some students that he taught magic.
I was able to track down his number and then arranged to travel to Long Island, New York to study with Vito for a full week. It was a phenomenal learning experience and I returned home with more techniques to improve my performances. This was my first introduction on how to present magic at a higher level. To this day, I still apply the techniques that Vito taught me many years ago.
Bob Fitch
In the photo above, I’m with Bob Fitch. He has been a fantastic mentor and contributed greatly to my success as a performer. Bob, was a singer, actor and dancer on Broadway. His most noteworthy performance on Broadway was one of the principal characters in the original production of Annie.
After Bob retired from his career on Broadway, he with fellow actor, Ed Bordo, created a weeklong workshop for magicians to help them develop acting and performance skills. Bob was an amateur magician and wanted to share his theatre skills with magicians. The workshops were hosted at a resort north of Montreal.
The group of 10 magicians would learn acting in the morning and performance in the afternoon. The evening was reserved for two magicians to present some of their work in progress. After their presentations, Bob, Ed and the group would dissect the illusions and brainstorm ways to make it more powerful.
The acting and performance techniques are a major part of my toolkit and often times problems to certain tricks can be resolved using acting techniques. Polishing a performance takes time. There are no shortcuts, but having a broader knowledge of theatre and acting allows the performance to exist at a higher level.
Standing on the Shoulders of My Magic Mentors
There’s no question that having great mentors accelerates a performer’s progress. I’ve been very fortunate over the years to have had these gentlemen contribute to my quest to become a great magician. I’m so grateful that they took the time to share their knowledge with me. I look forward to sharing my knowledge with the next generation of magicians.