Remarkable Magicians #3. Dai Vernon.

There are many magicians but very few masters in magic. Dai Vernon was above all a master. The professor, as he was known around the World was the man who changed the face of modern magic and reinvented close up magic.I first met Dai when I joined the Magic Castle in Hollywood. He was every inch the master when you saw him holding court in a corner of the Castle with a brandy in a snifter, a cigarette in the ashtray and a deck of cards in his hand. Magicians would discretely shadow him for hours just to add a little touch or move from his endless store of wisdom. Dai was very subtle, nothing he did was flashy or “show-offy”, it was just right. For any situation that might present itself during a card trick the professor had at least half a dozen ways to get where he wanted to go. Some of the greatest books of sleight of hand routines can be traced directly to his fertile mind. He was also generous and a true gentleman.
In spite of the fact that I have always made my living performing comedy magic I have a guilty secret, I am also a first rate sleight of hand magician, shh, don’t tell anyone! However to me the mark of a true magician is to appear not to be doing anything other than watching the magic happen. My greatest joy is to find a move that works perfectly and then find a way to make it look like it isn’t happening. Dai was a fan of my magic but deeply suspicious of the laughs my show created in audiences, to him anything that wasn’t magic was unnecessary and indeed a detraction from a magic show. Dai kept asking me why did I feel the need to make people laugh and in honesty it was a good question. Over the years I learned a great deal from the ‘spirit’ of Dai, he was unique and
truly a living legend in a World where everyone thought they were legends. Sometimes late at night when the Castle closed I would take Dai for a late night supermarket run to the all night Hughes market in Hollywood, I would push the cart and he would throw some groceries into it, then I would drive him home and carry the grocery bags to his door. I always enjoyed these late night runs, it was fun to spend time alone with the great man and watch him choose between brands of dishwashing liquids. It made someone who was a legend into a real life person.
Well, I never did give up the comedy in my act and I still haven’t quite worked out why I need to get those laughs. However, after seeing one of my shows in the ‘Parlor of Prestidigitation’ Dai said something that I will never forget.
He looked me in the eye and said that his greatest joy was that he had never needed to perform magic for a living. He then added that if he had to actually earn his living doing magic then he would come to me and buy my linking finger ring routine. He loved the strength of the magic and thought the comedy was perfect for the routine. Then he gave me a big wink and said; “But I wouldn’t ever want to perform magic for a living, it’s more fun perfecting it.”
Here’s to the great perfector, if there is a heaven, I know Dai will be in a corner of it with a brandy in a snifter, a cigarette in an ashtray and a deck of cards in his hand.

The Three Forces

People often ask what a magician does. These are the people who have realized that the answer must be more than; “He fools people.” Magicians have been around for a long time and their standing was a lot better than it is now. During the last century the average magician has been a cross between a game show host and used car salesman. It wasn’t always this way. When people ask me that question, and I think they want a serious reply, I always say the same thing; a magician’s job is to wake up people who don’t know they are asleep. If that answer makes them want to ask more questions then the real conversation can begin.
Aleister Crowley the notorious British magician had another answer; a magician causes change according to will. Crowley
(Which rhymes with holy) was the self-proclaimed wickedest man in the world. In the ‘60’s his lifestyle would have made him a prototype hippy. However, not many hippies had his strength of mind or body, he was a one of a kind which is probably just as well! He was also one of the three great magicians of his era. The other two were Rasputin known as the mad monk (His name which means the dissolute one, a more accurate description) and the other is Mr. G.I. Gurdjieff. About Grigory Rasputin I have very little to say except that he was a very tough man to kill! However, modern magick reached the crossing in the road with the works of Crowley and Gurdjieff. Most followers of Mr. Gurdjieff’s ideas would be reluctant to believe that magick has much to do with his teachings. Most followers of Crowleyanity wouldn’t be prepared to acknowledge that much else was worth exploring. Since both men were brilliant, misunderstood and ahead of their time a comparison of their ideas can be a very illuminating experience.
Among the conclusions that a careful study would reveal is that both men were expert and adept at controlling forces that very few people realize exist, let alone understand.
Without adding much detail at this point let me define these three forces in Gurjieffian terms.
Force One: Holy Affirming.
Force Two: Holy Denying.
Force Three: Holy Reconciling.
These forces have been given many different names and feature in most spiritual practice. These three forces may be considered active, passive and neutralizing in their nature and are related to the three astrological modes (Cardinal, fixed and mutable) and they function in much the same way. In his final writings Mr. Gurdjieff turned them into a very practical code for living.
I Am
I Can
I Wish
In this form they become the key to All and Everything.
Later on I will explore these ideas in more detail but for now just let the words run loose in your mind. Rearrange the order.
Before you realize them as a key you need to see the door they will open.