Word: magics
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...picture editor of Popular Photography. "As I figure it, all the evidence indicates that one day people will look back at this period and call it a magicians' renaissance." Reynolds is putting his money where his math is. This fall he will open a theater-restaurant à la Magic Castle in New York's Greenwich Village...
...boom continues, he may have to drive off customers with a wand. The professionals are once again besieged by autograph freaks, inundated with requests for magic lessons and invited to appear on TV. In some respects, it is a return to the good old days and a few of the bad ones. Successful show magicians still live out of hotel rooms making tense one-night stands. A broken prop remains a major disaster, and one rude kid who announces that the coin is up the left sleeve can ruin an evening...
There is no one better at the drummer's art than Karrell Fox, a master magician who once wangled an appointment with Henry Ford Jr. He arrived at Ford's office, gave a predictable spiel about the wonderful world of Ford magic, then asked his victim to pick a card, any card. Fox then shuffled, threw the deck on the floor, spread the pack with his foot and smugly selected-the wrong card. Crestfallen, he asked Ford if he could at least see the famous garden on the balcony behind his desk. Henry drew the curtains. There...
Scarcely less Foxy than Karrell are the salesmen at Lou Tannen's magic shop. All are masters at the special effect of separating an onlooker from his money. "We have kids come in here who never quit buying," says Tony Spina. "Twelve-, 14-year-olds think nothing of spending $50, $100 on magic. Anything new becomes an instant sellout...
Tannen's most popular numbers are close-up effects, magic that can be done around coffee or conference tables. "Half and 20 centavo" ($12.50) turns a copper coin into a quarter-while the customer clutches it. "Chop-chop cups," little changed from the days of ancient Egypt, produce spheres from plum to orange size. "Spooky, the spirit handkerchief makes a ghost wander around under an empty little blanket of silk...