Jim Smithson reaches in his pocket and pulls out a wrinkled $2 bill. He folds it in half, again in half, again ... then, unfolds it The bill has made its own change; it now is two $1 bills. Don't even ask him, "How did you do that?" He won't tell you. He wants you to believe it's magic. Smithson is a member of the Oklahoma City Magic Club, an organization founded 35 years ago.

A few members are working magicians; even fewer make a living from full-time performing. Others are attorneys, dentists, accountants, professors, physicists and salesmen during the day. At night and on weekends they show up at restaurants, car dealerships, schools, public events such as festivals, children's birthday cele­brations and office parties. They make magic for believers, but mostly for themselves. The club meets monthly at City Arts Center. Meetings are open to the public, but a guest won't be taught the tricks until the guest becomes a member.

Some older magicians don't think a trick should ever be revealed, Jim Green said. But the majority of the Oklahoma City group has a tradition of sharing and teaching.

Green, who works in an accounting firm, learned magic at a late age to entertain his grand­children and found, "It's so easy it's unbe­lievable." He said all the categories of magic are represented among members. They prac­tice close-up magic, in which sleight-of-hand becomes reality like when coins slide through fingers and reappear elsewhere. Smithson's trickery is an example.

Parlor magic is performed with small props before a small audience. Stage magic works before a larger crowd. Member Joe Comet performs comedy magic, combining it with a stand-up routine. Mentalism is the specialty that in­cludes mind-reading feats. Some in the club do magical wonders with doves and parrots or rabbits. Gary Owens is a magician/ventriloquist. Ages range from 14 to 82. Several fami­lies belong to the club. Harold Todd has been doing magic for 70 years. His son Tom, a dentist, for more than 40 years.

David Teeman of Moore came into the craft 35 years ago. He and his son, Justin, 17; attend meetings together. Justin has cerebral palsy and sits in a wheelchair, so he performs what the advocates call street magic. Highly mobile in his chair, he pulls out a deck of cards and calls to someone nearby, "Hey, can I show you something?” Cards are his trick of choice because a deck is an easily accessible prop, and be­cause at one point during occupational therapy to strengthen his hands, he practiced shuffling.

One of their rising stars is 15-year-old J.P. Wilson, a student at Norman North High School. He might have been a nor­mal, nonmagical kid who excelled in de­bate except that when he was 8, his par­ents took a family vacation to Las Vegas, and J.P. discovered David Copperfield. Last year, J.P. won the Texas­Oklahoma championship at the Texas As­sociation of Junior Magicians. This sum­mer, He will travel to Reno, Nev., to com­pete for top ranking in the International Brotherhood of Magicians contests. He said it helps him in his debate class. He's comfortable appearing in front of people and he can make people accept his ideas the same way he makes them believe in magic.

 

Magic is a profession, a hobby, an art, Green said. But some people are collec­tors who buy or learn the tricks but don't like to perform. Some, like Tom Todd, are renowned inventors and builders of tricks. And some, mystified and enchanted by the skills of benign deception, just want to be around other people who have the magic touch. Those who perform must practice of­ten. Most are at ease working out a new trick in front of other magicians. Green said it's not a critical audience, but a sup­portive one. Among the advice a veteran magician gives a new one is that the secrets of a trick aren't as important as its presentation.

At this week's meeting, Lee Woodside demonstrated a version of the classic "cups and balls" trick (above). It's one of the oldest known tricks, passed on from an­cient civilizations. Small balls appear and reappear from stacked goblets. Woodside does it in a nautical hat, reciting a long, poetic sea tale he learned by ear from another magic maker.

And new tricks are constantly being invented. Smithson said in his 30 years in magic, "You think you've seen every­thing, Then we come in here, and we're just astounded!" Graphic artist David Swanson is magician Malaki. He loves the Middle Ages, the color, style, pageantry, sense of honor - and the magic. The linking rings illusion, he said, was invented in 100 B.C.

On the other hand, said Murphy Villa, magic can be adapted to the last technol­ogy, such as computers and cell phones; magic has always been rooted in science. An example is a variation of: "Think of a number, any number . . ." Dial it on the phone, hear a message just for you. Green, the crafty grandfather, said adults look for the gimmick involved. Children have more imagination, and if you can fool a child, you can make anyone believe in magic.

Gary Owens says it's all for fun any­way. "Magic is the art of illusion. Illusion is entertainment.”

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This article originally appeared in the Metro Section of the Daily Oklahoman on March 10, 2005 and is reproduced here by permission.

 

 

 

 

 

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