It was a way for no-name magicians like us to become “known” in the community. Harry encouraged young magicians to explain their tricks so that he could publish them in his monthly magazine, Apocalypse. Mark Sicher and I watched Harry hold court at Reuben’s week after week, and eventually got up enough courage to show him some of our own original tricks.
They called this “holding court,” and Harry was clearly the king. You could hear his distinct voice the moment you entered the back room, and he was surrounded by other magicians who hung on his every word. Its inhabitants were a hodgepodge of middle-aged men dressed in unfashionable suit jackets. Move past the counter, beyond the booths and through a thick waft of pastrami steam and pickle juice, and you’d enter a large back room. (Mark also became a mentor to me, and will be the subject of a future article.) We’d meet at Tannen’s Magic Shop, and then walked up Madison to 38 th Street to the weekly magician hang-out: Reuben’s Delicatessen. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s I regularly met up with my best friend Mark Sicher, a city kid who I met at Tannen’s Magic Camp. My parents were supportive of my passion for magic, and gave me permission to take the Metro North train into Manhattan once a month. “You oughtta come the next time you’re in town,” he said. Later that night, I spoke to Harry briefly and he mentioned that all of the “good guys” who did magic in New York City met every Saturday afternoon. It was a pretty incredible feat that made an indelible impression. In the show I watched, he not only memorized the deck but knew which cards had been secretly moved to different spots while his back was turned. He had been on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson over 20 times, and written many instructional books on memory techniques. At the time I didn’t know about his reputation as the world’s foremost memory expert. Harry was a guest performer at the close-up show on Saturday morning, and I thought he was “putting us on” when he announced that he could memorize the order of a shuffled deck of cards. I first met him when I was 12 – thirty-two years ago – at the Tannen’s Magic Jubilee in Loch Sheldrake, NY. The magician they’d be watching: HARRY LORAYNEĭick Cavett, Steve Cohen (age 12), Harry Lorayne, too early in the morning at Tannen’s Jubilee 1983
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The table with the biggest crowds at the end of the night, wins.īy the end of the night, a thousand laymen, plus the other 99 magicians, would all be standing at one table. Each magician must stand at his own table, and a thousand laymen would freely wander the hall, gravitating toward the most gifted performer. Exactly one hundred of the world’s most talented close-up magicians would be invited to compete. I once read an article about an imaginary magician’s contest. By seeing the world through a mentor’s lens, we can learn more about them, and about ourselves, at the same time. How do mentors inspire? They set examples, helping us imagine how we too might solve a particular problem.
and even fictional characters like Willy Wonka. You’ll also read about more contemporary figures like Albert Goshman, non-magicians Danny Kaye and Sammy Davis, Jr. Each of these giants has been featured in previous weeks. My “big three” mentors are Max Malini, Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser, and Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. Many of the people who motivated me were alive a century before I was born! By reading classic books, old newspapers, and magazine articles, I’ve tracked down stories about their lives and work that continue to inspire me to become a better entertainer. The beauty of mentorship is that you don’t necessarily have to meet your mentor face-to-face, nor even live during the same time in history. Some of these people are alive, others no longer with us. Each Monday you’ll meet someone who has offered advice, or acted by example, to help steer my career. In this weekly series, I introduce you to my magic mentors – people who have inspired me to become a better magician. MAGIC MENTOR MONDAY: Harry Lorayne November 9, 2015
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