Close Up Magic is Now a Thing
The year was 1978 and I was sitting in Paris with a group of magicians in the amazing home of Christian Fechner. Mr. Fechner was both a magician and very successful French movie producer… think Steven Spielberg. We were
surrounded by floor to ceiling bookcases of ancient magic books and one of a kind magic props, and as I gazed up at the high ceilings that featured hand-painted clouds and nymph-like figures, something you would see on the Sistine Chapel, the discussion took an interesting turn. Those in attendance included a number of magicians including my host Philippe Fialho a very successful businessman and magical aficionado whose family I understood owned the rights to the holy water sold at Lourdes. Philippe was the sponsor who paid for me to come to Europe for my first multi-city lecture tour when I was 25 years old. The group began talking about the magician who was taking America by storm at the time with his new approach to magic and illusions… Doug Henning. Doug had already created quite a name for himself among the public following on the success of his Broadway hit The Magic Show and with his live TV specials. One of the magicians suggested that Doug Henning had achieved the apex for a magician… he had become as famous and as successful as a magician could expect to be in the public arena.
I can still remember Christian Fechner taking a long drag on what I assumed was a Cuban cigar…. He blew some rings of smoke that slowly rose to the painted ceiling and said: “You are wrong. Henning is popular… but someone will eventually come along and become even more famous as a magician than Doug Henning…. and they will do it with Close Up Magic!” Needless to say, my ears perked up at that statement. “Really? He cannot be serious?” But he was, and he went on to explain that… “Close Up Magic has the power to make connections with an audience like no other art form… and when someone figures how to successfully perform it on TV they will become a much bigger star than even Doug Henning… they will become a household name…mark my words!” And I did.
Over the years since then, I have thought of Christian’s prediction often… especially every time I had to explain to a prospective client what close up magic was and how it might fit into their corporate event. Each time it was like telling someone about something they had never heard of before. Sure they understood what a magician was… but that meant someone on stage doing amazing things… why would they want to hire someone to perform for small groups? Most of them expected and wanted to book a big show, the bigger the better. The success of performers like David Copperfield, Siegfried and Roy, and Lance Burton reinforced this idea…. and created markets for corporate performers like Chuck Jones and Denny & Lee who were keeping very busy not in theaters but performing for large audiences of corporate “suits” at sales meetings throughout the country. This same mindset also helped build the businesses of illusion designers and builders like Johnny Gaughn, Jim Steinmeyer and Bill Schmelk as they tried to keep up with the demand for bigger and better illusions for those with dreams of making it in the corporate, college or theater markets. Simply put the bookers expected the big stuff. Even at trade shows, I began performing a customized version of Steinmeyer’s Origami Illusion which I trademarked as The Logo Cube… simply because it was an easy sell, and besides it is a killer illusion when performed at close range. But still, Christian Fechner’s prediction was something that was always in the back of my mind… “Close Up Magic… Really?”
Then about 15 years later in 1994, Ricky Jay premiered his show Ricky Jay and His Fifty Two Assistants in an off-Broadway theater in New York… and it was instantly a critical success. And what were people talking about? Of course, every review talked about Ricky’s amazing skill with cards… but the reviews all marveled at the size of the audience. Ricky limited his audience to100 people, something that was unheard of for a theater production. The high priced tickets for each show sold out immediately, and unless you acted fast or knew someone in the business you probably did not get to see the show. Ricky was not quite yet a household name… but the show was a critical success and he was doing it with close up magic performed in a theatrical environment. People who saw his show knew they were watching a sleight-of-hand master… it was the beginning of their education… the process was starting.
A few years later in New York David Blaine came onto the scene with his TV premiere of Street Magic. David’s style was low-key, the magic was strong and the focus was on the reactions of the spectators. Many of the lay public began seeing close up magic for the very first time, but most importantly they were also seeing the power it has to extract a reaction from a spectator at close range. Close up magic was being introduced via TV and the education was continuing… and David Blaine was becoming a household name.
Around the same time also in New York, Steve Cohen began to experiment with his show Chamber Magic, a small intimate magic show that because of Steve’s perseverance began to catch on and eventually moved to the high-end Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Steve was exposing audiences to parlor and close-up magic in a very luxurious environment, something not done on this level since the great Max Malini plied his trade at the Viking Hotel in Newport, Rhode Island in the 1920s. But again Steve Cohen was also exposing people to magic performed in a small intimate environment… many for the very first time.
More recently the concept of close up magic has become a staple on America’s Got Talent with Matt Franco winning the Grand Prize on AGT with a performance of the Cups & Balls in 2014. Matt now has his own show in Las Vegas at the Linq Casino. Penn and Teller: Fool Us has been highlighting the performance of close-up magic since its very first season with performances of masters like Ben Earl and Michael Vincent. Penn & Teller are also helping to educate the public about what they are seeing and why it is special as they try to analyze and hint at the secret. In fact, quite a few of the tricks that have won the FU Trophy have been close-up magic, which feeds into the public desire to see even more of it… creating more knowledgeable audiences about this new art form.
Do a Google Search on Best Shows in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, Boston, and Nashville and you might be surprised at the results you find on sites like TripAdvisor and Yelp. Small magic shows and intimate venues in every city are now ranking quite high and in many cases even higher than larger or more established shows that 
have been around for a long time. These new boutique shows are exposing more and more of the lay public to magic and in many cases specifically to magic that happens right before their eyes. With my new show Miracles & Other Deceptions at the Omni Parker House Hotel in Boston, I had a custom table designed to seat my first row of spectators literally “At The Table” so they can experience actual close up magic. These higher-priced VIP seats are the first ones to sell… audiences love seeing magic up close.
And now to bring it full circle I do believe the prediction of my late friend Christian Fechner will soon become a reality. Within the last few months, Shin Lim blew everyone away on America’s Got Talent, winning the Grand Prize and he did it with…. Close-Up Magic! Shin just announced that he will soon be opening in his own show in Las Vegas at the Mirage on the same stage that Siegfried & Roy used to work their magic with tigers, dragons and large illusions. Amazing. A new star is being born… one that will become a household name just as Christian predicted over 40 years ago. And he is doing it with… Close-Up Magic. How exciting is that! Close Up Magic is now a Thing!
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