It is with some sadness as I write this. In my last entry I wrote about the Academy of Magical Arts Awards Reception and the presenting to Max Maven of a Masters Fellowship. It really was his evening. He had been battling a brain tumor. His first surgery was in July 2021 and he has been fighting ever since. Sadly, he lost that fight.
One thing that I did not include in the previous post was that Special Fellowship recipient Connie Boyd credited Max with her being able to do her lecture “How Women Influence Magic” at “the World Championships of Magic” FISM, Québec 2022. He leaves behind many who admired him very much, and many who knew him and loved him.
We also just lost another magician who carved a unique niche for himself. He went under the name Andre Kole, and he toured with a big illusion show for over five decades. He performed primarily under the auspices of Campus Crusade for Christ. The show was a top notch illusion show and he was a master inventor of illusions. His Table of Death, where he was chained to a table and had to escape before a framework of spikes above him came crashing down, has been a staple of television series that wanted to depict a dangerous magic trick. His Squeeze Box illusion has been performed by both Copperfield and Siegfried and Roy. Copperfield also has performed his Head Mover illusion. Andre saved his witnessing for the end of the show. He was a kind and genuine human being and never came across too strong promoting his faith, which seemed deep and sincere. Tim Kole has followed in his father’s footsteps as an illusionist.
The Halloween season was very busy. It started out with a show for a picnic event at Whittier Narrows Recreation Area. You may have heard of the 5.8 magnitude Whittier Narrows earthquake in 1987 that did widespread damage. The park was just adjacent to the epicenter of the quake. Today it is an amazing 1,500 acre park with a museum, nature center, three lakes, and boating and fishing.
It is one of L.A.’s most popular and largest recreation areas, and it has a lot of history. It has a very interesting geological history, and since 1920 this area has been caught in the intersection of California’s turbulent water politics. It is an important part of the story of how Los Angeles rivers were dammed and forced to flow through concrete channels throughout L.A. You can read a more detailed account at this KCET site. Then it was off to a Disney themed birthday in the evening.
The next weekend I did strolling magic for a large company picnic for California Steel Industries at their facility in Fontana. It was a huge event with face painters, balloon artists, a strolling close-up magician (me), carnival rides, and lots of food booths. It was a very fun event at a very historic place- what was originally the Kaiser Steel plant. I made a trick based around steel making that went over very well. It was a lovely day to be performing outdoors, but also a long one as the event lasted several hours. Happily they had a sports theme for the event so I got to perform in tennis shoes for the first time ever.
Founded in 1941, Kaiser Steel produced steel plates for ships that were built to fight in World War II. I grew up near Fontana and they were a huge presence in the area. By 1983, Kaiser Steele was no longer competitive and sold their assets.
They also have had a huge impact on me personally well beyond making steel. In 1945, Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield founded Kaiser Permanente to provide health care for Kaiser Steel employees. While Kaiser Steel is no more, Kaiser Permanente grew into one of the largest nonprofit healthcare plans in the United States. Until I began working for Cedars, they were my primary health care provider for most of my life and they were great.
The plant continues to be in the steel business under different ownership. You probably have seen what the inside of the steel plant looks like. It was famously featured in the climactic final battle in 1991’s Terminator 2.
The next weekend was a bit more tiring, with four shows spread-out all over L.A. They were private events except for Alive Together at the famous Exposition Park. I did this great event focused on suicide prevention last year, and you can learn more about it and Exposition Park in last year’s entry. Working in the shadow of the Los Angeles Coliseum, I also had my first glance of the Lucus Museum which is being built by George Lucas. Having brought us Indiana Jones and Star Wars, I am sure his futuristic and over a quarter of a mile long museum complex will be great once it’s open.
Then on Tuesday we had a Women Magicians Association meeting. We were happy to have Nader Hanna present his very first lecture ever. Nader is an accomplished mentalist and hypnotist who frequently performs at the Magic Castle. He shared with us some great techniques in addition to some history on the development of mentalism including telling us about Gene Dennis the Wonder Girl (1904 – 1947). It was a wonderful presentation and I feel like I really made a new friend in him. It was the week of Halloween, so almost everyone at the meeting was in costume. It was such fun! Then it was off to Riverside to be with Geoff’s Mom for her skin cancer treatment the next morning at, of course, Kaiser Permanente. She is doing great.
After all that, I was not that upset to have only one show this past weekend. Okay, maybe a little upset, but I was getting a bit tired. Sunday, I went to my advanced card manipulation workshop at the Magic Castle, which I have been enjoying. While my magical characters are more charming than card sharks, it’s always nice to have a few more tricks up your sleeves.