A more historical note this month. Jeff Boyer shared this old clipping from the Ann Arbor News highlighting the club and Ann Arbor magicians.
Ann Arbor's modern-day Merlins bring a touch of magic to everyday life
By JENNIFER DIX
NEWS SPECIAL WRITER
July 13, 1988
Almost the first thing a magician will tell you is that his or her act is unique. "No-body else is doing exactly what I'm doing." is a phrase frequently heard in this business. Or as the song goes, you gotta get a gimmick.
Comic duo Jeff Boyer and Jim Fitzsimmons, who grew up together in Chelsea, frequently produce live doves and rabbits in their performances around Washtenaw County. "I don't think anyone else in the area is using live animals," asserts Fitzsimmons.
Ypsilanti psychologist Warren Welsh performs as a Chinese magician at the Forbidden City restaurants in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. His act is all in mime. "I don't know of any other restaurant magician who performs silently – I was told it couldn't be done," he says.
As for Lucy Smalley, "I'm kind of a novelty act," says the 25-year-old Ann Arbor resident. One of the few women in her profession, she easilty stands out among the black coats and ties. The other novel aspect of her act, she says, is her mastery of the technique known as manipulation. This practice involves producing objects seemingly out of thin air. “It’s the purest form of magic,” she says, “and it’s very, very hard, but it’s beautiful. When Smalley performs, there can be no speculation that she’s got something up her sleeve – her costume is a long sleeveless dress.
Despite the quest for novelty in their performances, most magicians readily admit that the basics of their craft have not changed much over the centuries "There's really nothing new in magic," says Fitzsimmons. "You just try to find original ways of presenting the material."
"The professionals perform the same tricks again and again," says Daryl Hurst, a full-time performer and owner of Ann Arbor's Party Pizazz, "But people enjoy them, just as we still love the Beatles - we still love the classics."
The quest for the ultimate trick, however, tempts all magicians to some degree. The International Brotherhood of Magicians holds an annual competition with a traveling trophy that goes to the creator of an entirely new effect. The last winner was Chris Carter, a recent transplant to Ann Arbor from Springfield, Ill, Carter took the prize in 1985 for a trick which transforms an Oriental fan into a scarf. No other magician has claimed the trophy in three years.
Michigan has had a part in magic history since early in the century, Colon, a small town (population 1,000) in the west of the state, was put on the map for magicians when Harry Blackstone, one of the foremost performers of his time, decided to make his home there in 1927, Shortly thereafter, an Australian entrepreneur named Percy Abbott selected Colon as a site for manufacturing magician's props and equipment. He was given financial backing by Recil Bordner, an Ohio farmer who saw the appeal of a somewhat eccentric enterprise during the Depression years. Abbott's Magic Manufacturing Co. has prospered in the last half-century and is today one of the largest manufacturers of magic supplies.
Blackston is buried in Colon, and the Abbott's Magic Convention, held every year in August, brings hundreds of visitors to Colon for a few days. (This year's convention runs Aug. 10-13.) Colon was also the site chosen by Ben and Marion Chavez, a magician couple from the West Coast, for the Eastern branch of the Chavez School of Magic. The school is no longer incorporated but still trains a select handful of students every year in the magical arts. The late Neil Foster was considered the head of the school until his death last March. Battle Creek resident Chris Jakeway is now the name most associated with the Chavez School.
Ann Arbor itself can hold its own as a center of magical talent today. There are a surprising number of local magicians who are determined to make it as professionals, or who are already making a living with their art. They "do" birthday parties, company picnics, business promotionals and fairs to make ends meet. All agree it's a tough way to make a living. But they share a conviction that their work is unique, and a stubborn determination to make it in the highly competitive world of show business.
"It was really a case of madness," says Daryl Hurst. "People kept saying. "You can't make a living at it, and that made me mad." The native Ann Arborite is certainly the best-known magician around town, and the magic shops he has owned here have initiated numerous others - including Franz Harary, a former Ann Arbor resident who has made magic for the likes of Robert Altman and Michael Jackson - into the tricks of this ancient craft.
Hurst's been performing in his hometown since he was a boy and stuck with it to become a full-time professional. "When people ask me if I'm making it, I tell them I live in Ann Arbor and I pay property taxes. I'm not Tom Monaghan, but we're doing OK." Hurst does an average of 10 shows a week, putting in some time on the road with corporate promotional and trade shows. In addition to the usual round of local birthday parties, Hurst will occasionally teach a magic class for children. He loves his work, as is evident by the tone in his voice when he talks about performing. "I love going into a small birthday party." he says. "I love the challenge of working out in a field. Sometimes after a show, a kid will just run up and give me a hug, and that gives me a wonderful feeling." But - "It's just a business like any other," Hurst says. He notes that he has cut back on the traveling recently to spend more time with his wife and 19-month-old daughter.
Boyer and Fitzsimmons, who list a comedy magic act in the Ann Arbor Yellow Pages, have been doing magic together for 15 years. The friends, both 26, currently do double duty as chief officers of the local chapter of two prestigious magic societies. Fitzsimmons is president of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and vice president of the Society of American Magicians; Boyer is vice president and president of IBM and SAM, respectively.
The Boyer and Fitzsimmons magic act includes a routine they say is somewhat derivative of the Smothers Brothers. ("I play Tommy and Jeff plays Dick," says Fitzsimmons.) Both young men have set their sights on a career in magic. Boyer makes his living as a full-time performer, appearing three nights a week as a solo act at Chi-Chi's restaurant. Fitzsimmons, who works a day job at Domino's Farms, is interested in production as well as performance. His ambition is to own and manage a magic club in Ann Arbor.
"Lucy Smalley's Hot Magic" is a name designed to attract attention, and the artist is candid about her ambitions. "I have big plans," she says cheerfully. Her eventual goal is to make it to Las Vegas, where she aims to be the opening act for big-name entertainers.
A Michigan native who has recently taken up residence in Ann Arbor, Smalley found her avocation at an early age. As a young girl she was a magician's assistant in her hometown of Oxford. She studied theater at Oakland College for two years and went on to take courses from the late Neil Foster at the Chavez School of Magic in Colon. Her "mentor" was Suzy Wandas, a Belgian woman with a distinguished background in magic.
At the famous Abbott's Magic Convention held every August in Colon, Smalley won first prize at the age of 21 - the first woman ever to take top honors. Shortly after this triumph, she got her first dose of hard, cold reality. "I had a very well-known magician take me aside and tell me to get out of it, because I was a woman and I'd never make it," she says. "Here I'd just won first prize at Abbott's and I thought I was on top of the world. But there just aren't any female role models for magicians."
Smalley herself challenges that statement with her work as a teacher. Among her pupils is a talented little girl, Lindsay Jansen, probably the youngest magician in Washtenaw County, if not all of Michigan. The 12-year-old Saline resident took first prize this spring at Michigan Magic Day, a statewide competition held Grand Rapids. She has been practicing magic since she was 5 and is learning the art of manipulation from Smalley.
"Suzy (Wandas) was a manipulator, I'm a manipulator, and I'm teaching Lindsay to be a manipulator," says Smalley. "It's a kind of legacy."
Lindsay is already a seasoned performer at birthday parties, where she keeps up a lively patter to get her audience involved. She has a regular half-hour show with a crowning effect at the end - "I produce a birthday cake," she says. She envisions a future in professional magic.
"She'll probably be my major competition in a few years," says Smalley, not without satisfaction.
