Malditos Magos

Some time they’ve called me a freak for devoting myself so much to resolve some themes and other matters clearly unimportant. Stuff like «will it be best to take this card from here or would it be better to do it from two millimeters higher up?», to devote myself to study «the psychology of palming”, etc.

Dr. Hofzinser

This weekend I was in La Barranca, analyzing the creations of our admired Hofzinser, a Treasury department employee in the old Austro-Hungarian Empire who, first and foremost, was a magician. We’ve been moved with his ingenuity and astuteness in the resolution of his surprising magical effects. What a star master Hofzinser was!

Ronald Wohl‘s exposition about the adventures of intrepid swindlers like Titanic Thompson and Yellow Kid Weil had us all astonished. They were such pleasant swindlers! I admit that, for a moment I felt the impulse to take my first steps in the AVE (Spanish high velocity train) on my way back to Valencia but, actually more unfortunately than luckily, I contained myself. (By the way Ron, what a fright you gave us with the cup!

I had the opportunity to expose my point of view about the training of magicians considering the communication media we have at our disposal and, in particular, the internet web. All that is reflected in the project I have up my sleeves right now, Magic Agora and, if I was excited before, with the critics, suggestions, and opinions which came up in the debate, now I am much more so.

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Generally, people are convinced that magic is an innocent and happy art, that when someone finds a magician, getting a coin taken out of your ear,  seeing him making you a poodle-shaped balloon or watching how they guess your card are the expected things. Well, this belief is totally false and, when one gets into the magic world, sooner or later they will meet horrific magicians. Yesterday, «conde Orlock» (count Orlock), a magician of high rank lineage, invited the «La Cuchara Mágica» (The Magic Spoon) magicians to a brotherhood dinner. Spiders, bull bollocks, cat bollocks, bloody witch fingers, duck legs, everything nastily mortal.
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The magician Gurrea is a strange case. Being the National champion in Spain in the Jaca Convention of 1978, he holds a record of performances on local TV channels in Valencia (Spain). His Olympic act was memorable and it is still remembered among the magicians who were lucky to see it. This is exceptional, not strange; the strange thing is that, despite the years which have passed, Gurrea keeps acting with more excitement than that of a young beginner. This is already a bit more strange but there is more to this.

Gurrea & Armando Lucero at Gurrea's home

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