ELLIOT SMITH continued from page 51
they can see Criss Angel walk on water or David Blaine push a knitting needle through his arm on YouTube. Referring to Criss Angel, Elliot
says: “He’s raised awareness of magic and magicians, which is kind of great in terms of marketing, but he also raised unrealistic expectations for live magic shows. His stage show is nowhere close to the kind of stuff you see him doing on TV.”
And then there are the websites
that pull back the curtain and show how magic tricks are done. This concept harkens back to the days of a disgruntled magician who called himself The Masked Magician, and revealed the tricks of the trade on FOX TV. For Elliott and other professional musicians, that was a cardinal sin. “The International Brotherhood
of Magicians fiercely protects the secrets of magic,” he says. “When we join, we have to take an oath of secrecy. We have an ethics committee, which watches over us so nobody can reveal secrets. It’s a closed art form, because obviously if everybody knew how we do our stuff, there go our jobs.” Even dealing with the pressures
of the modern business, Elliott Smith has done something Criss Angel, David Blaine and all the other superstars haven’t. He’s played Friar’s Club in New York City. For more than 100 years Friar’s Club has offered a safe haven for the biggest stars in the world of entertainment. It’s a place they can hang out without being hassled, and a stage for legends from George Burns to Jerry Seinfeld to perform for their peers.
A few months back, Elliott
became only the second magician in history to headline Friar’s Club in the Big Apple. “It’s opened up a lot of doors
for me that I didn’t have access to before,” he says. Luckily, Elliott Smith finds
www.bounder.ca BOUNDER MAGAZINE 69
himself in an enviable position these days. Since there is no “best before” date on a magician, he has learned that by adapting to changing trends and audiences he can make a good living in his craft for a long time to come.
“I know my body and my
hands cannot last forever,” he says, “but there are so many options. I have taken magic off the stage and moved it into the workplace. I do motivational speaking, team- building and sales training, using magic as a vehicle to teach.” He continues doing his shows, too. So now it’s time for the
magician to reveal one secret. I asked him for advice to
people who have been intrigued by magic and might want to learn some parlour tricks to entertain the kids – or perhaps even embark on a career like his. What’s the secret to learning magic? “It has to be something
you really, really, really want to
do,” he answers. “It takes diligence, determination and dedication. It takes time, a lot of time. It’s constant practice, constant repetition. You need a storyline for the trick and to learn all the different, unseen steps that make it work. Once you have the trick, you have to add personality to it. If you can entertain and baffle people, you have succeeded.”
To find out more about Elliott
Smith’s career, or to book him for an event, go to
www.seethemagic.com
END OF SEASON Pricing on instock bikes
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72