Jan 26 2009
Random - Malini and Burlap
Max Malini (born Max Katz Breit 1873 - October 3, 1942) was a magician who at his peak performed for several U.S. Presidents, had command performances at Buckingham Palace, and received gifts from monarchs across Europe and Asia. Magicians are said to revere him for his skill and bold accomplishments.Malini’s performance style was marked by great audacity. For instance, he would often walk up to people of great celebrity and unannounced simply bite a button from their cuffs and magically restore it. He would also borrow a gentleman’s hat for a coin effect, where he would cover the coin and attempt to make it flip over. This he would fail to do, but would finish by lifting the hat to reveal a block of ice under the hat, barely large enough to fit[1].Malini was born in the small town of Ostrov on the borders of Poland and Austria. At a young age, he emigrated to America with his family, settling in New York City. He studied juggling at age twelve, but under the tutelage of Professor Seiden he began his studies of magic (illusion) when he was fifteen. As he grew older, he began performing in bars. As his reputation grew, he would sell tickets to see a private show in his hotel room. He specialized in close-up magic, performing with coins and card magic.
- From Wikipedia
Max Malini was known for his skill, his timing, and for the seemingly impossible way he could make magic happen at any time, in any place, for any reason. A recurring theme in conversations about and with him is that he’d “load”, or hold ready, some object (an egg, a block of ice, a brick, at least once a whole roast chicken) to produce at the opportune moment.
His advice, when asked “how long should you hold it” was reported to be “at least a month”. I’m guessing this was an exaggeration by him (especially for the block of ice), but it does pose an interesting concern:
When you’re performing in an “environmental” situation such as a Renaissance Faire, how much should you have “handy” to do at any time and how long should you tote things around?
To wit: Suppose you have (without giving anything away here) a method for producing a full goblet from behind a handkerchief. When do you “load” this goblet? At the beginning of the day? Before your show?
Now for more questions: how many goblets do you “load”? Do you want to be able to do this more than once before you have to duck backstage to reset? And who do you do it for? Is this a special presentation for the King / Queen / Monarch / Special Guest, or do you want it to be a little bit of street theatre: I’m thirsty. Hm.. *produce* *drink* Much better.
… personally I’m leaning toward the second. So now I have to sort out what kind of beverage container, how do I keep it from spilling, where do I “load” it, when do I produce it, etc etc etc.
I’m not planning on doing anything with blocks of ice or bricks - yet - but it’s giving me a greater appreciation of what Malini did as a matter of course.
