EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW TO JIM STEINMEYER

2nd The best living originator of stage illusions interviewed in exclusive for the Magic Guide of SuperEva . . .

Richard: There are people that violate the author's rights and reproduce without any permission the big illusions that you created. This is an important theme but rarely it is discussed about in the magic clubs all over the world.

What do you think about it?

JIM STEINMEYER: It's not discussed in clubs, because the unwritten "fantasy" in every magic club is that any magician can, by purchasing a cheap version of a trick or building something, be as successful as David Copperfield.
Magicians don't want to be told that they can't perform something or that they shouldn't perform something.
It's a mess! We can't begin to police our secrets until we respect material ourselves.
Over in this country, we had the scandal of the "Masked Magician" shows, in which the public was shown that magic was very unimpressive and the secrets were worthless. Magicians were outraged, but, of course, they want the secrets to be "priceless" as far as the public is concerned, and "worthless" as far as they are concerned. It will never be right until magicians value ideas.

Richard: You are the author of many books on illusionism and you're very interested too in the history of magics and illusionism.
How important is for an illusionist to know the history of illusionism and magics?
Which book would you advise to a beginner or to someone that would like to study in depth the subject?

JIM STEINMEYER: Of course, I'm biased about this subject. But I think that the history of magic is very important to understanding how magic works on stage.
It has been of great value to me in my work and to my understanding of illusion. I've written that there are still only four "essential" books on stage illusion.
Hopkins' MAGIC STAGE ILLUSIONS AND SPECIAL EFFECTS, Devant's SECRETS OF MY MAGIC, Jarrett's JARRETT MAGIC and Harbin's MAGIC OF ROBERT HARBIN.
(I'm sorry that these books are in English. This is my bias.)
I still feel that, if you can truly understand these books, you will know almost all there is to know about illusion.
I still re-read and refer to these books over the course of the years.

Richard: Would you talk about the L.A. conference?

JIM STEINMEYER: We just finished the 7th Los Angeles Conference on Magic History, which is an invitation-only Conference that I organize with Mike Caveney, John Gaughan, Joan Lawton and my wife, Frankie Glass. It occurs every two years. It was very successful, I think.
This year I demonstrated two Jarrett illusions, including his Sawing in Halves. Mike Caveney presented The Million Dollar Mystery and John Gaughan built and performed DeKolta's Expanding Die.
In previous years, we've presented The Hooker Rising Cards, The Blue Room, "Will, the Witch and the Watch" and "The Mascot Moth" as well as many, many talks and presentations on magic and magic history.
The Conference is a wonderful experience because it treats magic and magic history as important and our guests understand this. In addition, it is a learning experience for me and all of us involved.
When we actually re-created these effects, we learned a great deal about the subtle points about how they were built and presented. I know that the audience feels that it contributes to their understanding of magic, but it also helps my understanding of the great illusions that have been preformed.

Richard: You have been working for many years with the great DOUG HENNING. What kind of relationship did you have with him?
I would like you to tell us about the way HENNING had to live and perform his illusions.What was his philosofy on the scenes?

JIM STEINMEYER: Doug was a great person, and very much the same person that he was on stage.. He was genuinely interested in creating magic in the mind of the audience, and understood that this was a noble, important goal as it gave the audience a sense of "wonder" and entertainment. We had a great group of people in his company. It was hard work, but people worked hard for Doug because they liked him. I think audiences also liked him.
He was sincere and "real" to audiences.

Richard: DOUG HENNING retired when he was at the peak of his success. He left everything to dedicate himself to the M.T..How did you react to this?

JIM STEINMEYER: Doug left to pursue his interests with Trancendental Meditation.
To be honest, at the time he dissolved his company, we were all very disappointed. He left with a number of big projects "on the table," which we were not able to complete. We felt that it was the wrong time to leave. However, in retrospect, I understand that Doug had lost some of his interest in performing.
He was the sort of person who, if he couldn't give 100-percent, would look for a new interest. I now think that it was right that he stopped performing when he did. I'm sorry he stopped. He was a very inspiring performer. But when he found a new interest, he didn't want to "cheat" his audience by simply going through the motions.

Richard: What do you think of HENNING's project, the VEDA THEME PARK?

JIM STEINMEYER: I didn't see the final plans for the park, only the early plans. It was a very ambitious project. I'm sure that Doug brought a lot to it, both in terms of special effects as well as creative ideas. I don't believe that there have been plans finalized to build it.

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