Folks in the magic community are mourning the passing of Juan Tamariz, often hailed as the greatest manipulator of cards in the world. Spain has way more than its share of great close-up card magicians and Tamariz, who was mentor to many and inspiration to all, is a big reason. He just died in Madrid at the age of 83.
One of the many perks of being a member at the Magic Castle is that I get to see masters perform…in the case of Señor Tamariz, from about eighteen inches away. It was quite a few years ago. I was taking a lady named Susan there on a first date and while the lines to get in to see his shows that evening were impossibly long, a friend got us into an unscheduled private show he did for a small group of his fellow magicians. Even Susan, who knew nothing about magic or his reputation, understood how special it was.
No matter how close you were seated to him, it was impossible to see how he did any of his tricks. It was however possible to see that some damn good magicians in that room were utterly baffled. It was also possible to see that much of his magic came from how great he was as a performer. He radiated glee and delight and was just so entertaining as a human being that you didn't want to know how he did those things. You just wanted him to keep on doing them.
And his many disciples will keep on doing his tricks and amazing feats. Or trying to, at least.