Why Daryl Rocks!Inside MagicMagic News Updated Daily for the Professional Magician

Daryl

Daryl began his professional career back in 1968 (so I figure he was about -7 years old at the time) and moved from starting out to taking control to teaching the world. He earned the Gold Medal at the World Congress of Magic (the “Olympics” of Magic), in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1982. (Just for the sake of historical accuracy, my father, Li?l Tom Hardy, America?s Foremost Psychic Entertainer, won the High Jump at the ?Olympics? of magic but suffered a groin pull and was out for the all important semi-finals in the backpalming events).

Daryl also received six Academy Awards from the world famous Magic Castle in Hollywood, California. By my count, that?s more than anyone else.

Daryl?s peers at the Castle voted Close-Up Magician of the Year in 1980 and 1981, the Parlour Magician of the Year in 1986 and 1987, and the Lecturer of the Year 1988 and 1992. Basically, if there was a contest he was in, Daryl won.

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Daryl

Daryl also received six Academy Awards from the world famous Magic Castle in Hollywood, California. By my count, that?s more than anyone else.

But it is clearly more than winning important contests that keeps Daryl going and that is why we think so much of him. This guy loves Magic. He really does.

I saw Daryl at the Magic Castle a while back and I have only seen a few other magicians that shows that kind of crazy love for this craft ? Whit Haydn, Trixie Bond, Dan Sperry and Lance Burton. You know he?s done the same lecture or show more times than I?ve screwed up tricks and yet each time it seems new. It seems, when you watch him lecture or perform, that he just has to show you this effect because it so impressed him when he first did it.

Daryl – The Man Rocks!

It makes sense that he?d have this enthusiasm from our perspective (?our? meaning yours and mine). I mean, we?d kill to be where Daryl is and/or have the skills that he possesses. Maybe you?re different than me, but if I was performing at the Magic Castle or lecturing to the top conventions in the country, I?d be perpetually smiling. I?d look like a character out of a Batman comic. I?d be ?Smiley, the Evil Magician.?

Daryl has done all that a great magician should do to learn our craft. He worked as a street magician in San Francisco. He performed street Magic and passed the hat by day then put on his tuxedo and performed elegant close-up shows for the patrons at the Magic Cellar nightclub in the evenings. I have it on great authority that he showered between the two gigs.

Do you want to know the cool thing about Daryl? Why I think he rocks?

First, I have to tell you a story about one of his close-up shows at the Magic Castle. He was performing a routine and it was going well. The crowd was standing room and the room they were standing in was hot, and sweaty. (Maybe it was just me that was sweaty. It was hot though.)

A real drunk guy in the standing room area at the back of the auditorium was encouraging Daryl on virtually every move, every nuance of the routine. He had clearly seen the show before; maybe six or seventy times. He wasn?t saying anything bad but he was talking and shouting. Daryl stopped the show mid-trick and invited the drunk guy (not me) to ?either be quiet and enjoy the show or leave so others could enjoy the show.?

He immediately got back into the routine as if nothing had happened, won back the audience, and shut the guy up.

I Can Do A One-Handed Shuffle But With Two Hands

Here?s why I think he rocks. He cares so much about our Art that even with the success he has attained and the awards he?s received, he still teaches magic. He offers private and group magic lessons to visiting magicians from around the world. So, when you are in the Lake Tahoe or Sacramento area and you want to learn from the absolute best there is at both teaching and performing, you can call him up or email Alison to set up lessons.

Not to be too romantic about it all, but this smacks of Dr. Harlan Tarbell or Mark Wilson. Magicians who know what they are doing, taking the time to teach younger or less-experienced magicians how to better do what they would love to do. It is, for me, the equivalent of when I heard that Tiger Woods will, on occasion, teach young golfers how to play golf.

Tiger doesn?t have to do this for income; I?m sure Nike would prefer him not waste his time teaching when he could be in front of the camera hawking the ?swoosh.? Daryl doesn?t have to teach. He doesn?t need to be in front of the small private audiences of magicians that seek him out, helping them to master the double lift or the Tenkai palm. But he does.

There is a lot of cynicism in magic these days. I heard someone claim that David Blaine was actually not in the box the whole 44 days but was actually sneaking out when no one was watching to eat fish and chips and drink beer.

It is so nice to know that there are those in our Art that really care enough about it to teach and show magic for no other reason than they care.

Oh, wait, I have a second reason that Daryl rocks: I ordered items from him and received an email message before they were shipped, after they were shipped to tell me they were coming, and after I received them to make sure I received them. Again, none of this was necessary. Check out his store here.

I?ve ordered things from famous magicians, not received them for about three or four weeks ? after they?ve charged my card ? and never heard again from them.

He?s different and that?s why he rocks.

Do yourself two favors: 1) check out his website for great magic and great teaching tools; and 2) get to the Motor City Close-Up Convention to see not only Daryl but also Dan Fleshman, Garrett Thomas and Dan Tong.

You?ll thank me profusely for both favors but I?ll act like it?s no big deal. Just tell John Luka and the guys that I sent you. Then they?ll think I?m a big deal.