A while back we gave our review of Teller and Todd Robbins disturbing but very entertaining show Play Dead then showing at The Geffen Playhouse here in Los Angeles.
The writing was fantastic and matched the outstanding performance given by Mr. Robbins. The magic was, though, was truly magical.
Today we learned through Teller’s contribution to Alan Watson’s always jam-packed with goodness Magic New Zealand newsletter that Johnny Thompson’s work to make the illusions and effects so effective has been recognized with a LA Drama Critics Circle award.
Mr. Thompson has an encyclopedic knowledge of our wonderful art and its history. According to Penn Jillette, there is no one who knows more about the subject. With his wife Pam, Mr. Thompson often performs as the hysterical and technically brilliant The Great Tomsoni & Co. Though we have seen the act many times, we still embarrass ourselves with our high-pitched, almost girl-like laughing fits each time.
For as good as he is – and we agree with Mr. Jillette that he the elite of the elites – he does not engage in the type of self-promotion and chest-thumping we see from lesser-lights in our industry. He does not even make a big deal of the fact that he is modest.
We get that “business” is an integral part of the term show-biz and that self-promotion is often the only type of promotion available to a young performer. We accept that hiding one’s light under a bushel basket is an inefficient career move and only adds to one’s carbon footprint. But it is refreshing to encounter performers who are really, really good and are not afraid to be judged solely on their work.
But Mr. Thompson could be modest, talented, lack the need to proclaim his superiority and still be a jerk. In fact, he would deserve to be a jerk if he wanted.
But Mr. Thompson is decidedly not a jerk.
He is not dismissive of magicians who are just honored to meet him at a regional magic convention – say in Toledo – and seem unable to speak in complete sentences in his presence. He does not dismiss those same magicians who encounter him, say, in Dallas at a national convention. In fact, he is the kind of person who would invite that lesser-talented magician to sit and take part in a late-hour conversation in the lobby area with professionals the gawking magician had only seen on television or read about in magic magazines.
Mr. Thompson must have off-days. He must occasionally feel it is unnecessary to cross a room to introduce himself – as if that would be necessary – to a magician/fan at a magic conference set in some bucolic Michigan magic mecca setting like the Abbott’s Get-Together. There must be times when he does not feel the need to engage in conversation with lesser magicians about their shared roots in Chicago. We have never seen him on those days and, significantly, never read of others seeing him in that way.
Congratulations to Mr. Thompson for his award and recognition from a notoriously tough group of people to please, The LA Drama Critics. We, as magicians, are fortunate to have people of his ability and demeanor in our art.
Let us avoid the debate that often ends conversations between magicians. One cannot mention Penn & Teller without the fans of Penn or Teller entering into an instant squabble. 