Aaron Fisher was here last Thursday and absolutely rocked the house. He rolled into town Wednesday afternoon and stopped by Grand Illusions with boxes full of DVDs. For a couple of hours we unwrapped the cases so Aaron could autograph each of covers then we closed up shop and headed for some well earned food and beverage. After picking up my wife and daughter we rolled out in our Element to Carmelita’s restaurant where we met up with our pals Alex and Megan. Tacos, enchiladas, cerveza, some very, very hot sauce, a massive bowl of jalapeños and molten cheese, a little taste of the Agave (of course) and we were all smiling and full - Time to head back to the Cave. |  |
 | The Cave…how does one describe the Cave. Well, it’s a “rumpus room”. My house has an attached garage as most do and, in my case, on the opposite side of the garage is a room addition, nothing fancy – in fact it’s a wreck that my wife, Tara, and I will be rebuilding this summer. It does have, however, the Bose Wave Radio and the Disco Ball…thumpin’ ensued. Late, late we hit the beds and awake bleary to get to work. Aaron and I head up to Grand Illusions to prep for his lecture and finish the DVD signing. (Him signing, me stuffing the cases again. Ah, the fabulous, glamorous life of the entertainment biz.) A tedious job but the company was good so the work went fast and that’s when Shantaram dropped by.dropped by. |
| Shan, (sounds like “Shawn”) like many of my old magic friends, was just a little kid when I first met him coming into my magic shop. He lives up North in Eureka/Arcata, is a regular party magician and owns a grocery store. Shan may also be the most positive person I know…just a glowing ball of enthusiasm and drive, in short – I love this guy. The thing is, he’s never heard of Aaron Fisher and he’s never been exposed to the level of card magic that Aaron brings. He walks in with a huge hello and a hug for me, sees Aaron behind the counter neatly stacking DVD cases back into their shipping boxes and makes a very logical conclusion: “Is this your new employee?” asks Shan. Aaron looks up with eyebrows raised. I can read his mind, he’s thinking, “Your freakin’ employee?!” but he says nothing, giving me an opportunity and I’m not missing this opportunity, dear reader: I say, “Yeah! Shan, this is Aaron.” They shake and exchange pleasantries. “Aaron,” I say, “Show Shan a card trick, please.” Aaron smiles at me and takes out his pack. |  |
 | The next twenty minutes is filled with Shan shouting expletives, throwing his hands in the air and repeatedly trying to find his head as Aaron continues to knock it off. Truly awesome to behold, I assure you. Fortunately for Shan’s brains, Wayne Houchin walks in and Aaron’s pounding ceases, we’re joined by Alex and the four of us head to the Elephant Bar for lunch…it was yummy, we laughed, Aaron teased our waitress Britannia, let’s move on. The rest of the day goes fast and before I know it we’re rolling the display cases back and setting out the chairs for the lecture. The house fills up and we have to bring out more chairs, my peeps are excited to see Aaron and they weren’t disappointed. The man walks in and we finish setting up…its show time. Aaron’s lecture was very well structured. It included something that everyone in attendance could take home and use and, more importantly, it was filled with Aaron’s understanding of the mechanics and theories of magic. These allowed each of us to better understand not only what Aaron was showing us that night but also the mechanics and theories of everything we’re already doing or might learn in the future. |
| The majority of the material discussed in the lecture is contained in Aaron’s definitive work, The Paper Engine. If you consider yourself a card magician and you don’t have this book, acquire it immediately: http://www.grandillusions.com/category/aaron-fisher-products. Click or paste that link right now and check out the cool demo video for Aaron’s awesome new effect, The Secret Weapon”. The video was shot and produced my Dana Hocking and Wayne Houchin and was filmed right here at Grand Illusions for a group of my peeps that happened to be in the shop at the time. Take a look…you might see someone you know. (…and I don’t mean me!) In closing I want to thank Aaron for coming out and also all of my peeps who attended and made the lecture a smashing success. If you attended and have comments or stories about the lecture, email me and I’ll post them here in this blog. Thanks for reading! | |
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