In the mid-1980's, Mr. Henning retired from the stage and became increasingly interested in transcendental meditation. Ramon had never performed original tricks before, but in Steinmeyers studio he understood for the first time how they were birthed. There are no dead ends.. "Those magic tricks you buy in stores are junk. Discover today's celebrity birthdays and explore famous people who share your birthday. What I call illusion magic uses laws of science and nature that are already known. ''When I was in college, being a magician was not the classiest thing to be,'' he said. Henning was also a disciple of transcendental meditation and its leader, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Aside from its ambition and quality, what stands out is the breadth of Steinmeyers work. For one it was written as Merlin wasjust about toopen on Broadway, and the other being that it delves into Dougs new marriage to Debby Douillard (Henning) and the, I love this vintage 1986 commercial not only for its obvious camp value, but for the fact that it gives you a glimpse into Dougs touring productions and promotions. His net worth has been growing significantly in 2022-2023. He was determined to learn enough from the veterans to put magic in a play. He crisscrossed the country with his show and returned to Broadway in the 1980s with Merlin, which was nominated for five Tony awards, and Doug Hennings World of Magic.. WebWife: Barbara DeAngelis (div. The diminutive Doug Henning soon landed at Hollywoods Magic Castle, grant in pocket, for a three-month cram course. He admires a trick well done. People call out to performers, laugh, slap shoulders, and scream with surprise and wonder. Its also, The date was October 9th, 1985. Though his thinning hair and beard have gone gray, at 61 Steinmeyer retains a striking youthfulness that manifests in an easy grin, a cheerful chattiness, and eyes that seem lit from behind. Steinmeyer began as an audience member. He was When you gasp or scream in response to a card trick, its a hotwire to that emotion, to that sense of being incredibly pleased and feeling a sense, not only of surprise, but of wonder.. Also sported long hair and a long bushy moustache. What we want, instead, is to sign what Steinmeyer calls a mysterious pact between a performer and the audience. We want to be in the midst of that credulous, shrieking crowd at the Magic Castle. May 1, 2023. He was previously married to Debby Douillard and Barbara De Angelis. | It was very much of its time, Steinmeyer says. In college, he started pitching tricks to Doug Henning, arguably the worlds most famous illusionist during the 1970s. A decade later, Henning was awarded a star on Canadas Walk of Fame a touching epilogue from a country that gave him so much, says McNally. He earned a Best Featured Actor (Musical) nomination for his work in the conceptual tuner, The Magic Show, in the 1974-75 season. Some of these tell-alls have existed for generations. Henning eventually bought a piece called Modern Art, an illusion in which the magician stands inside a frame and, when the frame is moves, is subsequently split in halftheir legs stay in place while their torso and head slide with the frame. As one of the first illusionists to incorporate elaborate sets, Henning changed the way magic was presented. You want that thing to be very clear.. Hed been polite, but wary. The truth of how magic works is that most of us dont know because we dont wantto know. Debby also married Mexican artist Jose Carcamo, whom she divorced in 1980. Thats really what this is. In college, he started pitching tricks to Doug Henning, arguably the worlds most famous illusionist during the 1970s. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Contact Us. I ask where his ideas come from. Some days Steinmeyer is a mechanical engineer, building scale models with foam core, mirrors, and toothpicks; others, hes a historian and detective, reconstructing old tricks; still others, hes a graphic designer drawing up informal blueprints, or a playwright developing scripts to go with his illusions. He was a writer and actor, known for. His wife is Debby Douillard (6 December1981 - 7 February2000)( his death), Barbara De Angelis (20 December1977 - 1981)( divorced). No one is sneaking a look at their phone, and no one resists the timeless astonishment that has come from magic audiences for decades, from Charles Morritt to today. Logan Culwell-Block He also dabbled in politics. Today, running his own business requires an astonishingly disparate set of skills. Talaura Harms His story about the burglar and the safe is as much about what he doesnt say as what he does. Rather than perform for a small circle of spectators, the tuxedoed Goebel stretched his act across the entire stage, employing costumed assistants in larger illusions like levitation and sawing someone in half. We have estimated In 1992, he announced that he and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a spiritual adviser, would build a $1.5 billion theme park near Niagara Falls, Ontario. It was a box-office success during its two-week run at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in 1973. It made me think about magic in a different way, Ramon says, I was just a performer. He also created special effects for tours by his friend, Michael Jackson. TM devotees claim that the silent meditation technique promotes relaxed awareness, stress reduction, access to higher states of consciousness, and reduces heart disease and high blood pressure. You need to know the mechanisms of these tricks to avoid being taken in. In a room tucked behind the main entrance, I test Irma, the ghost operating the grand piano, and she nails my softball request (Hotel California). He was a writer, known for The Magic Show (1983), World of Magic (1977) and Doug Henning's World of Magic (1976). He abandoned his illusion magic for what he saw as real magic--the transcendental meditation and levitation ability of his friend and guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, with whom he began to study in the early 1970s. Discover Doug Henning's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. He made a firm impact on audiences of the time, and because of this, he is a permanent part of magics DNA.. With Ivan Reitman, a university classmate, Henning conjured Spellbound, a musical magic show, written by David Cronenberg and with music by Howard Shore. WebDoug Henningwas first married to Barbara De Angelis. Just like a real-life movie, the story of Buddy the Elf meeting his biological father has come to life, just in time for the holidays. Steinmeyer allows that historically, the trick is that the woman pulls her knees up to her chest when the sawing happens. Doug Henning was born on May 3, 1947 in Fort Garry, Manitoba, Canada as Douglas James Henning. Andrew Gans To order At one point derided as crazy and a has-been, Henning insisted to one Canadian political reporter in 1994: Im a visionary., Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Hollywood writers strike over streaming pay after talks fail, Models and climate activists hit the streets to protest the star-studded 2023 Met Gala, Gordon Lightfoot, mournful Canadian singer-songwriter, dies at 84, Tim Bachman, founding guitarist of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, dies at 71. The interview is notable for two reasons. All Rights Reserved. He begins a mesmerizing filibuster about the illusions evolution, citing his friend and mentor Alan Wakeling, who in the 1970s came up with an incredibly elegant design for the trick in which two audience members shackle the hands and feet of the woman, and instead of sawing the box in two, the magician stabs four blades through the sides. A native of Fort Garry, Manitoba, he moved to the United States and became an international star. Steinmeyer heads to his board meeting and leaves me to roam the castle, still only occupied by staff hustling to prepare for the first dinner seating. Magic plus theater equals art, the 20-year-old psychology major argued, convincing the government in his native Canada to give him a $4,000 study grant with the goal of reviving magic as a theatrical art. Taking its name from basketball star LeBron James, the work comes to New York after runs at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Center Theatre Group. At 53 years old, Doug Henning height Its important to me to create the largest wonder, Henning told The Times in 1984 before appearing at the Los Angeles Music Centers Ahmanson Theater. Steinmeyer does it all. He never lost interest in the magic world, says Nancy. Henning died Monday in Los Angeles, his business office in Toronto said. '', After his success with ''The Magic Show'' and on television, Mr. Henning returned to Broadway twice, in the 1983 musical ''Merlin,'' and in a 1984 solo show, ''Doug Henning and His World of Magic.''. Witnesses offer conflicting accounts, Mars Voltas lead singer broke with Scientology and reunited with the band. He was all over the newspapers, magazines, talk shows, and (had) yearly television specials. It was supposed to last six months; Steinmeyer kept the gig seven years before moving on to Disney Imagineering. Doug Henning & His World of Magic (Dec 11, 1984 - Jan 27, 1985) Performer: Debby Henning [Assistant] In fact, the script sucked and the characters were mostly uninteresting. In a world of deepfakes and identity theft and warfare by invisible computer viruses, real-life deception has consequences. By He reveled in the intricacies of itthe different historical accounts, Charles Morritts possible motives, all the potential explanations. This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. Magic is something that happens that appears to be impossible, he said in an interview with The Times. In the trick, which Mr. Henning performed in Broadway theaters, on television and even on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, his assistant was handcuffed and tied in a sack. Id be remiss in not mentioning that yesterday, March 24th, was Harry Houdinis 147th birthday. I Sign up for reopening news, announcements, and exclusive discounts on tickets to your favorite shows! When he offered to help launch the solo career of Alex Ramona former magician for the Ringling Bros Barnum & Bailey Circushe asked Ramon to write down his favorite tricks, architectural styles, pieces of art, color schemes, and so on to garner a sense of his aesthetic and his way of thinking. During the evening on my second day in Hollywood, Steinmeyer drives me to the Magic Castle. He later married Debby Douillard in 1981. If you know of a past magician not listed in MagicPedia, start a New Biography for them or Email us your suggestion. .css-v1xtj3{display:block;font-family:FreightSansW01,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-weight:100;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-v1xtj3:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.1387rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-v1xtj3{line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.18581rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-top:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.23488rem;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0.9375rem;}}Top 3 AI Image Generators. Suddenly the assistant was standing in his place, and Mr. Henning was in the trunk, handcuffed. People Weekly. In 1973, he borrowed $5,000 from his mother and, with a friend, launched a rock musical-cum-magic show called Spellbound in Toronto. He added stage sets and dancers and speeded up the illusions. Every magician thats out there working today owes Doug Henning a great debt.. '', As a student at McMaster College in Hamilton, Ontario, Mr. Henning studied psychology but planned all along to pursue magic as a career. Thats when I became interested in stage magic, Steinmeyer says. Steinmeyer demonstrates a version of the sawing-in-half illusion. The New York Times, in fact, labeled Steinmeyer theaters celebrated invisible man.. Reworked and retitled The Magic Show, it opened in 1974 at the Cort Theatre and enjoyed a four-year-run. Debbie told Beverly Hills [213] magazine in 1986. WebDoug Henning. With his magic shows, he rejected the traditional tuxedo and top hat costume and prefered bright multi coloured casual clothing and tights. The box incorporates design elements that make it appear narrower to the audience than it actually is. He was 52. He vanished and gradually restored on stagefrom veins, to nervous system, to skinthe titular character of The Invisible Man. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Woman has 'loud, full body orgasm' in the middle of LA concert, All the red carpet highlights and star-studded fashionfrom the Karl Lagerfeld-themed Met Gala, Bride killed, groom seriously hurt by drunk driver just minutes after leaving reception, Bodies of two missing teen girls and a registered sex offender among seven people found dead on Oklahoma property, The best-dressed celebs at the 2023 Met Gala: Rihanna, Gisele Bndchen, more, Kim Kardashians Met Gala 2023 look sparks comparisons to Playboy cover, Kim Kardashian, Pete Davidson reunite at Met Gala 9 months after breakup, Katy Perry will be temporarily replaced on 'American Idol' amid drama. He married Debby Douillard in 1981. People always say afterwards, I had no idea the performances were going to be so strong.. What happens, he says, is that an idea branchesyou start working on something and you go, Oh, it would really be good if it was like this. And you pursue that for a little while and you go, Yeah, thats not right. And then you go back and you pursue this for a little while, and this starts working. The SIX: The Musical star originated the role of Chiffon in the current revival at the Westside Theatre. So we went somewhere and talked a long, long time, and I remember having this powerful feeling of recognition. Morritt had come up with a new twist on a familiar routine: Magician presses his fingers to his temples, closes his eyes, and sees the un-seeable. | Given the nature of his business, he said, he had to be proprietary about sharing the way magic is accomplished. May 2, 2023, By Despite his enormous success in the US, Henning always considered Canada his home and was proud to tell people that he was Canadian, Nancy says. It was indeed Rich Hall playing Doug Henning, as he had in a few SNL sketches during that time, but the sketch you speak of was actually titled "Dueling Magis" Hes not even sure what to call the act. WebDoug Henning was born on 3 May 1947 in Fort Garry, Manitoba, Canada. Republication or distribution of this content is Im sitting in Steinmeyers studio in Burbank, California. Anyone can read what you share. WebWith Tenor, maker of GIF Keyboard, add popular Doug Henning Magic animated GIFs to your conversations. Doug Henning (1981 - 2000) his death. It has to be all three things: That you keep it, that its messy, and that its a notebook. A spiral-bound Strathmore Sketch pad sits on the table between us, and he flips through it, pausing just long enough for me to glimpse the pages. WebThe magician Doug Henning died at the age of 52. presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution Kellars arms are elevated skyward, a woman floating above his hands. ), Hennings television shows won him an Emmy and seven Emmy nominations. These positions had their rewards, he says, but he struggled with the compromises that come with corporate productions. I realize Steinmeyer has been trying to lead me to this point all along. Winnipeg-born Henning fell in love with magic as a child. In ''Merlin,'' for example, Mr. Henning created the image of a flying horseman disappearing into thin air and his co-star Chita Rivera being turned to stone. It was an overwhelming experience. He was a writer and actor, known for The Magic Show (1983), World of Magic (1977) and He was a writer and actor, known for The Magic Show (1983), World of Magic (1977) and Doug Henning's World of Magic (1976). Two other Steinmeyer illusions soon made a Henning TV special, and Henning eventually offered him a job helping launch Merlin on Broadway. Doug and Debbie Houdini Plaza 1986 Performance, Close Encounters of the Doug Kind: Part Three, Nathan Lane Discussing "Merlin" on Playbill.com, Remodeled James Earl Jones (Cort) Theatre Interior, Follow THE DOUG HENNING PROJECT on WordPress.com. In the 1993 federal election, Henning ran, unsuccessfully, in the riding of Rosedale in 1993 as a member of the TM offshoot Natural Law Party of Canada. Doug Henning . Our website is made possible bydisplaying online advertisements to our visitors. There are careful sketches of rotating, hinging mechanisms, drawings of altered cabinets and wardrobes enveloping phantom figures and annotated with measurements and enigmatic notations. He is survived by his wife, Debbie. Doug Henning had no children. Doug Henning, the ebullient, shaggy-headed magician who sparked a renewed interest in the craft and breathed new life into some of history's most famous illusions, died on Monday in Los Angeles. ", "After the show," she continued, "he came over and tapped me on the shoulder and asked if we could talk later. What Shows Have Been Renewed or Canceled? Survivors include his wife, Debbie. Lloyds of London would soon insure his hands for $3 million, or $300,000 per finger. A favorite of theatre fans and industry members alike, the restaurant is sounding the call for positive reviews on Google. In further support of the maharishi, Henning also ran (unsuccessfully) for political office in England and Canada as a member of the maharishis Natural Law Party. The members-only club for magicians and enthusiasts is both a laboratory for the craft and, by night, a place for guests to take in performances both large-scale and intimate. Type any trick into a search bar and you can view explainers and deconstructions of its mysteries in secondsendless variations on invisible wires, trap doors, and rigged boxes. Canadas investment in the arts paid off. Over in the larger Parlor of Prestidigitation, Bill Abbott presents a mashup of puppetry and magic featuring a lustful monkey. Rene Clement wrote: I remeber years ago they did a dueling magicians parody supposedly Henning vs. Copperfield. As well, Debby starred in several summer theater musicals (including Fiddler on the Roof and Applause) and studied mime, jazz dance and singing. WebWho Is Doug Henning's Wife? They don't teach you anything.". Logan Culwell-Block Also learn how He earned most of Doug Henning networth? Will Self-Driving Cars Out-Smart Human Drivers? David Howard has written for many national publications and is the author of two nonfiction books, most recently Chasing Phil: The Adventures of Two Undercover Agents with the World's Most Charming Con Man. To take the stage, Kyle passes through a giant fan with spinning bladesthe very trick Id spotted in one of Steinmeyers notebooks. Henning liked the way it spun off a trick called The Zig Zag Girl, in which the performer divides an assistant into thirds. So as one of historys greatest conjurers of magic continues to explain and not explain the safe trick, I find myself wondering: If anyone can dig up the secrets behind many of Steinmeyers tricks, why is he so intent on hiding them? Steinmeyer sees Im not going to let the sawing-in-half trick go, and maybe against his better judgment, he relents. (Some of Dougs illusions are still being used by magicians, says McNally.) But heres a list of everything inside.. The sack was put in a chest and padlocked. Doug Henning, a Superstar Of Illusion, Is Dead at 52, https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/09/arts/doug-henning-a-superstar-of-illusion-is-dead-at-52.html. November 12, 1986, pages 6-7. He was credited with updating an old-fashioned vaudevillian entertainment by modernizing its image with his long hair, tie-dyed T-shirts and jeans instead of the magicians traditional top hat and tails. WebHenning discovered TM while working on the Spellbound show in Toronto. Over the next decade, he was a regular presence on television, adding splashy new tricks to his repertoire, like a 1980 show where he appeared to have been eaten by a shark. "Dougy was supposed to speak that night and do some magic, and I was supposed to tell him when to go on stage." , money, salary, income, and assets. Coincidentally, Id seen that exact trick at the Magic Castle the night before. The thing about the Magic Castle and places like it, when youre there in the right size theater, the intimacy is just completely amazing. CREDITS. Its a time capsule, everything analog, and the audience arrives with a roiling, tipsy energy. Everyone idolized him, and the age of modern television and stage magic began then. The two actors join the cast of the international hit musical in St. Louis, Missouri. If it didnt, it wouldnt be a trick, it would be reality.. He was the face of magic, McNally says. The legend reads: LevitationThe Greatest Illusion in the World.. A magician friend often told Steinmeyer, If you want to keep something a secret, publish it., So why dont more of us know how magic works? TV magician and escape artist who brought Merlin to Broadway and became known for his groovy mustache and rainbow-colored clothes. Steinmeyer and I eventually wile away almost an hour analyzing the early-1900s illusion with the thief and the safe. Henning sees no one at any. In each case, he stunned audiences with a seemingly impossible array of disappearing assistants and levitating ladies.
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