Christmas Magic 2001

CHRISTMAS MAGIC 2001:

Upon the November video release of Ben Robinson's Live in Central Park (featuring the "chopper" referred to) Mr. Calvert, 90 years young, still touring the US, sent this note.

"The job of the magician is to inspire with the ancient art of illusion." -John Calvert

Dear Ben,

Thanks so much for sending the video.

We enjoyed watching it last night. It brought back many memories of good old NY. Tammy especially liked the wand in the bottle. You do it well. My old friend Lester Lake invented the chopper. We were both born in the big city of New Trenton, Indiana, 300 population. Lester was 6 years older than I and billed himself as Marvello. He invented over 300 tricks and most of them were marketed by Abbott. His specialty was his "Buried Alive" act which he performed at many State Fairs. Tammy joins with regards.

Your Friend, John Calvert

John Calvert is the World's Greatest Magician.

Bar none. There is no one else alive who can tell his story. A walking legend. Excepting the former USSR, Calvert has been to every country on Earth with his show. Sporting movie star looks and credentials, a great big magic show (often traveling on his own plane or huge yacht) with a "bevy of beauties" and breath-taking illusions, Calvert's show is presented with good clean humor for all ages! He's entertained more than 60 million people for over 70 years! I once overheard him say,

John Calvert flying blindfolded, 1986

"I haven't pulled into a port anywhere on this planet in the last 50 years where I didn't know somebody at the dock."

John Calvert is an American treasure.

I am honored that he and I have used the same tools. The guillotine illusion I received from

Ben Robinson & John Calvert, Charlottesville, VA, 1999

the Christopher's was used by Calvert in Los Angeles, in 1939, for 20 weeks at the Los Palmas Theatre. It was loaned to him at the time by film comedian Chester Morris (who used it in thousands of vaudeville performances). It is among the very first of its kind. Made by Floyd Thayer in the 1920's, now it aids amazing my victims... err... volunteers.

Mr. Calvert has graciously supplied the missing element in this timeline.

This holiday season, we honor the inventor and his invention. Here's testament to the creative genius of

Lester Lake.

How many millions, in all parts of the world, have been entertained by Mr. Lake's wonders? A musician gets royalties. A magician is lucky if they are remembered. Connecting with the past inspires me amidst the ever-turbulent Earth we inhabit.

Knockin' the block off "Cartoonlust" composer Rebecca Moore in Central Park, August 2001.

BEN ROBINSON'S MIDNIGHT MADNESS HALLOWEEN 2000 SHOW

CIRCA TABAC

SOHO

OCTOBER 31, 2000

"Magic is logical. Try it sometime."

-John Lennon & Yoko Ono

Ben Robinson, Strawberry Fields, Thanksgiving Day, 2001

In 1985 Yoko Ono created Strawberry Fields as a Garden of Peace in memory of her and Lennon's dream of world peace.

On Sunday, May 27, 1979 John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote an open letter in The New York Times which included:

"More and more we are starting to wish and pray. The things we have tried to achieve in the past by flashing a V sign, we try now through wishing. We are not doing this because it is simpler. Wishing is more effective than waving flags. It works. It's like magic. Magic is simple. Magic is real. The secret of it is to know that it is simple, and not kill it with elaborate ritual which is a sign of insecurity...Magic is logical. Try it sometime."

A Love Letter From

John And Yoko

To People Who Ask Us

What, When, And Why

Imagine !

Remembering the peaceful activism of John Lennon, in Strawberry Fields, on the anniversary of his tragic death,

I wish for peace . . . for the world, for George Harrison's spirit . . .

Imagine.

-Ben Robinson