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MEMO:
TO:STUDENTS AND ALUMNI OF CONNECTICUT COLLEGE, NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT FROM: BEN ROBINSON '82 (On May 30, 1982 Ben Robinson was graduated from Connecticut College with a degree in Asian Studies. Upon receiving his diploma from the late Dean Alice Johnson, Robinson pulled a live rabbit from his mortar board.) |
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I was born December 15, 1960. Exactly 14 years later I became a professional illusionist. Let's define those terms via
the world's master magician, a man who defined terms for Webster's,
the legendary John Mulholland. Illusionist: One who practices the art of conjuring/magic by agreeably creating illusions manifestations that appear to be real, but are not real. |
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By the time I'd entered Connecticut College, at age 17, I'd already been paid to give over 500 shows between New York and California. Throughout my four years at Conn. I had a much different weekend schedule than my contemporaries looking for love or to drain a keg. Sometimes I wish my lot was different, but the reality was that I had to work at something that made more money than a campus job. I'd travel extensively between Baltimore and Boston performing everywhere from picnics in Stonington, CT to the Governor's Mansion in Massachusetts. One night I shared a bill with a mostly unknown pelican-jawed comic named Jay Leno at a strip club in Boston's notorious Combat Zone (At the time, Jay was living in his car, and had already made two appearances on the show he now hosts.) Those four years of shows paid for my tuition. |
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When I'd travel through the night usually aboard a dirty bus making a 3am connection in Hartford or Philadelphia I'd arrive just in time on Monday morning to make my 8:55am class with J. Melvin Woody and his Philosophy 101. I did my best to stay awake. George Burns, another great philosopher, at age 99, told his fellow Friars Club members that his secret to advanced age was "Love what you do. Because kid, they can't never take that away from ya." My mother-- a Madison Avenue copywriter who raised me as a single mother counseled -- "Son, whatever you do, it will be difficult. So, you might as well enjoy it." Now it is more than 20 years since I pulled a rabbit from my graduation cap and a smidgen under 30 since I first said, "Magic, yeah, that's for me. I'll do that." That's the background. Now let's see what this adds up to today, right now. I still love what I do, and I still think Burns and me mum had it right. But there's more. Have you ever heard the expression Alfred Hitchcock was so enamored with he used it for a movie title? IT TAKES A THIEF TO CATCH A THIEF. Translation: it takes an illusionist to unravel an illusion. And let's note: all illusions are not created equal. Some are greed-ridden; vile. So here's a message from one Connecticut College student Yours is a fresh-faced generation raised on cell phones, e-mail, the Internet, satellite communication, Space Shuttle missions and disasters, hundreds of TV stations, 24 hours news and a Presidential election decided by the US Supreme Court, NOT the American voter. Ethics have taken a hard hit to the notion that "greed is good" popularized in Oliver Stone's portrayal of the Ivan Boesky's of the world. It's simple: I have an odd affinity for what is REALLY going on. You might say I have a specialized intelligence. Perhaps you've heard about my predecessors who were persecuted in Jamestown, NY about 400 years ago. They were stoned, burned and hanged to death for being perceived as practicing genuine witchcraft. Illegitimate reasoning wrought the deaths of innocents. Across the ocean from the yet unborn American colonies, in 1584, a priest from Kent, England named Reginald Scott sought to end wrongful persecution with an explanation of the magician's technique in a book titled The Discoverie of Witchcraft. You know what? Few of these copies exist today because King James I of England (formerly James VI of Scotland) had most of the books burned. The testimony drawn from an expert source was not favored by the crown, so the expert was silenced? Sound familiar? Flash forward. As a man of 43, who has apprenticed to a master magician for five years (the great Milbourne Christopher 1979-1984), traveled the world as far as the base camp of Mt. Everest; and defied death in multiple outdoor stunts (where I was injured), I can categorically spot illusion because I live, eat and breathe the language of illusion. Remember our definition: something that appears to be true, but isn't.
My friends involved in the band Radiohead's, Hail to the Thief world tour proudly spread a message I gleefully joined. So did 37,000 others who attended at Madison Square Garden. I say listen to Thom Yorke and the band. I think they are telling us the truth. It's not just Radiohead and Bruce, the millionaire musicians, who have this point of view. I know this world too though I am not in their tax bracket. What has been done to this country, the United States, and particularly my hometown of 27 years, New York City, over the last four years is positively hidden under a veil of pernicious illusion. The details are a little long to go into here, so just bear with me for a moment. This country is at a cross roads, a very, very dangerous crossroads. And as you have inherited the dorms, buildings, educators and staff of this beautiful College, I appeal to you to understand you too will inherit the land, laws and territory of these United States. Therefore, I fervently implore you to express your feelings, outrage, and opinion by exercising your right to vote this November 2nd. While the fix was clearly in during the November 2000 Presidential election (particularly in Jeb Bush's Florida) perhaps we, the electorate, the voters, Conn. College students and alumni, ages 18 to 43, and beyond, can make a difference. I'll let you in on a little magician's secret. I've truly accomplished most everything I ever set out to do. I realize that is quite a claim. With imagination in my mind, creativity as my sword and relentless pursuit of my bliss, my career exemplifies practical wisdom I heard and followed as a younger man: IF YOU WANT SOMETHING, DO SOMETHING. Given that this is my experience, and audience and performer share the love of these Harkness lawns, I'm hopeful you too will act with more than hope. What's at stake: clean air and water; the freedom of speech and the right to assemble; the conscience of government; the respect of this country in the eyes of the other nations in the United Nations; the karmic swing of a so-called pre-emptive war that has murdered thousands of innocents, and most of all, the world your children will inherit. And I can faithfully tell you that's no illusion. |
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