Doug Henning Remembered

DOUG HENNING REMEMBERED by Ben Robinson

On May 3, 2003, Doug Henning would have been 55 years old. Today, we at illusiongenius.com remember our hero, the man who created the wave of magicians now in their 40's (Mac King, Jeff McBride, Lance Burton and myself to name a few) who continue in the tradition he started. Look at the exuberant smile, and the meticulously bent middle finger -- indicating magic was afoot. The costume in these selected photos was the one

Above, right and left Doug Henning, 1975.

Magic is not just a children's entertainment. It is a profound art that is actually best appreciated by educated minds. The celebrated magician/mentalist Max Maven eloquently stated that the great problem with magic in the 20th century is that "magicians have taken an art that is eminently profound, and trivialized it."

I would only add that those that call themselves magicians should take a lesson from Doug Henning. This is not to say they should act like he did. Rather, my friend Doug deeply believed in real magic.

Doug wore when he appeared outside of his role in the smash Broadway hit "The Magic Show." At right is the secrecy agreement he had me (and others) sign when I worked for him on his last TV special taped at the Ed Sullivan Theatre.

We chose these photos for several reasons. Firstly, the pictures represent the Henning I knew and admired as a kid. Secondly, what is so sadly missing in today's

TV magicians' performance is any semblence of true mystery, which, I believe, even Doug's costume represented.

Doug Henning was a modern Merlin

Some ego maniacal show biz illusionsts believe today that it is improper to generate mystery. They believe this leads audiences down the wrong path! We heartily disagree. Like Doug Henning, we believe it is the role of a wonder worker to generate wonder! This is done through creating mystery, which summons the emotion of wonder.

Doug Henning was the architect of wonder working for the revival of magic. Someone once said to me in Flosso's magic shop that "it

Above left: Henning levitating a girl from the cast of the popular Public TV show The Electric Company atop the World Trade Center.

Above: The playbill of Doug's show Spellbound (courtesy of John Poupart) at the Royal Alexandra Theater in Toronto, 1973, which came to Broadway as The Magic Show; opening May 24, 1974, and closed December 31, 1979 with Joe Abaldo in the lead role. The Magic Show is still one of the longest running Brodway shows, ever.

Below, Doug with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the Transcendental Meditation movement Doug initiated me into for the benefit of consciouness expansion and peace of mind.

What then is real magic?

For Doug Henning, real magic, was the unfolding of human consciousness and the unbounded potential that rests in all people to discover.

Above: the secrecy agreement.

Once this potential was joyfully explored and exploited, the resultant creativity would yield magical fulfillment of desires.

Basically, if you thought of something, or dreamt something, Henning believed, the dream could be realized. Such philosophy is very old. The Upanishads wrote over 2000 years before Christ that "I am that. Thou are that. And all this is that." What this cryptic edict means is that we are all one. In the essence that life is made more boutiful through the common pursuit of peace. Magic provides peace. Unfortunately, those that cannot accept the role of true wonder working dismiss the goal entirely.

was Christopher in the 50's, Mark Wilson in the 60's and Doug Henning in the 70's." They were referring to the most influential magicians of the decades.

Obviously this is a gross generalization, but in part, it is true. What seems so sad to me is that due to the hyper critical pseudo comedy of certain magicians, the values that Doug Henning stood for, are slowly ebbing away in popular culture. This is a tragedy beyond the art of magic.

Henning worked hard to preserve wonder

He knew the hard road to break through cyncism. That is why he embraced Transcendeantl Meditation.

Unfortunately these values have become corrupted by moron magician marketeers who use these terms, but would not know real mystery if it bit them in the butt (to paraphrase Ted Annemann).

May we all remember Doug Henning -- a man of wonder, peace and brilliant talent, who entertained millions by sharing in the glory of real magic!