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BBnHHHyiHDra^l^ | - ? Hj^^^HpHBgHflv -::-j^wP-"- W^m^h 5 jfryMiNM ^/KBBml^CSn^^SltiKBu V ; ':''^BHMMBMMM1BfflW ? EMMMMBMMBM* WKKMmmgmm Come wit, By Brett Bydalrk Qam?cock SUM Writer Legerdemain. Prestidigitation. Sleight of hand. These are iamuiar woras 10 any tan ot magic. And, according to Steve Beam, co-owner of the Columbia Magic Shop, there are quite a few of them in this area. "Kreskin, Doug Henning and Blackstone have all appeared in recent years to capacity crowds," he added. When asked about professional magicians in town, he replied that there are a couple of working pros and "around 20 to 30" amateurs of professional caliber. Beam and his partner Henry Pettit have owned and operated the Columbia Magic Shop for the past two years. Beam was quite explicit about the type of shop it is: "We timnf ?f fA KA n OKAW Unf Unn maitaUIA^ MA^UAM A rrant 11 iw uv a magiv. ouup uiai iiao uvvciuco, 1 auiu (.lid 11 a | novelty shop that has magic," although he admitted that | the novelties "help pay the rent." He added that two or three times a week someone will come in looking for witchcraft supplies, "eye of newt, stuff like that"; however, the shop deals only in performing magic. The shop is located in the Parkland Plaza on Knox Abbott Drive, just across the Blossom Street Bridge. The hours are Tuesday through Friday 12:30-7 and Saturday 12:30-6. Beam himself is a nersnnnhlp vnnno man in hie mW. X- J vvi*?D Ml* 111 IUO II11Utwenties who recently graduated from USC with a degree in accounting: "When you run a business, it helps if you can handle the books." He got started in magic when he was about nine; he borrowed a couple of books on card tricks from the library. He added that he has been doing magic professionally for " v$L/ A, v .lllil igfa^Kl*^.: K*y_\ -~^- -^r ^ ^^^^^BSaaMiBlEiBmcfflS jfelSSSr.i^;V*7^#<j? ^ *%!& &}&) Ssfrj Hick* -- GAMf COCI kvW.VkW%T.'V a'* . V.VWV'-V.VVV.VV, V, : W'.- v AW.VVWWVrt-.'A-. VAV^| *$ - * i .y v'.V '' ^*' "V 'J ' . .W.*'."1 J. "'''^ 5' '"'^'^' S |.<y!>v-'. < . ; f i i ^ n us to trie mc HHHBBHHHHHHELlnSXmSt I about 11 years, including several years in Texas. In ad- fe f.A.i t j A*- - -A t - J-- ? ' - - - ' ? uiuun iu running uie store, ne uoes gigs arounu town aooui gp twice a month," although some times of the year are busier gji than others: "Christmas is a busy time." p| The most common job for magicians in Columbia is gj birthday parties, but Beam limits himself to "cocktail |j parties, banquets, conventions, and the like.'' gj Henry Pettit has worked full time for Emergency Medical Service (EMS) for "18 years or so," according to m Beam; he became interested in magic about two years ago, p through his father-in-law, who has been a hobbyist for some j| years, reuii is jusi starting 10 penorm protessionauy. He |gg runs the shop weekdays from 6 to 7. IB Beam stated that there has been an upsurge of interest in || magic in this country, due in great part to Doug Henning's g| Magic Show on Broadway a few years back. At the | moment, it seems to have crested, but whether it will can continue or drop off is something at which one can only Bes guess. Beam went on to say that Columbia has a larger slei number of people interested in magic than another city of the comparable size. There are about 200-300 people who come of a into the shop on a regular basis, once a week or so, to see T what's new, and a greater number that just come in once in the awhile. ' cou A lot of the items sold by Beam and Pettit are things that S mn ha mamfArwl uHttl An hnair AT hun nranflna "ehtff W/UI thn wwu MV IICIKUWA VU IIIWI HU UIVIU VI wnu MA pA OVIUft J VTU ? T' < ^ ?1 exp vj; < . m g^gig H Si B 80n "1?it^KO! (ib 1 iSllll? :''^'?'ff ^.'f: r _ ||" >27 >' j'-3^ aIM I ^ mmmmmmmamammmmmmmmm I ^y^iuciiiain i a i* ' r e s Liaigilaiio n . . . height of hand . . . Columbia Magic 'hop In Parkland *laza igw store <: ?&j|g?gg -- '-'.j S^r W'f:S'j0 ,; 'V . A 1 i IHifflliMi^ gjjmi ^;i"'^:' 8 B i pick up in the afternoon and do at a party that night." im pointed out that the great majority of their stock is ght-of-hand tricks, since that is what the two owners mselves do. They will, however, special-order any piece pparatus they don't keep in stock. hey also teach classes in sleight-of-hand, although not at moment. The classes meet Saturday mornings "for a pie of hours" for five weeks, at a cost of $35. o far about 60 people have taken the course. Beam said t they prefer to have just a few people in each course, so to ffivA Mrh * ? ??u -u?"? - ?j? ? * ? 0? m uiikii aueouon ana ume to nonstrate as he or she needs. Naturally, students are ected to practice between classes. The next class is ected to start somewhere around the second week in ober. hree or four times a year, the shop will arrange to have ro come in and lecture. These lectures are usually held he store, but occasionally there will be more people who it to attend than the store can hold, so a room is rented aewhere, "but that's no problem." here are local branches of the two societies for gicians: i ne international Brotherhood of Magicians tM), which is for general magic, with about 40 members; 1 the Society of American Magicians (SAM), for sleifiht land practitioners, with 15-18 members. Nearly all gicians in this country belong to one or both of these <upe. Phen I queried Beam about women in magic locally, he 1 me that a few have been through the course, and there i about five women in the IBM. A ? .* \