It’s A Small World After All, Especially in Magic

So yesterday I get a call from someone who is looking for something and  has been calling all the magic shops and he can’t find it. We had two and he took the two and was very happy. I asked where he was calling from and he said California. So we had a little chat. It turns out, he’s an actor, magician and entertainer in general. During the course of our conversation the name Dale Salwak came up. I think they are working on something together. When he said that name it rang a bell in my overcrowded  little brain and I said “That’s a familiar name,” but I had no idea how I would know that name.

After he placed the order and we were through with our chat we said good-bye but that name was on my mind.

“Phil, does the name Dale Salwak mean anything to you.?”

“It sure does. He’s one hell of a nice guy and a terrific magician. He worked for us at Magie Montreal.

That’s the convention we ran with Wim Vermeys (Mephisto) for 19 years.

It happened unfortunately that our closing act for our 1996 show died shortly before the convention. He was a young and talented magician and it was sudden …a real shock. So now we were without a closing act for the big stage show. Hank Moorehouse, who was a friend, and ran all of Abbott’s shows said he would get us someone and that someone was Dale Salwak,  who took a redeye to get to us on time.

We phoned back the man from California and Phil and he had a nice long chat about it and Phil told him how much he appreciated and still appreciates what Dale did for us that time and to tell him that.

It seems we are all connected!

Magic, Free Delivery At Perfect Magic, Sort of!

         In case you didn’t know… sometimes it happens that you want something at the shop, but are worried you won’t find a parking space or maybe for some reason you can’t climb the stairs, or you may not have that much time to come up, and you need it right away or/and you don’t want to pay for shipping, which is understandable. We offer a special service that we have provided for several customers who have asked for it but I feel I should make it known to all our customers.

       If you know what you want, phone and tell us. We tell you exactly how much it will cost and can put it on your credit card or you can pay cash and if you want to pick it up, we will bring it down to you and make the exchange.  

     We had a dear friend and magician who lived down the street from the shop. He was an elderly man and although I enjoyed seeing him I always felt badly that he climbed  the stairs. We worked it out that when he wanted something he would phone us and we would do the transaction on the street. It worked out well for both of us.

     I have another customer who came up walking with braces and two canes. I nearly died when I thought of him walking up and down the stairs. He called the other day for supplies and he drove up and called to tell me he was downstairs in his car. I went down with his order, he opened his car window and we made the exchange. He always has the correct amount so I don’t have to make change.

     So I invite all of you, if you’re in the neighbourhood, although I would much rather you came up and spent some time with us, but it you’re in a rush we are happy to deliver to your car, or in person. We have a Metro close by. Just so you know!

Magicians and Their Tales

We’ve heard many stories from magicians over the years, especially since Phil loves to gab and once he tells a story, it makes them think of a story.

As one of the customers paid his bill, Phil handed me the money and said,

“He gets 90 cents change.”

I said, “You think I couldn’t figure that out by myself?”

Then the customer said, “These days, most people don’t know how to make change. I was in a store and  the cash register was broken and the person at the cash asked me to tell her what she owed me in change as she had no idea how to figure it out.”

Somehow this brought us to the olden days when we were young and had to do a lot more figuring in our head. I told him I remember the ice man bringing us ice on his horse and wagon. He told us that he used to deliver milk with a horse and wagon. He used to work at the  Iconic Elmhurst Dairy in Montreal in the stables as a summer job while he was still a student. One day the delivery man didn’t show up and the boss told him that he was going to deliver the milk that day.

He said, “I can’t deliver the milk?”

His boss said, “Why not?”

“I don’t know the route.” he answered.

His boss said, “You don’t have to know the route, the horse knows the route. Just get in the wagon and let him go and whenever he stops, that’s the route. You’ll see empty milk bottles with a note and you take back the bottles and bring them what they want.” Sure enough, the horse took charge of the situation and stopped at each customer’s house.

I thought it was a wonderful and funny story. I thought you might enjoy it, even if it has nothing to do with magic.

On the other hand, it could be a lesson to magicians. If you do something often enough, it becomes automatic, like the horse knowing where to stop.