Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Tannen's Magic 27th "Louie Award" to Paul Harris

We are pleased to present Tannen's Magic 27th "Louie Award" to Paul Harris an inventor, magician, and writer. Described by the magic magazine Genii as "the most innovative magic mind of our day," Harris is listed in Magic Magazine as one of "the 100 who shaped the art of magic in America".

Magic Magazine states that "the feats of astonishments that Paul creates and teaches are in the repertoires of a multitude of working pros".

He has invented many original tricks including: "Linking Playing Cards", "Bizarre Twist", "a Solid Deck", a torn and restored card effect, coins materializing from mirrors, a card that appears to turn ninety degrees when pushed into the pack, and a torn and restored quarter.

Amongst the magicians who are known to have presented Paul Harris creations are David Copperfield and Doug Henning. In the field of card and close-up magic, Paul Harris more or less re-innovated the genre during the 1970-80s, and is held in very high regard among magicians in the western world.

Doug Henning performed a routine called "Twilight" on his third TV special in 1977. An effect using a coin and a mirror where the mirror image of the coin becomes real. A surreal piece.

David Copperfield in a 1984 special (the one where he made the Statue of Liberty disappear) performed a linking card effect "The Immaculate Connection." In this routine, the magician tears holes in the center of three playing cards in order to create three "frames." The illusion consists in causing the frames to appear to link and unlink without damaging any of the cards. At the conclusion, the cards are sometimes passed for inspection; to all appearances no extra cards or gimmicks are employed.

Harris has performed at the Dunes Hotel and at other locations on the Las Vegas Strip and was a technical advisor for David Blaine's Magic Man and Street Magic TV shows. He also contributed writing to the 1987 film Nice Girls Don't Explode, which starred Starring Michelle Meyrink, William O'Leary, Wallace Shawn, James Nardini, and Margot Gray--with special appearances by Dana Betz and Keith Knauer.

In 2006, Paul received the "Creative Fellowship" honor from The Board of Trustees of the Academy of Magical Arts.

In late 2008 Paul put out the True Astonishment Box Set: 9-DVDs. True Astonishments is Paul Harris' current, definitive, and final legacy. This is a monumental project of the highest caliber from the production to the material... it's simple, elegant, practical, and beautiful. True Astonishments is one of the most important projects to be released in the last 30 years.

Currently Paul is developing products by other magicians, sometimes in coordination with Paul and marketed under the "Paul Harris Presents" product line. 

On a phone call accepting the "Louie" from Thailand, Paul said "My Mom would be very proud".

Congratulations!