Homer Liwag & Friends

Back to the fun at the World Magic Seminar. Monday had come and gone. Lot's of fun into the late night. Who should walk by but my old friend Homer Liwag, his girlfriend Amy and her twin sister. Homer was looking at least 30 pounds lighter than the last time I saw him and had his typical energized glow. The girls didn't hurt the look either. It was just great seeing him. It's been a rare treat in my life to watch this young man take his place in magic history.



Homer shot this pic by having us all crowd under the lens. Always looking at the world from a different perspective



I shot this one from my normal perspective. You know life has taken a bizarre twist when you are the most normal person you know. I didn't see that coming. I'm happy to party with the freaks.

Homer was excited to introduce me to a friend of his. A clever young frenchman named Sebastian. At 3:00AM Homer led the way away from the activity of the bar to a secluded area one level up and around a corner. While riding the escalator up Homer was raving about this guys unique approach to magic. When Homer talks a guy up like this, it's bound to be something special. I was so flattered that he thought enough to facilitate a private performance.

While enjoying the new direction the morning was taking I was introduced to yet another fascinating character. A fellow named Jamie Schoolcraft, maker of precision coins. We all settled in to watch Sebastian weave a mystical spell that connected us all in a heightened magical mood.



Jamie & Sebastian

Sebastian, a fan of Paul Harris's interesting plot twists and innovations, demonstrated a few pieces of magical theater. My favorite was a routine he calls Memento's (after the 2002 film of that title). Like the film throughout the routine, he keeps forgetting everything. But knowing that he will succumb to this memory loss he leaves himself clues that eventually make the trick work. Fun to watch with a solid ending. It was great to hang out with these guys and see what makes them tick. And the girls hung in there there troopers. Any women hanging with Homer must have a high tolerance for our fine art.

The discussion turned to theory as we talked about various inspirations that we draw from outside of magic. These are the sessions that conventions are made of. Homer showed me some of Jamie's custom coin work, extraordinary work for a guy who says he has no formal training. In his van he had a portable work shop complete with lathe and oven. While at the convention he did some special work for some heavy hitters including Mike Gallo. He says he doesn't perform, but banged out a nice 3 coin routine. We talked about out mutual friend Thomas Wayne and the world of, top of the line trickery. At some point Homer asked me to do 3 Fly for the gang. I banged it out using my beat up old silver dollars. Afterwards Jamie wanted to inspect my coins. He looked at them in disbelief, and said, "I have NEVER seen coins like that. . . . and I have seen a lot of coins!" I wasn't real sure what he meant, then It occurred to me that they are truly beat to hell. He looked at the coins and then at me and simply said, "That's love, man. . l. that's love".

Homer thought it would be funny to make a shell out of one of my beat up old silver dollars. I also shared a wand that I had broke earlier that night and my beat up cups and balls. Jamie asked me, "What did your props ever do to you? I wondered.

Time flew by and I think I hit the sack before day break. Great night! My thanks to Homer for years of friendship.



Back in the day