WQED Weekly
Sleight of Hand Magic by Paul Gertner
Clip | 6m 1sVideo has Closed Captions
This segment features an interview and live performance by sleight of hand magician Paul Gertner.
This segment of WQED Weekly features an interview with Paul Gertner, a sleight of hand magician. Paul demonstrates a number of his routines, talks about why he is interested in magic, and his goals for his career as a magician. This segment also includes an interview with his mother.
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WQED Weekly is a local public television program presented by WQED
WQED Weekly
Sleight of Hand Magic by Paul Gertner
Clip | 6m 1sVideo has Closed Captions
This segment of WQED Weekly features an interview with Paul Gertner, a sleight of hand magician. Paul demonstrates a number of his routines, talks about why he is interested in magic, and his goals for his career as a magician. This segment also includes an interview with his mother.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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These flying fingers belonged to Paul Gertner at the age of 22.
He is already a master at sleight of hand magic.
Sleight of hand artist is a name sometimes given to somebody who does this type of magic.
And, magic is stuff in art.
I feel like, and I do science.
A little bit of everything.
Okay, I'll show you something with a blue silk and a small orange rabbit.
Now, the idea is, if I take the blue silk and place it over the orange rabbit, it's just a sponge rabbit and wave at once.
Do you have any idea what I get?
No?
A blue rabbit, you see, which leaves the leaves the orange rabbit gone.
Let's look at that trick again.
Everyone likes to be entertained.
If you see a good magician entertains you.
Now, in addition to mystifying you don't know what he's doing.
You see a singer and, you know, she's singing.
It's nice, it's fun, but it's a novelty about not knowing how something is done.
And, you want to know.
There's not much chance that anyone will figure out Paul's tricks.
He's only been doing sleight of hand for six years, but he's already one of the best.
In 1973, he was chosen the best close up magician in the country at the National Magicians Convention.
Right now, Paul works mostly at industrial trade shows and an occasional nightclub date.
Not exactly high prestige jobs, but then nobody promised that getting to the top would be easy or glamorous.
The struggle to the top is almost a cliche in show business, but Paul wants it very badly and he's willing to work hard to get there.
I used to practicing, gosh, eight, ten hours a day times and not just sitting here all day, you know, not doing too much homework, but doing a lot of magic in front of the mirror.
27 passes his practice and I even worry if Weddings are full.
I say don't practice that.
There's certain times, you know, but it's it's always practicing practice.
And I think that's what makes a good magician a good person.
Practice is definitely what makes a good magician.
And there's no denying that Paul is one of the best around.
But a successful magician?
Well, that's another story, and talent is only half of it.
Promotion is the other half, and that doesn't come as naturally to Paul as the magic does.
So he's negotiating with an agent who can help him with the business end.
It's I think it's an important step, you know, it's one that I think everyone just sort of tries to avoid.
But you can't, you know, it's it's not that you try to avoid it, but when it's new to you, you don't know anything about agents.
And, you know, you wonder what's going to happen.
And what's it all about.
You have to find out bit by bit.
To outsiders, it may seem like an exciting life, and most often it is, but sometimes it's just hard to walk out there in front of an audience and do it all over again.
It's nice to have people kind of behind you telling, telling you you can do it.
From, well, I guess the people that mostly supported me say my parent and my mom and the kids at home, my girlfriend and, and teacher.
When he practices or anything, we watch him and we time him for shows.
When he's trying to get shows, we're waiting every minute and hoping that he'll get shows.
This whole thing means so much to him.
Something can be done with a small ball or small purse.
Now, inside the purse is a ball, which you can't see.
But whenever I pour it out, you see it comes out just sort of like that.
Watch the ball close.
You see, it's rather heavy.
There it is.
Whenever I push it in my elbow it always comes out my hand, I'll do that again a little slower.
In my elbow and out my hand.
I found that I can actually rub it until it disappears.
If you're wondering where it went, it's right over.
No, it's not over there.
You see, it's not over here because it's right up there by my elbow again.
But this time I'll do it even as slow as I possibly can.
I'll toss it up and catch it.
Now it's right there.
I'll push it right through the table.
Watch and you can hear it go right through the table.
Maybe that happened a little too fast.
I'll do it again, a little slower.
Watch close.
I find a soft spot, you see, and it goes right through the table.
But this time this ball is going to disappear so fast if you blink, if you see.
But it's right over here inside the purse.
Because that's where I keep it all the time.
But I think this trick's about run its course.
Its about time to put it away.
This seems to be the hardest part of the trick, but I think I have a link and that's the end of that steel ball going.
Paul hopes to make it big in magic someday.
And like most young performers, he dreams about the day when his name will be in lights instead of on cardboard.
Wouldn't mind working like this for a while.
It would be nice, exciting, I think.
I'd like to tour a bit, take a bit of the country in the world, you know, hit Europe and why not, you know?
Yeah, sure.
It's there and somebody is going to do magic in it.
And, you know, why can't it be me?
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