The Billet Article - Losander Lecture

This article is taken from The Billet Issue - 415 - Sep 2006, Authored by Keith Pickles

Losander Lecture

We at the Bradford Magic Circle have just experienced the magic of Dirk Losander. He is renowned across three continents. He has performed his magic in exclusive venues from some of the finest Variety Theatres in Europe to the famed Magic Castle in Hollywood, California and now the Bradford Magic Circle.

The members that attended were captivated by the levitations that Dirk demonstrated, and although many members will not perform the effects seen, the principals of magic, which have made Losander so famous, will help and inspire every magician that saw him.

Now what Losander thinks of us Brits, I don’t know. There he was looking forward to an enjoyable and lucrative lecture tour of the UK magic clubs when some unmentionable goes and robs his car, taking the majority of his merchandise and leaving him with virtually nothing to sell. I cannot imagine how the offending miscreant got rid of 250 thumb tips, invisible loops (if he could see them), selection of silks and DVD’s that will appeal to a limited audience. But if you do see them on eBay, do the right thing and report it.

At this point I have to resort to memory as I made notes of the evening but threw them away when Jon Harris said he would do the report. Unfortunately his computer blew up after he had done his report and thrown his notes away, but before he had emailed it to me. So here goes.

His first effect was causing a bank note to stick to the palm of his hand as he manipulated it then caused it to fly back to his hand when he pulled it away. Static electricity was given as the explanation of this phenomenon. He felt that this was a better reason than simply saying ‘it’s magic’, because this, he believes, patronises the audience. He was able to perform all manner of deliberately short levitations that included a paper beach ball, business cards and his version of the dancing cane – an impromptu effect using a specially designed magic wand. Losander does short levitations as he believes that you shouldn’t overdo the floating stuff because once an object is airborne the trick is effectively over, and to milk it too much ultimately undermines the effect.

Losander’s other great expertise is the natural use of thumb tips. He credits his mentor, Salvano (who sadly died recently) with teaching him the subtle skills of repeatedly palming and resetting the thumb tip. Using these skills he was able to transform bank notes into coins, cause a coloured silk to disappear and reappear until it ended up in a spectator’s wallet.

In the second half, Losander performed some of his professional act. Using his special super-duper strong bubble mix he was able to blow some bubbles and apparently cause them to float wherever he wanted them to go. Whether it was holding and bouncing them between his hands, or moving one through a ring, he was in control. He even used a bubble to seamlessly blend into a Zombie Ball routine. I am sure he made it look a lot easier than it was.

Next he showed us a tied thumbs routine, where he was able to catch and un-catch his arms from a spectator’s arms. This effect went unexplained.

He finished with his patented table float routine, which was very expensive, but very effective.

Losander received a well deserved enthusiastic round of applause from the large crowd.

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