FROM THE
EDITOR
Paul Romhany
editor@vanishmagazine.com
www.vanishmagazine.com
W
hile I now make Canada
my home I am still very
proud to call myself a Kiwi.
This last month has seen two major
achievements from two very prominent magicians from my home
country.
I would like to personally congratulate one of my mentors Alan Watson
on his recent recognition by being
awarded The Queen’s Service Medal.
This is such an honor for a magician
in any commonwealth country and
for New Zealand it is not only long
overdue but well deserved for Alan.
He has been a huge influence in my
life and career and I remember over
35 years ago when I first met him. I
was in a local magic talent contest
and he was the judge. His remark to
me was “make sure you wear clean
shoes.” To some people this might
seem a rather odd comment, but I
knew exactly what he was saying.
You are judged as a performer by
your appearance the second you
walk out on stage.
That advice has always stuck with
me and served me well. And to this
day I do look at performer’s shoes
as it tells you a lot about how they
treat our art form.
It is also a very special moment in
New Zealand magic history as Ber6
nard Reid releases his long awaited
book, “Conjurors, Cardsharps and
ConMen.” See the review of the book
in the Review section of this issue,
but I would like to say that this
book is outstanding. It is filled with
wonderful stories, show reviews and
history about touring magic shows
from a time when most people
think there wasn’t much happening down under. The book itself is
stunning and I thoroughly enjoyed
reading it. This isn’t only for those
who love the history of magic, it’s
for everybody who enjoys magic in
general both young and old. What
I found funny was a lot of what is
happening with the problem of
magicians stealing from others was
happening just as bad back then!
It is an honor to have Anthony
Owen on the cover of VANISH and
feature his story. He is the producer
of many, if not most, of the Derren
Brown shows as well as a host of
television magic shows out of the
U.K. It was such an insight in to F