The Magic Man

originally published as

Magic man: more than smoke and mirrors in the Air Force Times /accnews/Dec. 1, 2001

Mr. Trickster (Glenn Heald)

By Tech. Sgt. Andrew Gates 5^th CCG Public Affairs

 “My love for magic started when I was nine years old. I had gone to see a magician, and volunteered when he did a non-magical routine. His objective was to make fun of his volunteer, and he succeeded – I was embarrassed in front of the entire school.  I knew I could be more entertaining – and could do it without causing someone else discomfort.”

And in the following 34 years, Tech. Sgt. Glenn Heald, 5^th Combat Communications Group, has learned to entertain audiences, using a mixture of story telling and magic. “In all that time, I have never made fun of anyone else – I determined that if anyone would be the butt of a joke, it would be me.  Any humor of that type in any performance is self-deprecation.

“This isn’t a hobby for me,” the magician states, “this is my vocation. I am striving to be very good at this – it’s what I always wanted to do, and what I would like to do when I retire from the military.”

In the process of following his dream, Heald has entertained audiences ranging in size from 4 people to more than 10,000. “I have performed in nine countries, including Italy, Ireland, Cuba and a cruise-ship.”

His performances in Cuba – besides being the largest – were also the most rewarding, he said. He relates how the chaplains asked him to do performances at eight very large migrant camps in Cuba.  “It was kind of short notice, and I didn’t have a lot of manufactured props on hand,” Heald said.

So, he made props from items he had available. “I used duct tape, wrapping paper, cardboard, aluminum foil – anything I could get my hands on,” he said. “When I was done, the props looked as solid as any you might see in Las Vegas, although some of them were about ready to fall apart,” he joked.

The most surprising reactions came, though, when he used some props that he didn’t have to manufacture. He pulled a dollar bill out of his pocket for one of his routines and was surprised by the roar of approval. But the biggest reaction came when he did a routine with the American Flag at the end of the performance.  “When I pulled the flag out at the completion of the routine, I was afraid for a moment that the Cubans were going to rush the stage in their enthusiasm,” he said.

Although there is a certain adrenalin rush in entertaining a large crowd, Heald prefers the more intimate setting.  “I love performing for groups of less than 200 people,” he said. “I love to have children close to me – to be able to make them smile. If I can make someone smile for a moment – make them forget the real world for just a little while – to me, that’s real magic.”

Heald sees magic not as performing an illusion or sleight of hand. He prefers to think of magic as the effect he can have on someone’s mind. He likes to be able to use misdirection and the other tools of the magician to take people in a direction that they don’t realize they’ll go. He admits that his favorite audience, children, is probably the most difficult to work with. “Children are hard, because they take everything literally. They have no expectations. You can misdirect an adult, but children see everything – the youngest ones are even more difficult. They tend to say what’s on their mind.” Then I have to lead them down a different path.

He continues by saying that his more effective shows are those to people who are, or who think they are, more intelligent. “It is much easier to entertain or misdirect someone who believes they are smart,” he said. “Some of my best audiences are college-educated. They understand that something has happened – that they got misdirected – and they can deal with that. Sometimes, I’ll have someone who can’t stand the fact that I know something they don’t. They don’t like the idea that I could be ‘fooling’ them. Of course, my objective is not to fool people, but to entertain them. I like having “that” effect on someone else. I like to provide a sense of joy – a sense of wonder.”

The trick to magic, he reveals, is to be entertaining.  To demonstrate, he pulls out a well-worn 1935 silver dollar – one he states is a main staple of impromptu shows. He holds the dollar coin between two fingers, and starts to explain why this coin is so important to him. As he describes the eagle on the coin, he talks about how it symbolizes freedom, and that you can’t clasp freedom too tightly. He closes the fingers of his left hand around the coin, and explains that if you do, the eagle flies away – opening his hand to reveal that the coin has disappeared. Then, he speaks about the image on the obverse – the Walking Liberty. He describes that the Liberty can walk – which means that the coin could appear anywhere else – including his outstretched right hand. A flourish reveals the coin in that hand.

“I use this coin in most of my performances,” he explains. “The difficult aspect of performing is to be consistently entertaining. It doesn’t matter exactly what you do, just that you be entertaining. Of course, that is far harder than any other portion of magic.”  He reveals that he has performed for more than 10 minutes, with just the coin. “The show remained interesting, because of the stories which go along with the coin.”

He practices extensively with his dollar coin, as evidenced by the coin’s wear. He’s gotten to the point where picking up any coin triggers a certain amount of muscle memory, he said. “It’s gotten so I can’t pick up a quarter without gripping it,” referring to the discipline of holding an object in his hand by using the muscles in his palm. The coin routine gives him the ability to entertain at any time.  “I usually have the coin on me, so I can entertain small groups of people with simple coin work.”

Most of the showmanship is self-taught, as are the effects. “I have attended a few seminars – unfortunately, most of the folks there are willing to teach the tricks, but few of them can teach how to entertain a crowd.  In 34 years of practice, I have met one person who was interested in teaching stagecraft – how you gracefully move from one aspect of the show to the next.” That was Dr Charles Pecor, the most engaging performer I know.

He gets a lot of ideas from other entertainers – both good and bad. “I like to watch someone who can entertain.  I know how they are performing the trick – I have seen it and studied it. But if they can attract my attention and entertain me, I consider that the mark of a true magician.  I have had to watch some shows a couple times to get the full effect, because I was so overwhelmed. On the other hand, if they aren’t being entertaining, I take careful notes. I want to be aware, so I can keep myself from falling into the same trap.

All that study goes into making his performances better, as does adding new material. It takes him about a month to practice a new effect – after he buys it.  “Before I pick up a new item, I work on the dialogue,” he said. “One of the keys to making a show entertaining is to make the dialogue fit the effect – sometimes (YOU) who have to modify your proposed dialogue to match what happens.” After the month of practice, he is normally able to fit the effect into his show.

You could cut the tension with a knife, but Oh, the wonderful surprise pay off !

However, even the best illusions may cause problems. He explains about an effect where he put a rabbit into an empty box and then sticks a sword through the box.  The concept of the trick is that the rabbit ‘disappears’ from the box. “Unfortunately, the first time I demonstrated this effect, I had a group of four-year-olds who convinced themselves that I had killed the rabbit.  I had to take the entire illusion apart to demonstrate to them that the rabbit really wasn’t hurt. Needless to say, that was the last time I used that particular illusion in any of my shows.”

Glenn gets locked up

Despite challenges such as the one above, the show must go on. And for as long as Heald can see, magic is going to be a real part of who he is. “I need to do this – like a writer needs to write, or a painter needs to paint. I have to perform in some way. I need to put myself out there in some fashion.”

With his enthusiasm for magic, that, at least, is no trick.

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