While walking around the hotel ballroom where the trade show was held (in Atlanta) I stumbled onto the booth where Tim was performing, and watched him amaze several crowds and myself. The little crystal ball trick is what I remember, and the Coins and Cylinder, and something with the appearance of a shot glass from nowhere that was filled to the brim with water. What I remember most is his showmanship and that huge grin and great personality. I broke away from my booth every chance I could that day, just to watch him. I had no idea how he was doing any of his effects. I wanted to learn. I wanted to be like Tim.
After the show, I cautiously approached him. He had done some card magic, which also really grabbed me. I asked him that if he was just starting out in card magic, what book would he get. He suggested “The Royal Road to Magic”. After the show, before I went home, I went to Eddie’s Trick Shop in Marietta, GA, and bought a copy of The Royal Road. The next day, after the show, I again looked him up, showed him my new book, and asked him if he would suggest any particular things in the book that I should study. Tim graciously sat down and underlined several sleights, and wrote some comments about several sleights and tricks in the table of contents …”Learn this!”…”practice this one over and over”…things like that, and he autographed my book. Then we sat and talked a while. When Tim saw my interest, he became more generous with his time with me that day. I wanted so much to know how he did some of his effects, but thankfully for me, although I had not been introduced to the proper etiquette of magic, I didn’t ask him “how”. I did ask if he thought he would ever write a book on some of his effects, and he said “No, why would I do that? This is my living. If I gave stuff away that I have worked so hard on, that only I know, then I’d be out of a job.” He was right, of course.
So Tim got me started in magic. I’m just a hobbyist, I enjoy reading about card magic more than I do performing it (only the occasional trick or two for close friends). But now I have over 250 books on magic, which I have been collecting since that day that I met Tim. His enthusiasm lit a fire in me. His powerful intellect was there for all to see, and it was impressive. I was later to learn that his generosity was something that not many professional magicians have…only the great ones.
I still have that book, and I often go back and find it in my shelves, and read what Tim wrote, and think of those few moments he shared with me. I am one of those who firmly believes that in some mystical way, we, all of us, and all things, are connected somehow in this thing we call the Universe, and that what we put out in the way of our actions comes back in some way. In Tim’s case, what he put out came back not only to himself but to countless others. His Magic did what Magic is supposed to do…it made people happier. The happiness he gave to me has lasted these many years. I know my little encounter with him must have been repeated by him hundreds of times with others.
With much Respect,
Phil Pearce