THE BOB DYLAN OF MAGIC..
Magician Nate Staniforth kind of makes me mad. It’s frustrating to watch him predict the top card in a deck or hold up a printed lottery ticket with the numbers that four random strangers just said aloud … and have not one freaking clue how he did it.
But the former host of the Discovery Channel’s Breaking Magic calls for a more peaceful response than mob violence: “The point is that something extraordinary has happened,” he told his audience during a performance last year. After a decade on the college circuit, Nate Staniforth had a (magical?) reawakening. About five years ago, he left the U.S. — where magicians have creepy hairdos and dress badly — to meet magicians in different countries, finally setting down roots in India. Upon his return to the States, he’s been able to see the “wonder” of his craft, Staniforth says. His message, as he explained in a prestigious Oxford Union speech, is simple: “Magic for me has been a way to remain open to experiences like wonder and astonishment.” Up next, a memoir and a national tour… Read more….