|
It
all began May 20th, 2011 on the Chicago “El”. Mike Caveney, Bill Smith and I were riding the train
from the Magic Collectors’ Weekend convention near O’Hare Airport to a White Sox versus L.A. Dodgers baseball
game at U.S. Cellular Field. During the trip, Mike and Bill looked at each other and then at me and said: “Blackstone!”The die was cast. That one word sets in motion a string of events that culminated in my performance of Blackstone’s
Buzz Saw illusion at the recent MAGIC Live! It was one of the most challenging and exciting performances
of my life. Growing
up as a teenaged magician in the 1970’s, I remember when Harry Blackstone, Jr. brought his huge illusion show to the
Seattle Opera House. It was a spectacle. But like everyone who ever saw Harry, it was his commanding stage presence and voice
that stuck in my memory. Over the following years I not only had the opportunity to meet Harry, but to perform on several
convention shows with him. We became friends. I last saw him in May of 1996 when I emceed and he headlined the show at Stan
Kramien’s Northwest Magic Jamboree. We shared a dressing room and joked about many things. It was hard to believe that
in a year he would be gone. Harry died May 14, 1997 at age 62.
|
| Harry Blackstone and David Charvet - May, 1996 |
|
 |
|
Since I was about 16 years old,
friends have always told me I sounded like Blackstone. I never consciously tried to imitate him, but that deep, baritone voice
just came out of me. Like Harry, in my early days I also hosted a radio show and my voice eventually led me to a career in
radio and television advertising, as well as performing a stand-up corporate magic act and later, a full-evening show of classical
illusions. I had never expected to impersonate Blackstone, but throughout my life, the groundwork had subconsciously been
laid. Coincidentally, at the request of my wife this past December, I had grown a goatee, something I had not sported on my
face in 25 years. After Stan Allen called
me in June to confirm the appearance, I began studying. On YouTube.com there are three videos of Harry performing the Buzz
Saw illusion. Each is slightly different but from them, and after conversations with Bill Smith (who had assisted Harry for
10 years), I distilled what I felt was the standard routine. I transcribed the words and began memorizing the lines. After
committing the script to memory, it was then a matter of adding the vocal inflections, pauses and pacing that were so uniquely
Harry’s. This went on for weeks and really, up until I stepped on stage in Las Vegas. During all of this preparation, there was one element I had not seen: the Buzz Saw.
At my home in Portland, I blocked my on-stage movements with my couch playing the part of the saw. It was not until the day
before the performances that I first laid my hands on the actual prop, which had been supplied by John Walton. It was a bit
intimidating. Years ago I had toured with
Stan Kramien’s illusion show and while Stan had performed a Buzz Saw for several seasons, it was before my time with
the show. But Stan had told me about several close-calls he had with the prop and I remember whenever another magician would
ask Stan about the idea of them performing the illusion, he would always say three words: “Don’t do it!”
So, it was with a bit of trepidation that I approached Harry’s prop. Thankfully, Bill Smith and Allan Bracken (who had assisted Harry for 15 years) both agreed to be
onboard for this performance. I would have never attempted it without them. They had performed the routine with Harry literally
hundreds of times and knew the prop inside and out. Safety was foremost in their minds. Not content to trust the power switch
on the prop, Bill physically plugged and unplugged the power cord to the saw three times during the routine, eliminating any
chance of the motor and blade starting accidentally. It was things like this that instilled confidence in me and allowed me
to relax and concentrate on the performance. (Still, despite all of the precautions, during our first show Bill got a little
too close to the stopped saw blade and it tore a hole in his shirt sleeve. It reaffirmed to everyone that around the Buzz
Saw you can never let your guard down for even a second. Bill, however considered the tear his “badge of honor”
for the night!) The original Blackstone musical
arrangements had been transcribed and recorded by Michael Close, and they were perfect. When it came to wardrobe, about three
weeks before the show, Stan Allen contacted Gay Blackstone (yes, this performance – like all of Magic Live! –
was kept a deep, dark secret from everyone except those directly involved.) Gay was very gracious to loan me one of Harry’s
trademark sequined tuxedos for the performance. In talking with her, I found that to my surprise, Harry and I were exactly
the same size. Spooky. The finishing touch came when my optometrist supplied me with a pair of glasses similar in style to
those worn by Harry. I now had the Blackstone look. Bill Smith also recruited Ron Anderson to assist and most importantly, Melanie Cramer to be the “victim.”
Melanie is a veteran assistant on the Las Vegas scene, having performed in the acts of many of the strip’s top illusionists.
She jumped right into this rather scary role without batting an eyelash. Like me, she had complete faith in Bill, Allan, Ron
and the saw. Sunday,
August 14th, we all gathered for a rehearsal on stage in the Orleans showroom. Bill told me that earlier in the
day the saw had fallen off the truck when being unloaded at the stage door, but other than that(!), everything was fine. We
ran the routine once and it was rocky, to say the least. Allan could not be there for the first rehearsal. Bill was remembering
what he had done 20 years ago, while Ron, Melanie and I tried to get comfortable with the prop. We planned to reconvene Monday
for the final rehearsal, a few hours before the actual show.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| David Charvet as "Blackstone" - 2011. |
The two rehearsals on Monday went well, with the last
one ending about one hour before show time. Just enough time to get into the wardrobe and put on makeup. It took me about
30 minutes to make the transformation into Harry, including applying a temporary black hair dye. As I stepped from the dressing
room into the green room backstage, Bill Smith did a double-take. “My God, I thought you were Harry,” he said.
The show was now on, with
Mike Caveney expertly and entertainingly weaving the history of the sawing around the performances of Jonathan Pendragon and
Liberty Larsen, Mark Kalin and Jinger, Greg Wilson and Company and Kevin James and his crew. While I knew everyone on the
show, most of the cast only knew me as a writer and historian and not a performer. While they all wished me well before I
stepped on stage, I could tell that they were a bit skeptical if I could pull it off.
The red plush curtains parted and as I walked downstage I could
hear the murmurs in the audience. I then spoke Harry’s opening line, “And now presenting the most sense-confounding
problem upon the stage today,” the music began and we were off and running. Everything went like clockwork. Bill, Alan
and Ron were right on the mark. Melanie was hypnotized and placed beneath the menacing blade. The switch
was thrown and the table inched forward, slicing her neatly in two; or so it appeared. At the finale, she was lifted from
the table, awakened, and stepped forward for the bow. The audience response was extremely flattering, as was the reception
from the other members of the cast when I stepped off stage and back to the green room. Mark and Nani Wilson were especially
gracious and told me of when they worked with Harry the first time he performed the sawing on Dick Cavett’s HBO cable
TV special in 1976. Bill Smith had also been there for that first performance and now here he was, preparing for the last
one. The
second performance that night at Magic Live! was equally well-received , and if anything, our timing and pacing were better.
Hey, after all, we had now performed it together a total of five times, including the rehearsals! For the final bow, we brought
on Gay Blackstone to accept the plaudits of the audience. Like all of us, she was visibly moved up by the reception.
During the rest of the week, the number of
magicians and convention attendees who came up to me and said how much they enjoyed the performances was truly amazing. I
am still flattered and humbled that this recreation meant so much to so many. My thanks go to everyone who helped make it
happen, and most of all to the man who inspired it all, Harry Blackstone, Jr.
Will I ever perform the Buzz Saw again? Most likely, no. As Mike Caveney told me after
the show, “It will never look as good anywhere else as it did here.” Probably true. I have already been approached
with the idea of appearing as Blackstone at other conventions and shows, but at this point I have not committed to anything
definitely. Regardless of whether I again step on stage as Harry, these performances at Magic Live! truly
were, “Something I’ll remember to the longest day I live.”
|
| Ron Anderson and Bill Smith prepare the buzz saw backstage. |
|
| With a "restored" Melanie Cramer at the final bow. |
|
| (L to R): Allan Bracken, Gay Blackstone, David Charvet, Melanie Cramer, Bill Smith, Ron Anderson |
|
|
|
Next stop:
Abbott's 75th Magic Get-Together in Colon, Michigan. August 1-4, 2012. No Buzz Saw this time, but a couple of other Blackstone
"classics." Stay tuned.
|
|
|
