Harry Blackstone Jr. was the first magician I ever saw. Sure, it was on television, but it seemed so real to me. Magic always has. He had so much style. He was the master of ceremonies, but he was just a conduit. Maybe I exaggerate his modesty because today’s popular magicians seem so arrogant and lacking in personality. Sleeveless and svelte, so easily ignored.

Harry Blackstone Jr. was the real deal. Plus, he had that funny, protypical television voice. To my ears, he wasn’t just old, he was old school. Just listen to him. You hear that playful, diabolical laugh:

“There. And now that you’ve seen it, my dear. Now that you’ve all looked at it carefully, may I show you… a miracle? (snaps fingers) Ha Ha Ha Ha. She says, ‘that’s impossible’. Of course, it’s impossible. That’s why we do it. Ha Ha Ha Ha.” Behold!

Magic. My departed grandmother’s drunken, toofless grin. My little cousins laughing. The five times I’ve been in love. The first time I heard John Bonham’s bass pedal. Eating tamales under the Guanajuato night sky, etc. All those events leave me in a quandary. That childish suspension of belief need not end in a dolt hood. I like shit that can’t be explained. It doesn’t have to be! It’s all an illusion anyway, yes?

“Nothing I do can’t be done by a 10-year-old… with 15 years of practice.”
(Harry Blackstone Jr.)

Disclaimer: If, after watching this video, you think, “Oh, I know how he did it. Let me explain…” put the mic/keyboard down and back the fuck up. This ain’t karaoke. And this ain’t club jenna. Wax on Wax off somewhere else, please. We don’t care. We don’t want to know. But, if you dare share your ignoble insecurity with us, we pray that a gazillion pneumatic lesions terrorize your nether regions. Alakazam!

Previously on ¡Sounds Like Burning:

**¡Sounds Like Burning is about psychos, angels and psychotic angels. Who else deserves mention?

Bill Hicks condensed the first law of all the Arts: Play From Your Fucking Heart!

The performances to be aired here are rigodamnediculous. The biblical scholar Bon Scott once commanded: Let There Be Light. And There Was Light.

Can one make the unknown known? Tune in and Trip out.