Magic lives a great moment. This is the statement shared by the Catalan magicians with whom La Vanguardia has spoken. Mag Lari remembers how his beginnings were: “When I started, there were no young people who did magic. Now, on the other hand, there is a very powerful school of close-up magicians”. But things don't stop here, because Mag Lari had a dream and made it come true: "In 2007 I set out to take a show to a stage, Secrets, as it used to be done in Barcelona."
Thanks to his initiative, today there is magic in small theaters, but also on large stages, such as the Victoria Theater with Mago Pop, directed by Lari. The magician Hausson describes it as an "out of the ordinary phenomenon" and reviews the history of local magic over the last hundred years: "In the first half of the 20th century, the great magic shows of the world came to Barcelona, including American magicians, that filled the Romea, the Novedades or the Borràs”. And he mentions names like Chang or Fu-Manchu.
According to Hausson, and as recorded in this newspaper's newspaper archive, the Teatro Cómico del Paral·lel hosted the last of these great shows in 1962, starring the German magician Kalanag. “With movies and television, the magic moved to smaller theaters and in the eighties and nineties there was a real drought,” he says.
We have to wait for the dream of Mag Lari so that half a century later magic returns to the big stages with great shows: “When I started, many magicians dedicated themselves to having private parties. Instead, I wanted to be like La Cubana or Tricicle, and fill theaters”. Mag Lari has just premiered StrafaLari, Hausson continues on tour with Jugant amb la màgia and is preparing a new show for the fall, and Mago Pop is about to make the leap to Broadway.
Toni Looser, president of the Association of Magicians and Illusionists of Catalonia (AMIC), believes that “magic is fluctuating and now is a good time; and if there is a television program that stimulates her, even more. Magic creates a lot of addiction. Now there are many young people enrolled in wizarding societies." But he laments that "as in all art, the character of the teacher has been lost." Young people watch videos on the internet and think that it's done. If you want to do artistic magic, you have to spend many hours”.
In this magical moment, the 23rd edition of the International Magic Festival – Li-Chang Memorial is underway. Until March 5, in Badalona you can see a sample of the shows starring prestigious names from other countries and also from here.
Mag Edgard raised the curtain on the festival yesterday, Sunday, February 12, at the Margarida Xirgu theater, with Somriures, and on the 18th comes the nocturnal cabaret Màgia i humor, with Murphy, Dania Díaz and Mr. Kebab. From February 24 to 26, the international gala will be held, with names such as Dario Adiletta (Italy), Frères Chaix (France), Alana (Germany) and Hyunjoon Kim (Korea), and the Catalans Álvaro Cortés and Mag Marín, with Joaquín Matas as master of ceremonies.
The festival is completed with the solidarity gala on March 5 and other complementary activities throughout these days. Among other awards, on February 24 Ferrandiz Gutsens, manufacturer of the workshop of the Mágicus store in Barcelona, will be recognized with the honorable mention of the festival for his career.
Catalan version, here
