Tricks of the trade

>> Magician’s silence
conjures up a lot of laughs

by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Jonathan Levey aka Max

Age: 50

Occupation: Magician

Bio: When this very proper Lasalle stud isn’t working his day job as an employment counsellor at Jewish Employment Montreal (JEM), he’s making the corporate event/party circuit as Max the Magician, wowing one and all with his unique combination of magic and knee-slappin’ old school humour. Inspired by early ’70s television comedy, Max developed a large part of his act as an Old Montreal street performer and today regularly incorporates his magic talents into the workshops he conducts for his day gig. “Once my employers discover I have a little magic in me, they always encourage me to use it in a way that makes things fun.” He drives a 1998 Honda Odyssey and can be contacted via maxmagician.com.

One way he magically spices up his employment workshops: “Maybe I’ll have someone pick a card from the deck and then put it back where it [miraculously] rises to the top. Just like you’d want your CV to rise to the top of the pile if you were one among hundreds trying to get a specific job. The magic works as a nice visual cue. You can’t just wave a magic wand and get a job, but there are ways of getting noticed. On my Web site, I show a simple technique to make your business card vanish at the end of a meeting and then reappear. And when you leave that person will remember you—and probably try doing the trick themselves afterwards.”

Something separating Max’s act from other magic acts: “I do silent comedy. I’m the only magician I know doing that.”

Is it called silent comedy because no one ever laughs? “No, it’s where you don’t say a word, everything’s communicated through gestures. You know, putting things in people’s hands like magic wands, or taking someone’s credit card and ripping it up. Later, you make it appear in their pocket and that makes them happy.”

Do people ever believe he might actually be “magic”? “People have asked if I’m into black magic, or if I can heal their illnesses. I tell them maybe they want to see a psychic healer or someone else instead.”

Does he believe there’s any legitimacy to the claims psychics make? No. “If only because I know everything they do has been produced by magicians.”

One place Max first started developing his act: “For classrooms of special needs kids.”

Isn’t performing optical illusions like carving people in half and assembling them again because you’re “magic” a recipe for disaster when it comes to mentally challenged children? “No, it’s an excellent way to engage them. You’re a children’s entertainer who touches a lot—but in a nice, friendly way, a fun way. I really interact with my audiences and there’s a lot of laughter. They can certainly follow that.”

Something Max still does: Volunteer his act at Mount Sinai hospital. “It’s very meaningful to me—and mutually rewarding.”

Does he like to go fishing and, if so, do his friends ever call him the Fishin’ Magician? “Um, no, very funny.”

Last book read: The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne.

Musical preferences: William Galison, Simon and Garfunkel.

Words of wisdom: “Find unexpected ways to make people laugh, you’ll feel great and they will too.”

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