By Deana Murray

El Duco is from Sweden and would describe himself as “an entrepreneur, creative inventor, project manager and convention organizer.” He is far too modest! This is a little like hearing Albert Einstein simply stated:

“I TINKER WITH TIME.”

And like many of El Duco’s inventions, he may look ordinary, genuine, “ungimmicked”, strong, durable and foolproof. However, underneath the surface is the delightful spark of genius. There’s definitely something behind his smile and beyond his eyes that says he knows the answers to questions most of us haven’t even thought of yet. And still, this man and his inventions are the product of great thought and experience, which is not achieved all at once. “There is a lot of trial and error in the invention game.”

He speaks Swedish, of course, a little German and what he calls “bad English.” But it isn’t half as bad as the Swedish I’d been practicing. “What was your name before you became famous?” I fumbled the words. So I confessed. “Jag talar inte Svenska.” (I REALLY don’t speak Swedish!) So we relied on English. CHRISTER GUSTAVSSON is his real name and there were few words that lacked translation.

THERE'S A LOT OF TRIAL AND ERROR IN THE INVENTION GAME.

If you follow the Periodic Table, Christer became “El Duco” when he was 14 and performed for his first society event. His father drove. It was at his father’s car painting company that Christer found the inspiration for his now famous trade name. “DUCO” was the name on the paint cans. This roughly means DUKE or BARON in the kingdom.

Christer kept performing in his younger years... “Until he was ready to stop.” When he re-entered the magic world again in 1972, he came back as an inventor. This is magic at its purest level. How do you take experience and knowledge and turn it into an original thought? Logically, he made creative items for himself and then he sold copies through Magic Dealers for about four or five years. His very first invention on the market was called “Plexi Silk”. Today, Christer only sells his products through his own resources. Magazines, trusted dealers, internet and at conventions. And he has at least 175 other tricks up his sleeve.