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All this experience
has led Christer to be chosen as this year’s Project Manager for
the 2006 FISM – 23rd World Championships of Magic (WCM).
This FISM event is held only once every three years.
This year, in Stockholm, with the help of the Swedish Magic
Circle and the support of the Danish Magic Circle and the Magic
Circle Norway, the city opens its arms to a 6-day extravaganza from
July 31 through August 5. To
give you a little idea of the magnitude of this... The opening party is
held in the “Blue Hall” where the Nobel Prize Dinner
is held every year and the banquet tables are “festively set for
2,500 magicians.” There
are 100 acts in the competition, nearly as many in the Dealer’s
Showroom and at least that many on the list of volunteers behind the
scenes. In an
extraordinarily calm voice, he says, “It takes a lot of work.”
Christer also tells
me, “If you’re going to create magic – you want it to be on the
market as long as possible.” If
you follow that thinking, then magic is also held in a moment that
becomes a memory. As
magicians, we know it’s equally hard to create that “moment” –
which in itself is a combination of elements known and unknown with the
powerful ability to sustain. I
guess what I’m describing is a CLASSIC.
A “Class Act” that has survived the “relative test of
time.” Christer, and his
inventions (like Ring In Salt, The Zebra Silk and The Necklace
Prediction...) and his ideas on creating moments have been moving
around us in outward spirals for a long time now.
He travels to the
IBM, SAM, WMS and WMS-Asia Conventions to attend and sell his wares.
Most often, his family takes care of the store and handles the
shipping details from home. Christer’s
inventions have been occasionally copied and sold without his
permission. This is truly a
“black hole” for most inventors.
Fortunately, pirates and profiteers can be easily recognized and
avoided. News travels fast
on who is doing what and Christer has found that most will discontinue
when confronted.
So, if you get the
chance to meet with him—the authentic “El Duco”—consider this
your introduction to a real genius and true Classic in our expanding
universe of magic. I’m
sure you’ll have questions of your own.
But, this is my fair warning, you will be surprised by the man
and his inventions... He may be holding a pocket watch—which
disappears... He may even
start his story... “I TINKER WITH TIME!”
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