The Boy Behind Bars

I am the boy behind bars. It's a detail from a picture taken in 1969 in a novelty photo booth on Million Dollar Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey. If I look sort of dazed, it's because I had just seen "The Ape Girl," a sideshow attraction in which, as the loudspeaker said, "Satanya slowly changes before your very eyes; from a beautiful girl into a big... hairy... ugly go-rilla!" I was not a stupid child. I knew that a woman could not transform into a go-rilla. But that didn't stop me from being petrified.

That same weekend my father got me a gift of a magic deck in which each card could turn into the ace of spades. One card couldn't transform into another any more than a woman could transform into a go-rilla, but that didn't stop me from being obsessed. From around that time until today, over 40 years later, a day has never passed when I haven't thought about magic, performed magic, read about magic, or written about magic. I even dream about magic; but that will be the subject of a later post.

My show in the 2010 Philadelphia Fringe Festival is about a powerless boy who transforms into a man of mystery. I hope you come to see it.