– January 15, 1991), also known simply as 'Slydini', was a world renowned magician. Best known as a master of close-up artistry, he served as inspiration to a generation of magicians, including Doug Henning

Doug Henning

Douglas James Henning was a Canadian magician, illusionist, escape artist and politician.-Early life:...

.

Biography

Tony Slydini was born as Quintino Marucci in Foggia, Italy. He was the son of an amateur magician who encouraged him to pursue sleight of hand at an early age. Slydini was attracted to the psychological aspects of the art, which would later show itself in his magic in the form of precise and expert use of timing

Timing

Timing is the time when something happens or the spacing of events in time. Some typical uses are:* The act of measuring the elapsed time of something or someone, often at athletic events such as swimming or running, where participants are timed with a device such as a stopwatch...

 and misdirection

Misdirection

Misdirection is a form of deception in which the attention of an audience is focused on one thing in order to distract its attention from another....

. He was also inspired by the relationship between the magician and his audience, which fueled his desire to be a close-up artist. While still young, Slydini and his family left Italy to live in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. It was there that Slydini began to experiment more seriously with magic. He worked in South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

's version of vaudeville

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 for a time. But soon, the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 hit and work became scarce. In 1930, he moved to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, landing a job in a museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

 on 42nd Street

42nd Street (Manhattan)

42nd Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, known for its theaters, especially near the intersection with Broadway at Times Square. It is also the name of the region of the theater district near that intersection...

. From there, Slydini found work in carnivals and sideshow

Sideshow

In America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair or other such attraction.- Types of attractions :There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions:...

s. On a visit with his sister in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, Slydini attracted the attention of an agent there, landing a job for $15 a day for a three-day show. His skill was apparent to those who saw him on those three days, including another agent who offered him another contract. This streak continued for some time: Slydini ended up performing in Boston for seven years.

Slydini died in 1991.

Style

In 1945, in New Orleans Slydini showed his own special brand of magic. His style of close-up was something that had never been seen before: he was one of the first to show close-up magic as an art in itself, rather than as a lead-in to bigger and grander illusions. Slydini's magic was impromptu: rather than follow a set sequence of tricks, he allowed his audience and the situation to dictate his show. Reportedly, Dick Cavett

Dick Cavett

Richard Alva "Dick" Cavett is a former American television talk show host known for his conversational style and in-depth discussion of issues...

 once asked Dai Vernon

Dai Vernon

Dai Vernon , aka The Professor, was a Canadian magician. His expert sleight-of-hand technique and extensive knowledge garnered him respect among fellow magicians. His influence was considerable in the magic world, and he was a mentor to numerous famous magicians...

who could still fool him. His answer: nobody but Slydini.

External links

• Thoughts about Slydini
• Conjuring Slydini
• Slydini's first appearance on the Dick Cavett show (Nov. 7, 1977) from Dick Cavett's NYTimes blog
• http://cavett.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/slydini/Slydini's second appearance on the Dick Cavett show (Mar. 8, 1978) from Dick Cavett's NYTimes blog
  The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.