elManuscrito
EDITOR
Dani DaOrtiz/Grupo Kaps
COLLABORATORS & COLUMNISTS Dani DaOrtiz Juan Tamariz Katja Engblom Luis Otero Ramón Rioboo Roberto Giobbi Woody Aragón David Williamson Rafael Benatar
FRONT PAGE Javier de Agustín
PHOTOGRAPHS Grupo Kaps Ana Tamariz Katja Engblom
T
his is a special issue. With it, we begin a new phase with the publication. A phase which opens us up to the world, translating the magazine in to English, adding new and veteran collaborators. And we start BIG! With an issue dedicated to a maestro, a friend, a great person: Juan Tamariz. And it is accompanied by, as you can always count on, great collaborators, tricks, ideas, techniques and much more! I only hope to live up to all of your expectations! Welcome friends.
TRANSLATORS
Dani DaOrtiz
PROOFREADING
Blogdaortiz.com
Martin Kaplan Raahul Srinivasan
Christian Engblom
SPECIAL EDITION 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, unless requested written authorization from the editor.
For more information, please contact: contacto@grupokaps.com
Go to ElManuscrito.com if you have any questions or wish to watch the videos, search for content and for much more.
www.GRUPOKAPS.com www.elmanuscrito.com
This special edition is only a partial magazine, it is not a complete magazine.
CONTENTS
Habemus Tamariz!, Roberto Giobbi El Escorial, Tamariz and Cards, Ramón Rioboo Magic Queimada, Katja Engblom David Williamson on Juan Tamariz A Chat in San Fernando, Dani DaOrtiz Better than Tamariz, Rafael Benatar Mnemonica Tamariz, Woody Aragón The imaginary, Juan Tamariz The Toledan Carbuquillo, Woody Aragón Subtracting is better than adding, Luis Otero
Juan Tamariz Photo: Juan Tamariz
Photo by Roberto Giobbi
Photo by Ana Tamariz
E
Juan Tamariz and Roberto Giobbi
¡Habemus Tamariz!1 Roberto Giobbi
very age has had its talented magicians. However, there has always been one magician in an era who was head and shoulders above the rest. He was always ahead of his time and was a star around which other magicians revolved. In the 18th Century it was Pinetti, Hofzinser and Robert Houdin in the 19th, and Vernon in the 20th. What 21st Century magician holds that title today? Metaphorically speaking, the person that I am about to name is the most valuable and powerful card in a deck of playing cards, the Ace of Spades. The metaphor is all the more appropriate since a deck of cards is his weapon of choice. For many of us there is no doubt as to who is the Master of Masters in this century. For us the most important, the best and the most influential is none other than Juan Tamariz. Lucky for us we can say our Juan Tamariz because he is our contemporary. Rereading my first paragraph I think I need to make a correction. Juan is not a star, but rather he is the sun around which today’s world of magic revolves. Astrophysicists tell us that the reason that there is life on earth, but on no other place in the universe, is because thousands of diverse factors came together at the same time creating the habitable planet on which we live. In our magic universe Juan Tamariz embodies qualities that do not exist in any other magician of the past, present or future. Juan has succeeded in giving birth to astral, atmospheric and magical creations using his thoughts, his writings, his teachings, his lectures, his get-togethers and, of course, his performances. It is difficult to understand how he is able to do all this, but fortunately for us, he has given magic, artistic and human life to everything and everyone that comes in contact with him.
You may ask why and I would have to answer your question with other questions. Why does the wind blow? Why does night follow day? Why is love stronger than hate? Goethe said that art is the intermediary of that which cannot be put into words and, with all due modesty, I believe that the essence of Tamariz cannot be expressed by words alone. How fortunate we are to be able to see him, to hear
him and to magically live with and through him.
Is it possible for genius to marry with passionate dedication, inspired obsession, superhuman patience, encyclopedic knowledge, virtuoso-like manual dexterity, inimitable perfectionism, the desire to learn and know everything important in magic, an open mind and an unending capacity for lateral thinking, an extraordinary memory, charisma that attracts you from afar and an incredible depth in both thought and deed? In the case of Juan Tamariz, it is indeed possible. As a friend of mine remarked, “We are talking about the phenomenon that is Juan Tamariz”.
One of these days we are going to write a great book about him and in it we mere mortals will try and explain everything about this magic treasure, but this is neither the time nor the place. I know that there are many other friends, admirers and students who would like to say something about the masterful Juan Tamariz. Therefore, I will end my tribute with a poem of Jorge Luis Borges. Hofzinser said that card magic is the poetry of magic and poetry always reaches the heart. Juan Tamariz always targets our heart successfully with his fascinating and beautiful magic. Vague chance or the precise laws That govern this dream, the universe, Granted me to share a smooth Stretch of the course with Alfonso Reyes. Meticulous providence That governs the prodigal and the thrifty Gave some of us the sector or the arc, But to you the whole circumference.2
Let me end by saying what I imagine all who know him wish to say, too. Juan, a million thanks for everything you have given us and may you continue to share your gifts and your friendship with us.
1 Habemus Tamariz is, in its way, a play on words. When the College of Cardinals elects a new Pope the news that goes out to the world is “Habemus Papa”. 2
From Dreamtigers, by Jorge Luis Borges, translated by Harold Morland.