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Web Exclusives:
Under the Ivy June 8, 2005: The
magician and the escape artist Sometimes you find a column idea; sometimes a column idea finds you. Picking up the bound volume of PAWs from the fall of 1971 to the spring of 1972, I opened at once, as if by magic, to the headline “The Great Weinrich.” Such a headline, accompanied by a series of photos in which a young man frees his hands from unbreakable chains, is not to be resisted. The Great Weinrich – Jim ’72, to his friends – was one of two professional magicians operating on campus during the spring of 1972. Director of the Magic for Parties student agency, Weinrich put on his show at eating clubs and children’s birthday parties, performing in short sleeves to the bemusement of even his adult audiences. The biology major planned to head off to graduate school the following year, but hoped to be able to continue his shows while he studied. PAW reported that in a novel approach, he had applied to major airlines for the chance to perform over the summer in “the new coach lounges.” Weinrich’s friend and fellow prestidigitator Bob Baker ’73 had an even more elaborate array of tricky talents. The pre-med psychology major – who spoke fluent Spanish, hosted his own weekly music show on WPRB, and hoped to become a pediatrician – could turn a cane into scarves, switch a copper and silver coin from one hand to the other without moving his hands, and not cut off a volunteer’s head with a guillotine that sliced an apple in half. In addition, he could escape from a straitjacket in two and a half minutes, a skill he performed semi-reluctantly for PAW reporter Ellen Foley James. “I can do without the escapes,” he said. “They impress people but they hurt. At our senior high school carnival I escaped from a straitjacket seven times in one afternoon, and I still have the scars to prove it.” He was also a talented ventriloquist, performing a shtick with an irascible sidekick called Oscar Makyne. “There is something to Oscar’s character,” Baker told PAW, “and unless I believe in him as a real person, I can’t hope the audience will believe in him. I love the magic, but if I could keep only one thing, I’d keep Oscar – this is going to sound corny, but we’re really good friends.” Baker rounded out his entertainer’s skills with a gift for hypnotism. Explained PAW, “Baker says he has always been fascinated by the mind – in learning and in memory – and in physiological psychology, or the biological basis of behavior.” For PAW’s article, Baker hypnotized photographer Rick Hesel, leading him through a variety of suggestion exercises such as erasing the number four from his memory and convincing him to jump suddenly from his chair at Baker’s signal. Baker stressed that he understood hypnotism’s dangers, however. “When I hypnotize someone, my first concern is not to entertain those who happen to be watching, but to fulfill my responsibility to my subject. … I refuse to take risks with people’s psyches.” Baker took the long view of his gifts for entertainment. “I
think that with all the problems of the present, people like to
lose themselves once in a while in a fantasy world. If I can bring
one hour of genuine enjoyment into a child’s life –
anyone’s life – then the hours of practice, the sore
hands, and the scars on my back are all worth it.” Jane Martin ’89 is PAW's former editor-in-chief. You can reach her at paw@princeton.edu
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