Hello everyone!
Today’s topics are: The Tamariz Symbolic System
These are The Magic Memories 194, gone online Sunday, September 15, 2024, at 0:07h sharp.
All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, and 2023, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020, can be found HERE.
As you read this—assuming you’re reading it on Sunday, September 15—I am en route to see Juan Tamariz at his home in the south of Spain, or perhaps I’m already there.
I’ve been doing this since 1979, which means a span of forty-five years. If I could remember all the events, anecdotes, tricks, meals, and encounters with him and his magical and non-magical friends over these forty-five years of friendship and learning, I could probably write one of the most interesting and revealing magic books ever published.
But I won’t 🙂 (Not because I don’t want to share, but because I can’t remember all the details…)
On one of my very first visits to his home, back when he lived with his first wife Mary Pura and their two young daughters, Monica and Anna, in Madrid on Lope de Rueda, I acquired some of his early publications. Two of the most remarkable works, in my opinion, are the two volumes dealing with his symbolic system (1975/78).
The Tamariz Symbolic System
Juan Tamariz—truly a genius—developed a system in the 1970s to efficiently take notes, among the thousands of ideas he has contributed to the magic world. This system, somewhat akin to a stenographic method, is based mainly on icons and allows one to capture not only the technical details of a trick but also its presentational and psychological aspects (body postures and language, timing, misdirection, how and where to look, etc.).
In essence, Tamariz created a new language!
Unfortunately, this system never really caught on. I tried to master it myself but had to admit defeat after a short period. When I later asked Tamariz if he knew anyone who had adopted and mastered his system, he named José Carroll—the great and inimitable!—as the only person to do so.
The photo below shows the two original publications detailing the Tamariz Symbolic System.
A much abbreviated version, sort of Concise Symbolic Method, was published much later, at least in German – that is what you see in the photo below.
If you are curious to know how Juan Tamariz would use his symbolic system to write down a trick, blow up the image below, where a relatively complicated trick – Derek Dingles’ “Roll-over Aces” – has been captured in symbolic notation. To see a better resolution CLICK HERE.
Ah, I must interrupt as the Maestro has just woken up, and we’re about to start our night-long magic session on the patio of his lovely house near Cadiz.
This session will be interrupted only by a sumptuous dinner late at night, as is customary here. After midnight, the session will continue, usually until 6 am, when I will go to bed while the Maestro keeps communicating with angels and muses. We are so fortunate that in his many publications (coming soon: Flamenco!) he has been sharing some of the secrets whispered in his ear.
This year, at Juan’s, I’ll be sharing the magic and dining table also with Gary Plants and Paul R. Wilson, which should make for great company 🙂
Next week, I’ll fly directly from the south of Spain to Vitoria in the north of Spain to attend the Magialdia convention, which I’ve mentioned in several past The Magic Memories. Therefore, next week’s The Magic Memories 195 will also be brief due to my absence, but you’ll still find my solution and comments on the problem I posed in The Magic Memories 193, which I called “A Problem With Daley.”
Be sure to check in for The Magic Memories 196, going online on Sunday, September 29, 2024, at 00:07 sharp, to read about my experiences at Juan Tamariz’s home and at the Magialdia convention.
Wish you all a successful and happy week,
Roberto Giobbi
