Saturday, March 15, 2008

Dan Harlan Arrested

So the headline is, "Man Loses Pants During Bar Heist." It's complete with a photo of how his mug ended up after his wardrobe malfunction led to a face-plant.

What the headline doesn't make clear, is that the "Man" in the quote is Dan Harlan, the magician.

Now nobody's ever going to say Dan Harlan is their favorite magician, and he's probably as famous for his haircuts as he is for his magic, but he's most famous for is inventing a trick involving a deck of cards with a little flip book on the back of it called "Card-toon." You can see video of it here.

Nearly every magician who was practicing magic around the time this thing came out bought one of these, and it's probably among the most recognizable trick decks on the planet.

Seriously, I feel bad for the guy. He sounds like he's in a tough place in his life right now, and I don't wish that on anybody.

But I think the take home lesson--and one that I particularly needed today--is that even if your ship has come in, it doesn't mean your ship has come in. Sometimes life is way more about how you're living it than it is about what you think you've acheived.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

...and you feel "he had made it", I don't think so. Well known in the fraternity, a good magician, but I think he had a long way to go -- and that may be what was one of his problems. In any case, it is the hardest thing to avoid in this business.

Roger-Pierre