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"Simon Lovell is an expert at close-up magic with high-class sleight-of-hand being mixed with audience participation. His performances not only fool the audience but have them laughing as well. He has performed all over the world, from the famous Magic Castle in Hollywood to the London Palladium, through the Middle and Far East to Australia and Argentina.
"Along the way Simon has produced fourteen videos, published sixteen books and written literally hundreds of magazine articles, short stories, and scripts. He has lectured worldwide to casinos and to specialist groups of magicians."
-- Dust cover, Simon Says
On getting to know you
 Numerous photos throughout Simon Says picture you in spectacles with bright yellow frames. Do you wear these in performing situations to intentionally stand out? Is there an Elton John influence at work here?
 Actually I don't wear them anymore - I guess they were just a stage I went through! Now that I have a beard I think big glasses would make my face
just too busy so my glasses are kinda normal (unlike the person behind
them!) - I do like early Elton John music though.
For the sake of readers new to Simon Lovell, what is the genesis of referring to yourself as a lemming, and indeed the Head Lemming on
occasion?
I had an effect which, because of its patter, was called "The Lemming
Ace Exchange" (see the book!). When asked for a nick on the web (in an IRC
room) I chose Lemming because it was the first thing I thought of! As
others joined in as "lemming in training" etc. I decided to call myself
Head Lemming. Now I tend to mention lemmings more often than maybe I
should but it just amuses the hell out of me!
On bar magic
Your 1995 lecture notes based your performances at Mad Murphy's, a bar
in Hartford, along with outside work at parties. Can you tell us a bit
about your work at Mad Murphy's, and are you still there? [To elaborate,
do you, for example, perform for small groups casually in a bar
situation, or do you do a set for the entire group, a la Tom Mullica or
Doc Eason?]
I'm not at Murphy's anymore though I thoroughly enjoyed my stay there. I tend to perform in bar situations to small groups but will occasionally
open out the crowd for a big finish or to join up groups. Part of my job
was to try to get a cool atmosphere going for all, so if I could drag a
loner or two into a larger group I'd do it. Performing for small groups
means that they can chose to watch or not. I don't like foisting
performance on people just for the sake of it!
On England
In the same vein, just where do you live now, and how often do you get
back to England?
I live in Hartford, CT and get back to England about once a year on average.
There are photos in the book of you performing for the Manchester United
soccer club and dining with ex-England soccer manager Matt Busby. With soccer on the rise in the U.S., can you get your fix here, or do you
sorely miss British soccer?
There's some soccer on TV but I must admit that pals send me over tapes of games from time to time to keep my fix addiction at a high!
Have you ever performed for royalty?
Yes, The Queen, Charles and Margaret but have to admit to being a bit of an anti-royalist - especially the latest degenerate whining mob.
On bookings and other fiscal considerations
Your biographical data credits you with performances world wide. How do
you go about booking far-flung engagements for close-up magic?
Lots of ways. Sometimes it's management or agencies, sometimes I hear about something I want to do and actively persue it - other times it may
be word of mouth or someone sees me live or on TV!
As a young man, Alex Elmsely took a look around at the financial prospects of close-up magic and decided to seek his fortunes elsewhere.
I'm pleased that you and many others were not deterred and have made a
go of it. How did you develop a sufficient market in close-up magic to
make a living at it? [For many, the answer is that close-up magicians
must do trade shows. I am particularly interested in your response
because you don't seem to have taken that route.]
I don't just do close-up is the easy answer. I also perform stand-up as well as writing for other comedians. Obviously part of my income also
comes from lecturing and performing at clubs and conventions as well as
writing and creating magic for myself and others. I think that to make a
living you have to be flexible. I do very few Trade Shows because they
are really hard work and highly admire those like Mike Rogers and Paul
Gertner who can handle it.
On the allied arts
The bio data also mentions a childhood interest in fire eating and
escapes. Have you thought of incorporating these elements into your
comedic/magic shows? I am thinking here of Bob Sheets' success with
fire eating and Mac King's with the thumb tie, as examples.
Not any more, I'm getting too old! Although the comedy straitjacket escape with the puppets is still a feature of my stand-up performances.
On card hustling
I am more familiar with your magic and comedy than with your card shark
background. Can you tell us a little about your work in this area?
My grandfather was a professional poker hustler and taught me some cool stuff as a child. I also met and learned from friends of his and others
I've met along the way. I spent some time working on a carnival for a
time where I also learned a slew of stuff. Hustling and cheating has held
a life long interest for me.The magic and comedy came much later. In fact
I could Second Deal before I knew what a Double Lift or Cross-Cut Force
was!!
Did you ever put your card shark skills into play in money situations?
And if so, are there any interesting stories there?
Yes and yes! Enough said on that!
On non-magical topics
When you came to the U.S. in 1977 to continue your studies, what were
you majoring in?
Probability Math along with Psychology.
Bruce Elliott, who edited The Phoenix, was quite proud of his alter ego
as a science fiction writer. You are credited as an author of both
short stories and tv/radio scripts. Do you write for a specific genre,
and for what markets?
Mainly Horror and Crime, both fiction and faction. These are areas that hold a particular fascination for me - I guess I can be pretty morbid at
times. I always write under pen names though, as I don't want various
facets of my personality to combine - way too frightening!
On Mrs. Lovell
[Note to my readers: Simon is married to a dish of a young lady named
Kat, and they own a large cat. Or perhaps he is married to someone
named Cat and they own a large kat, or something along those lines.
Whichever, she turns up in photos throughout the book, and is thus an object of my curiosity.] Many of us have wives who will have nothing to
do with magic. Yours, on the evidence of a photo, actually put on a
Houdini sweatshirt and got into a boat with Howie Schwarzman. What a
sport! To what extent does Kat support your magic? And does she do any
magic on her own, or with you?
Kat and Howie
Not only does Kat do some cool magic, but she is also pretty knowledgeable and, as such, a great critic to run new stuff by. She can be pretty
brutal at pointing out bad sight lines or bad construction. We don't do
magic together but she totally supports my magical stuff and is a huge
and wonderful inspiration. I really couldn't do it without her but I
guess that's what love is all about. Also Kat is a real Houdiniphile and
collects stuff on him. She's buddies with loads of other Houdini nuts and
loved a recent visit to Sid Radner's where he showed us some tres neato
stuff.
On creativity
Simon Says is an omnibus collection of high-concept, audience
blockbuster type card tricks. How do you go about developing such
material? [This is a short question but to me one of the most
important. The creative process, especially in magic, is just
fascinating.]
Hmm, short question - long answer. I'll try to keep it mercifully short. First I think about what I want the end picture to look like then
decide what starting point that it has to have for me to be able to aim
towards the finish (I write scripts and stories the same way - always
starting with the finish). Then I write down two columns - one methods
(all I can think of) and one presentational (all I can think of). Then I
try to logically marry both presentations with methods. Honing it down I
then try to aim for a straight line which eliminates extraneous moves or
patter and leaves me with a nice, easy to describe and understand magical
effect that makes sense. Difficulty of moves or actions is never an off
putter although I do try to stream-line the method to be the simplest
possible for the effect I'm trying to get (sometimes failing miserably!).
For every 100 ideas I play with about two or three make it to performance
testing.
On Simon Says
I sing the praises of Simon Says elsewhere in this issue, but I did have
trouble comprehending one item, the "Card in Bottle." One would have to
read the book to understand this question and to realize I'm not being
casually prurient, but how do you get away with this trick without
making it look as if your accomplice is toying with your butt?
Depends on where you are working - it could be a bonus! Actually behind a bar this is not a huge problem. Squashed working areas, higher
performance area, along with highly focused forward direction (or
misdirection) makes this much easier than it may appear. I have to admit
that, these days, I use the Afterthinks Method much more commonly than
the main chapter method. Both are useable though - I never publish
anything I haven't tried numerous times to iron out the problems.
Simon Says is liberally illustrated with knowing line drawings by Hannah
Ammar. What was it like to work with Hannah? I'm fantasizing numerous
long nights in some secluded rendezvous, where the two of you could work
undisturbed, for the good of magic.
Hannah is great to work with and does wonderful work. Unfortunately, since we're both married, secluded rendezvous were out and even if we had
some I doubt very much if magic would be a topic that popped up!
On difficult sleights
Most of your blockbuster effects are easy to do, but a few are not. Was
it a conscious decision to make difficult sleight of hand a factor in
your repertoire (e.g., I can do something most other guys can't), or did
it just happen naturally because you had honed these tools and they were
there when needed? Whichever, it takes a serious time commitment to
say, "I am going to learn to do a push-off second deal." What motivated
you to tackle this and other difficult sleights?
See above really. I learned to deal seconds early on so it's a good tool for me. Impressing other magi has never been high on my list of cool
things to do. The reason for the methods, instead, is that they seemed to
be the best straight line to achieve the effect. The Card Fold for
example was not designed to be a great one but simply to fold the card
back out the right way round for the effect. Now some of the big boys
rave about it which is nice, but not what is was designed for! Tools are
just that, tools - you use them to create the magic the best way you can.
The more tools you have the more options you have. I already do a bottom
deal but am working hard to perfect Tom Gangnon's one-hand lateral bottom
deal as I have a use worked out for it and now need this new tool! I
don't learn sleights for the sake of them - simply if I have a use for
them.
On interesting people
Bill Goldman posted an entertaining message [of questionable precision] on the EG describing an
important audition in Chicago for which an elite melange of Chicago
magicians turned out. He described the reception area as looking like a
magic convention, with the likes of Eugene
Burger, Ross Johnson, Danny Orleans, Jay Marshall, Jim Krenz, Bruce
Bernstein, and others nervously fiddling with cards and thimbles and the
like. He even threw in a mock image of Eugene Burger as the first out of "the room":
"I have never seen him like that. I can still see him walking toward the elevator, head bowed, hunched over, a long
black thread with a box of matches on the end of it trailing behind him like some
alien tail." As fantastical as Goldman's description became, it is now part of the Simon Lovell mystique that you came in and,
over all of them, emerged with the contract. Just what was this gig,
and what material did you perform in the audition?
The story is totally from Bill's fine and amusingly fertile mind. The Company saw me work elsewhere and booked me. Bill then posted his tale to
give everyone a smile. Some got it and others, as you'll know if you are
an avid EG reader, didn't. It was a very cool gig though! When they first
saw me work I did Fingered Three and Four, Lemming Ace Exchange and a
presentation of Dice Stacking recently published in the Gemini Authors
booklet. [Note to readers: See "Campus Bookstore" in the magazine proper
for ordering details.]
That's about it. Thank you for participating in this interview. I hope
the book extends your fame and makes you and Louis wealthy beyond your
dreams. Oh, yes, one more question: Do you, um, have any photos of
Hannah Ammar?
Er .... maybe! (but don't tell Michael or Kat!)
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