talkmagic.co.uk

I have noticed that this forum comes up prominently in search engines. It occurs to me that this may be of use in searching out a fascinating character that used to work for me selling svengali decks.

I am writing a book called "The Lives of a Showman" and it is going to be published by David Ben of Magicana in the spring of next year. I will be devoting a whole chapter to Ann Fuller later known as Ann Larrichia. Ann was one of the greatest svengali demonstrators I ever came across and I think she would like to know that she is being written about.

I lost contact with her about 16 years ago and have never seen sight nor sound of her since. I can't find any real trace of her on the internet so I am going to take a long shot and see if I can find her this way. Sometimes people do a google search of their own names and she might do just do this and find herself mentioned on here.

She worked in England, Ireland and Canada for me. It is an odd thing that the best two svengali demonstrators that ever worked for me were both women. One is married to a very famous magician that you all know and the other was Ann. The odd thing is that Ann was never a magician herself but she could sell those bloody svengali decks like nobody's business.

It will be rather good if she finds herself mentioned on here and locates me that way. My website is www.marklewisentertainment.com if by some long shot she sees this.

I think a miracle has happened. A long shot may have paid off.

Excellent, it's good when nice things like that happen!

Yes. It happened a bit differently than I expected though. She posted as Svengali Queen on this forum and I figured out that it was her from the things she said. I figured that she googled her own name and she found this forum that way. I made contact with her and strangely enough she didn't know about this thread. She hadn't googled her own name at all. She was cleaning out her house and saw something that reminded her of her svengali days.

On a whim she googled my name and found my website and not only that she found me all over the place causing trouble on the magic forums. And and naturally she found this site too.

She started her own thread but hadn't seen this one until I pointed it out to her.

She really is the svengali queen. I remember when she was selling two hundred decks a day in Belfast and later in Toronto. The odd thing is that it is the only trick she knows. She isn't even a magician.

In the early days when she was doing all the tricks wrong I couldn't bear to watch her. She kept hitting her arm saying "You ARE a silly girl, Ann" when the tricks went wrong.

And yet no matter how she mucked up the tricks the punters loved her. I soon swallowed my criticism of her execution (OK-murder) of the svengali deck when I realised she was selling upwards of 200 decks a day.

Of course she got better at working the deck and still sold a ton of them.

Anyway I am pleased to find her again after 15 years. We had a lot of adventures with the svengali deck travelling together all over the British Isles and later in Canada.

Good to hear the news Mark, perhaps we can look forward to some of those stories being posted here from time to time ?

If she visits us again she might mention one or two of them. I am curtailed somewhat since they are in my book and my publisher isn't keen on me releasing them.

Here is one though. I was working in Dublin with Ann around 20 years ago at some boat show or other. I remember Paul Daniels visited the same show at a subsequent year and saw me working.

Anyway Ann went for a break and I was surrounded by about 5 marauding kids. Dublin children from the rough parts of the city are a special breed. They steal and cause so much trouble that store detectives have to guard the entrance to department stores all day in shifts to make sure they don't come in.

These kids were throwing my cards around and causing one hell of a ruckus. I kept trying to fend them off but they had mastered the art of misdirection to perfection. One would distract me while another would steal stuff off the table. I was about to embark on physical assault of Irish children when I saw Ann coming back from her break.

She summed up the situation and beckoned them over. I thought she was going to have no luck with them at all since they were uncontrollable. She whispered something to them and they went as white as a sheet. All the noise stopped and they all walked away as quiet as a mouse. I might be imagining it but I think one or two of them were shivering in fear.

I was utterly astonished since rough Dublin kids in those days were afraid of nobody. I have even seen them swear at policemen. I couldn't believe my eyes and naturally wondered what has made them all walk away white as a sheet and as quiet as lambs.

I asked Ann what she had said to them but she wouldn't tell me. She just smirked in a superior manner and kept it to herself. To this day I still don't know what she said to them.

I have waited twenty years to find out and I have been wondering about it to this very day.

Perhaps the svengali queen will reveal it on here. She probably won't though.

She isn't even a magician but she knows how to keep a secret!

I am really, really sad--even distraught. Talk Magic reunited me with Ann but now she has gone and will never be reunited again. She died of Cancer last week. It came as a shock since she never even told me she was sick. She was a real character and those of you who have read, "The Lives of a Showman" will know who I am talking about.

Sorry to hear that news, Mark.