Magician Juan Tamariz dies at 83 years old

BarcelonaThe magician Juan Tamariz died this Tuesday at the age of 83, as reported by his daughter, Ana Tamariz, on social media. "With great sadness today I say goodbye to my father, Juan Tamariz, an incredible person, much loved and admired by all," announced the illusionist on Instagram. The message is accompanied by a photo of the two of them. "I am very grateful for all the love he gave me and for all the love of magic he gave us. His memory and his immeasurable work will always be with us," continues Ana Tamariz's writing.

Specializing in card magic and close-up magic, Tamariz, born in Madrid in 1942, became interested in magic at a very young age, when at 4 years old his parents took him to the theater to see a magician. From that moment on, he began to train himself by observing various magicians. At 16, he applied to join the Spanish Society of Illusionism, which rejected him for not meeting the minimum age of 20. At 18, he tried again, and this time he convinced those in charge of the society, even though he did not meet the minimum age required.

The consolidation of his career as a magician runs parallel to the growth of his popularity, largely due to television appearances. He debuted in 1961 and, since then, he had a series of collaborations on the small screen. One of his peak moments of popularity occurred with his entry into the contest "One, two, three... say it again, he became one of the Tacañones. He participated in 53 programs and left the competition in February 1977. Later he continued to appear on the show, but only as a magician, not as an actor, as he had done with the Tacañones. About his time on television, he explained in an interview with ARA in 2012 who had ended up quite tired of the demands of the media. "There's a lot of suffering there, because of the atmosphere, the pressure, the rush... Nor is it the most conducive medium, because the better the trick, the more the viewer will think that they've edited the recording. And there's also the issue of audience. They told me: 'It's just that when you come out with the purple hat, you're liked more.' Look, I come out however I want, stop being silly," he said.

His work crossed borders. In 1973 he received the World Card Magic Award during the World Magic Congress held in Paris. In Spain, he also accumulated numerous recognitions, such as the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts awarded by the Spanish government and the Gold Medal of the Madrid City Council. However, he was capable of relativizing awards. "In a 100-meter race, there is one who comes first, but in art... Who is the best musician in history? Well, the one who has moved you the most, which is not the same as for another person," he said. Seen like this, there are surely millions of people willing to proclaim him the best in history, precisely because of the ability to move people with a deck of cards, "a wonderful instrument".

Physics student and violin 'player'

Although magic was a passion and a calling, Tamariz studied cinema and also physics... for very prosaic reasons: "To enter the Film School, they asked for three years of university studies, and the Faculty of Physics was nearby. I completed four of the five years of the degree. The calling was magic, and cinema as a derivative," he recalled. In addition to his talent for magic, especially close-up magic, Tamariz managed to build an inimitable singularity with his long hair, different war cries when he culminated his tricks, and the celebration with an imaginary violin.

Also, without losing the component of popular art, he contributed to changing the perception some had about magic. "Many years ago, they treated you as something absurd, they scorned you in certain intellectual circles, in Culture with a capital C, something very dangerous. Now they don't, they call you from fine arts schools and others because they see you as a magnificent popular art," admitted a magician who sought to convey "the fire and passion" for magic that he carried within. "I have learned from great masters like Frakson. In art, you don't have to like what you do, you have to be passionate about it. You have to feed the flame, and transmitting that is enough. Technical quality, structure, dramatization... are important, but you have to feel pleasure. For me, that is the most important thing," he explained in an interview with Carles Capdevila in ARA.