Notes and Thoughts from a Menagerie

One ‘trick,’ $3500, seven days, over 5300 miles from home (If you wish to retain metric, 8600 km)

The first time I made the acquaintance of Armando Lucero and his Coin Menagerie was in the summer of 2003 at the Den Haag FISM. He introduced me to some of the most outstanding work in the magic world. During the first couple of nights, Armando performed for 20 – 30 people at a time in a corner of the Convention Center basement. Many of us were able to see the routine several times, but we could never figure it out. Armando moved his stage during the week and ended up with audiences of over 100 people for every performance! The reputation of ‘the man with the coins’ spread like wildfire. At the final gala show of the convention Armando was honored as, “Surprise of the Year,” and what a surprise he was!

In the summer of 2006, I was fortunate enough to participate in a 5 hour workshop held by Armando in Stockholm, Sweden. There were three of us participants, each representing a different continent. The workshop introduced us to Armando’s card work, but it was more than just tricks and moves. Then, in the summer of 2008, I left Denmark for my (thus far) greatest magic adventure; to participate in a seven day Coin Menagerie workshop in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Coin Menagerie

The Coin Menagerie is a five phase Matrix – type routine. Four coins travel invisibly between four cards. The routine is composed like a sonata with an introduction, exposition, development, recapitulation and coda. As the course of the routine is simplified phase by phase, the means by which this is accomplished seems more impossible phase by phase.

According to Armando, the basic premise for the routine emerged about 25 years ago. He desired a performance piece featuring every magic principle and philosophy at his disposal. Using the Matrix – like plot as his foundation, he has after 25 years developed his Coin Menagerie. Working like a sculptor he began paring away large pieces off the foundation to give it rough shape. Year after year, layer by layer and finally for the past fifteen of those years, chip by chip the pieces discarded or refined became smaller and the details of finer grade. Of course, ever the artist, Armando intends it will never be ‘complete.’ To him, the possibility for refinement is ever present. The culmination of 25 years’ work, Armando has created art – a work that demands acrobatic precision for successful presentation. Now and again, a tear will trickle down the cheek of a spectator, much as some experience when viewing the work of Van Gogh or a sculpture by one of the Masters. This work of art though, consists of nothing but, “four cards, four coins, two hands and one mind,” as Lucero himself expresses it – and he is telling the truth!

The Workshop

The workshop was held in a back room of a Las Vegas mall. Due to the cost of $3500, the number of participants adjusts to an intimate number. The upper limit for any of these workshops was seven, but ours – the second one taught – had three participants, one ‘right hand man,’ and Armando.

Since the participants must sign a confidentiality agreement (or declaration of secrecy – whichever you call it, Armando) at the beginning, there are limits to what I can share about the actual content of the workshop. Instead I will share some of my thoughts regarding my own participation in the workshop. During the seven days of the workshop I was introduced to an approach to magic that was very different from that to which I’d been accustomed.

Among those who know of Armando, it is usually for his Matrix – like routine, Coin Menagerie. The way I’ve come to see it though, what really makes him stand out is the foundation of his work with, “four cards, four coins and two hands,” his way of thinking. One of his significant departures from the magic norm is his view on secrets. Very few people in the world know the secrets of the Coin Menagerie. Even close friends from our field have had to participate in the workshop (paying the same admission cost) if they wish to have a share in this secret.

In many ways, the teachings attached more importance to the philosophy and principles which make up the foundation of the routine. Initially, the purpose of the routine was to function as a template in which these philosophies and principles were to be ‘stored.’ A performance of the routine would then serve as a summation of what had been taught. For me, the actual point was not the ‘trick’ we’d been taught, and so I feel that Armando’s instruction was quite successful.

Trying to give my impression of the content and this workshop’s impact is all but impossible. Imagine; we’d spent seven days learning a five minute piece of magic. About half the time I went home at day’s end with a minor headache. There was so much great information, all vying for space inside my head. Consequently, what follows will cover a most limited (achingly so) series of impressions of this seven day period, which has sown almost limitless inspiration.

17.884, 86 Danish Kroner excl. transportation, board and lodging.

The price of Armando’s workshops has made some see him as arrogant, someone who is too concerned about money – a mistaken view, in my opinion. The tendency in magic today is to lavishly distribute secrets by download, DVD sales, text or by spoken word. There are benefits, given that inspiration and knowledge are easily obtainable and so within anyone’s range. If you want it, you can get it.

Truly though, there is a downside to this ease of acquisition. First, there is a loss in value as it becomes available to any and all. Our recent experience in magic reminds us of examples from a masked magician revealing our secrets on television to a museum in Wisconsin exposing the secrets of Houdini. Obviously, the problem didn’t start there.

Secrets were already accessible to the public. They have been published in many books, for decades. When a book is published, it is available to the public. Is it then right for us to be angry when our secrets are revealed (again)? The issue is further complicated by the ambivalence between being credited for one’s work and being remembered for it. Publication of a trick becomes a doubled edged sword. The price can be high if one wants to be credited as the creator. The creation then belongs to anyone for the price of a book or magazine. On the other hand, one can keep the secrets but if the idea is stolen or created independently by another, the creator has just lost his ‘baby.’ If a magician is successful in keeping his secret(s) to himself, the end result could be that the secrets go to the grave, leaving no legacy for the creator or his work.

For good or ill, culture today fosters little appreciation for that which comes too easily, with too little sacrifice. This is likely one of the reasons that a man wearing a mask while exposing magic tricks to an uncaring public will not do any lasting damage to magic. A few months later, people will have forgotten most everything. They sacrificed nothing for the secrets, so to them there was little or no value. The price needn’t necessarily be financial or material, either. If the value is there, desire and sacrifice will help us focus on its real worth to us.

Another advantage to letting people search out their own secrets is that it gives them the necessary time to think about what they have seen. As we are immersed in that problem/solution process, (a sacrifice of time and effort) we are rewarded with not only the solution, but with new tools at our disposal. These are tools that will be used to solve other problems, to create new effects. Great reward comes from great sacrifice.

The Happy Medium

Armando is known for keeping his secrets … well, secret. Over time, he has found benefit in sharing his work on a limited and exclusive basis. His thinking was that he could both pass on his magical legacy and be credited for his work. The teaching of his effects in a workshop setting allows him to control the quality of instruction and the quality of the students’ comprehension. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, he is able to impress his workshop attendees with the importance of a rite of passage and the necessity of continued confidentiality.

Armando is a great teacher. Very pedagogically, he manages to convey extremely complex principles that make up the foundation of his magic. His views and passions for magic are contagious. What Armando creates are not mere ‘tricks.’ While he calls them, “Compositions of Legerdemain,” most others call them miracles. I see them in many ways as works of art. During the course of a workshop one doesn’t just learn handling and moves, but principles and philosophies which are universally useful in magic. These not only have to do with a matrix – type routine, but would improve already existing magic and would act as an aid in developing new magic. In my opinion, a lot of the philosophy applied as well outside of magic.

Armando’s first student reportedly took a year to master the Coin Menagerie. The first six months he worked eight hours per day on the effect! No matter the monetary cost, most participants of the workshop will never master the feat. On the other hand, they learned so much more and who knows – perhaps ideas even more magical to them.

Five new Coin Menagerie workshops are scheduled for 2009. I would prefer that no more be held, so that my experience would remain as exclusive as possible. What each attendee takes from this experience though is truly unique. For me it will always be the most inspiring and learning experience I’ve had in many years of magic. I am grateful beyond words and I’m sure most of us are the same in this regard. Was it all ‘worth’ it in the end? Yes, and more – so much more!

David Tholander