Del Ray (Delbert Raymond Petrosky)

[Ben James]

My good friend has told me all about the legend of Del Ray and I cannot find any vision of him performing. I would love to see this legend in action but I think any vision of him is pretty rare. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Can you buy a video/DVD or anything?

Ben

[Nicholas Carifo]

Ben,

At the moment there is no official video for sale of Del Ray...yet. There IS however a major dvd/book project in the works, I understand.

Being that Del Ray is from my hometown of Pittsburgh, all of us from there who grew up in his magical shadow are anxiously awaiting this new project to be released -- soon I hope -- that will include the only official dvd video available of Del Ray, along with a book of his life and accomplishments.

Perhaps more of this project can be explained from those here that know more about how it is coming along and when we can expect it on the market.

Having seen Del perform live many times, and having had the rare, humbling opportunity to perform in the same show with the man once, I am as anxious as anyone to witness his magic again.

Nick Carifo

[Ben James]

Thankyou very much for your reply Nick. Wow, from his home town hey! I'm quite jealous. I wait with baited breath for the DVD package to hit the light of day.

I would love to hear what your experiences were like in meeting the man himself and performing with him.

Ben

[Nicholas Carifo]

I wish I could say I had a close relationship with Del Ray, but I did not ever have the opportunity to get to know him that well.
I did however run to see him perform at any chance I got. I can remember the first time I saw him perform at the Columbus Magifest when I was kid. His close up was legendary, but I enjoyed his stage act just as much myself.

Del, at least in my time, did not make a habit of associating all that much with the general magic community. I know he dropped in time to time for supplies at The Cuckoo's Nest magic shop in Pittsburgh and if you were lucky enough to be there when he stopped in, it would be a treat. I'm sure Tom & Linda, the owners there, have some stories.

He had his close friends in magic however. Some that come to mind would be Bob Phillips of Youngstown's Ring 2, who I believe knew Del since their school days together if I am not mistaken. Another close friend would probably be former IBM President, Jack Greenberg, from Pittsburgh.

I am certain there are some very close friends of Del on the Genii Forum who have much better stories to tell than I.

You might be able to find some of the stories from those that knew Del close by asking at the Greater Pittsburgh Magic Network Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GPMN/

When magicians speak of Del Ray, conversation usually is about his props and intricate methods he devised to accomplish his effects. I however, believe the true magic and success of Del Ray came from his personality, his wit, and his unique performance. People LOVED watching Del Ray perform. It's the personality and his presentation that could never truly be stolen by other performers. Only Del was Del.

He rarely let his act be video taped or filmed. The one time I was on the bill with Del Ray, I can attest that he had a very private corner of the backstage area that was solely for Del's use for preparation. That corner was for Del's eyes only. No one dared to go near. He was very traditional in his views of keeping his secrets secret... even to other magicians, or dare I say, ESPECIALLY to other magicians. The secrets were his and held very close.

One story I can tell you is this. In his final years, Del Ray made a stage appearance performing at a magic convention in Daytona Beach, Florida. A good freind of mine - not a magician - happened to be on vacation coincidently staying at the convention hotel. He called me from the hotel to tell me he bought tickets to the evening show since the convention was there and was just out of the show. He wanted to know if I had ever heard of an "older magician named Del Ray". He said to me "I have never heard of him, but the entire audience jumped to their feet in admiration". My friend told me it was not like any other standing ovation he ever witnessed. He could tell he was in the midst of someone special. Someone that the entire audience at that convention admired and loved, as a person and obviously as a living legend.

[David Alexander]

He rarely let his act be video taped or filmed. The one time I was on the bill with Del Ray, I can attest that he had a very private corner of the backstage area that was solely for Del's use for preparation. That corner was for Del's eyes only. No one dared to go near. He was very traditional in his views of keeping his secrets secret... even to other magicians, or dare I say, ESPECIALLY to other magicians. The secrets were his and held very close.

Nicholas makes an excellent point as that's the way every intelligent pro behaved. Keeping the methodology secret meant material stayed exclusive and not copied by hacks who would sell it or perform it badly, cheapening the act's value to a booker.

It must be remembered that pros work to support their families and the secrets they keep help insure continued success.

[Richard Kaufman]

While he was incredibly dynamic as a close-up magician, Del was equally shy when offstage.