The Genii Forum

Last summer, I had the pleasure of watching an exceptional street magician on Saint Germaine in the Latin Quarter. A young, not-too-tall, dark-haired man who walked with a cane, this performer sat at a card table and left the crowd speechless. Could someone name him for me?

thanks, Doug

"Could someone name him for me?"

I think his parents already did that.

Sorry, I just felt like being a wise guy. I must admit that the description of this guy alone I find very intriguing. He sounds like he looks the part and I would be interested in hearing who it is. What kind of stuff did he do?

It was almost midnight. I was with two colleagues. Until I saw this man set himself up, all three of us were heading back to our hotel near the Sorbonne. At that point, I talked the others into hesitating. By then, however, I was the only one who could actually get a decent view of the proceedings due to the size of the crowd and my surplus inches. My tired friends were willing to indulge me briefly. What I saw included some very difficult sleight-of-hand with cards performed without tells, hesitations, or guilt.

[ October 12, 2001: Message edited by: Doug Peters ]

His name is Bebel. He was at the World Magic Seminar in Vegas last year. He is VERY good, and I have a trick of his for Genii. Josh Jay also has some of his material for MAGIC.

Yes! That's him! His picture can be found under one of the links at the virtualmagie site. Thanks, Richard.

I had the pleasure of meeting and watching Bebel perform at Escorial last year, and he was great. He has a smoothness to his handling, and a casual rhythm that is very disarming. Wonderful plots, that clearly show how much he performs for lay audiences.

I was told that a book of Bebel's magic is in the works (in English) but I don't recall who is doing it. If one of the video producers could record Bebel's performances, we'd all be in for a real treat.

In August of 1987 I saw Bebel working for laymen on the street near the Pompidou (sp?) Center in Paris. He did very smooth card and coin work that went over well. Interestingly, he had a small card table he had brought with him. HE sat at it and did his stuff. Great way to create your necessary performing conditions.
He's also a nice guy. We chatted (in french) and he was warm and friendly.