Gil Ricardo (Hoboken, 1941), born Gilbert Roelen, is a Flemish magician. By day he worked as a reprographer at an advertising and packaging agency, but he is best known as a magician.
Visual reference
A magic career
In 1965 Ricardo performed his first tricks. His talent took him well beyond his country's borders: he performed in Las Vegas, among other places.
In 1975 the BRT made a documentary about him, a recognition of his craftsmanship as a magician.
On television
Ricardo appeared on several television programmes, including Noord-Zuid (1978), Afrit 9 and Nonkel Jef.
Through them he became a familiar face of the art of magic for a broad Flemish audience.
In comic-strip culture
Ricardo made two cameo appearances in the comic series De Kiekeboes. In De snor van Kiekeboe (1983), Kiekeboe walks past a poster in Antwerp on which Ricardo is depicted.
In the album Doorgestoken kaart (1995) he was given a larger role as a member of the jury. He provided cartoonist Merho with much background information about the art of magic for that album.
Gil Ricardo proved that a Flemish magician can amaze audiences all the way to Las Vegas and even live on in comic strips. You will recognise that same dedication to the craft in the work of Sudesh Roman.