He walks on with a violin, a beret and a mischievous giggle. No one then expects the most refined card magician of the twentieth century. Juan Tamariz is the founder of the Spanish School — a whole movement that has redefined card magic.
The Spanish School
Born in 1942 in Madrid, Tamariz studied philosophy and film direction before fully devoting himself to magic. In the 1970s and 1980s he gathered a group of fellow magicians around him — Arturo de Ascanio, René Lavand and others — who together formed the 'Escuela Mágica de Madrid'.
The Spanish School stands for magic as art form: theatrical play, emotion, structure. Not 'doing a trick', but 'creating a story of which magic is the climax.' It is a vision that has been adopted worldwide by the magic elite.
The ten-year secret
His most famous theory is 'The Magic Way': a system of seven misleading strategies that prevent the spectator from reconstructing the solution. It is not a technique; it is thinking about how the audience's brain works.
His book 'The Five Points in Magic' (1988) is required reading worldwide in every magic academy. He has given monopolised lectures for years in Berlin, Tokyo, New York — audience entirely magicians who came from all corners of the world to listen.
- ✦Founder Escuela Mágica de Madrid
- ✦Wrote: 'Mnemonica' (1988), 'Sonata', 'The Magic Way'
- ✦Taught among others Dani DaOrtiz, Helder Guimarães, Woody Aragon
Pure joy
What makes Tamariz unique is his pure, childlike joy during magic. He giggles, jumps, opens his eyes in amazement — as if even he is impressed by his own trick along with his audience. It is no pose; it is who he is.
He is now in his eighties and still does shows in Spain and beyond. Magicians worldwide fly to Madrid annually to see him perform — not because his technique is unmatched, but because his love for magic remains contagious.
Tamariz proved that the greatest trick may be the genuine joy of the magician himself. Infectious wonder does more than any secret.