Woody Aragon. a Book in English

A Book in English: The card magic of Woody Arag6n

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h ffig[fiffi Written by: Woody Arag6n

Foreword by: fuan Tamariz Translated by: Fernando Rosal

With some help oft Rafael Benatar t I

Pictures by: Pepe Castro Sandra Asenjo Fernando Pelayo Maricarmen Perea

Proof reading and notes: Harold Cataquet Todd Neufeld Michael "Six" Muldoon Plt Hartling

A Book in English: The card magic of Wootly Alirgrin

Nobody's Foollro By JuanTsrnariz When you meet Woody, the first thing that you notice is... his lrcad! That's because, believe me, Woody has a big, beautiful, lound head. And because of that head, his magic is full, st turated with intelligence, originality, creativity, intensity... He rrscs his head! And he presents his magic with beautiful scripts (rrrrritted incessantly and with dizzyng speed by the lips that Woody has ... in his head!) that are full of intelligence, that aim lor the maximum magical impact, the maximum sense of inrpossibility.

And it is a brilliant head. Whatever angle you look at it from, lris head shines. Because his ideas are as bright as he is bald. He hls a big, shiny bald head. Shinier than the other bald heads (lhat so many men try to achieve by daily shavings). It shines llrightcr than the rest because (and this is a secret, the first one in this book) Woody hides under his skin millions and millions ol' ncurons engaged in constant electrical and contemplative rrt'livity. Woody has always amazed me and I admire the t'orrstant flow of ideas that, if you look carefully from above, you ('iur sc() nroving under his scalp. Ideas for incredibly practical slt,ights (his "scparagr)n"), ideas for effects, methods (the genius ol' h is " l lunrlrt Sc:tlc", a vcrsion worthy of a standing ovation, (t)'l'ln rtrillirt u/ Sprrrris/t till{'. "Ni rrtt pclo rlc lottlrt", littnrlhl tttcrttt.s "Mr/ a sinqle lnir rr/ rrl//irr1ss".'/7ris is tt,\ltrttriilt stttlirttl ttsarl lo tlrlticl trtt itrltllitltrnl pcrsotl. lltll)t'lttttrtlrltl, lltI r'l(r'r't'ltttl'', lu'lt|r'r'tt lltr sttrlittrl rtttl llrr rtji'tt'rtrcs

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which

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have seen many audiences give Woorly irs thcy are full of wonder after seeing hin-r purlornr it) and ideas for the structures of acts and shows (his marvelous "Summary Suite" at the end of his one man czrrcl mugic theater show is full of surprises, drama, and magic, all building in intensity: a genuine artistic discovery.)

Woody has already establishccl his value as a magician, but rising star. His yor"rth ltas ahnost peaked, and for the rrcxt 70 or 8o years we will have plenty of Woody's creativity, wit, energy and Magic. I am sure of this because of his lnthusiasm, his work, his efforts and his undeniable inlclligence.

And everything, or almost everything, comes from... his head! A metaphorical billiard ball (the rigorous geometrlz and internal harmony of his tricks and routines live up to the comparison); a symbolic "egg" shape, an egg that spawns life as the artist Woody, or should I say, Woody's head maintains a constant and joyous creativity (isn't "creating" what brings an artist closer to

'l'his is, then, my "summary": Every time l)(,r'son and nobody's fool!

amazed and

the Gods?). Because that head in

just

a few years had shed

what separated

it from life (its hair), it is always brainstorming, and this is the second secret in this book, there is a hidden "b" in describing him as a bald man, it disguises the constant boiling state of the millions and millions of neural synapses. No one knows whether it's a state of tremendous joy or brotherly merrymaking but, I'm sure that it is constant and almost driven, crazy thinking.

And some of that activity, a "something" full of suggestions, ideas, brilliant effects (the light), rigorous and at times mathematical (the billiard ball) and beautifully created ("eggshaped") has been poured into this book just for you. And I strongly advise you to enjoy it, just like I enjoyed watching, experiencing and applauding some (many) of them (others, I've only had the pleasure of having Woody explain them to me, but I never lose the hope of one day seeing them performed live in front of me).

But that's not all. Woody has a special gift that allows him to be liked by everyone (Woody is such a nice guy!); and he's always bursting with energy (both on ancl offstage). And the pleasure he gets from ltct'lil'rning lnagir: is absolutely contagious, and mal