Five In Focus

David Regal

David Regal is a writer and magician. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book Approaching Magic, in addition to the best-selling Close-up & Personal, Constant Fooling (Volumes 1 and 2), and was the subject of Star Quality – The Magic of David Regal written by Harry Lorayne. An alumnus of the Main Company of the comedy group Chicago City Limits, Regal is a television writer who has written for shows ranging from Rugrats to Everybody Loves Raymond. He has performed at the Magic Castle hundreds of times, where he was named a trustee, and is a recipient of the prestigious “Lecturer of the Year” award from the Academy of Magical Arts. In 2008, Regal was the winning magician/coach on the television series Celebra-cadabra.

1. |

Citizen Kane

Yes, it’s lovely movie-making and story-telling, but that’s not the meat of what it gives me. The fact that the film exists at all proves that a man with a singular vision, who reaches for something wonderful, can occasionally grasp it. For this reason the film is an inspiration.

2. |

Lawrence of Arabia

This movie, its craft always contemporary, is two movies. The first guides our emotions in a specific direction as we cheer a hero on his mission. The second film, the one after the intermission, challenges every belief that the first instilled in us. The rug is pulled out from under us in a fundamental way, and that, curiously, is the same thing that occurs with a great piece of magic.

3. |

It's a Wonderful Life

I’m old enough to remember watching this film on TV before its “rediscovery” and was knocked down at an early age by the power of its message. People forget that the film is a long, wandering, detailed work that is every much an epic as the film listed above. It reminds us of the humanity that can be nurtured in all of us, and as a writer of magic it reminds me of what our art is capable of.

4. |

The Thing (John Carpenter's remake)

Created before there was a thing called CGI, the images in this horror film still astound by virtue of their creative power. There are things (literally) in this film that once seen, one never forgets. When I design magic I often have the same aim.

5. |

The Wizard of Oz

Not for the reasons you think. This production, with its guy-in-a-lion-suit approach to character depiction, draws in the viewers, whereas the vile more modern film Return to Oz, with its photorealistic “whimsical characters” alienated the audience. I think the reason the original’s approach worked so well is the same reason black and white films work so well––they do not duplicate our typical experience of viewing the world. They require that the viewer meet them half way, and for that reason the viewer actively steps into the film, and becomes absorbed. When a film is literal, the viewer is essentially instructed to sit back and do nothing, and that immediate absorption doesn’t exist. With magic, if an audience steps toward you, you have them. Simple as that.