Who is sailing this ship?
John Hostler. Fifty-year veteran of things mystical, spasmodic publisher, occasional gadfly, and champion of the AAC (At Any Cost) approach to the impossible arts.
What is AAC?
AAC posits that the most efficacious method for any given effect or routine may or may not lead the pack in terms of simplicity, directness, efficiency, or ease of performance – despite practitioners’ understandable attraction to these characteristics. I’ve addressed this stance in a few pithy essays – most recently “The Obligatory Essay” from Electric Dime Store Ceremonies.
Why all the gnomes?
Gnomes have assisted in most of my personal endeavors since 1979. Why NOT gnomes?
Where can I find Magnum Opossum and other out-of-print books and manuscripts?
Good luck! Your resident author/captain/shopkeeper has a tendency to shut down the press (paper and electronic) on a whim. Open editions are typically (though unpredictably) small, and make fine targets for collectors of short-run publications. One notable exception, Electric Dime Store Ceremonies, is being released in a predetermined limited edition of 300.
What is your favorite playing card and number?
Playing card: Christopher Walken.
Number: 17,294
Which magicians would you cite as primary inspirations?
Paul Harris: An incomparable innovator and writer of unparalleled humor and clarity. Single-handedly changed the course of close-up magic. Also a pretty nice guy.
Simon Aronson: Sheer genius. His books jumpstart my synapses like no others.
Michael Murray: A human cornerstone of modern mentalism. What more can be said?
Richard Kaufman: The Man set a new standard of quality in magic-related writing, illustration, and publishing.
What was the “Ala McCartney Series?”
As any Beatles fan (and numerous McCartney quotes) will tell you, much of Sir Paul’s post-1970 output was written at the equivalent of light speed. (“I had a 15-minute wait at the dentist’s office and penned the first half of “Chaos and Creation in the Backyard.”) Figuring there might be something to this approach, I set out to develop relatively simple pieces of magic under similar constraints. These were circulated “on demand” several years ago, with a few subsequently appearing in Sleightly Hopped.
Favorite beverage?
Currently a dead heat between Rothaus’s Tannenzäpfle, Zombie Dust’s Turbo Reaper, and Water Street Brewery’s Punch You in The Eye PA. Subject to change without notice.
Where and when do you perform or lecture?
Some things are just best left to the back room. Who has ever longed to watch Aldous Huxley read, hear Hal David sing, or spy on Ralph Steadman mixing paint?
