DAI VERNON

Dai Vernon (1894 - 1992), known as The Professor and The Man That Fooled Houdini, was born as David Frederick Wingfield Verner in Ottawa, Ontario,Canada. As a child, he met and was influenced by Nate Leipzig and Max Malini, who was one of his idols. He was a student at Asbury College and The Royal Military College of Canada, where he was extremely active in sports, even making the grade as the captain of the hockey team. Somewhere in there, he found time to give magic shows, and when he decided to launch his magic career, he set out for New York City. Vernon arrived in New York in 1913, where he was surprised to find out that he knew as much as the experts there. However, because he was young, few in the magic fraternity of New York would take him seriously, seeing him as someone who does a few card tricks. This was not a deterrent to Vernon; he found plenty of work in the city, and took some of the established magicians by surprise when "the little kid from Canada" started taking bookings they might have had.

It was while in New York that David Vernon transformed into Dai Vernon. A newspaper there, through a misprint, dropped the moniker "Dai" on him through a typo of his given-name, David. It was in New York that he also got the name "Vernon". There was an American dance team that was very popular act around that time named Vernon and Irene Castle. As it happens, New Yorkers began mispronouncing Verner as Vernon; David, disgusted at that, still allowed his last name to become "Vernon" and let it go at that. From the time of that decision forward, Dai Vernon was born.

Work was never crucial for Vernon, though. Being broke didn't bother him; he believed it would come to him in due course. "If you chase fame or dollars, either will avoid you. People ask me how I get publicity. I tell them I try to avoid it. It's not going to do me any good.. I can't use it because I'm not in the business. I've never even gone into an agent's office." Indeed, Vernon lived that statement.

Vernon, who is considered one of the most polished and skillful card experts in the world, supported himself much of the time by cutting silhouettes in Atlantic City, Miami, Chicago, and Denver. It was on one of his trips to Chicago that an incident occurred that would become legendary in the life of Dai Vernon and another legend, Harry Houdini. Houdini has boasted that he could not be fooled by anyone if he saw a trick performed three times in a row.

In Chicago, in 1919, Dai tool Harry op on the challenge. Dai did what is now known as The Ambitious Card eight times, and Harry had no idea how it was done. Dai, not one to pass up this kind of opportunity, used the tagline "He Fooled Houdini" in his advertisements during the 1920s and 1930s. It was in Atlantic City that Vernon met Frances Rockefeller King, who booked acts for private parties. Vernon would go to these parties to perform and, if his magic didn't entertain his guest, he would cut silhouettes instead. Once she called him in Atlantic City with a job offer, but he declined it, preferring to cut silhouettes, go swimming, and have some fun along the Boardwalk.

Later, he found out she wanted him to entertain the Prince of Wales on Long Island. "I've always regretted that", he says. "Life is a funny thing. "Magic was probably the most important thing in Vernon's life. "If you want to be an artist," he says, "you must devote your life to it. Chess, music, anything. After you get just so high, you realize that if you want to be truly great, you have to give up everything else -- you have to dedicate your life to your art." It's Vernon's artistry of his magic that makes the experts rave. Vernon was known to take a fair trick and produce from it a masterpiece. Whatever trick he did became his own. "Some people copy," Vernon says. "They see someone do a trick and they copy. I do my own version. It's no good to copy because when a person creates a thing, no matter how bad it is, it's still his own creation. He will interpret it better than any copier ever could, because someone who copies doesn't know the reasoning, he doesn't know what's behind the effect. He doesn't know what the feeling should be so he doesn't put any feeling into it. That' what there should be in every work of art -- feeling. "In the mid-1960s, Vernon left the East Coast for California to visit Jay Ose who had started the Magic Castle in Hollywood along with Bill Larsen and Milt Larsen.

Vernon liked it there so much he stayed. Many sharp young performers followed him. He accepted few pupils, but magicians wanted to be near him to talk and see him work. His kindness and sincerity drew people as naturally as his artistry demands their respect.

Dai's friend, Garrick Spencer, gave Dai the title of "The Professor". Dai didn't care for it much, but Garrick kept calling him that and it stuck. Dai's willingness to share his expertise with others is probably what prompted the title. Dai's student, while few, are prestigious in their own right, speaking much of Vernon's talents as both performer and instructor: Ricky Jay, Larry Jennnings, Michael Ammar, Michael Skinner, and David Roth all studied with The Professor.

Vernon lived according to habit, rising late each day and staying up long into the night. He also practiced the piano. "For a while, " he says, "I thought I would do an act with a piano. It's very hard to finish a magic act. A dance routine can go into a lot of high kicks and flip-flops, but for a magician it's hard to work out a finish. I thought to myself, 'What a great finish. First I'll do magic and then I'll play the piano.' I still think it is a good idea -- a good way to finish a magic act."

VIDEO: DAI VERNON - CUPS AND BALLS