MAGIC
RIDDLE ME THIS Helder Guimarães is one of the world’s foremost close-up magicians, and his new show promises to challenge everything we believe to be true Words Ruth Walker Photographs Jon Buckle
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s magic having a moment? People have been hailing its renaissance for years, of course. In David Blaine’s heyday. Then again in 2013, after Alexa Chung levitated during Stella McCartney’s show at London Fashion Week. But consider the evidence for this latest revival. Harry Potter. The illusion/heist movie Now You See Me 2 – with its all-star cast of Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Daniel Radcliffe, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman. Syfy’s adaptation of Lev Grossman’s The Magicians novels. Harry Potter. All that talk about a Hocus Pocus sequel. The imminent release of Marvel’s Doctor Strange, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Tilda Swinton. The Magic Castle – a movie inspired by the mysterious LA club which, the whispers say, is now being considered by Ridley Scott’s production company. Harry Potter. But ask Helder Guimarães – a man who might have much to gain from a magic “moment,” considering he’s one of the premier close-up artists in the world – and the answer is less conclusive. “Maybe it is. I don’t know,” he says. “For me, magic has always been there. I’m aware of the Now You See Me movie, but I didn’t even see it because I saw the first one and it wasn’t that great.” However, if a trend – or some other supernatural force – brings in the audience and plants people on seats, he won’t be the
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DIGITAL EDITION