The number of creative, funny, engaging people in magic is enormous – far greater than the number of magic-famous or famous-famous individuals. One of these people was Rick Johnsson. He was a long time columnist for the Linking Ring magazine. For over thirteen years he wrote the monthly column, “Come a Little Closer”. It was full of wonderful, quirky magic created by Rick himself or curated guest contributors.
Rick died young of on February 25, 1989 after suffering a severe cerebral stroke on January 18th which had left him paralyzed but mentally alert. He was only 52.
Fortunately his friend and colleague, Phil Wilmarth, the editor of the magazine at the time, wrote a lengthy obituary. Here’s a few excerpts to give you a glimpse of Rick:
Since 1970, Rick had held the position of Division Director of Hospitality Education at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. In 1968, when he joined the staff of the school, he created and implemented the first hotel and restaurant management curriculum in the state of North Carolina. It was a pilot program that set the standard for hospitality education throughout the state.
While in Asheville, Rick did numerous private consulting jobs and helped set-up and establish several restaurants. He also ran three Super Session South mini-conventions using the facilities of the school to get some two dozen of his friends together for a long weekend of creative magical sessioning and fellowship. Those fortunate enough to attend will never forget such things as: the roast suckling pig, the great puzzle caper, the best trick contest, George Mathew’s Shakespeare, and the unsolved puzzle competition.
Rick began his “Come a Little Closer” column in 1976, and his idiosyncratic style soon virtually became a trademark. Given free rein to write as he pleased, Rick’s use of language irritated a few and delighted many. His nearly thirteen years of columns, some eighty percent of which covered original vintage Rick Johnsson material, stands as a prodigious testimony of his fascination with closeup and his highly creative mind. He clos ed each column,and each correspondence as well, with “‘Excelsior!!” Most dictionaries simply define “excelsior” as meaning “packing material” like those styrofoam peanuts which fly all over when you open a box. Rick’s use of the word went back to the orginal Greek. “Ever upward and onward!” I promised Rick that “Come a Little Closer” would be published as a hard-bound book, and it will. (Side note: it never did and with Wilmarth’s passing in 2014, it remains unfinished.)
In addition to the columns, Rick produced a trophy winning (Best of the Year), Parade, five or six sets of lecture notes, and a book, Practical Impossibilities, devoted to a Slydini-type switch move suitable for cards, coins, billets, even turtles. He produced two “Super Session” books of tricks contributed by those attending, the distribution of which was limited to at-tendees. He solicited ideas for and was working on a “Sthick” book over the last several years, which we hope to publish also.(Alas, this wasn’t published either). Rick will also be long remembered for his frequently referenced Too Perfect Theory.
The obituary continues however that’s sufficient for my purposes today. With a recent purchase of a set of lecture notes of Rick’s from Bradbury’s Books, I discovered I have a small collection of his material. It’s going to be the subject of future posts – including a dive into the controversy of the Too Perfect Theory.
