Juan Tamariz

The world of magic has lost one of its Grand Masters, and I have lost a friend and companion unlike any other.

Longtime friend, colleague and internationally prominent card-magic author who knew Tamariz for more than five decades.

En cualquier reunión de magos, en cualquier parte del mundo, cuando Juan sacaba una baraja, el mundo era un lugar mejor.

English “At any gathering of magicians, anywhere in the world, when Juan took out a deck, the world was a better place.”

Spanish magician, writer and humorist writing from direct experience in the international magic community.

Juan ha sido un genio de la magia que ha transformado el arte y que no somos conscientes de la magnitud.

English “Juan was a genius of magic who transformed the art, and we are not conscious of the magnitude of it.”

Student of Tamariz; Blass describes Tamariz as being like an adoptive father to him.

todos los lunes se juntaba con siete u ocho magos jóvenes y pasaba la noche entera enseñándonos magia. Lo hacía por pura generosidad

English “Every Monday he gathered with seven or eight young magicians and spent the entire night teaching us magic. He did it out of pure generosity.”

Spanish card magician who studied and socialized with Tamariz over many years.

He gave me extraordinary opportunities. He invited me to Spain to be part of his legendary TV shows.

International magician and educator who worked with Tamariz on television, onstage and in master classes and describes him as a dear friend.

And in the hotel hallway, in the early hours of the morning, there was Juan Tamariz, who was a legend and 71 years old, sitting on the floor with a bunch of young magicians, teaching them magic.

American professional comedy magician who introduced Tamariz at MagiFest and witnessed his informal generosity toward younger magicians.

Tamariz era un amor de persona, no solo como mago. Era muy cariñoso y cuidaba de todos los magos de España.

English “Tamariz was a lovely person, not only as a magician. He was very affectionate and looked after all the magicians in Spain.”

Prominent Spanish professional magician recalling Tamariz's personal kindness toward him as a young magician and his worldwide influence on close-up magic.

Juan comenzó a hablarme con una naturalidad y una cercanía como si nos conociéramos desde hacía años.

English “Juan began speaking to me with such naturalness and warmth, as though we had known each other for years.”

Málaga magician and magic writer who met Tamariz at the 1998 national congress, encountered him repeatedly afterward and remembers his accessibility and warmth toward a fellow magician.

Agradecidísima por todo el amor que me dio y por todo el amor a la Magia que nos regaló

English “Deeply grateful for all the love he gave me and for all the love of Magic he gave us.”

Daughter of Juan Tamariz and a central figure in the Tamariz magic-school legacy.

Cada minuto que pasé con él es que es una mina.

English “Every minute I spent with him was a gold mine.”

Spanish magician, filmmaker and writer who became Tamariz's direct disciple and remained close enough that Tamariz contributed to Herrero's books and film work.

Se fue Juan Tamariz. Mi mentor, mi amigo, mi padre artístico.

English “Juan Tamariz is gone. My mentor, my friend, my artistic father.”

International Spanish close-up magician whose relationship with Tamariz grew across more than three decades from student and artistic protégé to close friend and family member.

Lo maravilloso de Juan Tamariz es que cuando se apagaban los focos aún seguía habiendo magia.

English “The wonderful thing about Juan Tamariz is that when the lights went out, there was still magic.”

Spanish magician, teacher and author who knew Tamariz for thirty-four years as a mentor and friend; Tamariz also wrote the prologue to Ruiz's Educando con magia.

In a strange way, imitating Juan Tamariz helped me eventually become more Cesar Domico.

Colombian-born professional magician whose early Tamariz imitation became a formative stage character and a path toward his own artistic voice.

era como un padre para todos, porque hay varias generaciones enteras que hemos hecho magia que nos ha cambiado la vida gracias a Tamariz

English “He was like a father to all of us, because entire generations have made magic that changed our lives thanks to Tamariz.”

Spanish magician speaking as a member of generations shaped by Tamariz and from direct magic-community experience.

a mí Juan no me dio un pez, me enseñó a pescar.

English “Juan didn't give me a fish; he taught me how to fish.”

Prominent Spanish mentalist who describes Tamariz as his master and a decisive theoretical influence.

la felicidad, el amor, la pasión por lo que haces, lo que él transmitía, la generosidad

English “Happiness, love, passion for what you do, what he conveyed, generosity.”

Spanish magician who knew Tamariz personally and describes lessons learned from him.

He explained that he was auditioning the front row, looking for someone with a happy and expressive face.

Psychologist, author and magician whose work examines deception, recalling a specific performance principle learned directly from Tamariz and reused in his own speaking.

No fue solamente un mago al que admiré. Fue mi maestro.

English “He wasn't merely a magician I admired. He was my teacher.”

Magician writing explicitly about Tamariz as his teacher.

Juan Tamariz ha sido una influencia enorme no solo para los magos, sino también para humoristas e incluso para mentalistas como yo.

English “Juan Tamariz was an enormous influence not only on magicians, but also on comedians and even on mentalists like me.”

Spanish mentalist who met Tamariz as a child at Ana Tamariz's school and later interacted with him professionally.

L'humanité et l'humour d'un géant de la magie qui a modestement bu son verre....

English “The humanity and humor of a giant of magic who modestly drank his glass....”

Professional magician recounting direct personal experiences with Tamariz.

Además de ser una bestia sobre el escenario de manera innata, era un gran estudioso y un auténtico erudito de la magia

English “Besides being a natural beast on stage, he was a great student and a true scholar of magic.”

Zaragoza illusionist and magic-venue operator discussing Tamariz's influence on working magicians.

Magialdia es lo que es en parte gracias a Juan Tamariz.

English “Magialdia is what it is partly thanks to Juan Tamariz.”

President of the Asociación de Ilusionistas de Álava and a nearly four-decade magic-community colleague of Tamariz.

Tuve la fortuna y el asombro de disfrutarlo, admirarlo, conocerlo y tratarlo desde la primera vez que visitó Colombia.

English “I had the good fortune and wonder of enjoying, admiring, knowing and spending time with him from his first visit to Colombia.”

Colombian professional magician known as Doctor Magic, writing from decades of personal acquaintance with Tamariz and documenting his unusually deep relationship with Colombia's magic community.

Me enseñó a amar la magia y a comunicar ese amor por la magia

English “He taught me to love magic and to communicate that love of magic.”

Aragonese illusionist who spent years in Tamariz's El Escorial and San Fernando magic circles.

Looking back, what stays with me isn't a particular trick. It's the idea that great magic is about much more than technique.

Professional British magician reflecting on studying Tamariz's work in person.

When I perform, I frequently think about his analogy of imaging threads connecting you to each audience member.

American close-up magician who met Tamariz and continues to apply a specific Tamariz audience-connection principle in his own professional work.

De hecho, cuando fundé una academia universitaria con 18 años, formé a todos los nuevos profesores en comunicación basándome en sus ideas.

English “In fact, when I founded a university academy at the age of 18, I trained all the new teachers in communication based on Tamariz’s ideas.”

Spanish educator and former event magician documenting Tamariz's influence beyond performance, through the teachers and students reached by his communication principles.

you could really feel everything that he said in that clip about just the love and just the presence and energy.

American professional magician and House of Cards resident performer who met Tamariz personally and describes how the Tamariz circle's generosity influenced his own collaborative practice.

Juan ha conseguido hacer que muchos niños y niñas de mi generación pensásemos que podíamos vivir de la magia.

English “Juan made many boys and girls of my generation think that we could make a living from magic.”

Spanish professional magician describing Tamariz's generational influence on the perceived viability of magic as a profession.

Lo sento come un lutto di un parente cazzo ma come è possibile

English “It feels like losing a relative—damn, how is that possible?”

Italian professional magician and educator expressing Tamariz's personal impact on a younger generation.

Tamariz tenía mucho de bondad en su forma de hacer ilusionismo

English “Tamariz had a great deal of goodness in the way he practiced illusionism.”

Performer who states that he studied with Tamariz and learned from his approach to illusionism.

lo que Juan deja es muchísima, muchísima alegría

English “What Juan leaves behind is so, so much joy.”

Spanish magician recounting direct memories of Tamariz and his late-night magic sessions.

Tu violín invisible seguirá sonando.

English “Your invisible violin will keep playing.”

Prominent Spanish illusionist publicly memorializing Tamariz.

We've lost the greatest close up magician of our time, Juan Tamariz.

Professional magician and magic collector who states that he knew Tamariz.

Your unique paths of creative thought have no equals.

Professional sleight-of-hand magician and magic author commenting on Tamariz's creative and literary legacy.

Tamariz fue para muchos de nosotros mucho más que un mago al que veíamos en televisión.

English “For many of us, Tamariz was much more than a magician we watched on television.”

Magician and operator of the Magilandia magic business, writing about Tamariz's formative influence.

Cuando era joven me obsesionaban las cosas imposibles. Entonces conocí a Juan Tamariz. Hoy el asombro está de luto.

English “When I was young, impossible things obsessed me. Then I met Juan Tamariz. Today astonishment is in mourning.”

Friend of Tamariz, specialist in illusionism and co-founder with Tamariz of the magic publisher Frakson.

And listening to him talk exploded my mind again.

Journalist and magic-history author who met Tamariz while researching The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini, watched him perform and heard him explain what magic meant to him.

cuando eran pequeños, Tamariz utilizaba a sus primos como público, probaba juegos delante de ellos y calibraba constantemente sus reacciones.

English “when they were children, Tamariz used his cousins as his audience, tried tricks in front of them, and constantly gauged their reactions.”

Spanish writer, editor and philosophy academic whose mother was Tamariz's cousin, preserving family oral history about Tamariz's earliest experiments with an audience.

Thank you, Juan, for giving me back my wonder. My personal Unicorn.

Canadian magician who regarded Tamariz as his personal symbol of wonder and later performed and worked with him.

It’s an odd thing to submit yourself to a guru. But what a wonderful thing it was to have Juan Tamariz as mine.

American magician, author and convention producer who studied closely with Tamariz and regarded him as his guru.

Pequeño homenaje aqui en Villakaps. Juan seguirá acompañándome a mi y a todos los amigos que lo admiramos y queremos. Love you Juan.

English “A small tribute here at Villakaps. Juan will continue to be with me and all the friends who admire and love him. Love you Juan.”

Spanish card magician, student and close artistic descendant of Tamariz who has long spoken about his influence.

I first saw Juan Tamariz when I was around 15 years old, and my life has changed ever since.

Internationally prominent close-up magician who credits Tamariz with changing his life and profoundly influencing his magic.

Live and up close he ignited audiences like no other.

Award-winning British magician and founder-editor of MagicWeek, writing from his own experience of Tamariz as a live performer.

all night long, he not only kept us young magicians in awe but also explained many techniques and, above all, psychological principles.

German amateur magician and longtime Magic Circle member who encountered Tamariz in person and has also researched the professional magic sector as a marketing professor.

Don’t start tidying up your props or resetting the trick; enjoy the moment with your audience.

British amateur magician and magic writer who saw Tamariz lecture and perform in 2008 and 2015 and preserves a specific spectator-centered lesson from the earlier lecture.

Me dedico al arte gracias a él.

English “I devote myself to art because of him.”

Tamariz's grandson, a world-champion yo-yo artist and magic teacher who grew up learning in the family's magic-school environment.

Era muy inteligente y muy profundo. Cuando se ponía serio era un tipo muy formal.

English “He was very intelligent and very deep. When he became serious, he was a very earnest man.”

Chilean comedian and television performer who knew Tamariz from about 1977 and worked alongside him for years on Un, dos, tres... responda otra vez.

A Juan le apasionaban las leyendas toledanas, la tradición de la alquimia, la cábala y todo ese pasado medieval que históricamente se conocía fuera como «las artes toledanas».

English “Juan was passionate about Toledo legends, the tradition of alchemy, the Kabbalah, and all that medieval past historically known abroad as “the Toledo arts.””

Toledo magician and co-founder of the Abra Cadabra magic venue who collaborated with Tamariz across the city's magic community and introduced a young Woody Aragón to him.