Palmerston North magicians Andrew Wilson and Evelyn Strugnell with their lifetime achievement awards from Magic New Zealand. Photo / Jason Fell
Palmerston North magicians Andrew Wilson and Evelyn Strugnell with their lifetime achievement awards from Magic New Zealand. Photo / Jason Fell
Two Palmerston North magicians have been granted lifetime achievement awards from Magic New Zealand.
Andrew Wilson and Evelyn Strugnell received the awards in recognition of their valued contribution to New Zealand magic.
Born in Manchester, England, Wilson was taken to Singapore when he was just months old. He was broughtup there and aged 12 came to Wellington.
Wilson remembers travelling through the Suez Canal and seeing Gali-Gali men performing cup and ball tricks. The performers would also appear to throw people's watches into the canal and then find them.
When living in Wellington, he got his mother to contact other magicians for him to learn from and by the age of 15 he had an agent and would perform at children's shows. When he turned 18 he would perform at dine and dance shows.
He appeared on TV show Merry-Go-Round, a great learning experience as he had to research a lot of tricks for each episode.
"I was never disabled by nerves doing magic."
Wilson has a Master of Arts in English from Victoria University of Wellington and lectured there. He also has a Bachelor of Letters from Oxford University, during which he wrote a thesis on Ben Jonson's comedies.
He then taught at Charterhouse School in Surrey for 27 years, teaching drama, English, golf and magic.
After his father died, he returned to New Zealand in 2002 to be near his frail mother and taught at Palmerston North Boys' High School and Nga Tawa Diocesan School.
"I love the inherent drama and surprise of magic." It's a skill like juggling or playing an instrument.
Andrew Wilson with Magic New Zealand directors Michele and Alan Watson. Photo / Jason Fell
Strugnell became interested in magic while working at the Tivoli Theatre in Sydney as a dancer. German magicians also working there asked if she would like to learn a magic trick and she was hooked.
She attended the Chavez School of Magic in Los Angeles and was taught by Dale Salwak, an internationally renowned magician.
Strugnell has performed in Los Angeles including the Magic Castle in Hollywood, Hawaii and Australia, as well as New Zealand.
She says her fellow magicians have almost become family since she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013. Despite surgery and treatment, the disease had metastasised to her upper spine, forcing her to wear a neck brace.
She's performed and competed in every New Zealand magic convention from the 1970s on. Her bag of tricks contains silk scarves, doves, rings, umbrellas, rope and hankies.
In her pink act, the retired hairdresser has an assistant - her maltipoo dog Tiffany.
"I love to make people smile and I love it when they say 'I think I know how you did that'."
She has a special trick for children - especially boys - who think they know how a trick's done. "And I'll tell you what, they never say another word."
It involves ropes and tubes and she tried it on this reporter. I have no idea why my tube dropped to the ground even though when Strugnell had it the rope was fixed tight.
Strugnell received a scroll of honour from the Variety Artists Club in 2003 and a Palmerston North City Council community award in 1999.
Magic New Zealand director Alan Watson says the panel was unanimous in selecting Wilson and Strugnell for the recognition. Both have made major contributions to magic over many years.
Watson says Strugnell does a lot of work for charity despite having stage 4 cancer. "She's terrific, she's one in a million."
Evelyn Strugnell with Magic New Zealand directors Michele and Alan Watson. Photo / Jason Fell
Wilson is running an interactive magic coaching workshop at Te Manawa on July 19 for children 8 plus and the same day he puts on a magic show. See temanawa.co.nz/event for details.
