Stewart James

Stewart James. The World Renown and Little Known Magician of Courtright, Ontario. At age 7, Stewart learned the rope trick "Knot of Enchantment" from "Boy's World" magazine, a Sunday School newspaper, published by the David C. Cook Publishing House in Elgin, Illinois. This is when Stewart began thinking seriously about magic. This trick gave Stewart the companionship and creative escape and self-confidence he needed as a young boy., In his loneliness, Stewart created the "Three Companions Who Never Were", that he called "The Deepsters". He would meet the Deepsters in "The Board Room" and they would discuss and design new and intriguing magic tricks at the "Talking Table". His three imaginary friends were called, Rigonally, Faxton, and Khardova. This helped Stewart focus his creative mind and critique his complex thoughts on new magic tricks. Stewart would sit with them and these imaginary friends would propose multiple suggestions for plots and methods., Meetings with "The Board" were exhilarating for Stewart and provided him with what seemed like an endless source of new ideas. Stewart acknowledged the fact that his companions were figments of his imagination. Stewart's approach to generating ideas occurred decades before Edward de Bono, the guru of lateral thinking, developed his "Six Thinking Hats"., Stewart's first published trick appeared in print in 1926. He called it "A Match For Gravity". It was the beginning of a steady stream of contributions of his material to magic books and magazines, particularly material based on previously unapplied principles from mathematics and science rather than sleight of hand., "Miraskill" is his most famous card trick for which Stewart is known. The trick is dependent upon a little known principle intrinsic to a deck of 52 playing cards that he stumbled upon. He marketed "Miraskill" in 1935., As magic drew the inventor out of seclusion and into the world, Stewart travelled throughout the region, seeking a wider audience for his performance. His first assistant was Millicent "Boo" Luscombe. Stewart began dating Grace Dennis (McDonald), sister of Robert C. Dennis. (Robert Dennis was a famous television playwright who wrote for "Perry Mason", "Dragnet", "Hawaii Five-0", "Mission Impossible" and many more.) Grace was his assistant from 1936 until 1942. In 1940, he also began publishing his ideas, writing a monthly column, "Invitation to Mystery", first for "Tops"magazine and then "The New Tops", published by Abbott Magic Manufacturing Company of Colon, Michigan. His column ran for several decades., An achievement Stewart had, but wished he had not done, was his "Headline Prediction". On September 1, 1938, at a conference of magicians in Fort Erie, Ontario, Stewart offered to perform something that so-called psychics could not duplicate - he would predict the headline of the newspaper a year in advance. A year later, when the prediction was unsealed - it had been in the hands of the local police department all that time - it proved correct. The headline declared: "World War Threatened: Nazis Attack Poland". Stewart's stunt garnered its own headlines internationally. Stewart commented, "I would not do a newspaper prediction again; so many people become convinced that you have psychic powers and have absolute faith that you can help them.", In World War II, Stewart was in the special wireless branch of intelligence. He worked with code and cyphers. Once his other skills were discovered, he was transferred to the "Haversacks", one of the Canadian military's concert parties, and toured Europe during the war and entertained the Canadian troops. He said he may have been the first magician to cross the Rhine River during the war. In 1943 the theatre the Haversacks were to perform in was bombed and many of the soldiers waiting for them were killed. Stewart was distraught and, as his usual way of dealing with adversity, he got out his deck of cards and came up with the "Gobak Card Mystery". He sent the trick to his friend, Francis Haxton. Stewart then forgot about the trick as the memory of its conception was too painful. When Stewart returned to England, Francis performed the trick on him, and fooled him completely. Francis then revealed to Stewart that the trick was Stewart's invention., In September 1945, Stewart was rushed back to Canada. His mother was very ill and the doctors were sure she would not live much longer. While he was still en route home, she suddenly recovered. Upon arrival, his mother made it clear that she was his responsibility - - forever. This ended the relationship he had with Grace. His mother died in 1972 at the age of 92, and Stewart was her primary caregiver to the very end.