One of the best close-up magicians alive is no longer alive. Brian Gillis passed away yesterday, a few days after suffering a massive heart attack. I have no idea how old he was but he did magic for an awfully long time.
Brian was a casual friend. I'd see him at the Castle and we'd talk about magic…and he knew more about it than just about anybody I've ever known. He made some memorable appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and it was obvious that Carson — a former magician, as you probably know — was in awe of Brian's skills.
A few months ago, I took some friends to the Castle promising them three of the best close-up guys around. Two of them were Richard Turner and Paul Gertner, both of whom "won" on Penn & Teller Fool Us. In fact, Paul won twice and the second time was on the episode that aired last night. Brian was there that night but not on the performance schedule and as a favor to me, he arranged a special show — essentially the act I've embedded below — for me and my friends, plus some Castlegoers who were invited in so we had a substantial audience. If you think the act looks good on video, you should have seen it live. I'm sorry you'll never get the chance.
Here's 22 minutes of Brian in the Close-Up Gallery in the Magic Castle a few years ago. See if you can catch when Brian steals a guy's watch without the guy knowing it…