White Swami, (It's Magic!)

Here is a poster for the current tour of "It's Magic." Yup, it's a white guy wearing a turban. He appears to be throwing cards in the air. I learned this trick at a young age, but it took years to learn to pick them all up again. I'm hoping my mother has a picture of me in a turban and suit doing magic in my grade school talent show. If I can acquire it, I will post it. This reminds us that white guys still like to wear turbans, but it still doesn't explain why. I'm working on a book chapter on Indian magicians right now and will write a bit about non-Indians who dress up as Indians to perform. The book should be out next year, edited by James Frey, a wonderful historian and scholar of Indian magic who currently teaches at UW-Oshkosh.