Five years ago, I posted a 1982 interview Doug did with the “Oakville Beaver.” Oakville, as you may know, was Doug’s old stomping grounds, and where he lived and attended high school. Recently, that same article was sent to me again by chance. I realized that in the original 2018 post, I posted it as…
Category: Interview
CBS Morning News: Doug and Maria Shriver
The above clip ties in nicely with the “BBC History of Magic” post that I had put up a couple days ago. In fact, it’s an expanded version of an interview clip featured within that original special’s segment on Doug. Found now on Bill Green’s You Tube Channel, Doug performs a whimsical illusion with a…
10 Questions with Carisa Hendrix
Today ‘s special guest is renowned magician Carisa Hendrix. Along with her alter ego, Lucy Darling, Hendrix has taken the magic world by storm over the last ten years. Awarded the 2019 Stage Magician of the Year by the AMA, Hendrix continues to breathe new life into magic through innovation and comedy. If that weren’t…
Entertainment Tonight Candid Interview Shot
The above photo comes from the “Mr. Camera” Instagram page, and is from an unknown date and venue. According to the page, the man doing the interviewing is “Mr. Camera” himself, Don Jacobs. Don Jacobs is the founder of, you guessed it, “Mr. Camera.” By Doug’s look, and the “Entertainment Tonight” microphone it is definitely…
New York Daily News Interview-Dec. 1976
Today’s article comes from the promotional blitz that surrounded Doug’s second “World of Magic” special in 1976. In it, Doug talks about the special’s main illusions, “The Flaming Miracle” and the “Disappearing Elephant.” However, the juiciest part of the article comes when Doug contrasts and compares how Houdini originally performed the “Elephant in the Room”…
“Lincoln Nebraska Sunday Journal” Interview-August 11, 1974
Today’s post is a very early interview with Doug from when “The Magic Show” had just opened, and was taking Broadway by storm. While Doug recounts some of the background information you may already know, what I liked about it in particular is reading Doug’s secrecy agreement with his cast and staff. Also, the interviewer…
Argus Leader Interview-5/1/1987
I was drawn to this article because of it being at a late stage of Doug’s magic career. It even begins with the interviewer asking about his opinion of Penn and Teller, and Doug’s view of them. Clearly they were the new kids on the magic block in the late 1980s. Times were clearly changing …
“Bump in the Night” Box Interview with Greg Gleason
As many of you may have seen, magician Greg Gleason recently and accidentally came to own Doug’s original “Things that go Bump in the Night” box. How that came to be is a fascinating story. It’s a story so fascinating that I’m going to let Greg tell it himself. How did you obtain the box?…
Gary Brown on his Genii Article: Expanded
In 1997, I had reached out to Erica Larsen who was, at that time, editing Genii, about doing an issue devoted to Doug Henning. Erica kindly agreed, arranging for a few other writers to contribute pieces, and I volunteered to do a biographical sketch. Because Doug was still involved in trying to launch the Veda Land project,…
People Magazine- August, 1974 “Magic Show” Interview
The above pages come from the August 5, 1974 issue of “People” magazine, and are straight from the time when Doug was taking the world by storm. As you can tell from the article, nothing like the “Magic Show” had been seen before on Broadway, and Doug, like the show itself, was a unique commodity….
Baltimore Sun Interview-June 10, 1982
Baltimore Sun: June 10, 1982
“World of Magic II”-Los Angeles Times 1976 Interview
Los Angeles Times: December 23, 1976
Popular Mechanics Jim Steinmeyer Interview
I just wanted to let everyone know that this month’s current issue of Popular Mechanics features an interview with Designer and Author Jim Steinmeyer. It goes without saying that Jim is responsible for designing some of the most important illusions in magic history. He also was one of the most important designers in Doug’s career,…
Canadian Magazine Interview- January 1973
This early interview of Doug’s from 1973 is a real time capsule of an era in Doug’s career when things were about to explode, and the future looked eternally bright. His assistant in the piece is even Mars Barrick. So, that should give you a good indication on how far back this goes. The article…
From the Playbill Archives: (New) Merlin Interview
Well, it’s not often that you get some new Doug Henning news in your Google feed. However, that’s exactly what happened today when Playbill.com dug into their archives for this vintage article from the opening of “Merlin.” As you would imagine, Doug talks enthusiastically about the show and its illusions. What else would you expect?…
Steve Cohen Interview: Final Part
Let’s talk about your graphic novel, “The Millionaires Magician,” how did that start? Well, you already know the answer. The answer is Doug Henning… Yeah. You’ll never believe it but when I was a little boy, about eight or nine years old, I used to draw my own comic books. One of the cartoon characters…
Steve Cohen Interview: Part Three
Is there anything that you may have gleaned from Doug when you were younger that you may take with you in your own act? I would say his obvious glee and real love for his magic. Also, the obvious glee and love that he turned outward toward his audience. Doug was not performing for himself;…
Steve Cohen Interview: Part Two
Can you talk about the two times you saw Doug perform live? For this interview, I dug out two ticket stubs from my collection. One of them is for “Merlin” on February 23, 1983. The other ticket was for “Doug Henning’s World of Magic” on Saturday, December 22, 1984. I vividly remember going to “Doug…
Steve Cohen Interview: Part One
Over this week, I will be featuring an interview I conducted recently with acclaimed New York magician Steve Cohen. Steve is very well known in the magic and entertainment communities for his must-see show “Chamber Magic.” This intimate evening harkens back to magic salons of the past, and over the last twenty years has become…
Doug Henning: In His Own Words (Part Three)
In this final part, Doug touches on Merlin, Veda Land, his retirement, and what brought him back to Los Angeles in the late 90s. While the interview itself ends on a high note with Doug proclaiming “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet,” sadly this was not to be. Doug passed away a short four months after this…
Doug Henning- In His Own Words (Part Two)
Sorry for the delay in part two. As you will see, Doug goes into great detail about his earlier years in college, meeting Ivan Reitman, training with Dai Vernon, and Spellbound. It’s all exciting stuff, and straight from the horse’s mouth (so to speak). So, without further ado patient readers, is Part Two of “In…
Doug Henning- In His Own Words (Part One)
For the rest of this week I’ll be reprinting Magic Magazine’s now legendary interview with Doug from October, 1999. Conducted by magician David Charvet, this lengthy interview would sadly turn out to be Doug’s last as he would pass away from cancer four months later. For those interested, the circumstances as to how this interview came…
THE DOUG HENNING PROJECT 