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Magic pioneer cast his spell over world
A PIONEERING Bridlington magician who wowed audiences around the world with his trickery has been remembered on the centenary of his birth.
Dick Nesfield, who performed under the stage name Dleisfen – which was an anagram of his surname – lived in Clarence Road and was the first honorary secretary of the British Ring of Magicians.
His prominence was captured by numerous magic magazines both in this country and in the USA, which lauded his style and performance.
American magazines conjured up more than 60 references to him in the 1920s and 1930s.
But it was after moving to London to work as a legal secretary in 1932, Dleisfen became a forgotten figure.
However, Hunmanby based magician Roy Field has brought his memory back to life after a recent presentation to the International Brotherhood of Magicians convention in Eastbourne last month.
Mr Field, who is a member of the Magic Circle, said Dleisfen lit up the magic scene in the 1920s and 1930s before he simply disappeared.
And Mr Field, who spent a year researching the magician, said his fall from fame was partly induced by a personal tragedy.
"He was like a meteor that appeared from nowhere which then petered out and was then forgotten.
"He and his wife had a personal tragedy when they lost their baby and I don't think he really recovered from that," said Mr Field.
Mr Field, a retired chartered librarian, paid tribute to Dleisfen saying he was an extremely important figure in that era of magic, but added it was hard to describe his style and forte.
"He was, at the time a 'player', and in the 1920s really was quite a significant magician, and magicians used to come to Bridlington just to discuss magic with him.
"In his time, Bridlington became a mecca for visiting magicians, so I thought his story in his centenary year was important to tell.
"It's difficult to say what his style of magic was, it was very general and of course, magic is very different now to then.
"His magic was very miscellaneous, but it was sophisticated and very inventive.
"I have dubbed his style as 'divination' magic or mental magic and magic of the mind, where he would predict a card or something on those lines.
"He returned to Bridlington in 1950 and continued with some amateur magic and a neighbour of his remembers him doing a bit of magic for children's parties."
Mr Field, who still does a little bit of magic himself, said he met Dleisfen in the 1960s and he received books and apparatus from the magician, who lived in Mount Crescent before he died in 1972.
Dleisfen helped to set up the first unofficial convention of the British ring of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, in Bridlington, three weeks before the official convention in Cheltenham took place in 1931.
Mr Field said a host of magicians performed at the Pavilion and the Spa, including Dleisfen himself.
He said: "It was very interesting and could be regarded as the first convention of the British ring.
"At the time, they had notices up saying; no time for eating, no time for sleeping, which showed just how serious it was."
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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