A world of magic for good

OLGA LIVSHIN

On his website, Stephen Kaplan calls himself “Doktor Strange, a Motivating Magician,” but in reality, his ultimate purpose in life is to make people laugh. “Laughter is the greatest sound I can imagine,” he said.

During Kaplan’s childhood, his father worked on lighting effects for Vancouver Jewish Community Centre theatre productions and, as a child, Stephen spent hours backstage, soaking in the magic of show business. He especially enjoyed touring magicians. When he was 12, his father involved him in a magic class, and he fell in love with the craft.

“That summer, I went camping with my father,” he recalled. “We had movies in the evenings in a big barn. My father arranged to have me do a magic show before a movie; it went over great. I loved it – the applause, the laughter, everything. That was my first live performance, and I was forever hooked.”

Afterwards, he trained to become a magician. He still practises for hours, reads books about magic, watches every TV show that involves magicians, and frequents the magic shop on Granville Island.

“I can’t remember how many tricks I have learned since I started,” he said. “I like to learn new tricks and then change them to adapt to my personality, to my style.” He loves performing street magic, manipulating mundane objects like cards, coins, rings and rubber bands. His tricks seem funny and effortless, absolutely magical in front of his audience’s eyes. “I never show anybody a trick until it’s perfected, becomes a second nature,” he said.

Kaplan insisted that magic in itself isn’t enough to make a show successful. “Magic is only a spice for a performance. A magician has to be a performer, an entertainer. His personality makes the show.”

Kaplan definitely has the right personality: bright and bubbling with enthusiasm and humor.

Spurred by his love for people and his enterprising spirit, he offers not only magic shows, but also his services as an emcee for corporate events and weddings. He writes personalized vows and poetry and works as living commercials during trade shows. Constantly coming up with the new ideas, he collaborates with the Bingo industry and designs board games, as well as novelty items.

His creativity drives him to explore new venues for magic and laughter. For several years, Kaplan has been working for Classroom Expeditions. “I work [with] grades 5 and 6. I teach Canadian history and government, teamwork and communication skills.” Kaplan arrives for his educational deliveries dressed up in a magician’s top hat with a suitcase full of tricks and his history lessons stay in the kids’ memories. “Once a kid told me he got an A for a history quiz after my presentation,” Kaplan recalled with a self-deprecating snort. “He was just a bright kid, but I felt good anyway.”

These exploits evolved into his newest service, motivational speaking, geared towards high school and college students. “I try to motivate them to the power of positive thinking and I use magic and laughter to illustrate my points,” he explained.

Aside from his career, the most important thing in his life is his family. “My daughter, Madison, and son, Jarod, are the joy of my life,” he said. Whenever one of his family members comes up in conversation, his eyes light up and a smile tugs at his lips. “When my mom died of cancer five years ago, it was the worst tragedy of my life,” he said. “She was a great mother.”

One of his fondest memories of his mother, Ruthie Kaplan, involves a story about a 1984 B.C.-wide talent contest he entered. Like every young competitor, he wanted to win, but she said: “Don’t think about winning. Just go and have fun.” So he went on stage, had fun, and won. “That’s what I’ve been doing since,” he said, “having fun.”

The Doktor Strange Evening of Magic for My Mom fundraiser for the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture is on Saturday, March 13, 8 p.m. Call 604-325-1812 or visit laughthrulunch.com for tickets.

Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She’s available for contract work. Contact her at [email protected].

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