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Beyond Belief Jason Bishop’s astounds. His rise above hardship inspires. APRIL 2018 APRIL

APRIL 2018 ★ He makes half-dollars multiply. He teleports his assistant. He levitates more than 10 feet off the stage. But Jason Bishop’s biggest trick was turning a nightmare of a childhood into a dream. �

THE MAGICIAN WHO WOULDN’T DISAPPEAR

p. 67 / by brooke lea foster / photography by dustin cohen and then begins to fan them. He likes to keep his his voice wavering. In a past riddled with sadness, hands moving right before a performance, and he it’s this memory that rattles him; he can’t tell it always waits until minutes before he goes onstage without crying. to dress in his signature Diesel jacket, skinny “Just picturing these kids gets me,” he says. jeans, and black leather boots. “If I stay busy,” he “They deserved a family, but here they were on says, “then I never get nervous.” Christmas Eve waiting on this sad and lonely pres- But that this is a hometown show, the first that ent cart. To me, they were better than that.” Bishop’s done in the Lehigh Valley in 10 years, It’s here that you get a glimpse into the unshak- means this particular performance in early Febru- able mindset that has come to define Bishop’s rela- ary is loaded with emotion. Bishop grew up in fos- tionship to his past: Somehow, rise above it. ter care homes in the area, living in an orphanage “Jason has always chosen to reject that kind in his earliest years. His biological parents, whom of baggage,” says his longtime foster mother, Su- he barely knew, were heroin addicts. Less than 20 zanne Ernst, whom Jason calls “Mom.” “At some miles from the theater is where Jason, at the age of point, he was able to find a filing cabinet in his 7, went to live with one of his first foster families. mind and close the drawer on the past. He said to He bounced from family to family, attending himself: ‘I’m not going to let this affect my life.’” the local middle and high school in an Allentown Bishop was one of 25 foster children who came suburb, where classmates knew him as the foster to live with Suzanne and her husband, Paul, in kid. When he turned 18, he left government care. their large Victorian in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, The memories Bishop has of his early child- over a few decades. When he arrived at age 8, he hood are mostly defined by hunger. At 5 years had one of the longest honeymoon periods of any old, Jason, then Jasane Castro, remembers asking child she’d met. He remained on his best behavior his birth father for food, his stomach empty and for his new foster parents for six months, until grumbling, and the man ordering him to go to bed: one day he got angry about something—“It could a twin mattress on the floor that he shared with have been that he wanted pan- his five siblings. He regularly picked through trash cakes and I made eggs,” Suzanne � for food, and sometimes his birth parents left him says—and he began throwing him- As a teen, in abandoned buildings at night while his birth self against the stained-glass doors Bishop spent endless hours mother went in search of drugs. in the entryway. studying his In a flash of light, Even now, years later, Bishop will stop himself Anger turned to sobbing. So craft. Jason Bishop takes the stage at Allentown’s Miller At a time when the internet robs many tricks of from overeating, which is his inclination because Symphony Hall without ever stepping onto it. their surprise, Bishop still wows. At 40, he has per- whenever food was put in front of him as a kid, Shown on a video screen, walking closer and formed in nearly every U.S. state, played hundreds he’d eat as much as he could. He never knew when closer to the audience in the 1,100-seat theater in of cruises, and taken his show to numerous coun- the next meal would come. Pennsylvania, the magician and illusionist sud- tries, including France and China. He’s joked with At some point later, a caseworker arrived, click- denly appears in person, standing under strobe Al Roker on NBC’s Today show and filmed an epi- ing a ballpoint pen—Jason remembers staring at lights and spotlights, as if he had sliced a seam sode for the CW’s Masters of Illusion. In December, the tip. Soon after, he was placed into state care. from another dimension and stepped into this he headlined 39 shows in . Once he left his birth parents, he was fearful at the one. In the audience, mouths drop, and it won’t be But the smooth rise of Jason Bishop, while idea that he might have to go back to them. the last time during this 90-minute show that peo- seemingly glamorous, romantic even, may be his “Even though I was a little kid, I had this sense ple will wonder, How did he do that? greatest illusion yet. In neighborhoods not far that I had to get out of there,” he says. “It may It’s a question people have asked of Bishop from this Allentown theater, he endured a child- sound harsh, but I wasn’t sad to leave them. These his entire life. Whether it was during high school hood no one should ever have to suffer. Which people had never acted like my parents. They’d when he made doves appear out of his empty makes How did he do that? even more mystifying. never even taken care of me.” hands, or later when he first showed he could solve That Christmas, he and his siblings were living a Rubik’s Cube with a single snap of his wrist or efore the show, Bishop is backstage in in an orphanage, St. Joseph’s. From the doorway skip cards off the floor like stones across a river, he his dressing room, a few small boxes of of his shared room, he watched as an employee has always wanted to amaze people. Later in this B his props (balls, coins, cards) lined up pushed a cart full of donated presents down the show, he sends his fearless assistant and longtime on a countertop, a mirror illuminated in fluores- hall, stopping at each room to hand a gift to each partner, Kim Hess, to levitate more than 10 feet in cent light stretching the length of one wall. He child. Jason was 6, but the sight struck a chord in the air, and then somehow slowly floats to join her. applies a mysterious substance to a deck of cards, him, and to this day, he can’t tell the story without

68 Southwest april 2018 april 2018 Southwest 69 ★ Bishop at Schaeffer Auditorium she sat with him on the living room floor for more want to see you anymore. at Kutztown than an hour talking to him, assuring him that “It was a turning point for Jason,” Suzanne University, which he she was there to listen. Finally, he admitted why says. “Some foster kids hold on to the idea that attended he was upset: He missed the foster mother at his their parent is going to come back for them, but before pursu- previous placement. It was confusing for a young he severed ties early and it allowed him to move ing his career on the road child to become attached to a loving adult only to on. He always had this determination within.” (His be sent to a different family. (The previous foster birth mother passed away when he was a teenager. couple had split up.) Jason lost track of his biological siblings in the From that moment on, Jason attached himself foster care system in subsequent years and has to Suzanne, and he came to her soon after, and little contact with most of them today, in part while looking up at her with his sweet, big round because it’s emotionally draining.) eyes, he asked: “Will you be my forever mother?” Of course, there were still struggles, since for a child, even changing schools can be traumatic. uzanne, who didn’t hold back in her love His best friend, Ryan Whitaker, recalls the first for the foster children she parented (she month Jason arrived at his school in eighth grade. S and Paul also have three biological sons), A popular student announced to a few classmates would often tell kids what they needed to hear to that he didn’t like “the look of that kid,” and when give them a sense of security at their new home. one of his cronies took a swing at Jason, the new- Of course, she’d be his forever mother, she told comer knocked the bully down with a hard jab to him, and she meant it. She was beside him through the chest. some of the toughest moments of his childhood. “In typical Jason style, though, he put out his It was at her house that he’d learn that his birth hand and helped the kid up,” Whitaker says. “You father had been stabbed to death, and his mother could tell he’d been in some scraps, that he was was going to prison. Asked about those two tough, but he was always such a good kid.” events, Bishop says only, “They are very related.” When Jason was 12, the system took him

I’ve always been drawn to stories of self-made men. Magic was filled with these kinds of people.

After Jason attended a few state-mandated away again, not due to anything occurring in the visits with his birth mother at the jail, he told Su- home—he still doesn’t entirely understand why, zanne and his caseworker he wouldn’t go back. but thinks it was agency politics—and placed him Jason, then 8 or 9, was so insistent the foster care in another foster home. But the day he left, Jason agency made him a deal: If he’d get on the phone promised Suzanne and Paul that he’d return as with his birth mother and explain why he didn’t soon as he turned 18. Over the next few years, they want to go, he wouldn’t have to return. Suzanne kept in touch through visits and phone calls. remembers this little boy standing in her kitchen, And true to his promise, on his 18th birthday, holding the big receiver to his small ear, standing Suzanne was washing the dishes in the kitchen with authority and speaking so clearly: I don’t sink when she saw Jason enter through the back

70 Southwest april 2018 april 2018 Southwest 71 nothing, relying on a mix of pluck, showmanship, and determination to rise to the top. “I’ve always been drawn to stories of self-made men,” he says. “Magic was filled with these kinds � of people. These men had the most amazing lives, Clockwise from and reading about them made me think, This is center: Bishop with possible for me.” his assistant, Kim Hess, and Gizmo; with Hess and bio- ishop’s distinctive brand of perfor- logical brother Ala- mance combines the flashy style of dine “Dino” Vargas (right), at high school B magic’s theatrical height 30 years ago graduation; Jason (think David Copperfield) with the kind of inti- at 6; with Hess and mate sleight of hand showcased by performers like foster mom Suzanne Ernst in Alaska; on and . He complements that ’s Breakfast with a down-to-earth charm, a natural gift honed Television by hours of practice. “Jason has a level of honesty as a performer,” says , one of the leading design- ers of magical illusions and special effects. Stein- meyer was consulted by Copperfield for the gate and walk the path up to the back door. the table and showing it to the audience, he pulls find about great magicians like , magician’s trick of making the Statue of Liberty “Whenever kids would leave us, my husband two of the silver swords positioned on the back of Alexander Herrmann, and Howard Thurston. disappear, and he has helped Bishop develop a few would always prepare by distancing himself, but the prop and pierces through the sides of the box, “I would see a magic special on TV as a kid, of his exclusive tricks. “He does the big, impres- I’d hold on until they were driven away, and then and then punctures the top with a third sword. and I’d wonder if I could do that,” he says. “When sive illusions. He does intimate sleight of hand. fall apart every time,” she says. “But if you go After a dramatic pause, he removes the swords, I realized magic was something I could actually He’s funny and chatty onstage. And in bringing all through all of that grieving and then the child unfolds the box, glides his hands over the top, and learn, I’d stay up reading about it until my eyes of these things together, he’s made magic feel hip comes back to you, then that love is rekindled so sees Hess pop her head up and then stand with a were red.” again. People see his show and think, This guy is quickly.” flourish. The crowd eats it up. Perhaps it’s due to When asked if magic was a form of escape for really cool.” And there wasn’t any question at that moment, his variation of the classic box trick, or maybe it’s him, Bishop says there’s some truth in that. But at In Bishop’s act, he’ll walk through jail cell bars as mother and son hugged, tears in Suzanne’s eyes, his dry humor. Either way, he owns the audience. first, he says, the magicians fascinated him more in one trick and then seemingly teleport Hess that she loved him like one of her own. “Any questions?” No pause. “Cool. Moving on,” than the magic. Houdini rose from an impover- from one large cabinet to another. He follows “I knew then,” she says, “that Jason would be a Bishop says, flashing a boyish grin. ished background to become one of the most cel- that by sitting solo for “close-up magic,” making part of our lives forever.” Along with ticket buyers, critics have taken ebrated magicians in history. Thurston, who was decks of cards appear from nowhere, and making note of his craft. “There’s real elegance and even said to be more famous than Houdini in the 1920s, half-dollars multiply from four to eight to 12 to 16. uring the show, Hess, Bishop’s assis- wit in the precision of his gestures, the agility of ran away from home, penniless, to join the circus These are serious tricks, but Bishop rarely tant, steps into a rectangular-shaped each finger,” wrote one reviewer inThe New York before finding magic. takes himself seriously. Thanks to his light- D box and is out of sight. Jason, enjoying Times. That mastery is the result of decades of Jason was 15 when he recognized a pattern in hearted conversational style and wit—something the suspense building in the crowd, folds the pan- study. When Jason was in high school, he would these legendary performers: They struggled and he practiced by listening to radio personality els of the box inward, shrinking it to roughly the go to the library (less than 3 miles from the site of had no fancy educations, privileged pedigrees, and comedian Ron Bennington on long drives to

height and width of four shoeboxes. After turning this show) and take out whatever books he could BISHOP JASON OF COURTESY PHOTOS PERSONAL or family connections. Often, they came from performances—he’ll generate as many laughs as

72 Southwest april 2018 april 2018 Southwest 73 gasps. “When he’s up there, he’s just being Jason,” ong before Bishop began his ascent as awards, no press. We didn’t have says longtime friend Whitaker, who still lives in a performer, Hess was by his side. They photos. We just had this cockiness Allentown. “It’s like you’re hanging out with the L were a pair from the start. There was an and confidence, and it felt like if we same funny guy, only he’s on a stage.” attraction, but also an ease; they were best friends could just get the right person, it Hess likens Bishop to the guy at the party who months before they went to prom together. That could change everything.” everyone wants to talk to. “He’s not a showoff,” she they shared an interest in performing only drew When they finally did begin says. “People are just drawn to him.” them closer. Hess has won numerous awards as booking shows a couple of years At the Allentown performance, when he calls a baton twirler and has a natural stage presence. after graduating from high school, a 9-year-old boy onstage as a volunteer, the child “He pursued me, which was new for me,” she says, they treated each one like a Broad- admits to the magician that he doesn’t believe in of their senior year. “And I remember that he was way-level performance regard- magic. Bishop doesn’t miss a beat. “Oh, so you’re very loving, right from the beginning, always less of the venue, practicing every a septic. I mean, skeptic. What’s the difference re- making sure I was okay. Even today, he’s like that.” twirl, every hand movement, every ally? They both stink.” Whether or not the audi- In the early years of their act, they would work joke, over and over. On a white- ence laughs doesn’t matter because Bishop cracks odd jobs and put every penny toward buying board in their workspace, they up at himself, endearing him to the crowd; he even magic props—linking rings, vanishing candles, drew up serious lists of goals, points out a joke if one falls flat: “Hey, I don’t come decks of cards. At Christmas, he’d ask his foster which were always changing. to your job and judge you, do I?” parents for thick tomes on magic, some written by “As soon as they’d scratch one After the septic joke, Bishop turns to the Steinmeyer, whom he didn’t know at the time. And off, another would appear,” Su- boy, telling him to stare at the dollar he brought in an attempt to land gigs, they would cold-call zanne recalls. “They both shared with him onstage. Bishop folds the borrowed bill dozens of venues in the Poconos and Catskills. If the same ambition from the start.” down to a small square and then unfolds it back 10 people said no, they’d dial another 10. And while Hess wanted the show out, only this time it’s a $100 bill. The boy looks “In those days, it was like we were in a hole in to succeed, she also wanted Bishop stunned, even more so when the magician tells the ground and we just kept trying to claw our to succeed. From the moment they him to keep it. Bishop, without gloating, without way out, even as the dirt kept coming in on us,” fell into the same group of friends flourish, just smiles. Bishop says. “We had no money, no experience, no as teenagers, they were always to- gether, always scheming, planning, dreaming, and supporting each other—all the while falling deeper in love. “I think Kim always believed in him, and she’d do anything for A Study in Showmanship him—she still would,” says Su- Jason Bishop lives to wow audiences. So what performances and zanne, who was always amazed by Bishop’s ability to endure so much ideas have wowed him? Here are four that left an impression. rejection as a performer, an anom- aly for foster kids who spend a life- time feeling rejected. Hess knows a lot about Bishop’s past, of course, but she says he’s still figuring out the many ways it shaped who he is today. “With Jason, I always find it interesting to learn another little tidbit,” she says. “Because sometimes, when flurry of wings dancing no ordinary guy craziest encore you hear it, it makes all the other handkerchiefs penn & teller things stick together.” what happens: Doves what happens: A man what happens: This appear in his bare what happens: Hand- from the audience en- actually isn’t a trick. In high school, Jason did the hands, from a glove, kerchiefs float, dance, gages with both Penn After a show at Car- bare minimum to get by, Suzanne out of a handkerchief, and dart impossibly. and an obscured Teller negie Hall, Kaufman says, but then he’d spend all his and out of torn paper. bishop says: “It was for quite a while. Turns took his audience in bishop says: “For just fun [and] amazing, out, the man is Teller. buses to a nearby free time practicing a trick for En- stage manipulation, and exuded the en- bishop says: “The school for milk and glish class where he put a sheet I’m not sure anyone ergy and charm I hope brazenness, shock, cookies. bishop says: over a classmate at the front of the was smoother or bet- Doug is long remem- and creativity of the “It was that rare type ter paced. Starting in bered for.” effect make me feel of performance that room and made him vanish. His magic, I wanted to be that, as magicians, we crossed into personal mom worried that Jason wasn’t Lance Burton.” can push ideas further experience. Those are thinking about his future in prac- than we first think is the types of moments possible.” I hope to one day have tical terms. with my audiences.” “I wanted his feet on the

74 Southwest april 2018 ILLUSTRATIONS BY PETER OUMANSKI ground,” she says. After graduating in 1996, Bishop ★ Gizmo adds attended Kutztown University, to the act’s where he majored in theater, but popularity. he left after two years. He and Hess had been cast in a traveling game show, and they planned to take the salary they made from the show and buy larger illusions. Soon after they got back in 1998, they landed their first regular gig at Caesars Brookdale Resort in the Poconos.

hose who know the cou- ple will tell you they’re me, ‘I really want to do different T doing much of the same things. Don’t count me out because thing today that they were doing you think it’s not quite in my style.’ 20 years ago. Bishop dreams up And that’s rare for a performer,” the tricks, scribbling down designs he says. “To start with something for prototypes and pulling from brand new and put it on a stage, a variety of disciplines to execute that’s a big adventure. It involves them—technology, physics, chem- more time, more money, and it’s istry—while Hess, in addition to scary for some people. But Jason the physical demands of her stage isn’t afraid of that.” work, manages the money, orga- Or, perhaps, Bishop’s already nizes the props, and tracks the per- performing the illusion that will formance schedule. make his name as recognizable as They never married, mostly be- Copperfield’s, and he just needs cause they’d rather spend money to get the right people to see it. In on props than a wedding, and they one sequence of the show, Bishop don’t have kids—they aren’t sure makes an illuminated ball rise out they could raise them being on the of a box. With the glowing ball road all the time. But they do have hovering in a fog in mid-air, Bishop a sweet Yorkie named Gizmo, who sends it up and down, side to side, is a popular part of the show; the with an elegant flip of his hands, pup vanishes in a metal box and losing himself in the mesmerizing then comes running back onto the quality of it, until finally making stage. (He also gives fist bumps.) the ball float in an arc over his But even with all of the pair’s head. recent success, Bishop’s ambitions Anyone watching the effortless only seem to rise, and he’s yet to display has no idea, of course, just find the trick that will make him how many years (21 to be exact) a household name. While he’s do- Bishop has spent trying to get the ing several illusions that no other fog and movement and levitation magician is doing onstage today, just right. No one will know just Bishop wants to push the show to how many times the ball failed, be even more original. He wants how many times Bishop wondered each of his acts to feel like pages in if it would appear as entrancing as a comic book, where his tricks are he imagined it, how many times he like moving pictures that freeze at could have given up. times, leaving the audience with a But when it comes to magic, lasting sense of amazement. Bishop will tell you, he never Steinmeyer, who has worked gives up. with dozens of magicians over the years, says he enjoys working with Brooke Lea Foster is a freelance Bishop because he’s open to trying writer in New York. Email her at anything. “Jason will often say to [email protected].