Jeff Thomson A Legacy Of The Great Guilds.
-student of great pitchmen, buskers, and magicians.
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” -Greek Proverb
Jeff Thomson has a version of this old Greek proverb on his social media under his picture.
I am an old man who was rewarded by God, to sit in the shade for a little while.
There were other old men with me who planted the seeds, some of them are gone.
But the ones that are still here, they sit with me looking up in awe, at how great the tree has become.
We had no idea.
I first met Jeff Thomson many years ago when he was just a kid.
He was a magic student of Don Driver the famous Svengali Pitchman.
I knew Don because I was a pitchman for many years before I became a professional busker. Don and I both knew Warpo and we were all united by the great master pitchman S. David Walker who taught us.
It should be noted that Don and Warpo were life long students of David's and became absolute masters of the Svengali Live Sales Pitch.
I only spent one work season with David, thanks to Warpo getting me the job with him.
It was a much needed favor, because at that time our family was hurting and needed the work. I had never met David and I would have never met him without Warpo's help.
When you watch Jeff you are watching the embodiment of thousands of great masters from eons of the finest of performance artists throughout the ages. All brought to you translated into our modern tongue.
You are watching the best of what your family got to see before you were even born.
You are looking into time, into the past and now into the future, because Jeff is also a creator of new things.
Better things.
As you know I am a traveler, and go where the work is.
When Jeff was coming up I would see him working in Balboa Park in San Diego. I would watch his progress over the years every time I went there to work.
In the in-between times when Don and I were not able to help him, Sleeveless was there for him.
Sleeveless The Magician is of course a world class master who has taught many of the legends we know today.
Needless to say Jeff did his duty as a young magician by surrounding himself with good teachers.
The thing we all thought was so striking about him, was his skill and his humility. It came to him so naturally, as to where most of us had to take years to learn it.
Skill and humility is of course the sign of a master, and here he had it at an early age.
I watched him progress from a kid who could do tricks, to a full 40 minute circle show with huge crowds.
At that time he did table magic, then he would finale with a straitjacket routine.
One day I came out and all he had was a tray jack table, a wand, and a deck of cards.
No amplifier, no sign, no props, nothing else.
He still managed to do a 40 minute circle show.
I was so impressed I mentioned to him, how few people could do that and he said he remembered me saying that and wanted to be able to do that as his goal.
Then he asked me if I would watch his table and wand, because he wanted to try and do it with just a deck of cards.
I stood there holding the table and wand in disbelief, as I watched him do it.
Full circle show, huge crowd, 40 minutes, big hat.
No amp, no table, no sign, no nothing, just him and a deck of cards on a terrible pitch.
I was dumbfounded.
I watched buskers struggle there every day on that pitch with bells, whistles, and amps, dancing like monkeys to get someone to watch.
The difference was, he knew what would work.
That's what practice, work ethic, and humility can do.
Humility can correct mistakes.
Arrogance cannot, because it cannot see mistakes.
That's the master's secret.
That was Jeff as a young beginner.
Jeff now of course is a world class master, but I knew him when.
I have been away from him for a while, but I still hear the stories around the world about this amazing magician on the west coast of the U.S. blowing people's minds and helping out the beginners and I just smile and say I hope I get to see his act some day too.
Thank you Jeff for your life's work.
It was an honor to share a pitch with you and call you my friend.
You've made our fraternity proud.
You can't know how much it means to us old guys that you are out there showing the world how great our art-form can be, and passing our tradition onto other lost artists starting out looking for a life of their own.
And to my readers here at Substack,
Jeff Thomson's life is what it means, to look away and do your duty.
To learn more about Jeff, please visit his Linktree. or feel free to email him at JeffThomsonMagic@gmail.com
Your Pal Jimmy.
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