I first saw the three knives in a history book on magic.  I honestly don’t remember which one.   Regardless, the image captivated me.  One knife was normal.  The other two were gaffed, twisted, and broken to make way for living flesh; to give the impression of bodily harm while drawing no real blood.  

The knives are from The Discoverie of Witchcraft, the first English language book to reveal how magic tricks are done.  Its author, Reginald Scot, a farmer, beer-maker, and amateur lawyer, published the book in 1584 in response to King James I executing scores of people accused of witchcraft.  James was obviously not a fan of a book saying that magic isn’t real and quickly had all but a handful of the copies burned.  A few dozen of the original printing remain today.  In response to this James in 1597 wrote a treatise on the many different kinds of witches, spirits, and demons called Daemonolgie and in the first few pages he calls out the Discoverie, “whereof the one called Scot an Englishman, is not ashamed in publike print to deny that there can be such a thing as Witch-craft”.

What balls.  What enormous balls for a farmer to call out a murderous, superstitious asshole, who is not just any powerful maniac, but the fucking KING.  

In 2008 I had the exciting opportunity to work with my childhood hero and now friend, Teller, on his ultra-violent and magic-filled production of Macbeth.  We did two productions, one in Red Bank, New Jersey at the Two River Theatre Company and another at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C.  The Folger has an enormous library and a humidity regulated vault that scholars can visit.  They gave us a tour and we were able to hold some of Shakespeare’s first folios and Queen Elizabeth’s bible.  We joked that wouldn’t it be funny if they had a 1st edition of the Discoverie of Witchcraft.  Our guide said, “We do!”.  She reached over and pulled out a small, well kept book.  Our jaws were on the floor.  Teller was just as red-faced as I was.

Our guide then handed me an original Daemonolgie by James I.  In my right hand I held a book that championed superstition and belief in monsters, written by megalomaniac, murderous royalty.  In my left hand I held a book on reason, written by a commoner trying to save lives.  He insisted that not all magic is real, sometimes it’s just tricks, and regardless, no one deserves to be hanged for it. 

In February of 2012 I had another encounter with the Discoverie of Witchcraft in a private collection in Marshall, Michigan.  I held not only another first edition but also a land deed signed by Reginald Scot.  You can imagine my excitement.

  

 

When I first saw those knives as a teenager I remember thinking that it would make a fantastic tattoo.  I held off getting any such thing on my body because I was afraid of not being hired at a “real job” ever again.  However, I’m permanently a magician now, a slave to show business.  I wanted a tattoo below the elbow where I could see it and it would remind me everyday what’s important to me.  Also, it will peek out of my sleeves when I roll them up to show you what’s not there.  My friend Luke Jermay, the incredible mind-reader from England, said of his sleeves of tattoos that they have always been there from the time he was born.  Now they’re just visible.  It seemed like a dramatic statement at the time but I now have a tattoo as well.  It’s a image symbolizing free thought, anti-authority, atheism, non-violence, and magic.  And I feel like it was always there.  It’s just that now you can see it too.

Thank you Gerald Feliciano, master tattoo artist, for the most permanent birthday gift I’ll ever have.