Distinctly Montana Magazine

W W W. D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA NA . C O M 45 For one thing, it's a false equivalency: there is a big difference between the empty spectacle of special effects and the engaging wonder of a magic show. Pat Nelson, technical and lighting director, fire safety specialist and renaissance man-at-large for Butte Magic, (as well as firefighter with the Little Basin Creek volunteer firefighter department, ap- propriately enough), puts it best: it's the "mechanics of magic" that attract him, and make it irreplaceable. "I am a stage-designer and technical guy, so magic and props and secrets are a natural exten- sion of what I already do." He pauses and thinks a moment. "e challenges and puzzles are what initially attracted me to live theater to begin with." And if there is one thing that Nelson loves almost as much as magic, it's his home state. "I live here because I am not willing to move out of state to find work in my field. Butte Magic is Montanan in nature because it is a very family-based organization that relies heavily on teamwork. Nothing is more Montanan than helping each other out." To which he adds: "Plus I'm a fourth generation Montanan!" Butte Magic is indeed a family affair. For James Jones, AKA "Sir James" the "pain-proof " man, a life in magic was all but inevitable; his mother and father are Lord Alden, prop-builder, inventor of illusions and magician in his own right, and his mother is Madame Azira, a magician as well as a mentalist. And his adopted older brother, Jaxon the Magnificent, who fenced on the Olympic circuit, has had a house fall on top of him, and is, naturally, also a fire-eater. When an emergency made it impossible for Jaxon to perform, James and his friend Eric took his place and were soon bitten by the performer's bug. James and Eric (AKA Eric the Excellent, magician, sword-swallow- er, and performer of old-fashioned sideshow-style feats) began to seek out their own shows at Butte's own Mother Lode eater, where they met Nelson and conceived the idea of their own magic troupe. ey enlisted Lord Alden and Madame Azira (seasoned performers – as well as James's parents), and the rest, as they say, is history. As Eric says, Butte Magic "really just happened – we were all al- ready doing magic in our own way, and all I did was give it a name." e name, however simple, is absolutely apropos, and not just because the magic troupe is based out of Butte. It also borrows something from the magic of Butte itself, a place where, Eric muses, "interesting people just seem to end up." "Fate, chance, whatever you want to call it, Butte draws unique, talented, and just plain odd individuals here, and they stay. I'm not sure Butte Magic could have existed without the all of the strange and wonderful people who all just happened to be here in the right place and time," he says. Which is not to say that the troupe limits their engagements to the Butte area. Indeed, they have performed all over the state, which makes their job a little different than for magicians elsewhere. VICKI HAINES S OME PEOPLE CLAIM THAT IN AN ERA OF COMPUTER-GENERATED SPECIAL EFFECTS, HOLOGRAPHIC IMAGERY, AND VIRTUAL REALITY, traditional stage magic has lost some of its luster — as if a preponderance of an imitation eliminates the need for the original. e truth as I see it is almost opposite: we need illusion and stage magic now more than ever. F I N D Y OU R A D V E N T U R E • SP I R I T A N D I N S P I R A T I O N • BUTTE CONTINUED

• Cover