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 Imagining the Impossible 

Written & Photographed By MEGIN POTTER

Photo by PATRICIA VOULGARIS

Impossibility is an illusion. By playing with our perceptions, magician Alan Edstrom, 62, has been stretching our understanding of the world for more than half a century. He got his first magic kit when he was eight years old and delighted in aweing visitors at several different children’s museums early in his career. Alan even wrote a weekly column for the Staten Island Advance Newspaper called, “You Can Do Magic,” encouraging people to try their hand at the ancient art.

PREST-O, CHANGE-O
When he moved to Saratoga, Alan began managing events for organizations including the Saratoga Automobile Museum and the Saratoga Polo Association, in addition to performing live magic and juggling shows. He thrives on the intimacy of one-on-one interactions and appreciates the immediate reactions that he elicits while table-hopping at events, doing sleight of hand card and coin tricks.“I take what’s known and turn it on its head,” he said. “I’m doing artwork that is not only using muscle memory work, but I’m also talking with people and creating conversations, while having interactions that are short, sweet, and that people will remember.”

Recently, Alan performed what could be his greatest trick yet. He was accepted into the International Artists and Writers Residency program at the historic Chateau d’Orquevaux, a magnificent 19th century estate in the French countryside where he hopes to take his magic to a new level.

“I try to do something scary every day,” he said, “but this will be the scariest thing I’ve ever done.” The competitive program hasn’t ever accepted magicians before, and Alan won’t know any of the other two dozen residents. He is also following in the footsteps of two of the greatest magicians of all time: Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin (the illusionist Harry Houdini named himself after) and Georges Méliès, a visionary magician, filmmaker, and forefather of today’s technical special effects artistry.

PRACTICING SOCIAL MAGIC 
Alan grew up with five brothers in a Chicago suburb, wanting to stand out and make a name for himself. Since then, he’s had several. Among them, he’s an entertainer who has acted as Grover Parks in William Kennedy’s Prohibition Story (2011) and Scrooge for a Nolan Propane commercial (2014). He is also a long-time member of the Academy of Magical Arts at the Hollywood Magic Castle. On Instagram, he’s @the_great_edstrombolli

During his tenure as Events Coordinator at Beekman 1802, Alan was known as the goatmilk-based skin and body care brand’s “Chief Kindness Officer.” Among his miraculous feats during his five years at the Sharon Springs farm was becoming an ordained officiant so that he could marry 30 couples in a transformative 24-hour marriage marathon after the COVID pandemic derailed ceremonies for so many across the country (Read Big Wedding, Little Chapel in the Saratoga BRIDE, Fall 2021 issue)

Each of Alan’s varied roles has had the same common thread. “Every job I’ve done is about connection,” he said. Although the two-week French residency program is more about the process than the final product, Alan hopes to end his stay with a short performance. He’s already conjuring which magic tricks he’ll perform, and practicing them for his wife of 25 years, Andrea, who already knows how many of his tricks work, or at least thinks she does, said Alan. “If I can fool her, then I know I’m good.”