(Hank) Moorehouse 1934 – 2011 - The Society of American Magicians

James shares an entertaining tale from the performing lives of professional magicians.
These stories illustrate various tricky situations that working pros have found
themselves in and how they handled them.
When Washington, D.C.’s Turley the Magician is not entertaining
audiences, he enjoys reading philosophy and exploring
the meaning of truth. A student of Aristotle and Aquinas, he
admits that he is not a fan of popular culture; he steers clear
of the celebrity-obsessed tabloid media. Turley is erudite and
thoughtful, with no interest in the superficial. As you will read
in a moment, he was the perfect man for the job.
“I have an arrangement with concierges at several major
hotels around town,” Turley explains. “If a hotel has a VIP
guest who requires a children’s entertainer, I get a call. There’s
an unspoken understanding that I never ask who the guest is,
and they almost never tell me.”
Turley is an egalitarian. He offers the same great show at
the same price no matter who the audience is. The rich and
famous receive no different treatment from him. Whether the
54 M-U-M Magazine
The inimitable Turley the Magician!
kid is living in the inner city, in the suburbs, or in a royal palace,
he or she will have the same Turley experience. In most ways,
however, the lives of the privileged bear no resemblance to
those most of us lead. Turley remembers once performing for
three children who were outnumbered by bodyguards five to
one. An entire hotel floor had been rented out for their stay. He
had no information about the family, but the person who booked
him for the show later informed him that the kids were Osama
bin Laden’s grandchildren. This was in 1993, long before bin
Laden became the most infamous household name in the U.S.
The booker also related to Turley how the children were taken
to Toys “R” Us for a shopping spree like no other. The store was
closed for their privacy and they were given free rein to buy
whatever they desired. As the entourage left the store, one of the
children saw a homeless man nearby. He asked his bodyguard
if he could give the man some money. The bodyguard said he
could. The child went over to the homeless man and gave him
$800 in cash.
One day, Turley received a call from a concierge at a luxury
hotel who asked if he could come down and put on a show
for some special guests. There would be approximately half a
dozen children. Turley agreed and turned up at the hotel. As
usual, he had no advance notice of whom the audience would
be. He knew they were extremely wealthy because they had
rented out the entire hotel floor. When Turley was shown into
the room, he saw that there were indeed six children of varying
ages. There were also several adults milling around.
“There were four people who appeared to be nannies. Two
of them were holding infants in their arms. The other two were
watching the older kids. There was one guy who looked like
security. There was a man sitting on the floor with the children.
I thought he must be the father. Then there was a woman with a
camera taking photos whom I assumed was the mother.”
As Turley began performing, he had to adapt his show to the
small space of the hotel room, performing routines on the floor
with the kids when necessary. The children responded with
laughs and delight, as did the father. Throughout the act, the
camerawoman kept snapping away.
When Turley performs at kids’ parties, the birthday child
receives a number of gifts, including a handmade cape identical
to the one he wears, along with a top hat and funny round
glasses, all of which transform the child into a mini-Turley. In