Twilight Zone Meets Alice in Wonderland

“The man who comes back through the Door in the Wall will never be quite the same as the man who went out.”

Twilight Zone Meets Alice in Wonderland

“The man who comes back through the Door in the Wall will never be quite the same as the man who went out.”

Last week, I wrote about how I went down a rabbit hole and ended up in the Twilight Zone. Talk about going through the door of perception. “The man who comes back through the door in the wall will never be quite the same as the man who went out.” Aldous Huxley

That accurately describes the uncanniness when, for the first time, I shook magic’s hand. My life forward was never the same after I walked through the door. I've always credited it to be a divine gift.

In California, it was the Golden Age of the Renaissance Faires in 1976, particularly for the creative community who knew the original Renaissance Pleasure Faires in San Francisco and Los Angeles as their home. It was at these that audiences took a ride in a time machine and visited another era.

Here, they were entertained by actors playing troubadours, jugglers, strolling minstrels, musicians,  Italian comedia del arte, puppet acts, jesters, to name a few of the variety of performers presented at the fair, adding to the illusion of stepping back in time...taking them back to England’s late 1500’s—a historical celebration.

The architects of the faire designed all the buildings in the Elizabethan style, and the food kiosks offered menus of authentic food selections from that time.  We were usually hungry by mid-afternoon when we performed there, and all the food was so delicious. Homemade everything! My favorite was the giant barbecue turkey legs, which I can still smell the savory scent wafting through the air, bringing back fond memories. A  day wouldn't pass that I wouldn't eat at least one lemon sorbet. I can’t exactly remember what they were called. But they were a half of a lemon scoped out and filled with a sort of lemon sorbet. There were also the orange ones, but I preferred the lemon-Jonathan the orange ones. Especially when we were hot and tired, they were so refreshing. Yum!  Over the years, I’ve attempted many times to duplicate the recipe with only failure. I got close once. But no cigar. Nothing I made matched these delicacies. Remember, I’m only a magician, not a miracle worker, and indeed not a chef. Darn! Because those were so good!

Jonathan pictured here captivating audiences in his swashbuckler style.

Associates dawned the required Elizabethan look, selling everything from food to clothing and one-of-a-kind arts and crafts items while maintaining their Renaissance characters.  (I still have several of those pieces I acquired). No anachronisms were allowed,  unlike what is seen today at many modern commercial Rennaisance Faires. Even the parking attendants were required to wear proper attire and speak with the appropriate accent.

The creators paid attention to the tiniest details. The Renaissance Faire itself was a magic illusion.

This is a 1976 map of the LA Renaissance Pleasure Faire.

Here is a closer look of the 1976 LA Renaissance Pleasure Faire map. Note that near of the middle of map is a theater called called The Maybowler Theatre. This is where Jonathan crashed through the stage during one of his more physical routines.

It was here where Jonathan and I had the opportunity to “cut our teeth” and create and perfect our magic, stage persona, and presentation. It’s where we first chose our first stage name, “Jonathan and Char.” At the time, most of my close friends called me by the shortened, more familiar version of my name, Char. But later, when we established The Pendragons as our name, I stopped using Char. mainly because I wasn’t comfortable with strangers referring to me by the name only used by my best friends.

It was an apropos beginning because crucial elements from our show at the Renaissance Faire continued with us until a few years later when we rebranded ourselves as “The Pendragons.”

Up to this point, I’d been addressing Jonathan using his birth name, Claude. Still, at the Renaissance Faire, his stage name, Jonathan, became solidified, and I and everyone else, except his mother and father, stopped calling him Claude.  He chose Jonathan, based on a character named Jonathan Hemlock from the movie The Eiger Sanction.  It's a perfect name choice for someone like him, who loves to perform magic and stunts.  A name he had been using performing at 1520 AD, a dinner theater in Buena Park, California, where he played the character of Merlin, where he performed. The name of Claude, which didn’t suit him well on stage, was relegated to use only for legal situations,  identification, and contracts.

I’ve read what gave The Beatles their very polished sound, look, and stage persona as a “new” band can be credited to having performed countless shows - one after another while in Hamburg, Germany, during a lengthy gig. So when American audiences saw them for the first time on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, they were professional and well-rehearsed. Not one dot was out of place. Perfection. Shibui is what the Japanese call it, adding to their mystique. It's like they just came out of nowhere. Poof! Like magic.

For Jonathan and I, involvement in the Renaissance Faire was our fortunate break to perfect our live performances.  Little did we know we had a Beatlesque opportunity waiting for us. Nothing I learned from the best instructors studying dance and theater at UCI prepared me for this hands-on learning and performing experience. Most days, we presented our show 6 and 7 times daily, giving us the valuable practice we needed to perfect our craft and learn how to connect with an audience, two essential skills required for a successful stage show. The Pendragons, in spirit, were born.

A rare slide of Jonathan and I performing at the Renaissance Faire in 1976. This is how we appeared with costume design enabling our swashbuckling style. Jonathan wearing his signature white shirt, which over the next decades was copied and In some magic circles replaced the tuxedo for standard magician attire. Here we are pictured performing the Chinese rings, a routine Jonathan perfected, AND one of the best ring routines in magic. Today, I premiere my own ring routine which I will be presenting soon on my new video channel.

Many great performers played in those early days at the Faire.  Most acts were expert street performers and buskers. Competition was intense, so management eliminated the less polished acts. The very best performers were left to fill the faire stages. The sets were of solid wood, but during one of our shows, Jonathan performed a stunt in a scene. He landed on stage with his arms in a big pose, yelling, “Hazzah!” as the stage fell out from under him. So the audience saw him only from the waist up. He didn't skip a beat, and instead of looking bewildered by the accident, he bowed to the Lords and Ladies and managed to jump out from the hole in one leap. I learned a fundamental stage lesson that day, and that is, despite on-stage mishaps and mistakes, always keep your cool. Never telegraph to an audience you just flubbed up. This lesson got me through many stage challenges, including my infamous costume malfunction while performing live on national TV, which I’ll discuss in one of my upcoming blogs.

Although I never saw Harry that year in 76 at the faire, it was actor and comedian Harry Anderson, famous for starring in the popular TV Show Night Court, playing the endearing character “Harry” who had significant influence over Jonathan’s performance style.  Harry had been performing at the Renaissance fairs, I believe, since the 60s. He lived a few houses down from Jonathan, up Lemon St. near Hillcrest Dr. in Fullerton, where Jonathan grew up, and a short walk to the beautiful Hillcrest Park. Harry, a trained Shakespearean actor and a natural comedian, took Jonathan under his wing. He was mentored by Harry, who helped him to perfect his comedy and acting, which came in handy precious years later when we needed two different 45-minute shows for a cruise ship. The comedy also added to our stage mystique. There was a high contrast between the intensity of our performances and the comedy aspect of our show, giving us many advantages of having a wide range of styles.

Harry’s performance inspired several of our effects. One of these is an effect called the bullet catch. Harry had given Jonathan an Elizabethan-era matchlock-type firearm. We used it to perform the trick. In our routine, we loaded the gun with gunpowder and a bullet, at which point the volunteer scratched a mark onto the bullet's surface for later identification.  Then I would take the weapon and stand while Jonathan held the plate in front of his face - being my target. Bullseye! The plate broke as Jonathan fell back onto the ground. Stunt acting is a handy skill because when the bullet was pulled from his teeth and confirmed by a volunteer as legitimate, the audience would go nuts. But it’s also a hazardous effect to execute. There is well-documented evidence of many magicians being killed while performing this illusion. Jonathan and I had a long friendship with Harry, encountering him over the years and performing on the same bill. Sadly, he departed, so I'll never see Harry again in this realm, but memories of those times with him live within my memories forever.

Here I'm pictured together with Harry Anderson in 2007 while performing in Gatlinburg, Tennessee who unfortunately shunned me the final time I met him while in Florida because of my split with Jonathan.

Our first experience at the fair turned out to be a fiasco because we carried Jonathan’s doves and rabbit along with a few larger stage props. The animals were hot, so we had to leave early. Also, it was a nightmare carrying a large show from stage to stage. We were novices who learned fast. The following day, we ditched the animals and any prop that wouldn't fit into our small bags. We were both gymnasts, so we filled out our show with feats of balancing, stunts, and tumbling. Years later, we used many of these moves in our routines.

A good example is our choreography for our impalement illusion. Jonathan raised me over his head, carrying me at my neck and ankles as he spun me around several times before dropping me in his arms to place me balancing on the tip of the sword.  I stayed stiff, and I spun around before falling as the sword tip penetrated my body. Audiences would only gasp in shock in reaction to the illusion. The illusion’s effectiveness can be attributed to the original work we developed together at the  Renaissance Fair. So, for The Pendragons, the Renaissance Faires are more than a beginning. Learning from those shows became the foundation for our future performances.

The 1976 Los Angeles Renaissance Pleasure Faire ended at the end of May. In a few short weeks, Jonathan and I would become graduates of the  University of California. Both of us received bachelor's degrees. Jonathan - has a BFA in Theater, and I have a BA in Social Ecology. As summer began, we were forced to depart ways and travel back to reality. I said my final goodbye to 110 35th St., Newport Beach, California, my home for several years. And back to Porterville to take on responsibilities as a lifeguard and swim instructor. Jonathan remained in Fullerton, California, performing at 1520 AD and at the exclusive Gladstone’s Restaurant in Malibu. He made a living at what he loved to do best - perform magic so we could be married by early fall. We parted ways, taking only memories of our final magical days together before summer separated our union. See you in September, right?

“See you in September

See you when the summer's through

Here we are (bye, baby, goodbye)

Saying goodbye at the station (bye, baby, goodbye)

Summer vacation (bye, baby bye, baby)

Is taking you away (bye, baby, goodbye)

Have a good time, but remember

There is danger in the summer moon above

Will I see you in September

Or lose you to a summer love?” 🎶

Living 300 miles apart, we managed to get through the hot season with our love intact. Although the long-distance sometimes presented some challenges to our blossoming romantic relationship. Maybe whoever wrote the old daying, ”distance makes the heart grow fonder,” was right. We mainly communicated by talking on the phone. I gave Jonathan my 1968 Karma Ghia, a cute little car we had long after marriage and a car we both loved. I gave it to him because his car was undependable, and  I had an extra vehicle waiting for me to use in Porterville for the summer.  We rarely saw one another on those summer days because of our work.  Even with the distance between us, Jonathan and I had grown much closer, and our romance grew.  But we finally found the end to those long days,and sometime near the middle of August,  Jonathan drove up to Porterville. We packed my necessary belongings, and off we went, inseparable until our last day together. I always called that summer “the Summer of our yearning love.”

September 5, 1976, wedding bells rang at the Episcopal Church in Fullerton.  I sat in a room separate and across from the church entrance, putting the finishing touches on my hair and makeup when suddenly a big boom occurred from the strike of thunder and lightning. Then the rain came pouring down like the monsoon storms I experienced living in Malaysia. I had to run for the church, which was about 500 feet away, without an umbrella. I think I just used a newspaper to cover my head. I was a drenched bride when I said, “I do.”  Like Sissy Spacek playing Carrie, except without the blood and gore. All that work on my hair and makeup ended down the drain. Lol! True story. A word to the wise - you have to be able to laugh at yourself. Laughter is the best medicine.

Over the years, those who attended our wedding and the following reception spoke about how much fun they had at the event. Everyone had a story to remind us of that unique special day. The memory that stands out the most in my mind was the magic effect we planned for our guests. Right after we said our vows, Jonathan was to produce one of his doves, which was supposed to land on my maid of honor’s finger immediately. Instead, the dove was produced too early and flew in a circle above our guests and landed on the altar right behind where we were saying our vows. At that very moment, the rain stopped, and the dove rested in a pool of light shining from a church window. It was stunning and a perfect beginning to a marriage lasting almost 34 years.

Doves are beautiful, graceful creatures who, when seen appearing before you, are supposed to bring good fortune and can represent the start of a soul mate relationship. That is how my marriage to Jonathan Pendragon began, with a dove bringing us the promises of peace, love, and prosperity.

But the tides changed, and almost 34 years into our marriage, our relationship collapsed. Both of us were left rudderless and without a solid anchor. But out of evil comes good, and there’s a silver lining in every cloud. The best thing about storms is they always pass, and you find the strength to rebuild your life despite your shortcomings.

Once I could fix my rudder and find my course, I discovered my past relationship with Jonathan, including our tumultuous end, served me in valuable ways. It was a learning experience that revealed parts of myself I needed to capture and develop and flaws I needed to fix and heal. Because of my divorce, and despite the bad-tasting medicine served by a divine source, I'm a better person today. I reunited with my spiritual self, which had gone underground while concentrating on my career and material life. I think true happiness only comes when you can find yourself deep inside. God had shined a spotlight on my soul.

And this is very much a part of what magic is, as magic reveals that unseen potential of possibilities in ourselves and each other…. Magic is a representation of the infinite mysteries of the universe and of our relationships, and that spark that draws us to each other and together.

I remember Harry Allen from Daytona Beach Magic calling me shortly after my separation from Jonathan while Jonathan was still in jail. He said, “It may look dark and bleak, but trust me, there is light at the end of the tunnel.”  I know that sounds cliché, but at the time, I didn’t think there was any light. The light had gone out. Those times were the darkest for me.  Slowly, my life returned to me, and the blackness came back to light. I can’t thank Harry enough for the hope and encouragement his kind words gave me. Without his motivation I wouldn't have easily endured the shunning from a small part of the magic community who had embraced Jonathan.

Image I captured of the moon one night. It was a full moon shining so bright. It reminded me of my destiny.

What do you have without hope?  Nothing, because without optimism there is no illumination. I found myself in a void without light. But I had to create my own light as I traveled through the tunnel. That was the trick - and the trick worked. First as a dim light, then growing to a bright glow. That's magic! So, I only pray that these words give those who read my stories hope and inspiration as you move forward in your storm, despite your deep despair, like what I felt for years and still remains a part of me, but contained in the correct file in my mind. Randy, my friends Kathleen Ballagh, Kristi Toguchi, and, of course, Harry Allen, to name a few, were like angels sent to rescue my soul. During desperate times, we all need people to help us, encourage us, and rekindle our belief in ourselves and the magic of good things. Above all, have faith in God, who created the universe and its charm.  He will send you the angels you need.

Going through that dark storm, I received a deeper understanding of who I was inside, helping me gain my spiritual presence as a human being, and reconnected me with the bright light above.

I'll end this week by quoting Paulo Coelho again: “Not all Storms come to disrupt your life. Some come to clear your path.

God bless you all!

Below is a costume guide from the 1976 Renaissance Pleasure Faire, The year Jonathan Ive first performed at the faire. It