MAGIC AS MEANS TO AN END : PERFORMER HAS MORE THAN TRICKS IN HIS BAG

Magician Peter Samelson says he tries to offer his audiences more than “a bag of tricks.”

Samelson, who brings his stage show to Fullerton’s Plummer Auditorium tonight at 8, said in a phone interview that he uses his illusions to illustrate a story and offer ideas.

“The basic premise that I work on is that magic is an art form, and as other art forms do, it has to address issues, or say something, or explore thoughts or feelings, and somehow be something more than a collection or a bag of tricks,” Samelson said.

“You realize after a while that magic is a medium. It’s a means you work through; it’s not the end.”

Samelson calls his current show “Standing Up and Looking Ahead.”

“It’s a tracing of a story, not always in an entirely literal sense, of a person between birth and adulthood,” the magician explained.

The first act, “Standing,” deals with growing up. “Up and Looking” finds the main character--a magician--in adulthood. The final act, “Ahead,” addresses the future.

The story is told with magic. And while some familiar effects may be included in the show, Samelson is careful to avoid some of the usual trappings. In particular, he dispenses with some of the seemingly misogynous images common in magic.

“I don’t have female assistants that I stick into boxes and shove swords into, or cut into little pieces,” Samuelson said. “I don’t do that; I’ve been through therapy.

“I really got to a point where I realized that the imagery involved with magic is exactly what you are selling, what you are putting across to people, and you have to take responsibility for those images.”

While there is a serious side to Samelson’s magic, he is quick to point out that his act is a family show with plenty of flash.

Samelson became interested in magic as a youngster--”I was tricked into it,” he said--and went on to study theater at Stanford University. He has been performing magic professionally for 14 years, full time for 10.

A New York City resident, Samelson performs regularly at the Magic Towne House and Mostly Magic there. He has performed several times at Los Angeles’ Magic Castle and elsewhere throughout Southern California. His travels, in concert tours and as a cruise ship entertainer, have taken him all over the world.

Samelson’s Friday performance is the opening attraction in Cal State Fullerton’s Professional Artists in Residence series for 1985-86.