Submitted photo

Who's that guy to the left of the cake at the recent wedding of President Bush's daughter Denna? Marco's own Herb Savage? No, says Herb. "It does look like me but I never wear a black shirt with a black tie."

Submitted photo

Keith Raygor, who loves to entertain kids, was a big hit with his magic tricks at last year's Collier County Fair.

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My kind of magician

Keith Raygor is my kind of magician and many Marco Islanders know and love his work.

He doesn’t wear sequins, top hats or patent leather shoes. Keith doesn’t saw exotic, eastern European beauties in half. He doesn’t wave magic wands or make pandas disappear.

What Raygor does do is make thousands of people gasp, gape and grin as he glides through sleight of hand tricks, complete with clever, friendly conversation.

He asks for audience volunteers, makes them part of the trick and then asks for applause, not for him but for the civilians who “helped” him make magic.

He plies his labor of love and a living five nights a week at the Watermark Grill in North Naples. He also works private events, parties and other gatherings in Marco Island and all over Collier County, the nation and at international venues. His work included appearances at the Marco Island Film Festival.

He’s so casual, unthreatening and personable that he can wow kids who giggle wide-eyed when he makes things disappear and skeptical adults who try to figure out how he does it. They almost never do.

“I can’t wait to get to work (at the restaurant) every night,” says Keith. “I just love meeting and talking with the people at their tables.”

What’s the most common reaction from his audiences?

“Let me see it again,” Keith explains. “But I don’t repeat the tricks in a show. It’s not great entertainment to watch the same thing over again.”

There’s also the magician’s knowledge that some dubious guests might think they could figure out the trick if they see it repeated.

“Maybe so,” Keith says. “The first time is entertainment, the second time is education. My goal is to remove that impulse and get them to a place where astonishment takes over. Then they stop worrying about how it was done and they decide to relax and be entertained.”

Keith has been fascinated by magic since childhood. He became a professional magician in his early 20s. Along the way he served in the U.S. Air Force band — he plays drums, guitar and keyboard — and then as a civilian, he made a living touring the country with show bands.

“In each new town I’d find the local magic shop and buy a book or a trick to keep me occupied. I got off the road in 1989 and moved to Mainsail Drive near Marco and that’s when I began doing magic for a living.”

Do a lot of people make a living doing magic?

“There are a lot of amateurs and part-timers but not many full-time magicians. We mostly know each other and often meet and compare tricks and all that at magicians’ conventions.”

Would Keith prefer to do big stage shows?

“Not really. I like what I do, what’s called strolling magic. I like mixing with people and enjoy bouncing the tricks off what people say to me.”

Still, Raygor is putting the finishing touches on a show he calls “The Rhythm of Magic.”

“It combines my magic with my music background and I’ve been working on it for five years.”

As we watched Keith demonstrate his act for a group of friends here, I was struck by the fact that he doesn’t leap around, waving his arms and shouting Shazam or other such antics. He chats and smiles and cajoles his audience members almost one at a time.

He’s like one of the family. That’s a concept — having a family magician.

Keith would be as at home doing card tricks at Floyd’s Barber Shop in Mayberry as he would at Albert Hall in London. I hope you can catch Keith Raygor’s magic at one of those places or, more likely, Sunday through Thursday evenings at the Watermark Grille. – Chris.

Herb Savage — he’s everywhere, or is he?

One of the 18 million photographs taken at the wedding of Jenna, the daughter of President and Laura Bush, showed not only the happy couple but a guy who’s the spittin’ image of Marco Island’s living legend Herb Savage.

Look carefully at the photo. See the guy in the background. Is that not Herb, probably about ready to jump up and sing God Bless America? Or is that Herb’s evil twin? — Don

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E-mail: chris@chriscurle.com and don@donfarmer.com