Yesterday’s news is today’s magic trick.<\/p>\n
Clutching an old copy of the Sooke News Mirror, magician Guy Simmons tells his audience he’s about to perform the classic torn-and-restored newspaper trick – but with a twist.<\/p>\n
“Because I tell you exactly how it’s done,” he says.<\/p>\n
“But before I show you this, I want you to know that everything that I say is absolutely true – except the lies, of course,” he adds with a wink.<\/p>\n
He begins to rip the pages into strips, insisting he’s only pretending, then pressing the paper into a tight, small parcel.<\/p>\n
“But this was all a trick, and I really haven’t done that,” he says.<\/p>\n
Then, with a quick flick of his wrists he shakes open the paper, magically restored, as if nothing had ever happened.<\/p>\n
Cue rapturous applause.<\/p>\n
It’s an illusion Simmons has performed countless times over a magical career that has spanned decades – one of his favourites, he says.<\/p>\n
But after years away from the spotlight, he’s returning to performing for reasons that go beyond entertaining a crowd.<\/p>\n
Like the newspaper he brings back together, the 74-year-old hopes revisiting his old stagecraft wizardry might help him rebuild some joy in his own life – though he knows it won’t be as simple as waving a magic wand.<\/p>\n
Recent years have been hard on him. Ongoing legal proceedings following a relationship breakdown have left him without a home, living aboard his boat in Sooke, about a half-hour west of Victoria, since late 2023.<\/p>\n
Now, with more legal costs looming, he’s facing the possibility of having to sell the boat too.<\/p>\n
“So I’ll be homeless,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I’ve been having a really bad, bad year and been very depressed.”<\/p>\n
While he has been receiving mental health support, Simmons has decided he needs to take an active role in helping himself.<\/p>\n
It was a chance meeting with a palliative care nurse that gave him the idea to return to magic – not for applause this time, but for healing.<\/p>\n
“I thought maybe I should go out and do a little bit of my magic act for people that are maybe worse off than I am – maybe that’ll make me feel better,” he said.<\/p>\n
Now he’s hoping to bring his act to local retirement homes, hospitals and palliative care units, offering a few moments of wonder to people who might need it most.<\/p>\n
“Everyone needs magic at this time of year.”<\/p>\n