News from Mark Mitton

From Santiago de Compostela, I flew to Madrid to visit my friend George Bisacca. George is a conservator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and he spends one month a year working at the Prado. This year he was restoring Albrecht Dürer’s Adam and Eve. His hospitality was amazing. Not only did he put me up, he also took me to a wild flamenco club, and to a fancy private party celebrating a young Galician artist. After seeing me perform some magic there and hearing me talk about perception, Enrique Quintana - the head of painting restoration at the Prado - offered to take me on a private tour of some of his favorite paintings in the museum, which he said had taught him about perception. It was one of the most thrilling experiences I have had in a long time… He showed me a portrait of Juan de Calabazas by Diego Velázquez and told me the most amazing story about it. Ask me about it next time you see me! We also spent a half hour in front of the Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch. It was truly a fascinating afternoon. ¡Muchas gracias, George y Enrique!

Below: Adam and Eve, Juan de Calabazas, Garden of Earthly Delights

For the longest time, I have wanted to travel to Galicia in the northwest of Spain. When magicians Mago Anton and Luis de Matos invited me to perform at a festival in Santiago de Compostela, the destination of the 9th century medieval pilgrimage route the Way of St. James, of course I jumped at the opportunity. Santiago is a beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it was so much fun to perform there on the steps of the cathedral. Mago Anton was a gracious host and he took me to the mysterious headquarters of the Galician Professional Magicians Association, which has a hidden library and secret passages.

Here are some highlights of the festival:

Topshop, a popular British chain of clothing stores, has come to the US. They just opened their flagship store in New York, and celebrated at The Box two nights ago. It was a star-studded event. I was on hand to perform magic for Topshop owner Sir Philip Green, supermodel Kate Moss (a Topshop designer), J-Lo and Marc Anthony, and Simon Cowell. The singer Adele performed live on stage.

Just got back from another cruise with John Mayer, produced by Sixthman. This year we sailed from LA to Cabo San Lucas. Had a fantastic time on board, performing close-up magic for the VIPs, and doing stage shows with two of John’s band members: guitarist Robbie McIntosh and saxophone player Bob Reynolds. It was so nice of them to participate — especially considering how busy they were with John’s concerts — and we had an absolute blast! Both Robbie and Bob played a couple of their own beautiful compositions in my show, and participated in some goofy magic and mindreading tricks.

On our day off in Cabo, Susanna and I visited the local orphanage with the band Guster, who gave away 25 musical instruments. I performed magic for the kids. It was a wonderful way to spend our break.

My friend Laurie Baker from Marc Ecko Enterprises happened to be on board, and captured this scene late at night. More photos to follow, once I get them off my camera!