Gary Ouellet

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Gary Ouellet (January 9, 1945 - June 8, 2002) was a French Canadian television producer and magician who lived and worked in the United States. He is probably best known as the driving force behind a number of network television specials that helped some of the top performers in modern magic gain a national and international profile.

Life and career

Born in Canada on January 9th, 1945, Ouellet became interested in magic as a boy after receiving a toy magic set as a present. As a teenager, he performed a magic act that was the opening for headliners at a prominent cabaret venue in Quebec City. One of his specialties at that time was a bird act. As an adult he initially pursued magic part-time while making a career as a lawyer and as a government lobbyist.

In 1978, he co-founded The Camirand Academy of Magic, a Canadian publishing house, with Guy Camirand.

Ouellet was a member of the successful and sometimes controversial Ottawa lobbying firm Government Consultants International, starting, in 1984 along with Frank Moores, Francis Fox, and Gerald Doucet.

After moving to the United States to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, he became a producer and was involved in founding several successful companies, including Area 52 Entertainment and his own firm Ouellet Entertainment Inc. In the 1990s he produced more than 50 hours of network television, including the five World's Greatest Magic shows and the two World's Most Dangerous Magic specials.

He settled in Los Angeles but also spent a considerable amount of time in |Las Vegas because of its importance as a venue for magic shows. He wrote and directed a number of big Las Vegas stage shows, including Melinda "First Lady of Magic" starring Melinda Saxe, and a show with magician Steve Wyrick. He was also responsible for Saxe's 1997 television special.

As well as contributing to magic through his production work he also wrote a number of books and made instructional videos and DVDs, in which he taught magic skills.

He died of a heart attack in Portugal where he was working on a television production. Writing after Ouellet's death, magician Jonathan Pendragon stated "Some producers create problems by toying with a performers act. The great producers know how to frame and place a performer so that their work is seen in the best light. Gary belonged to the second group. He loved magic, all magic, and cared deeply about every performer and the vast spectrum of styles that was paraded before the camera on what came to be known as the Gary specials. This is the affectionate nickname coined by those who were fortunate enough to be booked on the specials. We called them the Gary specials because Gary Ouellet worked for legendary producer Gary Pudney. It can honestly be said that these two men are responsible for proving to the world that there were other great magicians besides David Copperfield."

Books by Gary Ouellet

Has also written under the pseudonym Kagliostro.

• (1978) Finger on the Card (Masters of Magic, Vol. 1, #1)
• (1979) Supershells (Masters of Magic, Vol. 1, #2)
• (1980) Classy Close-Up (lecture notes)
• (1980) The Silver Passage (Masters of Magic, Vol. 1, #3)
• (1980) The Two Goblets (Masters of Magic, Vol. 1, #4)
• (1981) Threshold (Masters of Magic, Vol. 1, #5)
• (1982) Meir Yedid’s Incredible Close-Up Magic
• (1983) The Homing Ring (Masters of Magic, Vol. 1, #6)
• (1986) Eric DeCamps’ The Coin Connection (Masters of Magic, Vol. 2, #1)
• (1986) ProControl
• (1986) PowerSleights (lecture notes)
• (1990) Close-Up Illusions
• (1991) The 1991 Lecture (lecture notes)
• (1992) Class Act: The Magic of Tony Binarelli
• (1994) The Pass
• (1994) Fulminations Plus, Vol. I
• (1998) Fulminations, Vol. II
• (199?) Music for Magicians (book with CD)
• (199?) Magic on TV: Performance Secrets (lecture notes)

Other Marketed Products by Gary Ouellet

• (198?) The Ouellet Stage (Camirand Academy of Magic)
• (198?) The Ouellet Wand (Camirand Academy of Magic)
• (198?) Realistic Karate Coin (Sterling Magic)
• (199?) Top of the Heap (Camirand Academy of Magic)
• (199?) Portent, with Alain Choquette (Camirand Academy of Magic)
• (199?) The Proton Deck, with Patrick Reymond and Jean Boucher (Camirand Academy of Magic)
• (199?) Thingamajig (Camirand Academy of Magic)
• (199?) Ceremony of the Immortals, with Patrick Reymond and Jean Boucher (Camirand Academy of Magic)
• (199?) Election Night, with Paul Flory (Camirand Academy of Magic)
• (199?) Location Impossible (Camirand Academy of Magic)
• (1993) A Dream of Aces (Camirand Academy of Magic)
• (2001) The Gypsy Thread (Camirand Academy of Magic)
• (2003) The Very Best of Gary Ouellet, Volume 1 (L & L Publishing)
• (2003) The Very Best of Gary Ouellet, Volume 2 (L & L Publishing)
• (2003) The Very Best of Gary Ouellet, Volume 3 (L & L Publishing)

Major Illusions Created By Gary Ouellet

• Test Conditions (being performed by David Copperfield)
• Rat Attack - performed by Margo on NBC's World's Most Dangerous Magic II
• Hit and Run - 200 keys to Baldpate: performed by Tony Clark on NBC's World's Most Dangerous Magic II
• The Cobra Jars, performed by Gary Kurtz on NBC's World's Most Dangerous Magic II
• Gator Bait, performed by Dean Gunnarson on NBC's World's Most Dangerous Magic II
• Viper Pit (Melinda, NBC's World's Most Dangerous Magic I)
• Airtime (John Gabriel, World's Greatest Magic V)
• Shadowlands (John Gabriel, World's Greatest Magic V)
• The Hoover Dam Challenge (Dean Gunnarson, World's Most Dangerous Magic I)
• The Grand Canyon Illusion (Brett Daniels, World's Greatest Magic V)
• The Verdict Illusion (show closer for Alain Choquette, David Copperfield- 12 randomly selected audience members vanish)
• The RPLA Illusion (airplane appearance on stage for Steve Wyrick)
• The Ouellet Double Levitation (for Melinda)
• The Dressing Room Illusion (for Melinda)
• The Harley Frame (motorcycle appearance for Melinda)
• The Drop of Doom (performed by Greg Frewin on Champions of Magic)
• The Coffin of Death (performed by Jonathan Pendragon on Houdini: Unlocking His Secrets)
• The Vanishing Showgirls (show closer World's Greatest Magic III)
• The Cruncher - Lance Burton World's Greatest Magic IV)

Last Illusions Offered on Ouellet Entertainment www.magictv.cc

• Carnival Games
• Nightmare at the Gallows
• The Greased Lightning Stage Vanish
• The Brett Daniels Appearing Aircraft
• Shadowlands
• Airtime
• The Made in Japan Illusion
• The Millenium Cabinet
• Russian Roulette
• Skewered

Illusions For Which Gary Ouellet Was a Major Contributor

• Flying (David Copperfield)
• Passion's Prisoner (Copperfield's Metamorphosis)
• Snow (David Copperfield)
• Fireflies (Melinda)
• Buried Alive (performed by Lance Burton on Hidden Secrets of Magic)

Video Clips

• Gary Ouellet Performs Supershells

• Gary Ouellet Performs Selections from Close-Up Illusions

• Gary Ouellet Performs "The Miracle of Life"

• Gary Ouellet Performs His Marketed Ambitious-Card Routine, "Top of the Heap"

• John Houdi Performs Gary Ouellet's The Two Goblets
• Daryl Sato Performs Gary Ouellet's A Dream of Aces

References

• Genii 2002 September - Several Ouellet tributes
• Online memorial
• Gary Ouellet at the Internet Movie Database
• Gary Ouellet at the British Film Institute Film & TV database
• Obituary in the Las Vegas Review Journal.