Magician Richard Hatch to speak on the history of his profession in Utah on May 9th

LOGAN, Utah - May 3, 2018 - PRLog -- Richard Hatch, co-owner with his wife, violinist Rosemary Hatch, of the Hatch Academy of Magic and Music in Logan, will be speaking on the topic of "Pioneers of Prestidigitation: Magicians in Early Utah" at Logan's historic Courthouse at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 9th at the meeting of the Cache Valley Historical Society. Hatch has been researching the earliest performances of travelling showmen, including magicians and hypnotists, in Utah in general and Cache Valley in particular and will share some stories uncovered in his research. "The history of theatrical magic in Utah begins with Professor Washington Simmons' performances at the Salt Lake Theatre in February 1864," said Hatch. "He billed himself as a Basiliconthaumaturgist and later claimed to have produced a live baby from Brigham Young's top hat at his inaugural performance." Oscar Eliason of Salt Lake, later known professionally as "Dante, the Mormon Wizard", performed in Logan on at least two occasions in the 1890's, according to Hatch, before departing on a tour of the world that took him as far as the Australia and New Zealand. Hatch will tell these tales and others about early magic in Utah at the lecture, which is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. For more information on the Cache Valley Historical Society, check out their website: http://www.cachevalleyhistory.com/

Richard Hatch holds two graduate degrees in Physics from Yale University, but finds it easier apparently to violate the laws of nature than to discover them. A childhood interest in magic became a lifelong obsession after he met and was encouraged by the German magician Fredo Raxon in 1970. A full time professional "deceptionist" since 1983, Richard moved with his wife, violinist Rosemary Kimura, to Houston, Texas in 1985, shortly after winning first place in the annual New England Close Up Magic Competition in Worcester, Massachusetts. For several years he honed his craft entertaining the guests as one of the house magicians at Houston's Magic Island Nightclub before devoting himself exclusively to private and corporate work, traveling internationally on behalf of his clients. Richard and his wife Rosemary moved to Cache Valley in October 2010 and opened the Hatch Academy of Magic and Music in Logan's historic 1878 Thatcher-Young Mansion in January 2011. Richard serves on the board of the Sunshine Terrace Foundation which was founded by his great uncle Boyd Hatch and he is the great-grandson of Charles W. Nibley, after whom the town of Nibley is named. His great-great grandfather, Lorenzo Hill Hatch, built the Hatch home in Franklin, Idaho, the oldest existing non-indigenous dwelling in the state. For more information about Richard Hatch, see his website http://www.richardhatchmagic.com/. For more information about the Hatch Academy of Magic, see their website at http://www.HatchAcademy.com .