Dana Herz (Courtesy photo)
Entertainment, Gaslamp
Magician Dana Herz Combines ‘Mentalism’ with The Gaslamp Quarter’s Sordid Past
By Frank Sabatini Jr.
Fresh off a humanitarian trip to Poland, where she conducted free magic shows for Ukrainian refugees seeking some levity in their lives, Dana Herz returned to an impressive career within an industry that rarely sees women at the forefront.
The East Village resident has not only mastered the tricks of her trade over the years, but she also wears the hat of local historian when it comes to what used to be San Diego’s red light district inside the Gaslamp Quarter.
In addition to performing magic for employees of Fortune 500 companies, she cleverly utilizes her craft while conducting walking tours four days a week through the neighborhood’s checkered past.
As we discovered from a recent conversation with Herz, her background is no less illustrious than her present-day life. We also learned that magicians never reveal their secrets, even though we tried.
Downtown Condo Guys: At what point in your life did you take an interest in magic?
Herz: My dad (Bill Herz) is a professional magician. He’s been doing it his whole life. And both of my parents own Magicorp Productions, which is the largest company in the world for hiring magicians, which have included David Copperfield.
So as a kid, I would go to the Society of Young Magicians every weekend. It was a meetup for young people to learn magic from older, seasoned magicians.
Downtown Condo Guys: Did you have any particular mentors or idols when you started entering the business as an adult?
Herz: It was a tough situation because the industry is very much part of a boy’s club without many females to look up to. But definitely my dad. And David Blaine because he put creative spins on magic and did daring things that others didn’t do.
Downtown Condo Guys: Are there schools or courses out there for people wanting to learn magic?
Herz: No. There are magic clubs you can join such as the Society of American Magicians and the International Brotherhood of Magicians. It’s a very insular community where secrets are passed among individuals within the industry.
Downtown Condo Guys: When did you come to San Diego? And what were you doing before that?
Herz: I’m originally from Connecticut and moved to San Diego about three years ago. I went to college for dual degrees in psychology and communications at Northeastern University in Boston, worked on the Maury Povic Show for a co-op during college, and then drove across the country to Los Angeles to escape the Northeast winters. When I got to L.A., I was able to get a job on the production staff of The Ellen Show.
But after a while I got pretty jaded living in L.A., so I ran away to Sedona, Arizona. Then I realized I needed to return to the real world and figured San Diego would be a good place to get back into entertainment, but without being under the watchful eye of the L.A. entertainment industry. That’s when I began doing corporate magic events in half my time and teaching magic in the other half.
Downtown Condo Guys: What attracted you to the history of San Diego’s former red light district?
Herz: I found the Gaslamp Quarter to be so interesting because it’s where all of San Diego began. Once I learned that it had a lot of mischief in it, I saw an opportunity to use that as a narrative for magic. That’s when I started Magic on the Move.
Downtown Condo Guys: What are some of the magic elements you apply to the walking tours?
Herz: I use a good amount of mentalism. An example would be…at the gate to one of the former brothels there was a bell that men had to ring to see the madam. I have a version of that original bell, which I let somebody in the tour hold to see if we can channel the energy of that madam. The bell then rings on its own while the person is holding it.
Another example is about how all of the ladies at the brothels used to wear different colors as a marketing tactic. So I ask tour participants to choose a color as well as a woman’s name. I might then point to somewhere on the street where that color and name are enclosed in an envelope—or they are written in chalk on the sidewalk in front of the building we’re talking about.
I also do street-gambling demonstrations to show how people were conned in their day. Although I’m currently developing a more family-friendly walking tour of Balboa Park that I hope to start by the beginning of October.
Downtown Condo Guys: How long do your tours last? And how many people per tour?
Herz: They run 75 minutes. I’ll take as few as four and max out at 15. I do afternoon and evening tours.
Downtown Condo Guys: What style of magic do you perform for corporate clients?
Herz: I do walk-around magic, close-up sleight of hand, and I have a stage mentalism show. That side of my business is quite lucrative.
Downtown Condo Guys: How did your trip to Poland come about?
Herz: It was a very grassroots operation. I went with my family, and my dad and I performed about 23 shows for around 3,000 kids. We traveled for two weeks all over Warsaw, Krakow, Lodz and other cities. It was incredible. The mothers loved seeing their children laughing and smiling. The kids had an opportunity to be kids again.
Downtown Condo Guys: How often do you add new tricks to your repertoire?
Herz: I’m learning new tricks all the time. I would say that out of every 10 tricks I learn, there is one that I like enough to add into my rotation. I learn them from magic conventions and other magicians within the community.
