Andy Nyman and Frank Oz visit Chamber Magic
Posted May
1st, 2010 at 11:46 AM by Steve Cohen in Interesting People
Yoda visited Chamber Magic at the Waldorf last night.
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Andy Nyman, my old friend and a truly wonderful man, brought him along. Of course, Yoda came in the form of his inventor, Frank Oz. He’s also the man behind the Muppets: Cookie Monster, Grover, Fozzie Bear, Bert, and Miss Piggy. After the show, we had drinks together at the Bull & Bear. What a thrill. During our conversation, he grunted in Cookie Monster’s voice for me, but I didn’t ask him to speak like Yoda. It just didn’t feel like the right thing to do.
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Frank Oz told me that he once auditioned for a role that wanted “someone just like Cookie Monster.” Ironically, he didn’t get a call-back. The casting director obviously was clueless, not realizing that they were rejecting the original creator and performer of Cookie Monster himself. How nutty. That story reminded me of a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest that Charlie Chaplin had entered on a lark, and didn’t win! Ah, the delicious irony…
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Andy Nyman worked with Frank Oz in his film Death at a Funeral (highly recommended – a well-constructed farce), and was visiting NYC for a brief stay. Andy is a marvelous British actor and a cutting edge thinker and performer of magic and mentalism. He has co-written and directed all of Derren Brown’s television and stage shows in the UK. A wonderfully brilliant man.
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After seeing my show last night, Andy wrote the following testimonial:
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“Chamber Magic contains some of the most elegant, skillful and truly baffling magic on the planet. Steve Cohen is an absolute master of his craft; he and the show are simply extraordinary.” – Andy Nyman
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Click the photo below for a larger view.
Me with Andy Nyman, photo by Frank Oz
Frank Oz snapped this photo of Andy and me, but I unfortunately didn’t get a photo with Frank himself.
He had some nice things to say, though, after the show:
“Everything I thought I understood about the laws of science were overturned during your show. Together with the rest of the audience, I was wrapped up in your world where it felt that anything you proposed would be possible.” - Frank Oz
A great night, with great company after the show. Thanks to Andy Nyman for a memorable evening.
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