‘If you look by my bedside, I will generally have medical journals and tons of magic.’
Magic and medicine are an unlikely combo, but one a local doctor swears by.
Daniel Schwartz is a Vancouver magician turned physician, although he never retired from his former passion.
In December, the multi-talented father and his magical son will perform an intimate theatrical show at Alliance Française Vancouver, raising funds for the BC Cancer Foundation and the Kidney Foundation of Canada, B.C.
The father of three has performed magic since the age of seven, starting at his older sister’s birthday party. He had his first paid gig at age 13 or 14.
“I am almost a lifelong magician,” he tells Vancouver Is Awesome. “I definitely had the most fun part-time job of anyone I knew.”
Daniel continued on his magical journey through high school and the first three years of post-secondary education, until his studies intensified and he had to drop magic for spell.
It’s been a few years since then (he’s 51 now), and he works as a nephrologist helping patients in the Vancouver area. But a lifelong love affair with alchemy still seeps into his practice (a little bit).
“Sometimes at work I have patients who, for whatever reason, don’t feel like talking or are just uncomfortable. And sometimes you stop and say, pick a card. And within a couple of minutes, people are like, ‘OK, you’re all right.'”
Of course, the doctor can’t exactly pull a deck out in the operating room, but he sometimes does it in his office.
Daniel’s career and his hobby both require creative and analytic thinking, as well as constant learning.
“If you look by my bedside, I will generally have medical journals and tons of magic,” he says.
Like magician father, like magician son
The love of magic appears to run in the family, at least partially.
Daniel’s 16-year-old son Jack Schwartz is following in his father’s whimsical footsteps, but his love for the practice didn’t bloom until age 11. Jack picked up the craft quickly with his dad’s help and by watching YouTube videos, something that didn’t exist when Schwartz was learning magic.
“He was digging through my gear and said, ‘Can I try this?” Daniel says.
The duo will perform on two evenings this December in an intimate theatrical show at the Alliance Française in Vancouver. The first of the two shows, on Dec. 8 at 8 p.m., will support the BC Cancer Foundation. The second, on Dec. 10 at 8 p.m., will support the Kidney Foundation of Canada, B.C., and Yukon Branch.
“I’m thrilled to be doing fundraising for both these organizations, and I’m certainly open to fundraising for many organizations,” Daniel says. “But the kidney foundation has a special place in my heart because I see what my patients struggle with. I also see that kidney disease is a very invisible disease.”
Jack has also performed at his own benefit shows for the Kidney Foundation, bringing magic and philanthropy into their family.
“The show itself is called These Magic Moments because it is built around a simple idea: our lives are ultimately remembered through a collection of special moments,” Daniel explains. “Magic provides a rather unusual way of exploring that idea.”