Vanni Pulé: Still pulling wonders out of thin air

There are magic tricks and then there are Vanni Pulé’s magic tricks. When Pulé first appeared on television, he didn’t just pull a rabbit out of a hat. He “ate threaded razor blades” and pulled them out of his mouth from the string.

By then, aged 16, he was already a seasoned magician, known throughout his school after buying a set of tricks and novelties from a mail order company and a book from Valletta. 

It was his teacher, Richard Bonello, who was working on a TV production for children. He picked Pulé up in his car and they went to the studio for the live recording.

Pulé back in the day putting the magic into black and white TV.

“I was so proud of this very dangerous trick that I did it in front of kids,” says Pulé, now 77. Looking back, he says it was a sign of his “naivety, immaturity” and lack of awareness about danger at the time.

Pulé on early TV in the late 1960s

He was told off through a letter to a local newspaper. 

It is more than 60 years since that first show and he is still performing that trick. He went on to become a household name, appearing on TV shows, in cabaret and at children’s parties. 

Late 1970s programmes

“I still have a list of what I did on that first show,” he said over half a century later. “I get more nervous and excited today than I did then.”

Early 1970s cabaret TV programme

In his early days, he had no contact with other magicians. But in 1969, a certain George Sharples tried to unite the illusionists in Malta and organised a club that joined the US-based International Brotherhood of Magicians. It was thanks to him that it gelled and is still active today, with Pulé moving on to become its president both locally and internationally. 

He has since attended regular overseas conferences and conventions with thousands of magicians and achieved a dream of being nominated for the prestigious Gold Star of the Inner Magic Circle in London.

Pulé is notable in the magic world for his longevity and he believes the art of illusion is still alive and will survive even in the age of technology because of its “human to human” appeal. 

Magic on TV shows has now dwindled even though Pulé’s last spot was only in April. Sixty years ago, TV had a captive audience, but it is no longer as attractive as it used to be when every family gathered around to watch it every evening.

Creating a sense of wonder

Late 1970s programmes

“Due to social media, TV has lost its impact – but magic has not,” he said. “There is still space for magic and there always will be because it is fascinating,” he said.

Nowadays, he has cut down on shows and now picks and chooses when to perform. His focus may have shifted to his art and writing, but he thinks he will never fall out of love with magic. 

“I tell my wife that as long as I look reasonably presentable, until I can still use my hands and speak properly, and people ask me to perform, I will carry on,” he said.

Today, one of the more popular and powerful genres of magic is close-up performances – “where you go right up to a table of about five people and do magic for them right under their noses”.

A magic show is like a narrative, according to Pulé. 

More recent magic on TV shows

“The method is not as important as that moment when someone asks: How can that be? How does something levitate? How has it disappeared from one place and appeared in another?”

With all the mesmerising effects of AI, magic’s use of psychological techniques, sleight of hand, misdirection and carefully designed props to create the appearance of supernatural and impossible feats has not been outdone.

Of course, some things have been phased out, Pulé acknowledges. Handkerchiefs and paper money are no longer useful ways to engage with the audience.

At the last show I was doing, not many people had paper money on them!

“I used to do a trick with a handkerchief, but nowadays, you cannot borrow one. Not only is it not politically correct, but you also do not find anyone carrying them,” he noted.

Right under their noses. Photo: Rene Rossignaud

“One of my favourite tricks was borrowing a €10 note, destroying it and producing it out of an orange or a green pepper. But at the last show I was doing, not so many people had paper money on them!”

Children’s attention span is also shorter.

“I believe evolution is happening as we speak and, sometimes, they do see through tricks. But they still love magic!”

Pulé stopped performing for kids 20 years ago but says demand remains strong, and his magician colleagues are currently busy with up to three shows a day between birthday and Holy Communion parties.

The scene has changed. Cabaret was a staple for Pulé, who would perform two shows a night in hotels and nightclubs. 

Magic up close and personal

This has completely died out. But magicians now find work at corporate functions, gala dinners, awards ceremonies and weddings.

In April, Pulé put on a one-man show at Pjazza Teatru Rjal and one of his mentees did a three-night magic and comedy show at the Valletta Campus Theatre, which was practically packed.

“It is not a dying trade at all. Britain and America’s Got Talent always churn out a magician winner or runner-up, while colleges and universities cater for magic that is becoming highly sophisticated,” he said.

Sixty years of magic

Asked what he would do if he had a wand, Pulé said he did not believe in real magic. But if he could change one thing, he would remove suffering, especially among the young.  

“But that is just a dream that has to be achieved through common sense and humanism,” he said.

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