Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 27, 1995 TAG: 9501310014
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MATT CROWDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"I performed most of the effects wrong, but [the audience was] so young, most of them didn't know," Berry said.
Over time, he developed his magic skills to include numerous elemental effects and formed a band to add music to his show. Berry brings his "Symphony of Light" tour to Virginia Western Community College's Whitman Hall Auditorium for two shows Saturday, at 3 and 8 p.m.
In a telephone interview from his office in Buckingham, Berry described his live show as combining "the creative effect of a Pink Floyd show with the illusion of David Copperfield."
During the show, he alternates between playing keyboards with his band and performing illusions while the rest of the band plays in the background. He uses fog, crystal and fire effects throughout the show. Berry said he has always preferred working with these elements to card tricks.
The show also features laserlight effects and slides of nature scenes and visionary art, which Berry describes as "very dreamlike" celestial images. He said the laserlight effects have been the hit of the show, which premiered Saturday night to a sell-out crowd at the Barboursville Community Center.
To open the show, Berry uses several different special effects at the same time and performs different fire and fog illusions while the band plays the first song. Then he joins the band for the second song, "Celestial Dawn," which he describes as an "upbeat, spacey song."
Berry uses fire liberally in his act, but he is quick to point out that there is no danger involved and that he is licensed to handle the pyrotechnics.
Through his live shows, Berry says he tries to "touch the inner child" of the audience, much like Walt Disney and Jim Henson did.
"Art should truly inspire," Berry said. "Everything is illusion, but the experience is real."
He said he added music to his magic shows "to create a specific sound or atmosphere as a background for the illusions." At first, he used the music of Alan Parsons, Vangelis and Tangerine Dream.
As the show evolved, he began to write his own music for the shows.
"I just started getting songs in my head and playing them through," Berry said. "I was trying to capture the same feeling so others can hear it."
Berry's first album, "Symphony of Light," included songs he had been conceiving for about 10 years. For his more recent albums, "Concept for a Dream" and "Sun Dance," Mayr, his wife and bandmate, helped fill in the missing parts on the songs.
Berry's musical influences range from contemporary artists, including Alan Parsons and Vangelis, to classical composers such as Mozart and Pachelbel. He describes his music as neo-classical and said he admires the classical composers because "there's something that's truly timeless in their music."
Besides being a magician and musician, Berry also produces his albums, and he has invented a handheld fog machine that's been marketed to the film industry. He also markets effects that are sold by magic stores across the country.
Berry said that the live show is still in a growing process. When the show has evolved to his liking, he wants to release a live album and an interactive CD-ROM version of the show that includes a backstage tour and a demonstration of how the effects work.
Currently, Berry has booked about 30 shows in the United States, mostly on the East Coast, and is working on some European shows. He wants to play at Scotland's Edinburgh Festival in August. The international theatrical festival runs for three to four weeks and features various performing arts groups. Berry compared it to the Cannes Film Festival in terms of scale.
"At any given time, there's 100 plays going on around the city," Berry said. "It's the perfect place to showcase the show because it will stand out."
Berry was born in Sacramento, Calif., and raised in Reno, Nev. When he was 11, he accompanied his father on a business trip to Boston. Berry bought some new effects at a magic store and performed them for guests in the lobby of the Parker House Hotel. The hotel manager was so impressed that he asked the self-described "natural-born ham" to perform between acts in the hotel's nightclub.
After high school, he went to Los Angeles and got a job with Hollywood Magic. After work, he would perform on Hollywood Boulevard. Through these performances, he was asked to join the Magic Castle, a group of performing magicians.
In the mid-1980s, Berry lived and performed in Europe. In 1988, he returned to Los Angeles, where he met Mayr and formed Celestial Sorcery International, which distributes his albums and other products. Tired of Los Angeles, the couple moved to Buckingham in July 1991. CSI has eight full-time employees and several part-time employees that run the business while Berry is touring.
The band consists of Berry; Mayr, who plays keyboards and lute and sings; Gopal Metro, who plays bass and does special effects; and Scott Dinsmoor, who plays percussion and does lighting effects. Berry also has a technician, Prasad Neumann, who runs the sound and lights.
One of Berry's latest albums is "Sun Dance," which he produced with the help of his wife and bandmate, Mayr.
Jay Scott Berry's ``Symphony of Light World Tour '95'': Saturday, 3 and 8 p.m., Whitman Auditorium, Virginia Western Community College. Tickets, $5, available at Rams Head Book Shop, Books Strings & Things, The Magic Connection. (804) 969-1663.
by CNB