A magical life
Famous magician’s son does magic, designs rock ’n’ roll stages
The son of Reveen The Impossibilist is zig-zagging from his stage show to designing special effects for rock ‘n’ rollers, and throwing in a few lucrative inventions along the way. He’ll be in St. John’s to mesmerize audiences March 28.
To say Ty Reveen is familar with the famous understates his upbringing to the point of mockery. The son of Reveen The Impossibilist attended the 50th birthday party of Sammy Davis Jr. Liberace was a regular guest in their home.
In February, The Telegram told the story of the young Reveen taking over his late father’s show.
But before fulfilling what he calls his destiny in putting on his father’s tuxedo, around the mid’80s Ty had some different ideas. They had a lot to do with blowing up the stage in the name of rock ’n’ roll.
“At that time Michael Jackson and Earth, Wind and Fire and other artists like that were starting to hire people from the magic industry to design ideas for them,” he says.
Ty’s level of experience in magic was astounding. His love for rock ’ n’ roll was pure. However, his ideas for how to marry the two onstage were few. But the perfect brainstorming opportunity was about to arrive.
“I met Billy Gibbons (of ZZ Top) at a party at a magician’s house. It was Lance Burton’s house and it was Linda Blair’s birthday party.”
ZZ Top had just finished touring their smash record “Eliminator,” which had a picture of a 1933 Ford Eliminator on the cover.
“When I met him, I just walked up to him and I said, ‘Billy, I am the greatest designer in rock ’n’ roll special effects,’” Ty says.
Planning a new tour, Gibbons wanted some ideas, so Ty eventually met the crew and brought up the cover of their last album.
“I said, ‘Well that car now turns into a rocket ship. And your stage is going to be a 40foot-long dashboard of a 1933 Ford with the drums on top of the radio. There’s gonna be a giant eight-foot steering wheel on stage right and the glove box on stage left. And halfway through the show it’s gonna transform and all the dials and switches are gonna turn over. TV screens are gonna pop up and it’s gonna turn into a spaceshuttle simulator.”
They had one non-negotiable. A 12-feet-wide by 19-feet-high King Tut head that had to be onstage. Ty made it so lasers came out of the eyes and a white stage cloth that covered the set was suddenly sucked up Tut’s nose as the show began. The “Afterburner” tour was born.
“It got written up in Rolling Stone magazine as the greatest cocaine gag in the history of rock ’n’ roll. Mark Goodman from MTV said it was the greatest opening you’ll ever see for a rock ’n’ roll band. From that point on my phone kept ringing.”
Gibbons also wanted 40 cannons exploding confetti, but the stage space wasn’t available. Thinking about the problem, Ty spotted a small CO2 cylinder on his boyhood life vest and wondered if it could push confetti. The band wasn’t convinced until Ty blew it off in a parking lot.
“Billy swung around and said, ‘Oh my God. Man, you gotta patent that. I’ve never seen anything like that.’”
He patented the first portable confetti cannon and the first streamer cannon. It’s been used on world tours with Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Madonna, Usher and Miley Cyrus. Today, Ty Reveen lives in Salisbury, N.B., and has the biggest confetti/streamer manufacturing company in Canada. He’ll be at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre in St. John’s doing his father’s show on March 28.
“When I met him I just walked up to him and I said, ‘Billy, I am the greatest designer in rock and roll special effects.’”
Ty Reveen