Why Memories of Wonder?
When I joined the junior section of a dutch magic club, once of the older guys promoted to the senior section. He did a farewell show. That guy was Jos Bemelman, later known as Tommy Wonder.
We ended up being close for many years, were at the same magic clubs, shared rooms at FISM, etc. When I left the Netherlands to pursue a career in IT, we lost close contact. Till he unfortunetaly died in 2006.
A few years ago when I started creating my own shows, I realized I missed Jos. The idea raised within me to interview those that knew Jos/Tommy and make that a documentary. ‘Memories of Wonder’ together with ‘The Books of Wonder’ and ‘Vision of Wonder’ should form a trilogy and keep his legacy alive.
I started the interviews in 2021 and since then spoke to:
- Ray Lum
- Tom Stone
- Mike Caveney
- Brad Hendersen
- Eric Eswin
- Lisa Menna
- John Carney
- Jamie Ian Swiss
- Stephen Minch
- Masato Kamei
- Dick Koornwinder
- Frank Bemenman
- Cristina Coda
- Dan Levay
…and still have a few to talk to.
I travelled the world to meet these magicians. Also, I was not only able to find the original stage act, I also met Tommy’s biggest fan, who for many years has been working on recreating Tommy’s act.
Your support to complete the project
I’ve done most of the interviews and sofar funded all the traveling myself. That’s OK. I’m following a passion and had to do this. However I wish to ensure this project is finished in a professional manner, with original composed music and the help of a professional editor for the post production.
I offer several support levels (more to be added later) to fund this till completion. I expect the documentary to be completed by Q3 2025.
Support Packages
1 – The Documentary
For 15 Euro you will receive the finished final documentary as a download.
2 – Documentary + Extended Interviews
I have over 30 hours of interviews and many of them are worth watching by themselves. For 20 Euro you receive the documentary and extended cuts of the interviews.
3 – Documentary + Interviews + Premiere
For this support level you will receive – in addition to the documentary and interviews – an invitation to an online premiere where we will invite all participants to view the documentary and have a short debrief after watching the documentary.
4 – Platinum Support
Platinum support has the same deliverables as as package 3, it shows your extra appreciation to creating this legacy with a higher donation amount.
4 – Gift Donation
Support the project with whatever you feel like supporting! Any donation is welcome!