Reading by Dominique Duvivier

Dominique Duvivier

This is after seeing a scene of card players in the filmM the Cursedof Fritz Lang on television (in the program Ciné-club) that Dominique Duvivier, then an 8-year-old boy, held his first card game in his hands. He was then far from suspecting that these few pieces of cardboard were going to dictate the rest of his life and transform it, according to Paul Gertner (American magician, world champion of magic), into"the most creative and the best close-up magician ever ».

Overflowing with passion, he has since traced an extraordinary magical path: winner of the Mandrake d'Or, his peers already consider him“a living legend” (France Bleu).

Can we still believe in chance when we imagine that, throughout his childhood, he lived in the Cours de Vincennes in Paris, just above the magic stand that Renelys (a famous magician hawker) held during the Foire du Trône? Dominique's mother (Sicilian, particularly protective!) only allowed her son to go down to see his magician friend because she could see him through the window… Magic of fate!

A dreamy student with little talent for traditional studies, he left school at 16, became a television salesman at the BHV…and finally threw himself headlong into magic.

Turning professional in 1973 at the age of 23 after self-taught training, Dominique Duvivier was one of the first magicians tointroduce and popularize the art of proximity magic in France(the “close up”) in the 70s, at a time when the fashion was still only for magicians on stage, in traditional clothes and accompanied by their indispensable sexy assistant. We can say that he isthe first magician in France to have earned his living with a deck of cards!

In the world of magicians, Dominique is particularly famous for his creations: because of his self-taught training, he was able to create new techniques and tricks that have revolutionized the art of close-up magic.He has already created more than 5000 magic tricks and continues to invent more every week! His “Printing” tower, created in 1973, sold so many copies around the world that it was thanks to it that he bought his first house (a big house!). Andits “CIB” (Cards In Bag) trick wowed Penn & Teller in the famous American show “Fool us” in 2018, a benchmark in the field!

In the early 1980s, Dominique Duvivier enjoyed a leading career in television. He was notably thestar magician of Guy Lux's flagship program “Top club” in prime time then of “Vitamin” with Karen Cheryl.But what Dominique wanted above all was to be able to create entire close-up magic shows and thus fully express her passion for this art. When he saw that no one was ready to help him in this direction, he decided to create his own theater...

Thus in 1988,30 years ago, Dominique Duvivier was the first in Europe to create a performance space entirely dedicated to magic: The Double Bottom, in the 4th in Paris. Today magic is everywhere (literature, shows, broadcasts, exhibitions…), but at the time it was a hell of a bet in which only Dominique believed! We thought he was crazy, but now, as we read inLes Echos: “The Double Bottom is always full. It symbolizes the revival of the art of magic”.In this small pocket theater (50 seats) thousands of people flock each year. On the ground floor, waiters-magicians perform magic at the bar and on the terrace. And in the basement are scheduled shows that dust off the image of magic! In 30 years more than80 magic shows were created, 150 magicians from all over the world performed there and 400,000 spectators came, the equivalent of a Stade de France!Here a report on France 3:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfY1-O6zXXg&t=11s

And Dominique Duvivier has even adapted the Double Fond brand by creatingDouble Fond Prod, an agency specializing in magical services and Double Fond Formation, a training organization.

The teaching of magic has always held a central role in Dominique's career: at the end of the 1970s, he was the first in France to publish teaching videos of magic and it was also he who released the very first Educational DVD of magic in France (“The School of Magic” in 2001). Teacher of a whole generation of magicians who have become professionals, he continues to travel the world to pass on his knowledge and in 2018 he even created with his team the1st Magician diploma in France, recognized by the Ministry of Labor(bac+2 level).This is the first time in the world that an official certification exists for the profession of magician.

In 1991 he also became the owner ofthe oldest magic shop in the world: Mayette Magiein the 5th in Paris (created in 1808), where he went to buy his first lathes with his mother, when he was 8 years old. There, as for 200 years, amateurs and professionals come to provide themselves with tricks, accessories, videos… Here a report on France 3, with Eric Antoine:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyHo9r_I8Fg

The blogwww.dominiqueduvivier.comand the podcast "What if it were true"by Dominique Duvivier (https://itunes.apple.com/fr/podcast/what-if-it-was-true-interviews/id488572020?l=en) are real phenomena: they are followed by thousands of Internet users every week.

But if there is one success of which Dominique is particularly proud, it is that ofhis daughter Alexandra Duvivier who has become one of the rare female representatives of the art of magic.Unlike many ball kids, he didn't push her down the same path he did. As a child, he never showed her tricks: it was only at the age of 15 that Alexandra set out to become, little by little, the worthy heiress of her father's empire.

With her, he notablyput magic on Eric Antoine's first big success on stage "Mysteric".

TodayDominique performs with Alexandra as a duo all year round on stage, notably in their latest show “SignatureS”.

In 2021, Dominique Duvivier launched the 100% magic streaming channelwww.doublefond.tv, the Netflix of magic!This platform offers videos to learn or improve in magic and to watch magic shows. Its success was immediate!