In Hulu's 'The Amazing Johnathan Documentary,' filmmaker Ben Berman meets 60-year-old magician John Szeles shortly after the performer has been given one year to live. When Berman goes to interview Szeles in Las Vegas, he discovers numerous surprises.
“Now hit it,” he was instructed. “Hit it hard.”
“I had a decision to make: To have the most interesting Johnathan film, would I do this or not?” says Berman, now 37. “I was repulsed by the idea that I could become a gimmick, but it is a bit of a gimmick. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong for a filmmaker to enter their movie and actively manipulate the situation, but those are the questions I’m hoping to raise.”It was early August, and Berman was sitting in the living room of a house he’d recently started renting in Highland Park.
As a boy growing up in Pennsylvania, Berman had caught Szeles’ Comedy Central specials on TV, intrigued by the blood-and-gore of his act. But it had been years since he’d heard Szeles’ name when in 2016, while in the writers’ room for a pilot starring magician Justin Willman, some staffers began talking about “how Johnathan was supposedly dying and giving away his magic tricks and smoking drugs.”
At first, Berman did freak out. He spent a few days depressed and panicky. It didn’t help that Szeles kept bragging to anyone who would listen about how many camera crews were following him. But then Berman decided to embrace the mantra of a self-help book he’d recently finished, Ryan Holiday’s “The Obstacle Is the Way.” In other words, instead of trying to ignore the other film crew, he decided to embrace them, including the narrative — and himself — in the movie.
Berman says he understands why Szeles allowed multiple cameras into his life. Because of his heart, he’d had to abandon his high-paying gig at Bally’s Casino, and the filmmaker thinks he was missing the attention. “It’s been three years since I was supposed to be dead,” he says. “But when it happens, it’s gonna go quick. They say I’ll have an event and it’ll go fast, hopefully.”
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