One year ago today I began “The Doug Henning Project” with a post called “Why Doug Henning Matters!,” I obviously believe that’s still the case, and the last year has proven that even more to me! – Neil McNally 

For a year now, culture writer and magic enthusiast, Neil McNally, has been working tirelessly to ensure Canadian illusionist, magician and escape artist, Doug Henning, gets the recognition he deserves. Last year, we asked McNally why Henning’s work is considered relatively obscure given his seeming enormous popularity at his peak:

“When I first thought of the idea I was floored that someone else hadn’t done it before. It really, really surprised me,” he told us via email. “But, I think part of it has to do with a couple factors. One being that Doug retired in 1987 to pursue more spiritual matters with Transcendental Meditation. Once he was done with magic he was done with it. There was no legacy building or archiving of his career on his part and this was all pre-internet. So, unfortunately over time what happens with that is you get sort of lost in the shuffle.”

Over the last 365 days, McNally has conducted interviews, profiled tricks, hunted down memorabilia and trawled through hundreds of photographs and hours of footage in search of Henning’s work. Here’s a few of his greatest hits:

• An interview with veteran trick designer, Jim Steinmeyer. 
• Spotting this Doug Henning name-check in Charles Schultz’s seminal comic, Peanuts. 
• This interview with Henning’s sister, Nancy.
• An in depth interview with Brian Lumely, one of Henning’s earliest technical collaborators. 
• An interview with David Ogden Stiers, who co-starred in the original Broadway production of The Magic Show. 

These excellent pieces and more can all be found on The Doug Henning Project. Everyone here at GeniiOnline would like to congratulate McNally on this one-year milestone.