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Performer Erik Anderson, also known as Doc Anderson, has business cards that read: “Entertainer, speaker – interesting person.”
He is, indeed, all three.
A former Frontier Days performer, Anderson – who will be among the entertainers Saturday for opening weekend at the Fort Museum – began his career in a library.
“I was about 10, and I was getting on my mom’s nerves,” he said. “She gave me that ‘look’ and said, ‘We’re going to the library.'”
They did, and while browsing the stacks, he found a book on magic.
“Every 10-year-old wants secret knowledge to subvert the rules of the universe,” said the performer, who lives in Ames.
Turned out, he was something of a prodigy.
“Everyone said I should do it for someone else,” he joked.
Anderson continued to study magic while traveling with his mom, who plied her trade as a medium while traveling with carnivals.
“My mom was a spirit reader,” he said. “I had the childhood people dream about.”
He became interested in the various cons, tricks and old-school sleight-of-hand shell games while watching those around him.
“I came by the flimflam honestly, I grew up on carnival midways,” said Anderson, who has cerebral palsy. “As a kid with a disability, people tend to ignore you. I got to watch a lot they don’t show other people.”
When Anderson performs, he takes on the role of a con man from the 1880-90 period. His audience can expect unwinnable card games and shell games where the pea is never where they expect it to be.
One of the old-time cons who inspired Anderson was Umbrella Joe Miner.
“His baby was the shells,” Anderson said. “He even had his favorite set of shells cast in solid silver.”
How far has Anderson taken that inspiration?
“I have a set of solid silver shells just like Umbrella’s,” he said. “I call them Sunday-go-to-meeting shells.”
Of course, period-authentic costuming is part of the show – up to a point, to reflect modern sensibilities.
“I draw the line at asking the ladies’ permission to roll up my sleeves,” he said.
One thing that hasn’t change since the days of Umbrella Joe is the gullibility of those who choose to play.
“All of these games,” he said, “they still work every bit as well as they ever have, especially for teens who think they know everything.”
Generally, he said, younger folks are easier to fool.
“As a rule, people over 30, they assume it’s flimflam and cheating,” he said. “Those under 30 – a significant number I can tell they’re regarding it as the one in three chance it appears to be.”
People are easily fooled, he said.
“We’re raising a generation of marks,” he said. “Now we can be stupid at a speed we never thought before.”
So what’s a mark? It’s a carnie term for an easy-to-pick victim.
“It was actually a chalk mark on the shoulder,” Anderson said. “It meant ‘We’ve got a live one.'”
Sometimes, he doesn’t even have to use the flimflam.
“With the right crowd,” he said, “I don’t even have to cheat.”
What Anderson won’t do – under any circumstances – is actually take somebody’s money. It’s all for show, entertainment and education.
“It’s illegal for me to play the game and take your money,” he said. “It is however, completely legal to get paid to demonstrate it’s a swindle, it’s not a fair game.”
Anderson has little use for those real con men.
“I’m too empathetic to actually swindle, I can’t actually steal from somebody,” he said. “It’s a terrible, insensitive violation.”
He prefers to help prevent it, he said.
“I can show how to protect yourself and expose it for the vile thing it is,” he said.
Anderson comes by his empathy naturally. Cerebral palsy is a congenital condition that affects muscle control. He was diagnosed as an infant.
“This is not a subject people should be shy to talk about,” he said.
He uses humor to break the ice.
“This is normal for me,” he said, pointing to his legs. “It’s a challenge not to talk about it when I walk like a flamingo with his legs on backwards.”
Anderson has also spent much of his working life with various advocacy groups. He is currently creating one of his own, called the Treat People Like People project.
The core concept is simple.
“Underneath it all, we’re all people,” he said. “Treat all people like people. I believe in that very strongly.”
He sees a lot of people not doing that, particularly when they get to do so from behind their computer screens.
“We forget the person on the other end is a real person,” he said. “We’re not being good to each other.”
He offers three suggestions to help: Do something for yourself to put you in a better place, do something for someone else, and spread the word.
“That’s it,” he said. “Help others on the journey, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Anderson was previously the state’s affirmative action, ADA, diversity coordinator and has served on the Governor’s Equal Opportunity Task Force and the State of Iowa Special Education Advisory Panel. He has been an advocate for children with disabilities, regarding special education issues.
For more information on Anderson’s project, see www.docanderson.com.