Larry Becker passed on October 7th. Kenton wanted to say a few words about him here:
Larry Becker was my mentor, my friend, my helper. He was a complete genius and knew what made things work right for performers, and the
public. Every one of us has a debt to Larry Becker, whether we know it or not.
I have often talked about how Larry Becker was instrumental in my becoming known as a mentalist. The stars aligned just right for us to meet, and he helped me continually ever since. No one will ever know all the ways Larry has helped me and countless others.
Larry and I came up with the idea of my TIME MACHINE trick on an airplane ride to a joint lecture we were headed out to do at Brad Burt's in San Diego. We also came up with a stand up card effect known as SOUTHWEST MIRACLE on that same hour long flight.
Larry saw me through bad relationships, alcoholism, and sobriety. He was absolutely instrumental is getting Kolossal Killer to market. In fact, it
was first called "Kenton's Klose Kall" when Larry put it out. That later became Kolossal Killer, and many of the wallets mentalists use today were based on the one we used for Klose Kall!
I think the one thing most people would not know about Larry was he was HILARIOUS. I mean, he was a no-bull down-to-earth kind of thinker, to be sure. But he was always waiting to pull something or have someone else do something, just to
get a laugh.
The famous 6 1/2 meetings with Larry Becker, Dr, Juris (Robert L. Bluemle), Docc Hilford, Mark Strivings, Lee Earle, Gene Urban, Christopher Caldwell, and me were nothing like people imagined. The great secret? The meetings always ended once we could get Becker to fall of his chair laughing. That's how we knew the meeting of the minds was a success.
No amount of Wonder Words (a title Larry also came up with, not me) can say what Larry means to me, or has done for me. Larry encouraged me and constantly challenged me. WONDER WORDS as you know it would have never existed without Larry.
I could go on and on. I knew this time was coming, but it's still a shock and a huge loss. My father passed away last year, and his birthday was the very next day.
This year I will be mourning two men who greatly shaped me and my career.
I love you Larry. You too April. Words will never suffice. The love goes on and on and on.
The funny photo above is from the last Halloween Larry and I were together. He actually hired me to work a private party at the Becker house. He said, "Why should we take a photo together? We're
friends!" But he acquiesced. Larry dressed up as a doctor that Halloween, thus the photo. He is still a fine doctor of mentalism to me.
Kenton Knepper
