Sleight of hand: 'The Outlaw, Lawman and Ghost Magic Show' combines living history, illusion

A history lesson disguised as a magic show is how Blake Starr describes his performance, “The Outlaw, Lawman and Ghost Magic Show.”

During the performance, Starr portrays the late Milton J. Yarberry, Albuquerque’s first elected sheriff who was later hanged for murder on Feb. 9, 1883. Starr plays Yarberry’s ghost and the performance chronicles Yarberry’s existence with magic sprinkled in for good measure. The indoor show takes place on Saturday, Dec. 7, at the Painted Lady Bed & Brew in Old Town.

“He was born in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, in 1849, and so I talk about his life with magic dotted along the way,” Starr explained. “For example, he murdered a guy, who got him on the road to being an outlaw when he was in Arkansas. And then he left Arkansas because of that and changed his name. His name was actually John Armstrong. So he changed his name to Milton Yarberry.”

Starr said Yarberry participated in train and bank robberies.

“I do magic that kind of reinforces what his life was like,” Starr said. “And all the magic I created, it would have been magic seen by a street performer in the 1800s, and so that is kind of what I do.”

Starr has extensively researched Yarberry from his time in Texas as a Texas Ranger to his time in Colorado City where he opened a brothel and later moved to New Mexico where he got into “a little bit of trouble.”

If you were an outlaw in the Old West, it was a safe place to become a man of the law, Starr said.

“Because what are you going to do? Go out and search for yourself,” Starr added. “He was a Texas Ranger and then he went to Colorado. When he got (to New Mexico), his reputation kind of preceded him as somebody that knew which end of the gun the bullet fell out of.”

Starr said Yarberry became friends with a New Mexico lawman by the name of Perfecto Armijo and was given the title of constable.

“In fact, he was given the title of constable because in 1880 the railroad comes to town,” Starr said. “I talk a little bit about the railroad and telegraphs.”

Starr said during that time, Albuquerque went from essentially Old Town to New Town.

Initially, the plan was for the train tracks to come through Old Town, but that changed due to the area being located on a floodplain at that time.

“So they chose a spot a mile and a half to the east where downtown Albuquerque is today, and that became known as New Town,” Starr explained. “With the railroad coming through, it essentially put Albuquerque on the map.”

Starr said Albuquerque was advertised as the tuberculosis capital of the United States, where people could be cured by moving to the Duke City.

“Of course, that’s not true, but the dry climate here afforded people coming out here to extend their lifetimes anywhere from seven to 10 years,” Starr said. “A lot of people came out here, so they needed to increase their law enforcement. So Yarberry was elected the first constable. They couldn’t decide whether to call him a constable, a sheriff, a marshal.”

Within three months of being constable, Yarberry shot a man and was put on trial. However, he retained a good lawyer and was acquitted, according to Starr. Three months later, he shot another man in the back, after hearing some commotion and seeing the man run down the street.

“You don’t really do well if you shoot people in the back in the Old West,” Starr said. “He was put on trial again and sentenced to hang.”

Authorities thought Yarberry might be “lynched” and moved him to a jail in Santa Fe. He managed to escape but was recaptured and taken back down to Albuquerque and hanged.

Starr has been performing magic since he was a child. He later became involved with a ghost tour in Old Town in 2006 and ended up working for the tour for six years. The owner of the tour, Cody Polston, who has written several books on ghosts and ghost hunting, suggested Starr research Yarberry after Starr’s portrayal of Merlin at local renaissance fairs had run its course.

Starr began to learn more about Yarberry.

“I decided I was a history guy down in Old Town,” Starr explained. “I’ve been always interested in history and been a member of the film industry and been in several Westerns. And so it was interesting enough to me that I decided to just formulate a show around the character of Yarberry. It’s a lot of fun.”