Tim Joins A Club

Aldo — My Hero

Tonight we met at the very impressive Garden City Magic Shop in Garden City, Michigan. It was a great turn-out. I am guessing there was over 25 magicians in attendance. We were all of different backgrounds and abilities — as you would expect. But the neat thing was the group seemed almost single-minded in the desire to learn about and to improve our skills in magic.

Check out their website for some of the latest news from Ann Arbor Magic Club as well as information about Michigan Magic Day.

The big topic on the business side of the meeting was the upcoming Michigan Magic Day event set for April 12th. It sounds like it will be a tremendous fete. Aldo Colombini will be one of the featured acts and lecturers. I’ve been a big Aldo fan since he blew my mind at the Magic Castle while making me laugh enough to cause me to spill my over-priced Merlot.

I’m excited to be a member of a group that seems to be so alive and interested the very art that I consider a passion.

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A Face with a Concept — The Brains Behind the Masked Magician

Mike Darnell – Fox Exec

Mike Darnell, former child actor turned network executive, told the Washington Post that he came upon the idea for the exposure of magic secrets after seeing a magic show at Hollywood’s Magic Castle.

“Discussing the performance afterward, Darnell kept trying to guess how some of the tricks were done.

“And then I thought, ‘Why can’t I know?’” he says.

“I mean, you could go to any library and probably find out, but it occurred to me that the answer might make a pretty good TV show.”

Darnell was “thrilled” by the publicity created by “Breaking the Magician’s Code: Magic’s Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed.” He was even excited that magicians filed five lawsuits against Fox.

Perhaps if I was more interested in television specials, I would care about the injustice visited upon our nation by “Alien Autopsy” or “Joe Millionaire” but neither show really affected me.

On the other hand, the Masked Magician and his exposure of magic secrets did affect me and did financially hurt many magicians who depend upon these secrets. Some of the effects revealed were the result of years of work, practice and trial and error.

So, while I am happy when anyone succeeds in their chosen profession, I have reservations about applauding someone who makes it by destroying the livelihood of others.

I’m not saying anything new or different now than what was said back in 1997 but at least now I have a face and name to go with the cowardly exploitation of the craft I love.


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What is Gaetan Bloom Trying to Pull? The Intercessor – A Review

Intercessor – Incredible!

The Intercessor by Gaetan Bloom

Street and List Price $45.00

Here is the description of one of the many effects you can do with this gimmick: A volunteer selects any card, no force, from a deck. You tear off a corner of the card for the volunteer to hold. In fact, you can allow the volunteer to pull the corner off the card herself.

You then burn the remaining portion of the card in front of the volunteer. She is convinced the card has been burned and destroyed. She holds the only remaining piece of the card.

Now the volunteer is shown a bag of lemons. The volunteer is asked to freely select any lemon — again, no force. That lemon is cut opened and there is a portion of a card in the very center.

When the card is opened, it is seen that one corner is missing and that corner is the one held by the volunteer. It is an exact match.

Okay, so that’s one of the many effects you can do with the Intercessor. Now, let me tell you the story of how I came to know this great effect.

I was at the Abbott’s Magic Get-Together and watching the Gaetan Bloom lecture. He was blowing my mind with some amazing effects and then he demonstrated the Intercessor. I could not fathom how this could be done. I watched as the spectator tore off the corner of the card that was later burned. I had no idea how this was possible.

Gaetan Bloom explained his secret as part of the lecture and offered the Intercessor as a post-lecture sale item. I rushed to the table after the lecture but he was sold out. I understood he had only a very small number of the effects left. I threw myself into a tremendous rage. I went completely crazy and looked directly into Gaetan Bloom’s eyes and said, with all of the anger I felt, “okey doke.” And I meant it.

I looked for the Intercessor every where. I went into the underworld of magic, walked through the streets and sewers, seeking it. I couldn’t find it. I began to spiral downward. I thought there was no hope. I thought it was all over. I would always be doing the old fashioned method of a corner tear. I would have to force a lemon, I’d have to hand them the corner. They’d know, I thought. They could tell. I would be a failure. My father would reject me. My credit history would turn bad. I’d hear the voices again.

Okay, I’m overly dramatic. I don’t think that my credit history could get much worse.

Then I found the Intercessor at Kevin James magic site. I have found my peace now. I can tell you that the Intercessor is worth five times the price you’d pay for it. It is exactly right and is the kind of thing you know the big-time pros have but would never share.

If you have the Intercessor, you can do the impossible. I haven’t seen an effect with this type of impact since, well, since ever. When I first saw the Cups and Balls, I was convinced that a small, puffy cotton ball could penetrate plastic. When I saw the Intercessor, I became convinced I could do magic — real magic.

Okay, so here’s my recommendation: if you don’t buy the Intercessor, it is because I have failed you. I wanted you to understand that the Intercessor is the…
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