Twitter Updates

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.


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

February 12th, 2003 | Category: Magic News | Leave a comment

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

February 12th, 2003 | Category: Magic News | Leave a comment

Tales From the Road

Paw Lawton on the Road

I started out quite a few years ago working out west on what we affectionately called the “Donner Dinner Theater Circuit.” The venues were in Virginia City, Carson City, and Reno, Nevada; then over the Donner Pass and into Sacramento and on to Oakland and San Francisco, California. I was doing five shows a day on a squeaky stage set-up in an old revival tent we converted into the “Dinty Moore Canvas Show Place.”

“You can call a mule a horse but it still kicks like a jackass,” my dad used to say. This was the case with the Dinty Moore Canvas Show Place. We were happy that Dinty Moore paid for the tent and repairs but it was far from a show place. Our chairs were a mismatched grouping of 400 wooden and metal folding butt-traps we’d acquired from auctions and sales along the way. But it was essentially free, had an auxiliary tent for sleeping and was mostly waterproof so we didn’t complain.

On the bill with me was a girl singing duo putatively from Ireland (or Chicago) who would dance and sing songs from the ‘Old Sod’; a comedian/orator from Denver; a juggler from San Francisco and ventriloquist. The girls would open and close the show. I was on last before the close and depending upon his sobriety, the ventriloquist would either go right after the opening or just before me.

We set down in Reno for a one week run. Our tent was set up just on the other side of the tracks from where the Flamingo Hilton is now. There was always something magical about Reno ? and there still is. A lot kinder than Vegas and yet big enough to provide new audiences for each show. We had heard that some of the hotels were sending their people to judge whether any of our acts could make it in the lounges. We were excited and sober ? except for the ventriloquist. He was driven to the bottle more in Reno than I had ever seen him. It wasn’t just the access to liquor, he’d had plenty available in the casinos of Virginia City and Carson City, there was something about Reno that caused him to move into the bottle.

When a magician drinks too much, he might slur but he can usually get his tricks to work ? assuming they’re self-working or require no sleights. But when a ventriloquist drinks, it ruins the act. This guy couldn’t pronounce one single word in his routine. The dummy sounded drunk and he sounded even…
Continue reading Tales From the Road

February 7th, 2003 | Category: Magic News | Leave a comment

Paul Harris’ Reality Twister – A Review

Reality Twister

Reality Twister by Paul Harris — List Price: $15.00/Street Price: $11.95.

Here’s the effect:

You hand your volunteer a clear piece of plastic — it looks like a lens about the size of a business card. You tell the volunteer that she now holds in her hands a “Reality Twister.” You then allow her to see a plastic pen as you place it in her palm. You hold the plastic card over the pen and your volunteer can see the pen through it clearly.

As you turn the plastic card clockwise, the middle of the pen appears to vanish. Your volunteer can look through the plastic lens and see that not only is the pen’s middle gone, but she can see her fingers through where the missing portion of the pen was once located. The lens is turned again and now the middle has returned but it is twisted. When you lift the lens, the volunteer is holding the pen in its twisted state. She can examine both the pen and the lens without fear of detection.

Inside Magic Review:

Start with the premise that this trick costs $15.00 list and $11.95 street price. For that price, it is a heck of a trick. I mean a really nifty trick. It is, though, in my opinion something more like a puzzle than a magic effect.

One of my major complaints is the quality of the pen. It looks cheap and unlike even the cheapest pen you could imagine stealing from a bank about to be taken over by the FDIC. It doesn’t look like a pen really, but like plastic shaped in the form of a pen. Have I told you that I don’t like the quality of pen? Well, I don’t.

The effect is strong and does work well with the people to whom I’ve shown it. No one has commented on the quality of the pen. The skills necessary to perform this are minimal and it is basically self-working.

I like the presentation provided and that you can leave the pen in the volunteer’s hand. This won’t be the type of trick you will cherish forever but it will also not be the type that stays in your desk drawer. It falls into the “what the heck” type of purchase. However, if it had a nicer pen, well then we’d be talking something different.

RATING: Two and a half out of Four.

Continue reading Paul Harris’ Reality Twister – A Review

February 6th, 2003 | Category: Magic News | Leave a comment

Jason Latimer Winner at World Magic Seminar

Jason Latimer
Jason Latimer won both the “Best Overall” and the “Siegfried and Roy Master of the Impossible” awards.

The story notes that he currently performs at the Magic Castle and flies to Vegas each weekend to open for the Amazing Jonathan. I especially enjoyed one particular quote: “I’m planning on doing magic for the rest of my life,” he said. “I hope it works out.” I think that even if Jason doesn’t perform professionally the rest of his life, he will still be doing magic.

Perhaps that’s the best thing about our art — you can be professional or amateur but you’re still “doing magic” and still hooked.

We wish Jason the best of luck as he competes at FISM and continues to grow in popularity.

Continue reading Jason Latimer Winner at World Magic Seminar

February 6th, 2003 | Category: Magic News | Leave a comment
« Newer Entries  
  Older Entries »