When I saw Mr. Kranzo?s lecture, I was blown away.I know, magicians always say that.?Oh, I saw the Ball and Vase and was blown away!How could the red ball vanish from his pocket and appear in the previously empty vase?!?Okay, well, maybe not like that.But you know what I mean.The only type of critique more frequent in our business is the exact opposite where our brothers or sisters attack the magician viciously.
But I really was blown away.He would perform the effect and then explain his method.I couldn?t have guessed the method and yet, once explained, I felt like I could probably handle the effect.That?s a rare quality in a lecturer.Usually, they don?t need to explain the method because, to be honest, it was pretty obvious during the performance; or, they could teach me the method all night but I still wouldn?t be able to duplicate it because I cannot do a left-handed middle deal with a face-up deck while finger-palming a donut.(Okay, I exaggerate,I can do that but I only use it in my mentalism act, ?Star, Wavy Lines, Square or Donut.?)
Am I striking a chord here?
So, anyway, I went to see Mr. Kranzo?s lecture, and was, as I said earlier, blown away.He does a routine with a shear scarf (not a silk) and a silver dollar.Take a second and go to the movie section on Penguin Magic and watch the scarf and silver dollar routine.It typifies the magic you will find on this outstanding DVD.His magic is practical, amazing and not impossible to do.The steps are clearly set out and you?ll find that his instruction is not just patient and helpful but almost more entertaining than the demonstration of the… Continue reading Who the Heck Is Nate Kranzo?
Here on the North American Continent, SARS has had a mercifully short run. We’ve had the essential quarantine for the metropolian Toronto area and some increased searching and evaluation at the borders but this is nothing compared to our Asian brothers and sisters.
assive cancellations of performances at birthday parties, corporate events and shopping malls have brought business to almost a standstill in the past 1 1/2 months.”
The paper estimates that current magic business is about ten percent of its former level. In fact, Edwin Goh, a Kid-Show entertainer, reported that party bookings dropped to “literally zero.” That’s low.
If unknown infective agents weren’t enough, competition is picking up in the arena. According to the Times, some magicians are making close to $30,000.00 a month. (I know some readers are saying tothemselves, “heck, that’s more than I make in one show”). The SARSoutbreak also required that magicians not only care for their props but also disinfect them. Some magicians wore face masks to at least give their audience some confidence in what.
One magician noted the obvious, ‘We’ve not pulling streamers out of children’s mouths anymore.”
We receive a bunch of emails everyday. Two stood out in stark contrast1 to each other and both asked questions. The first site asked:
What if there was a place and a group of people that existed to meet the special needs of folks who perform for kids and families? What if there was a place to motivate you, educate you and point you in the right direction? What if there was a place that helped person after person build successful performance careers? What if all of this really existed? A place so good that your competitors won’t tell you they attend because they want to keep all the resources for themselves.
This first email really intrigued us. It sounded like something our good friend and, in our humble opinion, the finest kid-show performer on the face of the earth, Trixie Bond2 might be interested in hearing about. The click through revealed that not only did Ms. Bond know about this show, she was a featured performer and instructor.
So that was a very nice email and well worth the click-through.
The second email asked:
What if there was a place and a group of @%@($ that existed to meet the &%*@ needs of &^%$# who perform *&^%$^##@# all night long?3 . . . .
I think you get the point. The second email was spam. It wasn’t even accurate. I went to the site (late at night when everyone was asleep) and there was no magic taught. In fact, it appeared to be a site about helping the poor. There were pictures of poor men and women who couldn’t afford food or clothing. They all looked hungry and skinny and must have been cold without any clothes.
I was moved to pity but because I didn’t think I could learn any magic tricks, I left the website and thought how lucky I was not to be in that situation. I guess I should have donated money to them, but I couldn’t stand the pitiful images.
Getting back to the first email.
Visit http://www.kidabra.com/ and see what I am talking about. The Convention will begin on August 20, 2003 in Gatlinburg, Tennessee and has a staff scheduled that truly is the who’s who among the kid-show performers. If you do kid-shows, if you have kids, you were once were a kid, if you can spell kid, if you are a young goat4, you need to check out this site.
As we get closer to the convention, we’ll keep you up to date on the conclave and the entertainers scheduled to appear. If you want more direct information, there even have a link to register for their newsletter at: … Continue reading Two Emails: Divergent Needs and Offerings
Coming up next week, beginning May 27th, Max, Eugene Burger and Tina Lenert will perform their well-received Nocturnal Trio at the Magic Castle for six nights.
As is appropriate for a 45 minute ensemble show, they’ll be in the fantastic Palace of Mystery. This means, for us non-members of the Castle, you’ll have to eat your dinner quickly and get down for the show as soon as you can.
I have a feeling this will be one of those shows that will close out early leaving the stragglers at the bar watching the satisfied customers leave. Of course, you could be in worse places. (Remind me to tell you about the ill-fated Magic Mansion that came and went in six months just south of the Michigan line. The bar there had people doing tricks, but no magicians.)
Again, if you’re a non-member like me, you need to contact the Magic Castle early and let them know you ‘d like to attend and that you can prove you are a member of the IBM or SAM. Here’s their website: www.magiccastle.com
As part of the Jeff McBride’s Las Vegas Magic School, Max and Mr. Burger will be instructing the workshop, “Handling Humans: Effective Interaction with Participants for Close-Up and Stage.”
I have not had the privilege of seeing Mr. Burger’s handling of folks from the audience but I have witnessed Max’s approach. In my humble opinion Max is one of the best at this important part of performing.
(Those familiar with the Magic Times and some of the group bulletin boards already know I was recently humbled after my Inside Magic School of Magic failed and is being sued because of that unfortunate duck pan incident. On behalf of the entire Inside Magic School of Magic Staff, I want to thank you for the cards and flowers. They were lovely and really made the stay so much nicer. We are all fine and I am told the animal abuse charges will be pled down to Misdemeanor Assault on a Water Fowl.)
Max goes on to the IBM Convention in Kansas City, Missouri July 1-5 and will MC the International Gala Show on the third and lecturing on the fifth. (I used to lecture on or with a fifth but that is entirely different and likely something I should keep to myself until the charges are dropped in the duck incident.)
An Outstanding Read
I’ve given Max the Inside Magic Outstanding Rating (Four out of Four) for his fantastic DVDs and tricks. (By the way, there is a great deal on … Continue reading Max Maven Makes His Moves
John Kennedy is on the spectrum ofgood and bad magic inventorsand he is on the good end. I have never had a bad experience with Mr. Kennedy’s magic – never. Not even once.
You can see a video of the trick by clicking here.
I wrote a length article about my meeting Mr. Kennedy at the Las Vegas Magic Invitational last year and received interesting comments suggesting I was a shill for him and his tricks. My enthusiasm for someone like Mr. Kennedy is over-flowing because his desire to invent and share new magic is apparently over-flowing.
Mr. Kennedy’sMind Power Deck ($29.00 at Penguin Magic – Higher Elsewhere), is one of the neatest effects I’ve seen in a while. Here’s the effect: You spread a deck of cards face up for the audience. You explain that there are several methods a magician could use to determine what card a volunteer selected but all involve the spectator physically selecting a card from the deck.
If, however, you were a true mindreader, you would not need the spectator to do anything other than to think of the selected the card.
You ask the volunteer to look at the deck of cards spread before her and mentally select a single card. She is not to say anything or move her lips as she makes her selection and she can even change her selection if she desires.
Once she has finalized her selection, she is to nod only. You concentrate and slowly name the card.
That’s pretty good, eh? Well, it gets better. You can spread the deck and have two or three people each mentally select a card. You then name each card selected.
That’s it.
The beauty of the trick is that you don’t need to do much more. If you’re able to read someone’s mind, you’ve pretty much done the impossible.
The deck is special – and this is the source of my only complaint – but it doesn’t cause undue attention and to your audience, it will appear normal and innocent.
You won’t need to memorize anything, thanks to the deck. You can repeat it immediately.
Now, my complaint. The deck is printed on a non-standard back. It could have been printed on Bicycle cards or even Aviators but it is not. This doesn’t take away from the effect and the backs have nothing to do with the secret.
I like to use a blue Bicycle deck and to introduce this deck into my routine requires more than a secret deck switch: it requires an excuse. It is not a big enough problem to keep me from performing the effect. It just requires an explanation of why I am using the different deck of cards.
But because the volunteer does not have to physically select a card, it does not arouse suspicion in the audience – it’s the kind of thing a magician would worry about.
Like all of Mr. Kennedy’s effects, the Mind Power Deck is well-made, easy to use and perfectly amazing in performance. For less than $30.00, you will get the perfect closer to any routine. I recommend this highly.
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