Twenty-One magicians in the south of Brazil successfully sued television network, TV Globo over their exposure of magic secrets. Other magic groups have tried, but the magicians of Brazil were able to convince a judge that the exposure affirmatively took money from their pockets and food from their mouths.
The mysterious American magician previously known only as ?Mister M,? exposed older effects such as rabbits from a hat up through sawing a woman in two.Mister M, now known to be Leonard Montano, was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Paulo Roberto Brito Martins was one of the successful magicians and told reporters, ?Mister M took all the magic out of magic.It was like depriving a child of happiness and the right to fantasize when you tell him Santa Clause does not exist.?(Inside Magic does not support the suggestion that Santa Clause does not exist.)
Martins estimated he lost about half a million U.S. dollars because people lost interest in magic after the secrets were exposed.The court?s remedy requires Globo TV to pay ?an amount equal to the income each magician lost since early 1999, when it first aired Mister M segments on its weekly ?Fantastico? show.?
It is unlikely the magicians will see any of the money soon.The court still has to figure out how much to award each magician and the television network will appeal.
“But we have won the first battle,” Martins said.
WAM, the World Alliance of Magicians, was formed after the Fox Masked Magician shows and had highest praise for our brethren in Brazil. “The Magicians of Brazil and South America have done GREAT WORK on behalf of our Art. We can only hope that our friends in the United… Continue reading Chalk One Up for the Good Guys! Magis Sue Network for Exposure
Our favorite escape artist turned illusionist, Michael Grandinetti got the surprise of his life this past week in Hollywood while visiting a producer at CBS Television City, the network’s major Los Angeles production facility.
As he was heading to his appointment, Michael came face to face with former President of the United States Bill Clinton, who was at the studio doing a live remote for a television appearance.
“I had the opportunity to say hello and shake his hand. He has such an enormous presence and was very welcoming to everyone around him. I?ve met many celebrities over the years, but the effect he had on the people was amazing. It was an honor meeting him.”
In 1988, Sidney Radner lent many of his most important Houdini pieces to the Outagamie Museum to seed the exhibition. They had a good run, but now the museum wants to give back the exhibits so that it can use its own pieces collected through the years.
Radner was a prot?g? of Houdini?s brother, Hardeen and through that connection, was able to accumulate one of the finest Houdini collections in magicdom. The museum says it can no longer afford the lease agreement with Radner but won?t disclose the terms or cost.
?I was shocked and disappointed because I thought this would definitely be a forever thing, and my plans were for that,? Radner said. ?I thought the enthusiasm was there, but I guess I was wrong.?
The museum will keep the items donated by Radner ? a smaller portion of the total pieces from Radner ? and will use those pieces in the new exhibit, ?A.K.A. Houdini? set to open on June 2, 2004. ?As much as we admire the collection and appreciate our relationship with Sidney, the bottom line is we couldn?t afford it,? said Terry Bergen of the museum. ?I think the real difference will be really focusing on what people want and expect from the museum experience, which is quite different from when the exhibit first opened,? Kim Louagie, the museum?s curator of exhibits said. ?It will be a brand-new exhibit. We?re approaching it as a new project rather than adapting an old one.?
You still have until October 31, 2003 to see the ?Houdini!? exhibit. It really is something that should not be missed.
Alan Duncan is an accomplished magician in Scotland, a member of the Glasgow Magic Circle and is the past winner of the Max Raskin Cup for Children’s Magic. In 2000 he entered, performed and won.
He was, at the time, nine years old and competed against adult magicians. Alan began his still young career at the age of five performing for friends; at seven, he joined the Magic Circle and competed at the age of nine.
But this year, the Scottish Association of Magical Societies has decided the minimum age for entering is now 16. Alan offered, “I’m very disappointed I can’t enter the competition I won in 2000. I don’t understand why they changed the rules.”
His father, president of the Glasgow Magic Circle shares his pain, “He wanted to take part again and feels his age shouldn’t discriminate against him. If he’s good enough he should be able to take part.” But the Scottish Association of Magical Societies worries that judges will be swayed by the wrong factors. “When Alan entered in 2000 he brought the issue to our attention and we met to discuss it. It is very difficult when you are judging adults against nine-year-olds because the judges can be swayed by the cute factor.”
His dad, however, argues against the “cute factor.” (I should point out that I have never won any awards despite my incredible “cute factor.” Or maybe it was just jealousy of the non-cute factor possessing magicians that kept me from the top. I don’t think it could be that I’m not cute).
Alan’s pop points out, “The professional magicians who judge this won’t just vote for him out of sympathy. I think perhaps people are scared to compete against him because they know he’s too good.”
Until he hits 16, however, cute or not, he’ll have to compete in the Young Magician of the Year Contest. Good luck, Alan. We’ll look forward to your continued success.
People flock to Bath not only for the ancient Roman ruins but, perhaps more significantly, the fantastic, weird story of Albert Macdonald and his little guinea pig.
Please do not be horrified by the following. It is, by all accounts, an accurate recitation of the facts that have haunted this ancient and mystical town. Turn on all lights in your house as you read this.
If you are reading this story on a PDA in the dark while you drive some lonely road through the night to another show or back from a show or looking over the shoulder of someone else reading this on a PDA, stop. Read no further. Simply re-telling this tale has caused grown men and women to faint. (Could be my breath).
Albert Macdonald was one of Bath’s resident magicians and known for his production of animals at unusual times. “How could he do it?” stunned on-lookers would shout in between gasps. Sometimes they would hyperventilate and grasp their chest as the guinea pig would appear from no where.
The towns folk thought Albert was a scandal. How could he produce a live guinea pig from beneath a cloth, from a hat or from a small bag of donuts? Perhaps he was the devil or even worse, a friend of the yet to be born Masked Magician. (Who made his television appearance on Britain’s ITV last week — a sign of the apocalypse if there ever was one).
One night Albert and his guinea pig were walking along the River Avon (named after the door-to-door beauty sales company to be founded exactly 49 years after his death) and Albert slipped, fell or was pushed into the mighty river. He sunk like a stone (approximately 14 lbs.)
But, and this is where it gets scary, somehow the guinea pig escape from the cold spring waters of the River Avon. But the little furry rodent also escaped from the sewed lining of the drowning magician’s coat. He struggled, like a miniature furry Houdini.
He freed first his tiny but nimble front paws and then loosened the threads that had entangled his legs and finally his tail.
He pushed his body to the surface and was rescued by on-lookers. His former owner perished but the unnamed guinea pig survived. He had a short career on the lecture circuit but that was cut short when it was discovered Mr. Macdonald was not only the star of the show — he did most of the magic — but he was also the only one that could speak.
Today, 100 years after the tragic end of a local favorite and the start of a fizzled career of a prop/production item, Albert Macdonald is remembered with a celebration of the event that changed forever the town of Bath.
Celebration of Death and Escape in Bath
Ironically, the tragic end of one career and the struggling birth of a second, is celebrated by the tossing of a fake rabbit into the waters of the River Avon.
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