It is my habit, when visiting any new town, to look through the Yellow Pages for magic shops or magicians.Most of the time, I don?t have time actually do anything more than just drive by the shop or leave a crank call for the magician in between meetings.When I do have time, like during this vacation, I get as excited as a kid going to a Ritalin store when I visit.
Brent Smith has a wonderful store in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.It was my honor to visit his location and suck up his time for a couple of hours.He was kind enough to show me his shop, the newer and newest tricks and practically demonstrate every trick in the shop.I will tell you about some of the stand-out effects in a second, but first let me give you a bird?s-eye lowdown on the physical plant and Mr. Smith.
Read On . . .
Located on Centre Street, not far from the Calgary Airport, Mr. Smith?s store is called ?The Vanishing Rabbit? and is exactly what you would seek in a magic store.He has magic, books, gimmicks and audio-visual materials for every level of magician.The store stocks over 4,000 items from basic, starter tricks to full-scale illusions.You can pick up a set of Sponge Balls, beginner?s magic set or instructional DVD all the way up to the latest in mentalism or illusions such as a beautifully made Thin Model Sawing a Woman in Half or two types of Sub Trunks.
?Hello, I?m Tim and I?m Magic Addicted,? I offered to the table of eight others like me.
They may not have been the same age, same race or gender but they were like me.We were all here in the smallish side-room of the Denny?s in Mystic Hollow.There were five tables in the room, each with a wicker basket in the center holding various numbers of dollar bills.Some of the MA members clutched their coffee cups, rolled half dollars over their fingers.Some of the fingernails were stained with nicotine as they tried to replace one addiction with a seemingly more manageable one.The desire for the rush was still there regardless of the drug sought.
?Hi Tim,? they responded with one voice.
It is a tradition of the 12 Step programs to welcome anyone who speaks in this manner.It takes a lot to admit ? even if for the 100th time ? that you are addicted.This wasn?t my 100th meeting, though; it was my 20th but the first in which I admitted my addiction to Magic.
I paused, gave a nervous smile and began my testimony.
When we last left our hero, he was stumbling away in a bewildered daze from the booth of Meir Yedid ? Boy Magician.
I had to return to sanity.I had to remember it was all just pretend.Mr. Yedid was not a ?true magician.?He didn?t have real magic powers.He couldn?t turn me into a __(Insert Political Party You Hate Here)___.After all, I?d been a loyal __(Insert Political Party You Love Here)____ since I was just a small __(Insert Young Mammal You Like Here)__.
[By the way, Inside Magic is a proud recipient of the Mad Libs Award for Journalism on the Internet.And frankly, we?re just as __(Insert an Emotion Here)___ as a ___(Cute Mammal or Reptile Here)__ in a ___(Insert a Household Furnishing or Food Source Here)__].
I bumped into John Sterlini and nearly toppled the side panel of his booth.Fortunately, his expertly crafted Headed Chopper was there to break my fall.I looked up, still in a daze, and tried to focus on what stood before me.?Sterlini? read the sign.Guilt kicked in like the famed transmission of a 1991 Dodge Dynasty ? late and hard.
Read On . . .
I knew of Sterlini Magic from their beautiful advertisements in Magic Magazine.I checked out their ads, fell in love with the quality of both the advertisements and the products the promised in their glossy photos and wonderful descriptions, and then noted they had a Michigan Area Code.
Joe M. Turner asked an excellent question on the Tag-Board (which then had to be fixed, but not because of anything Mr. Turner did, I think). His question was both valid and excellent: What happened to Magic Live Seminar Update No. 5?
Mr. Turner and for everyone else, I present to you now the Inside Magic Update No. 5 for the Magic Live Seminar.
Read On . . .
Meir Yedid is one cool guy.Inthe past, I have paid him millions (okay, thousands, okay hundreds coming close to a couple of thousand) for retail merchandise and advertising space on his former Magic Times.I never met the man, though.We?ve spoken on the phone and by email but I had no idea if he was really a jerk that tried to seem like a nice guy in his press and merchandising and advertising sales and everything else.
I figured no one could be that nice and helpful and know about magic like he claimed to know.
Meir Yedid Doing Fadeout
Once again, the cynical side of my evil twin, Timoteo, was wrong.Mr. Yedid is one great guy.I had the chance to meet him at the Magic Live seminar dealers? room and became like the… Continue reading The Magic Live Update No. 5
A couple of months ago, I wrote about the need for us Magicians to do real magic. Not ?real? magic or even real magic.No fluff or fuss, just getting up on stage and doing what a real magician would do if in fact he or she was a real magician.
A couple of days ago, I wrote about Rick Thomas? incredible performance at the Magic Live seminar. I told you that he performed two effects as if he was truly a magician and doing real magic.
Folks, I have now seen real magic.Not sort of unexplainable magic or magic you could probably do if you had hours to practice. I mean magic that is possible only if magic is possible.
Mark Kalin and Jinger changed my perspective on life in their presentation.They did real magic.
Read On . . .
Alan Wakeling?s Sawing a Woman in Half has been done before but on Wednesday night, in the closing show of the Magic Live Seminar in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Kalins took what was a phenomenal effect in the hands of two phenomenal performers and boosted it into the atmosphere.
Here?s the effect in a nutshell: the lovely Jinger lies on a surgical table ? it looked almost like a gurney made of polished sheet steel. She is bound around her ankles and around her neck by two bands which are then tied to cord that is pulled through holes in the table and held by the very gentlemen responsible for attaching the bands to her lovely ankles and neck. The rest of her torso is fastened to the table by straps that were used for a different purpose back when this very… Continue reading Mark Kalin and Jinger – Real Magic, Really!
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