British Television Journal Announces Next David Blaine. A UK television channel hopes to spice up its fall schedule by including a cancelled Showtime feature, The L Word, about lesbianism and, more importantly for us magicians, ‘Close Encounters with Keith Barry,’ showcasing the talents of street-magician Barry, tipped to be the next David Blaine.
Read On . . .
Certainly Mr. Barry?s skills are well deserving of a series and the praise offered.The young Irish magician has been performing magic since he was just 14 and worked his way through college by performing our favorite art in clubs and restaurants. Mr. Barry received an honors chemistry degree in Galway Ireland and was the resident performer at U2′s Kitchen Nightclub VIP lounge.
If you haven?t already done so, check out Mr. Barry?s incredible website.It is the perfect admixture of style and substance resulting in a truly professional place on the web to invite and educate clients.
You can see his website by clicking here.We?ll put his site in the Inside Magic Links of Fame (Premium Edition) not because he is Irish and a magician or because he?s got great style and super future but because . . . no, wait, actually those are the reasons.
If you have a site you think is worthy of inclusion in what has recently been named ?The Place to Have Your Magic Link on the Web,? click the Inside Magic Links of Fame panel on the left and give it your best shot.
Michael Ammar is back from one tour and getting ready for another but has time to add to my library in an instant. He has digitized Encore 3 and put it on his website for instant download. As readers of Inside… Continue reading Today’s News: Ammar and Barry
While attending a magic convention, I noticed that the dealer rooms opened immediately following the public shows.The problem was that the excited spectators that had just had a great experience in the magic shows were not allowed to enter the dealer rooms unless they were a registered member of the convention.The rationale was to not expose any secrets to the general public.
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At that point I realized that there could be a “general public” component to a convention, besides the public shows. I floated the idea to a few key people and they all thought it was a great idea.I immediately contacted the magic club that hosted the convention in the area and offered to coordinate the “general public” side of the convention.The club wasn’t interested in changing the format of their convention, so the Houdini Days Magic Festival was born. In six months, the first Festival was organized.
Jennifer Allyn of Appleton Downtown Inc and her staff were critical in making the Festival a reality.The Festival was to be held in downtown Appleton (Houdini Plaza), it was to be family-friendly (G-rated performances, no beer sales, etc), and it was to offer FREE performances.Sponsors and individual donations were raised to cover the costs.Being that the Festival is anon-profit event, numerous volunteers were enlisted. It was important to bring in outstanding talent if our goal of “generating an appreciation for the magical arts in the general public” was to be achieved.
The first Festival (2003) had the talent of Mark Wilson & Nani Darnell, Doc Eason, Sylvester the Jester, Stuart MacDonald, Goldfinger &Dove, David Seebach, Michael P. Lair, Michael Finney, Joshua Jay, Michael Ammar, Mark Bond, Rondini, Danny Magic, Glen Gerard, Jeff McMullen, Lou Lepore, Nate Nygren, Bruce Hetzler, Julie Sobanski, and The Comedy Magic of Mike & Chris.Our biggest mistake was underestimating the size of the crowd (approx… Continue reading Chris Cochrane: The Genesis of Houdini Days
Evil Magician Comic? The Digital Webring ? Digital Webbing Presents (DWP) will soon release issue number 19 featuring magicians who have crossed the line from flawless parlor and close-up magic to difficult to stop assassins.
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The project in the current DWP is sort of a reprise for the theme and the characters.As many magicians recall, these true “Bad Boys of Magic” were first introduced in the independently produced Sleight of Hand: Old Tricks, New Dogs.The initial comic was a collaborative effort in which folks in the Internet community were asked to submit their stories, drawings and character development for inclusion in the comic.
The result can be found in the published volume at CafePress here.
Joe Libby to Predict Presidential Election
Joe Libby Uses Psychic Talents on Radio. When magician and mind reader Joe Libby prepared his prediction, he knew that if he was wrong, that mistake would be broadcast live into thousands of homes all over the San Antonio area. Happily, Libby was successful in predicting the outcome of an imaginary dice game played by Mary Denman, the host of KLUP’s radio show, “Prime Plus.”
After Denman “rolled” a six and a three with the imaginary dice, Libby asked her to verify that nothing had been prearranged. He then pulled out, and turned on, a small memo recorder. Holding it up to his microphone, he asked the radio audience to listen carefully as he pressed the “Play” button. “Good morning, Mary,” said Libby’s prerecorded voice. “I predict the total shown on your invisible dice will be nine. I repeat, nine. Good guess, huh?”
He plans to predict the outcome of the US Presidential election this November. “It’s going to be a tight race,” he says. “I think it would be fascinating to reveal a successful prediction on national television the… Continue reading Today’s Magic News: Evil Magicians?
Valerie Pontbriand and her family take great pride in shop, Four Eyes Joke Shop, as well as their surroundings and customers.
Last Monday, Ms. Pontbriand, family and 25 Magicians in Training came together to put their pride to work by cleaning sections of the street and parking lot surrounding the unique magic and trick shop. The shop is an incredibly positive presence in the neighborhood, on the web and in our art of magic.
Read On . . .
Ms. Pontbriand enlisted and commissioned twenty-five MITs ? sporting red aprons, brooms, trash bags, and lots of positive energy ? with the important task of cleaning the area around the shop at 296 Main Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts.
Ms. Pontbriand provided the MITs with pizza and magic as their reward to assisting in the clean-up.“Afterwards the MITs ate pizza and learned a rope magic routine, a David Blaine-style levitation bit, and several card magic effects,” said Ms. Pontbriand. “And the kids left hungry for more. More magic, that is.”
Ms. Pontbriand has a noble and humble goal for her shop. Pontbriand wants to make Southbridge “the funniest and proudest city in Massachusetts, hands down.” To that end, she sponsors a Clean-Up and Magic Workshop program each Monday. To enroll as a MIT, kids need only be willing to help clean and enjoy magic. “We invite the kids of Southbridge to arrive at the shop at 2:30 p.m. with a broom, trash bag (if possible), and definitely a positive energy,? Ms. Pontbriand said, ?They?ll don their red aprons, their badge of honor, and spend the next thirty minutes cleaning the area sidewalks. Then, at 3:00 p.m. the magic workshop will begin.”
Paw Lawton shares his thoughts with us about the "cool people" in our trade. Paw worked as an agent and advance man for the Li'l Tom Hardy show.
I really enjoyed the Melinda, the First Lady of Magic, show while it lasted at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. I know I’m not supposed to say that because the same magicians in the inner circle, who told me I shouldn’t like Darren Romeo’s show or even Rick Thomas’ act, have informed me that her show was no good.
They should know, they’re not performing anywhere so they have plenty of time to evaluate shows. They know all of the cool people in magic. Us working folks might have to squeeze in a show during a vacation or on a business trip. We might have to pay cash for our ticket and even sit near the back. If we are lucky, maybe we can shake hands with the performer afterwards or have our picture taken with them.
Those kind of traits make us ordinary but it doesn't mean we love magic any less than the "cool guys" the "insiders" who know everyone, know everything and can tell you why your trick isn't new ("it was done in 1902 by the Siamese Twin Magician Team of Hocus-Pocus — I think Pocus did it first, though"); why you'll never make it ("fat guys never make it in the biz," "women can't be taken seriously," "your accent will keep you from getting gigs," "your lack of a hook — like being too fat or too skinny, being a pretty woman or a foreigner — will keep you from hitting the big time).
I'm not trying to be petty. I am sure some of these men — and they seem mostly to be men — were actually talented at one time and maybe some of them got a show or lecture date on that talent; but not recently. They're too busy skimming through the latest book to point out errors, or avoiding the crowded masses yearning to learn at conventions. That's a full-time job.
The cool guys know all the magicians everywhere. They've had drinks with the magicians I paid to see while drinking my two drink minimum. I'm not cool and I didn't care. I was honored that the performing magicians in Vegas would take the time to even talk with me, after all, what did I know? I was just some guy who liked to watch magic. I didn’t care if I have seen it before – I like to see how others do it. (And don't take that dirty).
I didn’t care if the performance failed to include the very latest in finger-flicking – I was sort of judging the show by the audience response and most of them couldn’t (or shouldn’t) pick up on the latest sleights learned at the feet of the masters.
Anyway, I’m sorry that Melinda’s not performing any more. She kind of gave me hope and that’s a good thing to have. Seeing her made me feel that those who loved performing magic could work their way to the top doing what they loved. If you ever had a chance to see her…
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