We were counting, for some reason, our heroes in this biz we call magic.There are magicians we admire for their ability, for their dedication, for their love of our Art, for their enthusiasm, and for other reasons.
Arthur Kurzweil comes to the top of the list for each of these qualities.We wrote about Mr. Kurzweil a while back and thought the time was right to revisit where he has been and what he has done.
Mr. Kurzweil is a genius in the sense of the MacArthur Awards? definition of ?Genius.?He is intelligent, learned, gifted and imaginative.He lives out side of the box and yet presents a message acceptable to those who live their lives within the box.
Mr. Kurzweil is a student of the Torah, Jewish history and all things Judaic.For 20 years ? longer than my third step-mother has been alive ? he worked as the editor-in-chief of the prestigious Jason Aronson publishers and those who share our interests, know he authored the book on Jewish genealogy.
But fitting for a magic website, he is also a magician par excellence.
Mr. Kurzweil studied magic since he was a babe in arms at three years old.He has moved from editing and writing to performing in the last few years.His show brings a message with the magic and should not be missed.If you see one religious magic show this New Year, let Mr. Kurzweil be the performer.
Penn & Teller donated about $400,000 worth of tickets to their show last year by inviting folks to donate blood to United Blood Services in Las Vegas.For each pint of blood, the woozy fan received two tickets to see the magicians at the beautiful Rio Hotel and Casino.
It worked so well last year, the duo decided to give it a second try.
Their campaign is called “Dreaming of a Red Christmas.”Penn described the program as: “You donate blood, you save a life and you get to see our stupid show.”
Takers can be givers through January 1st.
“We know that the holidays are a hard time for UBS and blood (supplies) are low, so we thought it was the least we could,” said Penn.
We featured Harris Nearly Normal Deutsch last week and his tremendous comedic ability.Mr. Deutsch was kind enough to submit his ?Nearly Normal Plenary Presentation? at a Faith Based Conference.He gave Inside Magic permission to put up a link to download his Power Point presentation.
Recently I shared a Nearly Normal Plenary Presentation at a Faith Based Conference. The conference was called Transforming Lives through Faith, Spirituality and Addiction Recovery. Although they wanted me to include my strait jacket routine, I was specifically asked not to share any of my magic at the conference. The council had used my magic show on several other occasions. I was told they did not want to risk offending even one participant.
My program was called a Nearly Normal Look at Spirituality. It included patter from Buddhism to a song called “Abi Gezunt.” (Hebrew for “You should only be well!”). Abi Gezunt was playing as my Nearly Normal Marionette danced. The CD came from my talented cousin, Kim Nussbaum’s band. It is based in Chicago and called the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band.
In between I mentioned my magical relationship with my Nearly Normal wife, Annie. Since she is Catholic and I was raised Jewish, we might be considered Cashews. (Catholic / Jews)
I closed with my Nearly Normal Strait Jacket escape, which I link to a story by Portia Nelson. It is a powerful one called Autobiography in 5 short chapters. It was used often by me, in my work with hard core addicts, both in the city with street people, and in suburban treatment centers where my client’s families had streets named after them.
Okay, you have to be in our diseased mind to understand the subtle, perhaps non-existent, connection between incredible magician Whit Haydn and the best wire walker in history, Phillipe Petit.
Are you ready to take that journey to the heart of darkness?
Mr. Haydn, the magician?s magician, performs the Mongolian Pop Knot. Mr. Petit walked between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Both have written outstanding books.
Stick with us.
Mr. Haydn says as part of his Mongolian Pop Knot routine, ?here I have an ordinary piece of rope; just as you might find in any bedroom.?Mr. Petit is an expert in the tying and binding of ropes and cords.
Clifford Ashley has written The Ashley Book of Knots.Mr. Petit reviewed it today in the Times of London.Mr. Haydn is always on our mind when we think of knots or ropes.
It is no secret to regular readers of Inside Magic, that our first vocational choice was to be a wire walker.We were inspired by Mr. Petit and the Wallendas to work the slack wire and then the higher tight wire but never had the ability of these famous names.Our only performance at 20? proved we were without the nerve to perform the high wire repeatedly.(This was without a net or pole).
No, there is no gossip to report.As far as we know, Rita Rudner is still married to her incredibly rich husband. (She once said, ?I think men who wear earrings make good candidates for marriage: they like jewelry and don?t mind pain.?)And no, Lance isn?t ready to enter the marriage arena again.
This is far more important.
Sal DeFilippo holds the Golden Nerf contest each year to judge the best handicapper amongst Las Vegas celebrities.The contestants are asked to select the winners against the spread for each NFL game through the season.
Mr. Burton has won the contest in the past; as has Ms. Rudner.Now, however, His Honor, Mayor Oscar Goodman, is leading with voice impressionist and Mirage headliner Danny Gans is second.
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