Circus Extravaganza Outlet for Young Performers

Alexia Rogers and Zachary Andrews Rehearse

The Salem (New Hampshire) Observer writes this morning that Pelham, New Hampshire, will be the first and only stop on a special circus tour established to teach kids confidence through performing.

About 40 third through fifth-grade students will present two free shows this weekend to show what they’ve learned. “It’s fun and interesting,” said Ben Harris, 10, who will don a yellow clown suit and make balloon sculptures for the audience. “I think people will like all the acts that we do.”

One of the organizers and teacher said the students benefit from their involvement in the club in many ways. They make friends with other kids they may not have otherwise met, it gives them a creative outlet, and it teaches them the importance of teamwork. “They get some discipline out of it. They?ve had to really dedicate themselves to the process.”

Taylor Williams, 10, learned a magic trick at home with her father. This weekend she will share it with the audience when she dons a magician?s cape and hat.

We know of no better way to develop self-confidence and public speaking ability than the performing arts.

Break a leg, fellow performers!

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Disgusted, We Are: John Edward and Yanna

Yanna a/k/a Christine Evans

Two stories came together as we were assembling the Inside Magic Daily Newsletter. (If you are not on the newsletter list, you can sign up with the box to the right of this article). Either story was disgusting but together, their unsavory parts created a whole sack full of gross that was greater than the sum of the two slimy pieces.

First, Yanna a/k/a Christine Evans, was convicted and will soon be sentenced for duping a woman out of a $100,000.00 and was going for an extra $71,000.00. The psychic is a former convict from Arizona where she faced bad check charges. Ms. Evans is a mother of three and apparently without conscience.

Ms. Evans met her victim at a “psychic party” in a suburban shopping center. She offered to provide services beyond the quick cold read in a store and the two women arranged for Ms. Evans to visit the victim’s home.

Astute readers of Inside Magic or any book or newspaper know where this is leading. Ms. Evans found the house was crawling with spooks and forces sufficient to bring psychic wrong and possibly lower property values unless forced from the structure.

Darn if they didn’t try everything. Ms. Evans even walked around the place with a pan full of steaming myrrh and incense while throwing flower petals around the joint. The image is not unlike a waitress at Chili’s bringing a steaming skillet of fajitas to your table but with flower petals thrown at you.

Still, even these extraordinary measures didn’t do the job.

Ms. Evans convinced the victim she needed to give her a check for $71,000.00 to take the next step because she sensed some of the spirits were violent. That’s not good. Real estate appraisers say next to replacing your bathrooms, driving out violent spirits is the best thing you can do to improve your home’s value.

A law enforcement officer hid in the shower to listen to the exchange between the two women. The victim invited the law enforcement officer into the house (one wonders if this was the ‘violent spirit’ Ms. Evans felt). The check was written; Ms. Evans left the house, and was stopped by assisting officers down the road. When they retrieved the check from Ms. Evans, it was soggy with spit. She had attempted to swallow it as she was pulled over.

At a hearing today, Ms. Evans told the judge she had only $3,000 left to turn over to the victim. She drove to the hearing in a new Mercedes. The judge considered the offer an insult and gave her until mid-May to come up with the victim’s cash. She will receive her full sentence then.

The second story is perhaps more insidious. Regardless of where you come down on the Terri Schiavo issue, we hope you are repulsed by the following.

John Edward is known for his tactless but generally not horribly harmful Crossing Over books and television shows. His name has dropped from the public discourse since his show was cancelled from the Sci-Fi cable channel.

He tried to pull himself up by his bootstraps once before by taping a special edition of Crossing…
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Marc Oberon Wins European Close-Up at Blackpool

 

Marc Oberon – Winner European Close-Up

The Stage Online reports Marc Oberon has won the inaugural European Magical Close Up Championships, held at this year?s Blackpool Magic Convention.

We were trying to find out who won it last year until we found out “inaugural” means “first.” We thought it had something to do with a hernia. So Mr. Oberon’s win has now set the standard for this award.

Mr. Oberon beat-out Feco from Hungary and Jorg Alexander from Germany. All together there were nine in the close-up contest. The 53rd Annual Blackpool Convention had a record attendance — over 3,500.

The Guinness Book of World Records named it the “largest magicians’ convention in the world.”

Check out Mr. Oberon’s website for a view of interesting Flash programming in a frame system that actually works. The lay-out is inspiring.

Congratulations to Mr. Oberon and to the organizers of the Blackpool Magic Convention.

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