Murray Hatfield – Magician of the Year

June 18th was the day. The Canadian Association of Magicians International Conference was the site. Award time was the scene. And our favorite Murray Hatfield was the Choice. 

Mr.
Hatfield and his beautiful wife Teresa received the 2005 Magician of
the Year Award from the prestigious Canadian Association of
Magicians.  The conclave consists of approximately 300 of the top
magicians from all over Canada and around the world.

Amidst
the usual hubbing and bubbing you would expect to see at any gathering
of magicians, the voting was finalized and the man who has become an
institution in Canada came out the winner. 

The
Magician of the Year award is voted on by the membership of the
Canadian Association of Magicians and is the top award for a magician
in the country responsible for so many great entertainers – including
the essential lynch pin in any construction of magic’s rich history,
Doug Henning.

Mr. Hatfield and Teresa travel the world
to perform their classy and entertaining brand of magic. In the last
few years, you may have seen them at the Magic Castle, the Plaza Hotel
in Singapore, on cruise ships in Australia, New Zealand and around the
states.  In essence, they present the best kind of magic for
appreciative audiences. 

Their award is testament
to their tireless desire to remain true to their Canadian roots even
with ever-increasing international engagements. 

Mr.
Hatfield and Teresa have been loyal to Inside Magic since its infancy -
back when we were printed on mimeograph paper and shoved under the
doors of conventioneers.  But that’s not why we think they are so
deserving of not only this award but also their increasing fame.

One
of the singular interests of the expansive Inside Magic staff of
reporters, editors and publishers is the logistics of magic
entertainment.  Call us fools – and we love verbal abuse – but we
can spend an equal amount of time watching the show on either side of
the curtain.  We love to watch as David Copperfield rolls into
town with his two semi-tractor trailer trucks filled with illusions to
be assembled, tested, and positioned by tens of talented people so that
one man can walk into the spotlight and put on a flawless show. 

Mr.
Hatfield and Teresa have put on a touring show each year for the past
few decades that has now become an institution in Canada. 
Audiences look forward to their full evening show apparently as much as
the couple anticipates performing it. 

The “institution” began in 1986 when Mr. Hatfield was hired by Xentel DM – North America’s largest cause related fundraising organization – to be a part of its annual touring show  Magic ‘N…
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Our Akron Home Base

Today the Inside Magic Daily News is being written on a very small
keyboard attached to the even smaller mobile phone I purchased just to
get this copy in the system.  “Where’s the big computer?” you may
ask.  “Did you have to pawn it again to support your
addictions?”  “Why are you so into clown shoes anyway?” 
“You’re the Imelda Marcos of over-sized, gaudy colored, ugly
shoes!” 

“Ha,” I say.  “Imelda Marcos’ shoes
were more over-sized and ugly than any of the used clown footwear I
incessantly purchase.”

I have not lost my big shoes or my
gas-powered computer.  I cannot operate the wireless transmitter
on a blimp over municipalities of more than 100,000 citizens.  I
can, however, use a cellular telephone regardless of the size of the
city over which we noisily float.

Despite their appearance
from the ground, blimp travel has got to be one of the noisiest modes
around.  I believe I am deaf and we are only half-way to Chicago.
The noise is likely the reason the FAA doesn’t care if you use a
cellular phone in-flight.  You can’t hear a thing. 

There
are not many of us left in the business; Blimp Performers.  So
many were lost or scared off by the horrific Hindenburg and Graf
Zeppelin accidents — even though modern blimps use the inert and
non-flammable helium gas.  I got this gig from a prop-comic who
was retiring after 22 years of entertaining executives and paying
customers aboard one of the seven commercial blimps in our US
skies. 

Back in the Day – Goodyear’s Fleet

One’s magic must be pithy and silent to be
a success on a blimp.  Passengers can become nauseous with any
cross-wind diminishing their attention span and willingness to read
your lips as you scream “pick a card!”

We have a mime on
board to perform tomorrow night and Friday morning.  I have
already done two close-up sessions (sponge balls and chop cup) and in a
few minutes I’ll be on for a 21 minute session featuring silks, silks,
streamers, and silks. 

My predecessor screamed some
parting words my way as we took my maiden voyage.  “Once you stop
throwing up, it will be like riding a bike but with better
smells.” 

I think that is what he said. 

Read the rest of this entry

Our Akron Home Base

Today the Inside Magic Daily News is being written on a very small
keyboard attached to the even smaller mobile phone I purchased just to
get this copy in the system.  “Where’s the big computer?” you may
ask.  “Did you have to pawn it again to support your
addictions?”  “Why are you so into clown shoes anyway?” 
“You’re the Imelda Marcos of over-sized, gaudy colored, ugly
shoes!” 

“Ha,” I say.  “Imelda Marcos’ shoes
were more over-sized and ugly than any of the used clown footwear I
incessantly purchase.”

I have not lost my big shoes or my
gas-powered computer.  I cannot operate the wireless transmitter
on a blimp over municipalities of more than 100,000 citizens.  I
can, however, use a cellular telephone regardless of the size of the
city over which we noisily float.

Despite their appearance
from the ground, blimp travel has got to be one of the noisiest modes
around.  I believe I am deaf and we are only half-way to Chicago.
The noise is likely the reason the FAA doesn’t care if you use a
cellular phone in-flight.  You can’t hear a thing. 

There
are not many of us left in the business; Blimp Performers.  So
many were lost or scared off by the horrific Hindenburg and Graf
Zeppelin accidents — even though modern blimps use the inert and
non-flammable helium gas.  I got this gig from a prop-comic who
was retiring after 22 years of entertaining executives and paying
customers aboard one of the seven commercial blimps in our US
skies. 

Back in the Day – Goodyear’s Fleet

One’s magic must be pithy and silent to be
a success on a blimp.  Passengers can become nauseous with any
cross-wind diminishing their attention span and willingness to read
your lips as you scream “pick a card!”

We have a mime on
board to perform tomorrow night and Friday morning.  I have
already done two close-up sessions (sponge balls and chop cup) and in a
few minutes I’ll be on for a 21 minute session featuring silks, silks,
streamers, and silks. 

My predecessor screamed some
parting words my way as we took my maiden voyage.  “Once you stop
throwing up, it will be like riding a bike but with better
smells.” 

I think that is what he said. 

Read the rest of this entry