Inside Magic

B. Happie and Foot

B. Happie a/k/a Brian Foshee will perform two shows on Wednesday, July 13th as part of the Morris Museum’s Summer Children’s Series.

Mr. Foshee is profiled in a nice Star-Ledger (NJ) piece this morning.

Mr. Foshee says the persona of B. Happie is essentially his personality but exaggerated to comic proportions. Those proportions must be appropriate; he has had great success with the character in shows around the country for the last seven years.

“B. Happie is just goofy and likes making kids laugh,” Foshee said via his cell phone as he waited in the line for the flume ride at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township on his day off. “I say ‘abracadabra,’ and then a banana comes out of my bag. Then I say, ‘Who said have a banana?’”"

Mr. Foshee uses live animals in his show and suggests the bunny, dog, and dove are the key to connecting with children. “The kids absolutely love the rabbit. They get excited when they see the rabbit because he is cute.”

Mr. Foshee graduated from the prestigious Penn State and worked in marketing for just a year before realizing his true calling. He quit the career path to take one less-traveled. Today, he works with his wife Lesha to run a magic show booking business for ten fellow performers.

The show July 13th is one of three Mr. Foshee has developed for kids. He performs B. Happie and Read – a 45-minute show in which he uses elementary school books to encourage reading – and a gospel magic show for churches featuring routines inspired by Bible stories.

Check out his website for some of the neat marketing ideas such as the Wow Mom Special or the Super Duty Party Package. Mr. Foshee’s service also offers rides, moon walks, and gift bags in addition to the performers. His site is impressive but even more so when we recall he is also performing full-time.

Continue reading B. Happie Happy to be in NJ

Paul Krendl

Stephen Furness writes with praise of magician Paul Krendl’s latest show in
today’s Chincoteague
(VA) Beacon.

Drawing on his own recollection of working to master our art as a young man,
Mr. Furness’ description of Mr. Krendl’s show last Sunday in the beautiful
Chincoteague Center is the type of press you couldn’t buy.

As human beings, we’re easily magnetized by the mysterious and
unbelievable. When Paul Krendl seemingly swallowed six razors last Sunday, our
eyes were wide with astonishment because we knew that it was quite impossible.
Yet he deceived our minds and eyes into believing this improbability. And that’s
the mark of a superb illusionist — cheating rational minds with a simple ruse
to accept the absurd.

Mr. Furness places the young magician in the same league with other greats:

A magician’s magic is only illusion masked as alchemy. Neither
Welles, Copperfield, nor Krendl are actually magicians, but it’s the child in
all of us that can’t allow our minds to believe otherwise.

Check out Mr. Krendl’s web site and read about his
money-back guarantee. Very impressive.

Continue reading Paul Krendl Draws Great Praise

Arthur Trace Wins Huge!

We have noted a trend. It could be just coincidence though. We have a lot of
coincidences in our life:

The amount we are over the credit-line on any given bank card is precisely the
amount we have available for cash advances on another credit card.

The one time
we brush our teeth, we don’t meet anyone we know.

Well, here’s another. We’ve profiled several magicians in our pages and each
has gone on to win tremendous fame and accolades.

Viz:

Whit Haydn gave
Inside Magic its start four-years-ago with his very controversial interview; and
then went on to win just about every award the Magic Castle can give a magician.

Murray Hatfield and Teresa
consented to appearing on our pages not just once, but four times and were
recently selected by the Canadian Association of Magicians as Magician of the
Year.

Arthur Trace was kind enough to allow us
to write about his incredible work in Chicago and at the Magic Castle.
Predictably, he just won the IBM’s People’s Choice Award, First Place in stage
magic, and the coveted Gold Medal which isn’t awarded every year. In fact, he is
only the eighth magician to win the Gold medal since 1980.

We’ve asked Mr. Trace if he will allow us to interview him and we hope he
will respond favorably. If and when he does, you’ll see it here first.

To further substantiate the relationship between appearing on Inside Magic
and success, Guy “Bug” Tussle refused to participate in a requested interview
and he is currently serving an indeterminate sentence in the Tijuana
Jail after the Mexican officials found “props” for his Bullet Catch.

Ironically, even though he is best known for his stage illusions, he reports
he is now doing more close-up work.

Congratulations to Mr. Trace. We’re proud to have him here.

Continue reading Coincidence? Funny You Should Ask