The Inside Magic Daily Newsroom looks like something out of the classic film, The Front Page.
We’re checking the wires constantly, the
click-clack-clucking of the chicken-powered teletype machines drone in
the background, we have the newsroom monitors and radio scanners
blaring, and cub reporters file in-and-out with new stories ready for
the editor’s big red pen.
When we approach deadline, the tension in the room increases
dramatically and the background noise becomes almost soothing. There is
news to be found, but where. When we look at the front page of the
Inside Magic web site or this newsletter, we often find a large blank
space.
We can hope for some horrific tragedy to befall one of our beloved
brothers or sisters so that a sentimental article can be written of
sufficient length to fill the vacancy. We have no pride. We have a news
site to run.
But despite our best efforts, there are days when no news comes in.
No news is not good news, it is the death-knell of a major metropolitan
magic daily like Inside Magic.
We have praised this wonderful paper in the past. Magicians in
Scotland must love this otherwise normal newspaper for its obsession
with all things magic.
Tonight, as this edition goes to bed, we turned to The Scotsman for help and were not disappointed.
There, big as Dallas, was the headline “How Edinburgh was Held Captive by Houdini.”
It was perfect.
It had all of the aspects of a great Inside Magic Daily News feature. Parse the headline with us:
Houdini – a magician of great fame and instant recognition;
Held – a verb connoting restraint in either a good or bad sense;
Captive – submission forced by the great magician through some natural
or supernatural power; By – some question perhaps about the great
magician’s preferences and poor spelling?; How – a homonym of Sir
General Howe, the arch-enemy of George Washington during the
Revolutionary War; and Was – the past tense of the verb “to be” used to
intrigue readers and tease their senses of history.
The more we read the headline, forget what we said about “By” and “How” — that seems a little bit of a stretch.
But the story of Houdini in Edinburgh fulfills the great expectations set-forth by the headline (except the How and By parts).
Houdini was well-known to fans around the world for his world-wide
fame. But more than that, he was known to be a rich, very rich guy.
He let it be known in the castled-city of Scotland he would share
his wealth with the children. “Word spread like wildfire. Any child who
did not have a pair of boots to his or her name should make their way
to the theatre where Houdini was performing and receive a fine pair of
boots.”
The Inside Magic Daily Newsroom looks like something out of the classic film, The Front Page.
We’re checking the wires constantly, the
click-clack-clucking of the chicken-powered teletype machines drone in
the background, we have the newsroom monitors and radio scanners
blaring, and cub reporters file in-and-out with new stories ready for
the editor’s big red pen.
When we approach deadline, the tension in the room increases
dramatically and the background noise becomes almost soothing. There is
news to be found, but where. When we look at the front page of the
Inside Magic web site or this newsletter, we often find a large blank
space.
We can hope for some horrific tragedy to befall one of our beloved
brothers or sisters so that a sentimental article can be written of
sufficient length to fill the vacancy. We have no pride. We have a news
site to run.
But despite our best efforts, there are days when no news comes in.
No news is not good news, it is the death-knell of a major metropolitan
magic daily like Inside Magic.
We have praised this wonderful paper in the past. Magicians in
Scotland must love this otherwise normal newspaper for its obsession
with all things magic.
Tonight, as this edition goes to bed, we turned to The Scotsman for help and were not disappointed.
There, big as Dallas, was the headline “How Edinburgh was Held Captive by Houdini.”
It was perfect.
It had all of the aspects of a great Inside Magic Daily News feature. Parse the headline with us:
Houdini – a magician of great fame and instant recognition;
Held – a verb connoting restraint in either a good or bad sense;
Captive – submission forced by the great magician through some natural
or supernatural power; By – some question perhaps about the great
magician’s preferences and poor spelling?; How – a homonym of Sir
General Howe, the arch-enemy of George Washington during the
Revolutionary War; and Was – the past tense of the verb “to be” used to
intrigue readers and tease their senses of history.
The more we read the headline, forget what we said about “By” and “How” — that seems a little bit of a stretch.
But the story of Houdini in Edinburgh fulfills the great expectations set-forth by the headline (except the How and By parts).
Houdini was well-known to fans around the world for his world-wide
fame. But more than that, he was known to be a rich, very rich guy.
He let it be known in the castled-city of Scotland he would share
his wealth with the children. “Word spread like wildfire. Any child who
did not have a pair of boots to his or her name should make their way
to the theatre where Houdini was performing and receive a fine pair of
boots.”
One of the questions we get often here at Inside Magic as well as during our lecture tours is: How Did You Get Your Start?
Well, unlike many of the popular magicians of today, we actually got our start in vitro. We were born into magic as a lifestyle, hobby, and profession.
As noted in earlier essays, the Hardy Family's career in Magic goes back almost a century and a half. In fact, we're kind of surprised the family's proud tradition has not been snatched up by one of the magic publishers — it would make a great seven volume set.
Tom Hardy IV, our Pop, is actually the seventh in the line of Tom Hardys and while his school auditorium show may have paled in grandeur to his grandfather's full-evening extravaganza, it was imbued with the same pride, tradition, and stolen tricks.
When we proposed the Hardy Family in Magic project to Mike Caveney, he demurred because of the common misconception that the Hardys are to magic as Milton Bearle was to jokes. This reputation, while true, is unfair. It is unfair in today's modern era to be held-back simply because you are a magician who appreciates other magicians.
One of the economic theories underlying the Sherman Anti-Trust Act is "in an efficient market, the superior product or method will be available because all other suppliers will either license or purchase the product." In other words, our capitalist economic system assumes no one will ever have to re-invent the wheel. That same policy has to hold true for even stage or close-up acts. If we would all concede Lance Burton's manipulation act is the best there is, we would also concede it would be foolish to try to invent one better.
This is the backdrop for today's essay on the Hardy Family's more recent magic history; specifically the famed Vegas Violence escapade for which Pop is known and apparently black-listed from reputable publications.
Tom Hardy IV was, as we noted, actually the seventh in the Tom Hardy line of magicians. His first loves was gambling (horse-racing), alcohol (Kentucky Bourbon), and mentalism. He spent 14 years pursuing these passions, spending the money accumulated by the Hardy dynasty, and avoiding working with his father's well-established traveling show.
In modern terms, he was the focus of an "intervention" by those who loved him and those who lent him funds (two entirely separate populations). It apparently took hold and he was on the straight and narrow. He recalled fondly the intervention in an essay for Drunk Magician Monthly:
It was my 17th birthday party. I thought maybe the folks had gotten together to throw a party. I knew my dad's show was on hiatus so it made sense for his Ford to be parked in the drive as I returned home from the track. But there were other cars in the driveway as well.
I remember commenting to the kind officer who drove me home, "looks like they're throwing a party but if I didn't know better, I'd say some of those cars belong to bookies I know." As it turned out, I was right. They were all there: the bookies, my pop, his…
The Cincinnati
Post gives the run-down of the entertainment set for the 15th Annual
Abracadabra Fund-Raiser this weekend.
It all begins tonight with a Preview House Party. For a $40 to $49.00 ducket
you can see some close-up, listen to music, watch strolling magic.
(We don’t know
how strolling magic differs from close-up but it’s for charity so let it go,
Man! Does everything have to be perfect? What is this Ring 2100 where the
slightest mistake in phrasing earns virtual reams of email attacking whilst
purporting to uplift our noble art?)
Wow. Sorry about that.
Anyway, you also get complimentary hors d’oeuvres and the performance begins
at 8 tonight. We looked it up and hors d’oeuvres is not a dirty phrase. It means
something you eat while standing up and watching people stroll past you.
Our biggest weakness is Alice in Wonderland. We don’t know why. Maybe
when we were young(er) we were tantalized by some costumed co-ed working a
summer Disney job as the confused blonde girl with a poofy petticoat .
(Ironically, our old stage name was Poofy D. Petticoat).
This weakness for all things Alice in Wonderland doesn’t make us bad.
It’s the things we think about animals that makes us bad and that has nothing to
do with Alice in Wonderland. See, In Re Timothy “Poofy D.
Petticoat” Quinlan, Civil Commitment Proceedings, Lakeland Circuit Court,
Lakeland, Florida, Case No.
87-82928. “The Court is satisfied Mr. Quinlan’s detention is for his own
protection and the protection of animals who he is alleged to want to dress up
in petticoats or dungarees.”
Our point is we are so psyched for this weekend’s Abracadabra because believe
it or not, the theme is, Alice in Wonderland sponsored by Fidelity
Investments.
(Further irony: the gala was Animal Farm sponsored by
Victoria’s Secret — we smelled a sting-operation and stayed far away from
the River City).
So beginning at 5:30 pm tomorrow (Friday), the strolling magicians, costumed
entertainers, pre-show reception, main stage show and even after show dancing
will all feature an Alice in Wonderland theme. The cost is $250.00 per person.
But the complimentary hors d’oeuvres are free.
We are more excited than a hyper-critical flamer on a magic bulletin board.
The production will feature illusionist Tim Kole and comic magician
David Williamson.
He starred in the award-winning show, “Spellbound,” for seven years in Lake
Tahoe, Atlantic City and Las Vegas, and was also a featured performer in the
Flamingo Hilton’s “Great Radio City Music Hall Spectacular” in Las Vegas. Kole’s
television credits include “Secrets,” on the Discovery Channel; “World’s
Greatest Magic” on NBC; and “Champions of Magic” on ABC. His father, Andre Kole,
an… Continue reading Cincinnati Celebrates Alice in Wonderland-Themed Magic
How many times have we written in praise of the UK’s newspaper The Scotsman? Dozens. We never fail to find great magic stories within its pages.
Today was no exception.
We don’t know why we like it but we sure do. Call us “crazy,”
“deranged,” “weird,” or even “loathsome,” but we love verbal abuse. We
also love books about the history of magic. We always have, it’s just
the way we’re built.
So when we read Peter Lamont was coming out with a new book — a
follow-up to his great work on the Indian Rope Trick that never was –
about one of the first psychics in our faux-history, we skipped and
whistled.
Daniel Dunglas Home was denounced by George Eliot as “an object of
moral disgust”, by Harry Houdini as a moral pervert and “a hypocrite of
the deepest dye”, and as “utterly contemptible” by scientist Michael
Faraday.
“A moral pervert!” Houdini had a way with words.
“Most Victorians had come across mediums of some sort, but
Home was different, he was really difficult to explain,” says Peter
Lamont, a magic and paranormal researcher within the Koestler Institute
- Edinburgh University’s parapsychology research department. “That’s
what made people take such polar views.
“The first medium who came to Britain was a Mrs. Hayden and she did
the usual spirit raps and messages. You asked the spirits a question
and you got an answer.
“Most would see this as a simple trick. You could mechanically
produce raps with your knees, and gleam information from people through
their body language. You could explain it.
“But Home could make tables float, and magicians and scientists
couldn’t explain it. And so he was problematic, he annoyed skeptics as
he was difficult to explain.”
Mr. Lamont’s book is titled The First Psychic: The Peculiar Mystery of a Notorious Victorian Wizard.
The author turned magician turned magic author lives in Scotland and
is the former chairman of the Edinburgh Magic Circle. He believes Mr.
Home’s story is more than interesting, it is profound for today’s
psychics and debunkers.
“Home remains the single most interesting person in the
history of psychic phenomena,” enthuses Peter. “He’s the exemplar. If
you want to decide whether psychics are real or not, then look at the
best case. If he’s not real, then the rest aren’t.
“It’s in my very nature to be skeptical, but when I read some of
his accounts, I just don’t know how he did what he did. I’ve been a
magician since I was a small boy, I’ve performed magic for years and I
couldn’t do what he did under the same conditions.”
He adds: “My inspiration for the book goes back to the most common
question you get asked in this game [parapsychology] – ‘Have you ever
come across something you can’t explain?’ And that’s when I talk about
Daniel Home.
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