Inside Magic

Misty Lee – Photo by S. Drury

The Detroit
News gives the talented and lovely Misty Lee the kind of press you couldn’t
buy. In a recent article promoting her upcoming shows, the paper paints a woman
of mystery, “[m]ost magicians like their past partially shrouded in ambiguity
and Misty Lee is no different.” She refuses to provide her last name but will
admit her stage name is really her first and middle names.

Her rise to her current fame started “in 1999 as the comely assistant to a
magician named Kevin. The rest is illusionist history.”

Misty Lee studied under Jeff McBride and Siegfried. “Only six years after
becoming one of the country’s few female magicians, she relocated to Los Angeles
where she’s working on television and movie opportunities.”

The enigmatic enchantress enjoys performing for children. “It’s a privilege
to do magic for kids. They still have their imaginations and even when they
become older and become more realistic, magic keeps kids believing they can do
anything, even fly.”

The paper describes her on-stage demeanor as a “charming and relaxed
performance” with pop music and classical misdirection.

If this type of press coverage isn’t enough, her website is
outstanding.

We’ll keep an eye on Misty Lee’s progress and if we can get
a show review from a reader, we’ll include it in later editions of the Inside
Magic Daily News.

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Continue reading Media Darling: Misty Lee

Brave Little Claudine: Will Lance Be Her Magic Man?

As much as we would hope to stop or at least slow time, we are constantly reminded our hope is in vain. Time will not slow for any of us. We shuffle on this mortal coil for just a very brief interval and when we leave, we hope to leave something more meaningful than the carbon from whence we were built up.

With this inadequate analogy in mind, we recall with fondness the life and love of Claudine O'Toole. Claudine left us last night for a better place and she will be sorely missed. She moved to Las Vegas, Nevada.

Claudine was a long-time supporter of magic as an art-form and often claimed "God gave me so many rich husbands so I could give their money to the starving artist." Claudine was three times widowed before meeting her latest late husband.

Always coy about her true age — she claimed vanity and lying were her only two short-comings — Claudine told folks only that she came to the United States after World War II to attend college at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

She learned English and stenography with the hope of becoming a court reporter. The University of Michigan did not offer a major in Court Reporting and so she was forced to study at the University during the day and studied court reporting in the evening.

As a result of the dual academic track, Claudine graduated simultaneously with a Ph.D. in Classic Literature and a Certificate of Completion for the 12 week Court Reporter course.

She loved magic since she had been a little girl — so well-before the extensive operations paid for by her second husband — and relished its rich history. In fact, even as a little girl, at the age of 23, she worked as a dancer and assistant for a nationally-known magic performer.

Obviously, those familiar with the tragic circumstances of her first husband's passing realize why we will not disclose his name or give any support for the incorrect and ugly rumors that plagued their marriage.

Robert Frost once observed, "A man's choice of friends tells others more about him than his friends can tell to him." Claudine's first husband is credited with launching her solo magical career and for that she has always been thankful.

Claudine said at the dedication of the University of Michigan's School of Court Reporting, "It is for occasions like this that my late husband always wanted me to be well-endowed. I feel the same way for my school. I want it to feel my endowment as if it was its own."

Magic historians have noted the irony of Claudine's first professional appearance following her first-husband's passing and the closing of his considerable estate. Some of our more immature brethren may have even made sport of her choice of opening act.

We never found it the least bit ironic or funny Claudine's new act featured a 25 minute version of the Miser's Dream where large silver dollars are seemingly plucked from every conceivable orifices of the audience volunteer. Her first husband's death was not caused — despite the…

Continue reading Claudine O’Toole – Brave Victim of Life’s Arrows Passes On