We don’t know what it is about Vegas, but those folks love magic. They love
talking, writing, showing, seeing, and buying magic. That’s good for us when the
usual oasis of magic news, the UK’s The Scotsman is covering some
allegedly important topic like . . . whatever would be more important than
Magic. We’re stumped but that’s not the point.
So you put together, Vegas, Magic, and Grabel and you’re thinking Lee Grabel.
But then we read further and further.
We started reading The Rebel Yell – the Official Newspaper of the
University of Nevada Las Vegas back when we were fans of head coach Jerry
Tarkanian and his incredible run towards the NCAA Tournament. So, that’s quite a
while ago.
Today’s edition has a great profile on a 23-year-old senior, Seth Grabel.
The magician meets reporter theme is one of the classics in magic reporting.
There are few moves in this prosaic dance: either the reporter is a skeptic
or an enthusiastic lover of all things magic; or, the reporter is enthusiastic
lover of the particular magician in front of him or her.
Last week, we featured a
story about a young cub reporter who attended the Jim Karol show with
skepticism and disdain for what she considered “lame jokes” and “predictable
magic.” She left the show to hurry her glowing, almost cult-like hagiographic
work for the next day’s paper. She had not only sipped the proverbial (and
frankly over-used) Kool-Aid, she brought mixers and tried to keep the moment
going like the hostess of a otherwise lifeless At-Home Crack Party.
We had the other end of the extreme in reporter cum fan continuum.
Remember the glowing awe in which the New York Times reporter
described every nuance of Derren Brown’s “mischievous grin” “his cool charm”?
We’re still unable to eat and read newspapers after that.
The point is not that Jim Karol or Derren Brown are unworthy of the praise
they ultimately receive as a result of the trite technique, just that it is
trite and technique-like.
[By the way, we received several emails complaining about the Jim Karol
article. We made a point of quoting the cub reporter's fears that the show would
be "lame" and that John Edwards performed "stupid tricks." We weren't trying to
pick on Mr. Karol or, for that matter, the young reporter.
Her entire world
was converted by the show -- she became a Karol-Follower after watching his
incredible work.
Unfortunately, her ability to convey that transformation and Mr. Karol's
ability to cause the transformation far out-performed our ability to write about
it. We did a poor job and are sorry for the confusion.]
Okay, with that in mind, let’s consider how a professional, hardened reporter
would approach the interview with a young magician; a fellow student. The
article begins with the following stanza:
The New India News Service
reports from New Delhi “Grandhi Himakar is a magician
with a mission. Along with his trainer ‘Professor’ Vikram, he uses
magic to raise awareness on social subjects ranging from HIV/AIDS
to harmful consequences of superstitions.”
His “trainer”
‘Professor’ Vikram (can this title be any more qualified with
“quotation” ‘marks’?) brought him to the capital of India to
participate in the National Competition of Magicians. Young
Master Himakar won a national contest at three-years-old and
hooked up with the Professor.
His magic is often
mistaken for real magic by villagers. “Villagers are astonished
to see him perform the same tricks that local priests perform,”
said the Prof. Villagers are then told that it was just a trick
and there was no supernatural power behind it as claimed by those
godmen.”
As part of his public service, Master Himakar,
performs a traditional favorite in his act called “Folk Magic.
[Master] Himakar first mixes four differently coloured sands in a
bucket of water and then takes them out separately one after the
other — without getting them wet.”
The kid and the Prof
picked this trick because it is often used by “self-styled godmen
in the southern state resort to this act to claim supernatural
powers and then extract money from villagers.”
“When people
see Himakar perform the same trick, they realise that they were being
duped by the self-styled godmen,” Vikram said.
To raise
awareness on the AIDS threat, he first puts a fresh banana in a
bag and brings out a rotten one after casting a ‘spell’ on the
bag. In the second part of the act, he puts a fresh banana in the
bag after covering it with a condom, but this time the fruit remains
fresh. The act is followed up by a short speech on the benefits
of using a condom.
The Prof ends the story with the quiet hope his young charge can use these tricks in the competition.
We
have nothing meaningful to add to this story lest we seem more juvenile
than a four-year-old magician who is clearly doing noble work.
Read
the full article here:
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEP20050923073200&Topic=0&Title=Nation&Page=P
We’re not too proud to say it. We’re always looking for new
marketing angles. If someone has thought of a new way to sell magic
shows in schools, we’re ready to steal or, rather, improve on it.
The Herald of Scotland
greeted us with this wonderful news, “a group of magicians has been
drafted into schools across Scotland. Three magicians from a group
called Fifth Dimension use everything from close-up card tricks to
plate-spinning and balloon modeling to help pupils develop a range of
skills from problem-solving to the importance of teamwork.”
The group started using magic to teach “safety information to
workers in a variety of businesses, from the oil and gas industry to
taxation offices.” They found a live magic show is a more captivating
method of conveying information than traditional media such as
film-strips, heavily spliced and repaired 16 mm films from the 1960′s,
or even video tapes of film-strips or 16 mm films.
The gang uses magic to help kids learn to solve problems and achieve their goals.
“A rope trick is used to show that everyone may be different, but
when everyone comes together as a team each section of that team is
just as important as the rest. Card tricks are used to show that what
appears to be impossible can be quite simple to achieve, once you know
what to do.”
We think the story is great and makes sense — well sort of.
We know it’s early still — 3:30 am on the east coast of the US as
we write this and our Diet Coke is only half-finished but we cannot
parse the following paragraph. Is it us or does it seem internally
incongruent.
One of the school principals told reporters:
“The team from Fifth Dimension always engage with the pupils really
well and communicate at their level. The sessions really get the
pupils’ imaginations going and often involve lots of balloons.”
“and often involve lots of balloons.”
Maybe this is something thrown into declarative sentences in the
academic arena. Sort of like phrases used by different industries:
Auto
Mechanics say, “plus whatever we run in to” as in “Well, we can pull
the head, scrape the gasket off, replace the rods for about $1,500 plus whatever we run in to.”
Car companies use “your mileage may vary.”
Young waitresses at Chili’s end almost every positive statement with “for a man your age.”
Our brother/cousin says, “and stuff.”
Our spouse/cousin says, “after you brush your teeth.”
Anyway,
the reporter points out the strength, beyond the use of “lots of
balloons,” “The delivery was very professional and it involved pupils
in key tasks, with excellent follow-up work and learning points about
time management, working in a team, positive attitudes and a can-do
approach.”
When did college reporters become so cynical, so untrusting? Maybe
Elizabeth Swain, reporter for The Campus Daily, has seen disappointment
in the past and was guarding herself against the pain.
She was assigned to cover the incomparable Jim Karol’s traveling show, Mind, Magic & Madness.
She entered the auditorium with a less than open mind.
“I was sure I was in for an evening of lame magic tricks and mind
reading a-la Crossing Over with John Edward. As the lights dimmed and
clips from appearances on The Tonight Show and Rosie O’Donnell played,
I felt like they were building up a show that was sure to be a letdown.”
At first the show lived up to her very low expectations. She said the
opening acts by Chris Chelko and Michael DuBois “got off to a slow
start. Chelko’s opening routine began with the lame jokes I expected.”
She’s not knocking their abilities, though.
“It was clear that these guys had talent – it’s not as if I can juggle
seven balls at once or pull foreign objects from my nose through my
mouth – but I just wasn’t impressed.”
She stared at her watch and “found myself wondering how long the show
would last and if I could survive another hour of mediocrity.”
We were like, “Oh my God! This is so baaaad!”
But life changed for the young Ms. Swain:
Then, all of a sudden, my eyes were
glued to the stage as Chelko performed a card trick that ended with the
two of clubs, selected from a deck of cards by an audience member,
stuck to the ceiling. He also pointed out the ace of spades on the
ceiling from last year’s show. Anyone who hadn’t been paying attention
before, certainly was now as the “Madman of Magic” himself, Jim Karol,
took the stage.
She had sipped the Kool-Aid:
“Going into the show, I was very doubtful about Karol’s actual ability to read minds.”
As each audience member asked himself a random
question and its answer, Karol revealed the names of countries,
birthdays and even family nicknames that they were thinking. Karol
claimed not to read minds, but only to “influence thought.” Whatever he
calls it, I was definitely impressed.
The convert is always the greatest evangelist. Ms. Swain is now Jim
Karol’s greatest fan. Witness her Moonie-esque final recommendation:
While I was skeptical at first, it
didn’t take long for the Psychic Madman to win me over. I found myself
completely engrossed in a performance of mind-boggling tricks, stunts
and mind reading. I definitely recommend going to see Karol and company
if they return to UR to entertain, impress and perhaps add another
playing card to the ceiling of Strong Auditorium.”
To quote a television advertisement for the 1970′s revival of The King
and I musical on Broadway, “For a kid like me to like a show like that,
it’s got to be great!”
We
have no idea how Jeff McBride keeps up the pace. We received his
Museletter today and were tired just reading the thing. Maybe
it’s cuz we still have to sound out the words and that takes a lot of
energy. But his pace is too much for someone his age, our age, or
half his age.
Mr. McBride just returned from the Burning Man Art
Festival in Nevada. It sounded great. Mr. McBride writes,
“How can one convey, in the space of an email, the experience that is
Burning Man? This year, more than 40,000 people attended, from all over
the world. We drove the ten hours from Las Vegas to the playa.”
Mr.
McBride and his talented wife, Abbie Spinner McBride helped in art,
music, and magic creation for which the festival is known.
Mr. McBride said his favorite quote from the festival is “If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much room!”
Upon
his arrival back in Vegas, he taught a three-day Master Class, are
planning on the next seminar, Beyond Bizarre (already sold-out so this
isn’t a plug), and then off to Monte Carlo, France, and Belgium.
They’ll
be performing their full-evening show, teaching Secret Session Seminars
and networking. They return to Vegas to get ready for their Vegas
Vortex event called Fall Fest.
If you want to read more, head over to the Vegas Vortex web site conveniently located at: http://www.vegasvortex.com/
Oh,
and wait, there’s more. From November 6th through the 20th, Mr.
McBride will be headlining the World’s Greatest Magic Show at the Greek
Isles Casino.
Visit Mr. McBride’s web site and sign-up for the Museletter by going here: http://www.magicalwisdom.com/museLetters.php
Find out more about the Magical Wisdom School and great upcoming sessions here: http://www.magicalwisdom.com/index.php
We’re
going to take a nap before the next story. We’ve strapped
smelling salts to our cat so we won’t be sleeping too long. Just
a little nappy-poo. We’ll be back.
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