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Penn & Teller: Off the Deep End

Penn & Teller – Dry for Now

Zap2it.com reports Penn & Teller are about to take the plunge.

David Copperfield has made the Statue of Liberty disappear, and
David Blaine has spent inordinate amounts of time encased in things.
But neither of them have ever performed a televised magic special
underwater.

To that, we must turn to the prestidigitating team of Penn &
Teller, who will take to the seas for an NBC special that the network
says is the first of its kind ever to be performed entirely underwater.
“Penn & Teller: Off the Deep End” is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 13.

“We’ve been living in the Las Vegas desert for years. Nothing but
cactus, sand, scorpions and Wayne Newton,” says Penn Jillette, the
vocal half of the duo. “And we realized it was time to do a show
underwater. Magic needs a good head-soaking.”

The pair, who also host the Showtime series “Penn & Teller:
Bulls***!,” filmed the special in the Caribbean, off the coast of Grand
Cayman and the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas.

As part of the two-hour special, they’ll make a submarine disappear
and do tricks with sharks and “psychic” dolphins. They also have a new
“super illusion” planned in which they’ll walk on water.

As with their Vegas stage act, Penn will provide running commentary
on each trick and reveal how he and Teller pull off their illusions.

Penn & Teller are executive producing the special with Mark
Wolper (“Salem’s Lot,” “Bulls***!”). Star Price (“Bulls***!,” “The
Tonight Show”) will direct and also receive an exec producer credit.






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October 12th, 2005 | Category: Magic News | Leave a comment

Magic as Popular Non-Fiction Considered: Can Knowing Too Much Be Good For Magic?

Jerome Weeks of The Dallas Morning News reviews three magic books and considers the new wave of magic publishing for the masses.

His article begins with a neat reference to the "magic" of Penn & Teller's Bullet Catch in light of what a modern audience expects from performers.

In the past 100 years, Mr. Weeks observes, many magicians have failed to plan adequately and have died attempting to perform what some would call a "neat trick." According to Mr. Weeks, when Penn & Teller brought it to Dallas in 1997, they labeled it a "fun new trick."

But the "fun new trick" presented a very real risk to both performers.

Today's modern audience may or may not believe the real risk presented by the effect but they are willing to believe there is little chance to horrific failure. Perhaps it is that "little chance" that keeps them coming back. Houdini said, "no one wants to see a man die, but they want to be there when it happens."

The Penn & Teller story is best understood, suggests the author, when the reader has an understanding of magic's history.

Mr. Weeks selects four books from the bookstore's Best-Sellers list: Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear by Jim Steinmeyer; The Glorious Deception also by Mr. Steinmeyer; Peter Lamont's The Rise of the Indian Rope Trick ; and Karl Johnson's The Magician and the Cardsharp .

We agree with Mr. Weeks' concern the new wave of books about magic's proud history will also take away some of the mystery and expose secrets:

It's not true, as is commonly believed, that conjurers never tell their secrets. A…

Continue reading Magic as Popular Non-Fiction Considered: Can Knowing Too Much Be Good For Magic?

October 10th, 2005 | Category: Magic Stories | Leave a comment

Quinlan’s So-Sure Deck is Here! Read the FAQs

So-Sure You’ll Love It!

The brand-new Quinlan So-Sure Deck is Ready and Starts Shipping Soon! 

We are so excited we can’t even stand it!

Read more about how you can catch the magic wave of the future and have
it gush all over your audience and their furniture! 

It takes the best
of all the old and makes it new!

A Marked/Stripped/One-Way Force Deck brought together through the genius of the magic labs in Mystic Hollow, Michigan.

We’ll be offering limited chances for you to get in on the ground floor of this sure-bet money-making opportunity!

Can you become a millionaire in a weekend?  Yes.  We’re So-Sure!

Frequently Asked Questions About the Quinlan So-Sure Deck

  1. What Is the Quinlan So-Sure Deck?
  2. What Can I Do With a Quinlan So-Sure Deck?
  3. How Does the Marking System Work?
  4. Why Not Just Mark the One Different Card?
  5. How Much Does the Quinlan So-Sure Deck Cost?
  6. What’s Next?  New Products?

Answers

  1. What Is the Quinlan So-Sure Deck?

    The Quinlan So-Sure Deck is the best of three different magic decks combined into one fantastic utility deck.

    It is an one-way forcing deck combined with a marked deck and stripper cut.

    You read right!

    Genius!  We know.

    [Back to the top]
     

  2. What Can I Do With a Quinlan So-Sure Deck?

    Well, maybe the question should be, “What can’t you do with a Quinlan So-Sure Deck?”

    First, let’s pose the problem. 

    If
    you are like us, your whole act depends on your volunteer selecting a
    particular card.  We have seven different tricks we use in our
    routine all based on the volunteer taking one particular card – the
    Nine of Hearts.

     Every one of the effects in our one-hour routine works as a revelation of that chosen card.  

    It
    has to be the Nine of Hearts to be shown when the mechanical duck picks
    a card, when we open our “insurance policy,” when we pull a silk out of
    another spectator’s bra, when we pop the balloon, when we do the
    Twentieth Century Bra-Trick with a different spectator (the number “9″
    is on one cup and the “Heart” is on the other), etc.

    But maybe your audiences are less-demanding than our kid show audiences and wouldn’t care if every trick you did failed. 

    But you can also use The Quinlan So-Sure Deck to do the Ultimate Ambitious Card!

    Your
    spectator selects a card, say the Nine of Hearts, you can have them
    sign the card and put it back in the deck.  With a few cuts, their
    card comes to the top of the pack.  It is not just a matching
    card, it is their signed card!

    How about a Card at Any Number trick? 
    (You can’t show the other cards along the way, though).

    How…
    Continue reading Quinlan’s So-Sure Deck is Here! Read the FAQs

October 7th, 2005 | Category: Magic Stories | Leave a comment

Harris Deutsch: When is a Clown not a Clown?

Although Harris Deutsch does not wear a clown face, he is a clown at heart.

This
is clear in his animated performances, and cut of clothes. His latest
addition was given to him by his Nearly Normal Wife, Annie.

They
remind him that he is “mad about saffron, and saffron is mad about him.
They call him mellow jello, er yellow. His Ducky Shoes let the patients
know they are in for some sewious fun.”

Insider scoop: Annie’s nickname for Deutsch is “Ducky” A Nearly Normal Prize to the person that writes to harris.deutsch@leesummit.k12.mo.us with the movie featuring a character with the same nickname.

(Hint the actor has been in a USA sitcom featuring a fraction in the title of the show)

He has been sharing at a Friday’s Magnificent Carnival at Children’s Mercy Hospital for about a year.

Some magicians are not into Sony Bono, er Pro-Bono work.

This
nearly normal guy is. He reports he gets much more than he gives during
his monthly visits to the Hospital. Andrew Wiester was the magician
that joined Harris for the September Magical Friday.

You have to give it away in order to keep it.

It is great to help our distant neighbors as well as those closer to home.

Thank you, Harris

Continue reading Harris Deutsch: When is a Clown not a Clown?

October 6th, 2005 | Category: Magic Stories | Leave a comment

New Shop and New Hopes: The Grand Magic Shop Opens

John Paul Scirica

The North County Times (San Diego, CA) has a great spread on John Paul Scirica and the new Grand Magic Shop’s opening.

The article notes the shop’s sales include a broad-range of items from itching powder to dove effects — an essential mix for the modern brick-and-mortar shop.

We were saddened to read Brad Burt’s shop is no longer in business down in San Diego. Mr. Scirica points out the traditional magic store is a vanishing institution. His new store is an effort to fight against the trend.

Like almost all magic shop owners, Mr. Scirica works essentially seven days a week. Monday through Saturday, the shop is open to sell not only itching powder but to also hook the itching powder buyer (IPB as we say in the trade) into the wonderful world of magic.

On Sundays, Mr. Scirica offers magic lessons and puppet shows for kids at the shop.

The itching powder is Scirica’s top-selling novelty, at $1.60 for a can, followed by the no-tear toilet paper and shocking pens. Scirica sells to amateurs, professionals, pranksters and collectors alike.

Collectors tend to buy top-shelf items, such as a box that transforms doves into a rabbit ($430), or a fish tank that fills with water and live fish after a mere wave of the hand ($110).

The product mix can make or break the magic shop owner. It has to be tuned to the traffic and the traffic has to exist. Fortunately for Mr. Scirica, the shop is right on the path to the local school. The location makes for a busy afternoon.

“The kids along this complex and along this street have kind of kept us going,” said Scirica’s wife, Lauren, who helps run the shop.

Just like the kids running in and out of the shop every afternoon, Mr. Scirica started out in his magic addiction by hanging out at the local magic shop. His story is identical to ours and maybe yours:

Mesmerized, Scirica visited the magician’s shop to learn the trick. It became a regular after-school hangout for him, and the magician changed into a mentor.

“He would give me pointers. He’d say, ‘OK, J.P., your sleight of hand needs a little work there.’ “

He bought the card trick and an instruction book, and buried his nose in it for three months.

“That taught me the fundamentals of how to shuffle, how to control cards, how to force a card onto somebody.”

He’s working hard to apply his knowledge of sales and marketing from his prior job to make the shop a success. Good luck to him.

We would normally include a link to his shop’s web page but we were not able to find one for him. If you have a link or email address, let us know so we can update this article.
Continue reading New Shop and New Hopes: The Grand Magic Shop Opens

October 5th, 2005 | Category: Magic News | Leave a comment
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