Eric Mead

Eric Mead is getting some great press lately.  He has deserved it all along but it is nice to see his name pop-up more often.

His latest feature can be found in The Aspen Times.

Mr. Mead eschews the big-box magic of illusionists.

“That makes me feel like a furniture-mover,” Mr. Mead, a Snowmass Village resident, said of the big-box trick.

“Because you know that it’s not me, it’s the prop that does it. When
you have that big box, it’s hard to make it look like you’re doing
anything at all. It’s hard to put any kind of self-expression into
that.”

The coverage is coordinated with Mr. Mead’s latest gig at the St. Regis Hotel.

Practicing what is known as “close-up” magic, Mead puts
virtually no distance between the audience and himself. Mead sits at a
table and, on a recent Monday night, the four-deep crowd pushed forward
so that those seated in front weren’t even an arm’s length from the
magician.

The act is heavy on audience participation, with ladies and
gentlemen picking cards, examining coins and safety pins for gimmicks.

Mead even allows people to stand behind him – which he says is not
ideal, but adds a further layer of challenge. He is comfortable and
familiar with the viewers; several of them he has known for years, from
his days at Snowmass’ defunct Tower Magic Bar, and calls them by name.

A warm sense of humor seems essential to his act. The effect of this
intimacy is to close the gap between magician and audience, and
simultaneously to heighten the experience of mystery that Mead says is
essential to good magic.

We found Mr. Mead’s philosophy refreshing and innovative.  “I work
really hard at the idea that it’s not me doing a show and you watching.
We’re both doing both parts. Magic in a vacuum is meaningless.”

In fact, as we noted in our first filmstrip on magic theory back in 1967, Magic Theory – 1967, “magic in a vacuum is more than meaningless, it sucks.”  Educational Filmstrip & Media Corp (Evanston 1967).

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David Hall – High Energy

The Easton Journal reports renowned Boston magician David Hall will bring his bag of amazing illusions and tricks to Striar Jewish Community Center on Monday, Jan. 16, at 1:30 p.m. for a special family performance in honor of Martin Luther King Day.   

Mr. Hall is known for his very popular outdoor performances at Faneuil Hall Marketplace. He will bring the high-energy performance to a new, young audience at the Striar JCC.

Mr. Hall’s family-oriented show includes magic, illusions, levitation and the special touches we know will endear him to the young people at the JCC.

Mr. Hall has the honor of being the youngest magician to be certified as a Faneuil Hall street performer.  His reputation has grown exponentially since his debut on the scene in 2001. 

Mr. Hall regularly performs at private parties for the rich and famous, including the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger, Red Sox owner John Henry, and World Series pitcher Curt Schilling. A recent entertainer at the Celtics halftime show, he thrilled youngsters at Camp West Woods last summer.

If you’d like to check out his act, you can attend the JCC show.  Tickets are a steal: $6.00 members, $8.00 non-members; add $1.00 at the door.

The show is perfect for kids four and up (adults as well).  Plus, non-members also are invited to purchase a guest pass and spend the day at the JCC.

Do yourself a favor and check out Mr. Hall’s web site.  As you know, we are harsh critics of magic web sites — likely to make up for our own inadequacies — but we could find nothing to criticize  about Mr. Hall’s web site. 

In fact we think he has done a tremendous job.  Great navigation, excellent substance, good use of graphics. 
Read the full article in The Easton Journal here.

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Declan McManus – Wanted

No, not the Declan McManus a/k/a Elvis
Costello.  The other Declan McManus.  The Declan McManus Jackson Hole
authorities are still trying to find. 

According to the police, this Declan McManus posed as a magician of
Irish heritage and swindled 237 people out of more than $100,000,
before vanishing last month. The police say he is “a reputed impostor,
fugitive and heartless grifter at work for more than a decade.”

We checked out his web site — really just a sparse Blogger .Com
page — to read more about the magician some call Declan McManus.

According to his own posting under the pseudonym “Spoonbender,” he
is beloved by the hoi-polloi around the world.  Most suspect to us was
a quote attributed to our hero Wolfman Jack.

We worked in radio for years and worshipped The Wolfman.  We
consider July 1, 1995 a solemn date marking the day Mr. Jack died of a
heart attack.

Continue reading “Have You Seen Declan McManus?” on Today’s Magic News ?

A Tip of the Fez to Jack Straw and Tim Ellis for the lead.

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