Denny Haney’s Influence Lifts Young Magician

Matt Tomasko

The York Daily (PA) provides great coverage for 18 year-old Matt Tomasko. 

The young magician told reporters he has always known what he wanted
out of life and how to get it.  His interest and desire impressed the
famous Denny Haney and in turn, Mr. Haney impressed on Mr. Tomasko the
importance of finding an audience and learning the ropes.

The paper chronicles the inspiration.

At age 5, Tomasko knew he wanted to become a magician
after seeing Lancaster resident Mike Snyder perform at the
Strand-Capitol. He got his first professional job working for the
Hilton Hotel in Harrisburg when he was 14.

Today, he and Snyder are close friends.

All he wanted to do after that was magic, he said. He spent much of
his time studying the art and other magicians such as David
Copperfield.

Former U.S. Army soldier Denny Haney gave Mr. Tomasko the idea to join the military and entertain troops. 

The young man is being trained in the Navy to work in air traffic control. 

"I don't think [Mr. Haney] realizes how much he influenced me," Mr.
Tomasko said. "I enlisted in the Navy, (and) my hope was to somehow get
involved with the performing group. It was kind of a gamble."

Whilst spending time at Mr. Haney's Denny & Lee Magic Shop, he had a chance to learn.

"Matt used to come in here, and I would always tell him stories about Vietnam and all the things I did there," Mr. Haney said.

His mentor passed along the sage advice to perform as often as
possible for as many types of audiences available.  That's where he
will "get his chops." 

Mr. Tomasko's parents are understandably proud of their son but will
surely miss him as he begins a three-year USO tour that will start in
Japan next month.

Link: The York Daily Record – News Full.

 

Continue reading Denny Haney’s Influence Lifts Young Magician

Brock Gill Featured in Discover Channel 3-Part Special

Very Cool DVD

Christian Illusionist Brock Gill will be featured on the Discovery Channel in a special titled, Miracles of Jesus Christmas Eve.  They'll broadcast the three one-hour shows back-to-back starting at 1:00 pm (EST).

The program is a result of the British Broadcasting Corp. investigation into the validity of Jesus' reported miracles. 

The BBC asked Mr. Gill to visit the Holy Land and render an opinion
– based on his knowledge of mag — whether Jesus could have used
magic, hypnotism or some
other trick to create the illusion of miracles.

Mr. Gill told reporters, "I've always been fascinated by miracles, ever since I was a kid
reading the Bible stories."

The illusionist is upfront about his perspective.  He never really
considered the possibility Jesus ' miracles were anything but.  In the
show, Mr. Gill tells the audience that he is a Christian but that he
has tried to set-aside his beliefs to fairly consider the reported
miracles.

Mr. Gill prepared for the journey by reading and researching the skeptic's perspective of the miracle narratives.

"Before
I got into really doing the investigation, I did research on some of
the skeptics' views, and there were some quite convincing ideas. It
rattled me a little bit," said Mr. Gill. "I thought, 'I really want to
find the truth here.' "

The BBC producer was particularly impressed by Mr. Gill's illusion
and escape show. "We realized we didn't need an academic to lead the
program, but we needed somebody who was interested and knowledgeable
about Scripture and particularly interested in the miracles," Mr.
Bragard said.

Mr. Gill reports his faith was strengthened by the experience, not
shaken. "Before this year, my beliefs were based just on the Bible and
what my parents and pastors had told me," he said. "Now, I'm really
convinced that what I'm believing is the truth."

Check out Brock Gill's very cool web site.
There are two versions, both accessible from the main index page.  One
leads to the Flash ver. 8 and the other to the Flash ver. 7.  We were
limited in our processing power and could only visit the older
rendition. 

Most impressive is the show types and illusion list.  He performs
some pretty risky magic including an underwater escape as well as a
bullet catch. 

While searching the web, we also found a blog run by his wife,
Auny.  Ms. Gill is an incredible writer.  You get a great feel for the
life of a family committed to bringing Jesus' message to modern day
audiences through our wonderful art.

We knew we liked Mr. and Mrs. Gill when we saw they were fans of
Toby Mac – our favorite Christian Musician and former member of the
incredible D.C. Talk.

You can check out Ms. Gill's web site, Life on the Road, here.
Read the full AP story here: Link: Illusionist tests biblical miracles.
Ms. Gill has the

Continue reading Brock Gill Featured in Discover Channel 3-Part Special