There are certain maxims we live by. Some are considered and coherent. Others are just an ephemeral notion with enough substance to offer guidance.
We ignore these rules at our peril.
Friends, we offer you the following in the hope you will listen to your inner-voice, avoid that which you know to be wrong, follow the path that leads you from our ruin to the relative safety a well-lit intersection or a Denny’s.
We were watching Poker World International Champions of Champions ("PWICC") on the satellite. We don’t have a satellite dish but our neighbor does. He may have the dish, but we have ready access to coaxial cable and a ladder, so it is like we have satellite too.
There was an advertisement for one of those virtual casinos. We were all hyped-up on old but new-found Halloween candy and our own designer drug combining Diet Coke and Excedrin Maximum Strength – we call it a Caffeine Pi?ata. It’s like a whack to the brain to help spill the ideas and thoughts for our grabbing pleasure.
We logged on to the virtual casino, conveniently named, The Virtual Casino. Because we are always cautious when surfing the web, we checked out its business records before we went too far. Fortunately, we found it was licensed by a private act of the Bimini Government in Exile now based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and Bimini City. That’s about as legit as it gets in the virtual world.
Under the terms of the sign-on agreement, most of which we glossed over, we were required to enter a credit card number – "only to verify our age."
Significantly, this did not say we were to enter our credit card number, just "a credit card number." One of the benefits of having such trusting neighbors is their willingness to share – perhaps unknowingly – but share nonetheless. Unfortunately, our neighbor did not believe in personal responsibility or honor.
She had not paid her card on time and so the number we entered did not satisfy the faceless credit card checker in Ft. Lauderdale or Bimini. It is a sign of our society’s decline that people will spend their money on satellite dishes but fail to pay their bills on time. We made a note to remind her of her obligations the next time we hacked into her home network.
Fortunately, we were offered a credit alternative. Through the magic of modern telecommunications, we could give our telephone number and the verification process could continue by billing us as if we had called a 900 number.
It does not get easier than this, we thought as we punched in the full number to our local YMCA.
Within seconds, we were whisked from the entry page into the virtual spaciousness that was The Virtual Casino. What a beautiful environment! It reminded us of Las Vegas – if that desert mecca was two-dimensional and surrounded by pop-up ads for "Dating Services" and "Natural Remedies" presumably for those big dates – or by the looks of some of the models, for after the romantic evening.
We assume there must be an all-natural alternative to penicillin.
We are not far from our favorite magic convention of the year.
The South Carolina Association of Magicians (“SCAM”) is getting ready for all of us and so we hope to see you there. We mentioned awhile back Henry Petit had a special set of surprises for this year’s attendees. We received confirmation of one of those additional activities today from Mr. Petit himself.
Tony Griffith has agreed to present his Master Class on Thursday, January 12th for a very small number of attendees and at a very modest fee.
Mr. Griffith is a member of The Inner Magic Circle and specializes in Close-Up Magic. He has lectured around the world and significantly at the Magic Castle (in addition to more than 100 shows at The Castle).
The reviews of Mr. Griffith’s lectures have come in from clubs around the country, as well as Canada,New Zealand, Australia, and Europe. Every one we found on the internet praised his ability to convey his exclusive material in a manner suited for the semi-professional and professional magician.
Grant Wilcox’ comments on Magic Week typified the praise for this class:
“In my opinion, Tony Griffith is one of the top close-up magicians in the UK today? What strikes you about all of Tony’s magic is that it is all highly ‘do-able’, and very commercial, as well as being well thought out. It would have been very hard for anyone in attendance not to come away with at least three items or ideas that could be put into practical use. This was a day full of enrichment for all who attended. A real ‘Master Class’.”
Mr. Griffith’s class will emphasize the importance of subtlety, routine-planning and entertainment. He’ll provide the benefit of his years working close-up, trade shows, as well as after-dinner speaking and entertainment. Mr. Griffith will also give us insight into promotion, publicity, and organization.
Mr. Petit tells us The Master Class will be held at the Marriott Hotel, SCAM -2006 Convention Headquarters. You’ll need to be at the hotel by 10:30 am to meet Mr. Griffith and your fellow students. Class will begin promptly at 11:00 am, with two breaks and will conclude at 5:00 pm.
When you register for the SCAM convention, you’ll see the information you need to add this very special event.
We will be there ready to take notes, learn, and perhaps even report back what we learned.
Seating is limited to fifteen and the price is only $75.00. We hope to see you there!
Most of us are guilty of spending too little time on developing a unique and personal presentation. We rather work on perfecting moves and techniques. There is nothing against improving and honing your sleights, but we should spend equally on perfecting our presentation. Using rhymes is one way to develop an entertaining and memorable presentation. This booklet suggests rhymes for several classic effects such as ‘Torn and Restored Newspaper’, ‘Cards up the Sleeve’, ‘Cut and Restored Rope’, ‘The Silk and Egg’, ‘Color Changing Silks’, ‘Passe Passe Bottles’ and more. You can either take these rhymes as they are, or use them as starting points to change them to fit your needs.
Price is $4. You get a PDF in Lybrary.com quality with bookmarks, well laid-out and easy to read fonts.
_______________________________ TRAILER FOR CHEATING AT HOLD’EM
I have uploaded a trailer for this DVD. If my recommendation didn’t convince you, then I hope this trailer will. I don’t think there is a better expose DVD out on this subject which also gives you real world usable suggestions of how to counter act any of the explained methods. ______________________________ LOOK BACK AND OUTLOOK FOR 2006
2005 was for me and Lybrary.com very successful. I love the new website and hope it serves you a lot better than the old one (if not let me know of any features you are missing). I released many wonderful ebooks, some were revivals of old and classic material, others hot and brand new ebooks from upcoming stars and established brand names. For 2006 I have the following planned:
- Continue the focus on classic forgotten booklets. I think that many of the booklets which have been published 50 to 80 years ago hold some of the best effects, but are largely forgotten. My supporters and myself are digging up these treasures for you.
- Roberto Giobbi Light. Roberto wrote several years ago a trilogy on self-working card tricks in German. This has never been translated to English. He recently reprinted this trilogy in German. I will prepare an ebook of the German version and later it will be translated and published in English as well. This is wonderful material, because it is a collection of some of the strongest and easiest card tricks around, all explained accurately and detailed – the Giobbi style.
- “Mercury or the Secret and Swift Messenger: Shewing How a Man may with Privacy and Speed communicate his Thoughts to a Friend at any distance” 1641. This is a highly interesting book for mentalists. A few days ago I didn’t know this existed. This is a very exciting project, not just from a historical perspective. It also has a section on cryptography, in case you are interested in this area.
- “The Contract Book” and “The Volunteer Book”. Jim Kleefeld allowed me to prepare electronic versions of these two books. In it you will find unique information which is hard or costly to gather by yourself.
- Al Mann. Progress has been made in the negotiation with the son of Al Mann. But the project is huge and there is a lot of preliminary work. So don’t get too excited about any ebooks soon. But we can all be thankfull that Al Mann material will eventually again be accessible and available.
Mr. Strebler hasn’t performed in his hometown for about nine-years but is excited to be back for a big show at the beautiful Albritton-Mayer Cultural Center in Sikeston.
The gig is appropriately titled “Magic of Morgan” and is set for 8:00 pm. All proceeds of the show will go to the Sikeston Area Humane Society.
Mr. Strebler is looking forward to not only performing for his old-hometown but also seeing his friends in the audience.
“It’s going to be a lot more of audience,” said Mr. Strebler about the show. “For example, I’m going to have a random spectator fire a paint ball and I’ll catch it in my teeth.”
The Paint Ball Catch is in the spirit of his now-famous effect, The Bullet Catch.
The young magician intends the show to be “fun and very kid- friendly.”
Unlike his typical show requiring two semi-trucks full of equipment, his presentation this Thursday will “pack small.”
“When you?re home, there?s nothing like it. It?s really, really nice to come home and perform here ? you don?t have the politics like you do in Vegas and around the world,” Mr. Strebler said.
Mary Ann McSpadden, president of the Sikeston Area Humane Society?s board of directors, said she thinks Strebler?s performance will be great for the humane society.
“I can’t imagine anything more exciting than a famous illusionist being in our little hometown,” McSpadden said. “To have him here and to think we’re important enough to take his vacation time, really means a lot to us.”
The homecoming and show is likely to be well-attended. If there is a sell-out, the organizers have a plan:
“If we do sell out, we?ll have a matinee,” Ms. McSpadden said. “And I thought that was particularly generous of him to offer to do that.”
Strebler said his interest in magic began after seeing illusionist David Copperfield perform. He also credited local magician Jeannie Williams for inspiring him to perform.
“I was 11 and played around with magic. It was a hobby. She (Williams) really inspired me and told me if this is what I wanted to do for a career, there?s nothing that could stop me,” Mr. Strebler said.
Before returning to his hometown, Mr. Strebler has seen the world and then some.
He most recently returns from a very succesful run of 450 shows in Seoul, South Korea.
Mr. Strebler confirms reports we’ve received from many magicians, including international illusionist Sergey Korablev, Korea is a great place for magic. “It was awesome. It was a totally different experience. They enjoy magic a lot more than over here. They?re really big on Western entertainment,” the young magician told the paper.
After his return home, he’ll head to the Middle East for a “casino gig” and then back to Vegas to perform at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino.
He specializes in card manipulation ? he always carries
at least one deck with him, except in the shower. But he?s also done
levitation and “illusion body twister,” turning an assistant into
ribbons.
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