We heard from Angelo
Stagnaro recently. Loyal readers of his Smoke & Mirrors newsletter
or his highly-acclaimed books know he lectured in 30 European cities
during the summer of 2005.
He tells us the tour will continue this summer in the U.S.
throughout the New England and New Jersey areas. If you are interested
in booking this lecture, contact Mr. Stagnaro right away.
He writes:
The lecture is based on the series I gave in 30-cities
in Europe this summer. Half of the lecture is based on general
mentalism (yes…even magicians will find it interesting…) and the
second half will be based on cold reading (yes…even mentalists will
find it interesting…)
For more information about my version of cold reading, please refer
to the second book in my mentalism series, “Something from Nothing.”
You can read a review of Mr. Stagnaro’s text, Something from Nothing (part of his Psi-Book Series) at Quinlan’s Inside Magic here.
We were just reading this month’s Magic Magazine and saw two adverts of import.
The first is one we’ve watched for the last four years without fail, Melanie Kerr’s attractive and intriguing banner for her site, MK Magic. More about that in a second. We also noticed an advertisement for Every Magician .Com.
Not more than a few minutes after completing our perusal of Stan Allen’s great periodical, we received an email from the man behind Every Magician .Com, Bram Charles.
What are the odds? Don’t know, no clue, couldn’t tell you. Interestingly, we asked a consultant for one of the big casinos about this and he said, "fifty-fifty, either it would happen or it wouldn’t."
We don’t put much stock in this type of analysis. Plus, almost none of the modern-day casinos will take our action on this type of "prop bet."
Vegas has changed so much from the days when we actually lost a month’s pay on what now seems to be a bad bet: we wagered that the casino wouldn’t take our action on a bet whether it would take our action.
They took the bet and we lost. We should have seen it coming.
Here’s what we heard from Every Magician .Com. Check out the site and consider whether you could benefit from the services they offer.
Dear Magician,
How would you like to generate more bookings? This is an invitation fromEveryMagician.com to join our service. EveryMagician.com is a Las Vegas basedtalent agency that specializes in magicians.
We produce magic shows, and bookmagicians for events and productions worldwide.
We are currently looking for professional magicians in your local area.
Please take a look at our website:http://www.everymagician.com to learn more about our brokerage service for Magicians.
EveryMagician.com offers a cheap and flexible way of promoting your act, show or magic related business 7 days a week, 365 days a year through our online directory.
Our directory is used by casting directors, event planners, the general public, and most importantly, our nationwide talent booking agents.
A basic listing is FREE and puts all of your information in front of our agents and some of it online. Advanced listings are available which unlock your information so that it is viewable to the general public.
You can also prioritize your listing, add your promo video, add a link to your web site andmuch more.
You can join by clicking "Submit Listing" in the menu section of the site or by clicking here.
When you submit a listing, we’ll start to send show leads to your email so that you can bid on shows that are in the areas and categories that you subscribe to.
Simply reply back to us if you’re interested in a particular show with how much you want to receive for the gig, and if our client selects your submission,we put the two of…
SCHAUMBURG — A Schaumburg sleight-of-hand man is taking his show to an oasis of illusion.
Dan Sperry, 21, a magician and illusionist, will perform in Las
Vegas next week in “The World’s Greatest Magic Show,” a monthlong revue
at the Greek Isles Hotel and Casino. Sperry is a budding magician and
off-and-on-again student at the Art Institute of Illinois in Schaumburg.
His illusions focus on sleight-of-hand tricks, and his most popular
act involves a boomerang that turns into a bird. As an opening act in
the Vegas show, Sperry said he is planning to disappear.
“I change color, you know, disappear, all that stuff,” Sperry said.
But don’t ask how it’s done.
“It’s a secret,” he said. “Everybody knows you can’t share magic tricks.”
Sperry, a native of St. Cloud, Minn., moved to Schaumburg three
years ago to attend school. He got into magic at age 10, after
attending a David Copperfield show.”
Ian Rowland has written an incredible book for any magician or mentalist.
The Full Facts Book of Cold Reading is one of those texts that you wish someone would write. It is complete, practical and filled with exactly the type of material that you can use no matter your specialty.
We know this may give you subtle clues as to our review of the book — it is a must read — but in case your sensibilities are not yet focused sufficiently to detect our true feelings, we'll give you the full review.
If you are like us, you've probably read the title of a magic book and thought "wow, from the title that sounds exactly like what I need. I have always wanted to learn how to do precisely that which is described so thoughtfully in the title and, therefore, I am delighted to spend my hard-earned cash on this book."
Then you thought, "I know this is the right book for me based solely because the title tells me so. I will finally learn how to do that which I have always desired to learn; to do what I have always desired to do."
If you are not like us, you probably have never thought such foolishness. You probably put stock in the adage about telling a book by its cover.
Whatever! So you're smarter than us. You never got burned by buying a book based on the title and been disappointed.
We've been burned. Take us for an example. Please note, however, that if you do take us for an example or for any reason and don't call when you say you will, we'll stalk you and pout in a pathetic manner.
We purchased the following in the vain hope of learning:
How to Be a Ventriloquist; How to Impress Your Friends with Ventriloquism; How to Sell Your Ventriloquism Dummies for Big Profits;
Balloon Animals Made Simple; Balloon Animals – Your Path to Profit and Bigger Cheeks; How to Do Balloon Animals for Big Cash, Rubber Recycling – Never Bounce Another Check;
J. David Teeman was featured in today’s edition of The Norman Transcript from Norman, Oklahoma.
The retired Air Force tech sergeant enjoys his work performing to lead people to Christ.
He recalled a show performed at the Lexington prison. At the conclusion of the effect, one of the props dropped from the magician’s hands and landed on the prisoner-volunteer’s foot.
“All of the sudden, he gets up and holds the block up and yells to the audience, ‘It’s real,’” Teeman said. “We had an altar call right then,” he said, smiling in recollection. “That doesn’t happen at every show, but as I like to tell people, I came here to entertain and if someone gets ministered to, it’s not my fault.”
Mr. Teeman started magic when he received a magic kit as a birthday gift. Although he was just eight-years-old, he started performing and actually earning money.
In the early 1980s, while working as a disc jockey at a church function, that he found his true calling in life – “Sharing the Good News.”
Teeman said he began seeking others who, like him, wanted to spread the love of Christ and eventually connected with the Fellowship of Christian Magicians.
Since the ’80s, Teeman has developed new routines and staged performances throughout the United States. In his spare time, Teeman and his wife Sindee serve as children’s ministers at New Beginnings Fellowship in Oklahoma City.
Every trick performed by Teeman is accompanied with a message. And though many may criticize magic as a “dark art,” Teeman said nothing can be farther from the truth.
“This is an alternative ministry, much like Christian Hip Hop or Christian rock music,” he said. “And if you think about the passage in the Bible when Jesus was walking on water, even the 12 people who knew him the best didn’t recognize him at first.
“He was appearing to them in a way they had never seen him before — all alternative ministries do this.”
Mr. Teeman says on his web site that he uses Gospel Magic to both entertain and minister to children and adults. “It is a wonderful tool and medium to bring the love of Jesus to people through visual object lessons that make a positive impact and get remembered!”
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