We received a press release from Ian 'Mindwriter' Carpenter of Bath, England.
The release was brimming with the excitement and enthusiasm often found in the recent attendees of Jeff McBride's Master Class.
But Mr. Carpenter did not attend the Las Vegas seminar. He took the 45 minute flight to Amsterdam to take part in Amsterdam’s ‘Mystèr’ Magical Masterclass. The new program is an expansion of Mr. McBride's very successful school.
From his press release:
During the five day intensive Masterclass sessions, Ian performed for Eugene ‘Dumbledore’ Burger (3-time Magic Castle Close-up Magician of the Year) and Jeff ‘James Potter’ McBride (voted “Best of Las Vegas” by the Vegas critics & “Magician of the Year” by Hollywood’s Magic Castle).
Masterclass originated in Las Vegas, but has expanded to include the Netherlands as a key European base for the pursuit of magical excellence.
The Stuart Treasure Coast Post said it, we didn't.
"He's flamboyant, he's over the top, he's hammier than Porky Pig. But there's no denying that David Copperfield is one of the most popular entertainers in America.
The master illusionist's never-ending tour visits West Palm Beach, Sunrise and Orlando this week, and it'll be the usual crowd-pleasing combination of Vegas-style theatrics, jaw-dropping illusions and sleight of hand on a massive scale.
Mr. Copperfield has scheduled a very quick trip through the Sunshine State and as we have always noted, he does great advance work.
Q. You've always referred to yourself as an illusionist. Strictly speaking, what's the difference between illusion and magic?
A. Well, if you call yourself an illusionist, you get paid 20 percent more!
I am like a dog in many ways. If you feed me or treat me to a great show, I’ll be loyal forever. But unlike many dogs, I know how to judge quality.
I’ll still be loyal even if you lack quality as long as you feed and entertain me but I wouldn’t think you are worthy of a write-up in the prestigious pages of Inside Magic.
I am dog but I’ve got my standards.
Kelsey Kara, the more attractive half of the dynamic illusion show she performs with her dashing husband Garry Carson, invited Trixie Bond to see the Showgirls of Magic and Ms. Bond was kind enough to invite me to crash the party.
I was more than the proverbial third-wheel, I was the total Magic Geek around two of the best in the business watching the incredible Steve Daly perform.
How cool was it to meet Ms. Kara, get a tour of her home, see all of their illusions and meet their black leopard?
I owe so much to Ms. Bond.She has introduced me to so many great people in our business and the fact that she would consider me a friend is a great honor.I’m lucky and she’s burdened – works for me.
You’ve heard the expression “he or she doesn’t know me from Adam’s house cat”?Ms. Kara didn’t know me from the stray, one-eyed, flea-bitten, three-legged, half-deaf cat that liked to follow Adam’s house cat around the Garden of Eden.
The Minnesota Daily profiles Persi Diaconis' use of magic to teach math; or math to learn magic tricks.
Either way, it involves magic so it makes our pages. (It is also featured on our sister site, Inside Mathematics – which received its 100th hit last week after only two years in existence).
Here was the Stanford Professor's first effect:
Persi Diaconis tossed a sealed deck of cards into an overflowing audience Wednesday night in a Willey Hall auditorium. He asked the man who caught it to cut the deck and pass it along the row while each person took a card.
Then Diaconis told each person which card they had picked — and he was right.
Dr. Diaconis did not use a Svengali or Peek deck. No, he used something far more exotic – math.
But does he know how to do the seven piles of cards spread all over the table trick?
Nope.
“When somebody says they’re going to do a math-magic trick, it sounds as if they’re going to deal cards in piles, and you’ll all fall asleep,” Diaconis said. “I try to develop tricks that are good tricks that don’t look like math, but that have real math hidden in them.”
The profs at the University of Minnesota know Dr. Diaconis for his research in statistics and probability as well as his magic skills.
"He has brought a lot of insight into the way randomness works," one Minnesota professor noted. "People think it's easy, but it's not."
Quinlan's Inside Magic has long been on record as standing for the proposition that randomness is not easy.
The press continues for David Blaine and his career of "not doing magic." The web site Wiz Bag lead their coverage of the Blaine press release for the upcoming Drowned Alive ABC special with the headline:
"Continuing to Not Do Magic David Blaine is Back"
The remainder of the article covers essentially the same waterfront cited here and in other magic and non-magic journals:
"David Blaine intends to sleep with the fishes — but only for a week, and in full public view.The 33-year-old magician will perform his latest stunt by living underwater for seven days and nights in a 'human aquarium' in front of New York's Lincoln Center.
He will conclude by attempting to hold his breath underwater longer than the record of 8 minutes, 58 seconds.
The finale of his latest stunt will air live in a two-hour ABC special on May 8 (8 p.m. EDT).
Blaine's previous feats of endurance include balancing on a small platform for 35 hours and surviving inside a massive block of ice for 61 hours, both of which were performed in New York. In 2003, he fasted for 44 days in a suspended acrylic box over the Thames River in London.
The 'human aquarium' in which Blaine will float is a specially built 8-foot acrylic sphere. He will receive liquid nutrition through a tube and the water will be kept at a balanced temperature to help keep his core temperature close to 98.6 degrees F.
Passers-by will be able to touch the aquarium, take pictures with Blaine and communicate with him. He will enter the sphere on May 1.
We received a press release from Ian 'Mindwriter' Carpenter of Bath, England.
The Minnesota Daily profiles Persi Diaconis' use of magic to teach math; or math to learn magic tricks. 
The press continues for David Blaine and his career of "not doing magic." The web site 
Recent Comments