Bruce Pandoff of St.
Clair Shores, Michigan
is a magician at heart but he knows he needs to make hay whilst the sun
shines.
Summers in Michigan
are greatly anticipated, excitedly enjoyed, and far too short.
During the summer months, Mr. Pandoff works festivals and
fairs providing inflatable bounce-walks, climbing walls, and even an inflatable
sinking Titanic.
Mr. Pandoff's Fun-O-Rama Amusement Rentals provides fun
equipment and facilitates games and carnival food.
He purchases the equipment from China, often, and works almost
constantly to keep his investment in good repair and attractive.
It wasn't always this way, though.
He now owns "about two dozen dunk tanks, moonwalks and
the like, plus cotton candy makers and similar nutritional bonanzas."
He works in the off-season performing magic and
hypnotism.But two years ago he bought a
business made for fun in the short summer season.
One of the pieces included in the inflatable inventory is
The Titanic Adventure Slide.The ride
"features the back end of the ship, sticking up from the ground at an
angle as though the bow had already disappeared. It's 38 feet long and 25 feet
tall. Kids clamber up a staircase, then slide down into the fun-filled pretend North Atlantic."
Mr. Pandoff is the first to admit he was unsure that "1,500
dead people do not exactly connote childhood whimsy. If the same thought has
struck his customers, though, no one has brought it up. It came with the
business," he says. "You figure that piece cost $25,000. I can't
afford another piece."
The moving, lifting, dumping, inflating, monitoring,
deflating, lifting, storing and moving is hard work.But he is not willing to go back to the way
things were.
Pandoff says he holds to a guiding
philosophy, born of being a frustrated employee plodding toward goals he kept
forgetting he had. It goes like this:
"You can work hard for
somebody else, and all you get is a little paycheck. If you work hard for
yourself, you can make better money or you can make nothing."
In short, your own nothing is
better than a little bit of someone else's something. That's why he tried to
make a go of it as a hypnotist and magician, and why he ultimately bought a
business that included an air-filled dinosaur with a playground in its stomach.
When the last of the long summer days comes, usually by
mid-September, the demand for all things bouncy and inflatable drops off
dramatically.
Mr. Pandoff returns to his job of hypnotist. "We do a
lot of bachelorette parties," he says. "A lot of these gals, believe
it or not, don't want a stripper. They call me to do a hypnosis show and I just
tell them they had strippers."
Indian Magician Jadugar Anand is in the news once
again.The New India Press
has coverage of his most recent set of shows in Shimoga.
In addition to the magic he's successfully brought to
thousands in and out of India,
Mr. Anand hopes to bring attention to the plight of magicians within the
country.
Mr. Anand told reporters, "India stands at ninth place in the
world ranking in Magic! Yet, the government had not given any recognition to
this art.Magic too is an art. But,
Government has not identified and encouraged it, as done to music, dance or
drama."
Mr. Anand is the president of the All India Association of
Magicians.His organization boasts
16,000 members and yet believes its numbers have not been properly recognized
by the Indian government.
"Only thing government had done for us is it has
reduced the entertainment tax, We do not have extraordinary demands. Give same
facilities to us as given to other arts," Mr. Anand said.
Faithful readers of Quinlan's Inside Magic will recall Mr.
Anand's efforts in the past few years to not only bring Magic to the
Government's attention but to improve society's view of Magic as a profession.
Mr. Anand observed, "There is a invisible screen
between society and magic. No parent will allow his or her children to pursue a
career in magic."
The trade association is in the process of starting their Academy of Magic
at Jaipur and if the Indian Government will provide assistance, they hope to
build a second Academy in Bangalore.
How bad is it for magicians in India?
Mr. Anand told the New India Press he has seen "many
magicians who died of hunger."
The All India Association provides medical and other support
to members to help combat this life-and-death struggle.
Mr. Anand pointed to France's
use of Rober Houdin's skills to arrest an impending revolution in Algeria.His message: it worked for France because
they appreciated the power of the art form and encouraged its development.Magician Anand has a post-graduate degree in
English and his son received his MBA and still performs with the show.
Thus far, Mr. Anand has put on about 450 shows in Kamataka
plus another 2,000 shows in Southern India.He intends to continue his push for
Government support for Magic and magicians as he continues his tour.
The IBM/SAM 2008 Combined Convention is set to host a magic competition with a total cash prize purse of $20,000, the largest ever awarded.
The competitors, limited to a maximum of 50 in each of Stage and Close-Up categories, will compete for the Championship Trophy, plus a cash award in each category of $10,000. In addition, worldwide bookings worth an equal amount will be divided between the six finalists in each category.
The winners will be selected using an entirely new format. A panel of 6 International Judges will select the 6 finalists in Stage and 6 in Close-up. The champion from each category will then be chosen from the finalists by a People?s Choice vote following two showdown performances, one for Close-up and one for Stage. The six judges are:
Gerrit Brengman, Belgium, FISM juror and Deputy Director of FISM; Joan Caesar, Canada, President of Canadian Assoc. of Magicians, 2006 FISM juror; Domenico Dante, Italy, FISM juror and FISM treasurer; Eberhard Reise, Germany, FISM juror and creative director, and writer; Dale Salwak, USA, IBM Executive Show Producer and contest Juror; R.G. Smith, USA, SAM Executive Show Producer and Blackpool juror.
Contestants from around the world will be required to submit 3 DVDs of their actual performance, not a promotional video. A separate panel of competition pros will evaluate these DVDs and make their recommendation to the Committee. This pre-selection will determine the performers at the competition. However, any previous IBM or SAM Gold Medal Winner will be exempt from submitting a DVD.
All contestants must be a member of either the IBM or SAM, and pay an entry fee of $100.00 per contest category entered. The entry fee will be returned to those who do not qualify. Persons wishing to become either an IBM or SAM member in order to compete must have completed the membership application process before applying for the competition. Membership application forms may be downloaded from the website of either the SAM
The Pulitzer
Prize Winning St. Louis Post-Dispatch
features Jadoo (a/k/a Josh Routh) for not his magic but also the incredible
crowd reaction to his brand of magic and comedy at an International
Brotherhood of Magicians' contest in the St. Louis area.
Jadoo pulled and pulled on the
endless magic rope coming out of his jacket sleeve. Searching, he found the
other end coming out of his pant leg. Tugging more, he finally pulled the whole
rope out – along with his boxer shorts.
The crowd at the West County
YMCA erupted, especially
the children. It was a moment magicians live for.
Jadoo told reporters it is not about winning a particular contest,
they find the greatest satisfaction in the audience reaction. "It's about
making people gasp in amazement or burst into laughter. It's about making them
wonder, 'How in the world did he do that?' and leaving them sitting there with their
mouths open.
Congratulations to Terry Richison for his win at the Sunday
competition. Mr. Richison travels the
country with an illusion show but used sleight-of-hand to bring home the
championship.
As part of his act, he had a
volunteer burn a dollar bill from an audience member. The bill – same serial
number and ripped corner – somehow reappeared in a lemon cut open by another
volunteer. "It's just as fun for me to be up there than it is for
them," he said.
Make sure you check out Mr. Richison's outstanding web site
at: http://www.magicofterryrich.com/
It typifies what we think a working professional should have to get his or her
message out to professional clients.
Jadoo works as an actor and was recently started his own
company, Abra-Kid-Abra to conduct summer camps and after-school programs to
teach magic, comedy and circus skills.
Jadoo trained at the prestigious Clown Conservatory in San Francisco. He learned more about his craft and how to
interact with all different types of audiences — including a YMCA auditorium
full of kids ready to "see magical things."
"As a kid, I was always fascinated by performers and
what they brought into people's lives," Jadoo said. "There are always
going to be people like us. There has to be people like us."
Editing is finally complete and I have to say this DVD looks good! It’s VERY different to our other three DVDs – those were designed for magicians, but Cunning Stunts has been created especially for people who’ve never done any magic before. 50 simple but effective tricks, bets and jokes that can really spice up any office, party, or event.
Those who have pre-ordered the DVD, it will be posted out to you next week. For everyone else, you’ll be able to pick up a copy at the special discount price of $19.95 at our show on July 6 at the Comic’s Lounge and then after that at the Trick or Treat Magic Shop. You can also order the DVD online here.
Purchase of the DVD also includes a handy reference card listing all 50 effects so you’ll never forget them when you’re out and about, plus you get access to the Cunning Stunts online forum where you can get help, presentation tips, swap stories and learn even more Cunning Stunts.
Also included on the DVD are bonus sections including Ellis & Webster performing and a performance of The Soda Resurrection.
RRP is $24.95 and the DVD is currently only available in PAL format (so it won’t play in Japanese or USA DVD players. Sorry!)
The
Indian Magician Jadugar Anand is in the news once
The Pulitzer
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