Long time ago, a wise man once told
me "…pat your hand near his crotch, then pull it out!!"
I later
realized that he was referring to how to lift a man's wallet from his back
pocket whilst applying the necessary distraction. Since then,
I've been picking
pockets, stealing watches and lifting jewelry like a bad habit, but then again
- that's my job."
We've written about Mr. Mana on other web sites and found
his fans to be the most loyal and enthusiastic of any of our subjects.
(By the way, the least loyal and least enthusiastic fans are
those of "Bob Copperfield – David's Little Bro."
The folks at A&E
told The Daily Variety "the faux
relative of David first told us he was a real brother, then just a 'brother in
spirit,' and finally he claimed to be performing a 'tribute act' to David
Copperfield."
The suits were no doubt upset that Bob Copperfield's lied to
get his special on the air and even more disturbed the special rated the lowest
of any prime-time cable network show in the last three television seasons.
The
public figures from a national rating service found the show was a complete
bust in the 18 to 56 demographic slice of America.
In fact, we've yet to meet a magician who
will admit they watched the show).
Mr. Mana is a hit in his adopted home in the Philippines. In fact, one commentator titled her photo
essay "Eric Mana is the "David Blaine" of the Philippines, except that he's
actually Canadian." See, Flikr
portfolio of Daphne Oseña-Paez here.
The lovely Ms. Oseña-Paez is partially correct. Mr. Mana's family immigrated to Canada from the Philippines when he was three. He returned to his native country about two
decades later.
While in Canada,
Mr. Mana was exposed to the virulent magic bug at the age of eight. Like most victims of this insidious virus, he
did not know the true extent of his infection until later in life.
He enjoyed "collecting magic tricks" in the same
way others collect comic books. He had
fun performing occasionally for friends.
He studied sound engineering in college and was destined to find a
non-magic career but for a fortuitous event.
He finally found the break that
started his career when he was hired as a production assistant for a magic
show. "In the interview, there was this guy who looked like Gandalf and he
asked me if I liked magic. I said. "Are you kidding? I love magic."
That was the beginning of the end. The show was Princess Karma and Company and he toured with the troupe throughout
the Toronto
area. He worked on his craft and sought
a solo career. He modestly admits he
still had much to learn from his mentors in the magic business. "It's hard to impress magicians — especially
the old ones. You might have a trick. That's fine and dandy. But try that on stage
in front of several people," Mr. Mana told the Manila Standard.
You think you know how the story ends: Mr. Mana dedicated himself to
practice, rehearsal, writing, staging, more practicing, and then performing.
But there's a twist.
His show Stranger
did well in Toronto but rather than exploit the
success in Canada, he
decided to head to the Philippines.
He brought his skills to the production of a television
special titled Stranger – The Magic of
Erik Mana and show brought him acclaim from viewers and critics alike. He has followed on that success with a weekly
television show as well as additional television specials.
Just as a rising tide lifts all boats, Mr. Mana's efforts
have inspired other Filipino magicians and whet the public's appetite for all
things magic.
He admires the iconoclastic David Blaine and hopes to break
magic from the stereotypes.
Everyone liked David Copperfield
so much that when they think of magic, they instantly have Copperfield in mind.
We really forgot about what magic was all about.
David Blaine made us remember
that magic wasn't just about stage stuff.
While he was interested in breaking away from the
stereotypical, he is cautious to not stray too far. Some were worried he would suggest a link
between magic as a performing art and the occult or black magic.
Mr. Mana was able to walk the fine-line drawn by public
opinion. Roman Catholic groups were not
offended and students from the Catholic St. Scholastica school have sent very favorable
comments about his performance. He even impressed the nuns.
We're sure we'll hear more from and about Mr. Mana as his
influence expands and career grows.
If we had the talent or the imagination, we could be better
than Nathan "Nate" Kranzo.
But
we don't even have the talent to imagine what we would be like if we had his
talent and imagination.Moreover, we
have no energy – at least not in comparison to Mr. Kranzo.
Mr. Kranzo updates his site constantly.And it's updated with material you might
actually want to read, download, or buy.
Unlike that dry spell that hit Quinlan's Inside Magic in the late-1940s and
we just updated our site with jokes we stole from the Dixie Cup Company.
No, his site is more than some collection of unfunny and
unoriginal jokes taken verbatim from the outside of backwashed soaked paper
cups recovered from the trash bins of the dentists inhabiting the Mystic
Hollow, Michigan Professional Building.
So, where were we? Yes, that's right, we were asking rhetorical questions, right?
Our point is, Mr. Kranzo = Great vs. Us = tired, old and odd
smelling.
Mr. Kranzo is a fine magician with an easy-going
charisma.You feel as if you've met him
before someplace and not someplace bad or likely repressed due to trauma.His boy-next-door looks and speaking style go
along way to winning the audience almost immediately after he takes the
stage.
But don't let the smooth taste fool you – he's secretly a
finger-flicking freak dressed like your neighbor.
"He was such a quiet young man," his neighbors
must have said upon learning he could triple-undercut a dog-eared deck of Uno cards."We never thought he was one of those Cloud-Change performing, both hand
finger-rolling, nail-writing (in cursive, no less),Palmo
Ball palming, microscopic pinky-break taking, able to talk normal with two
mouth coils loaded magicians."
What is our point?
There are tricks Mr. Kranzo can accomplish that defy our terrestrial
skills.A lecture full of those tricks
would be like throwing pearls before our stepsister.We'd just get frustrated, flummoxed and,
likely, flatulent.Fortunately, Mr.
Kranzo's lectures don't cause any of these conditions.
Despite his super-human powers, Mr. Kranzo cannot tour every
state in a given year.He can, however,
use his dexterity for good by teaching his fellow magicians over the internet.
In fact, the point of this whole article was to suggest you
check out his web site, visit the Magician's Only section (you have to answer
the question and it's not an easy one. Don't get confused like us.We
kept thinking of Gilligan's Island.We typed in "The Skipper,"
"Little Buddy," "The Movie Star," "The Millionaire and
his Wife."None worked.Remember the question is for magicians, not Baby
Booming Boob-Tubers).
You can download a copy of the PDF instructions for "A
Nice Box" free once you make it through the non-magician screening
system.
Go to this link to
learn one heck of a great trick that can be performed even by someone who is
all-thumbs and none of the opposable variety. The instructions are clear, the photographs are helpful, and the whole
deal is free.
Big congratulations to security in the UK for foiling the plot to blow up eleven UK to USA flights next week. It?s impossible to imagine what goes on in the minds of terrorists who wake up each morning thinking of new and different ways to kill people just to send their political messages, but we really need to make a stand against these mass murderers.
Here in the UK hand luggage on planes has been temporarily banned until things get back to normal, but we just heard that Australia has decided to ban all hand luggage permanently! Is that a security decision or, as they would have to employ more staff to thoroughly check all hand luggage for liquids, simply a cost-cutting exercise. Only a few days ago I was joking about traveling to the USA next year wearing only a hospital gown and paper slippers? but if Qantas had it?s way maybe that will be the reality in the very near future.
Magic, unlike tap-dancing or classical guitar, either impresses and entertains, or stumps and irritates its audience.
No one tries to learn the secret behind River Dance. We don’t even try to find out if the dancers are really from Ireland or if they’ve ever danced in any body of water.
We like magic a lot. We like it so much it hurts sometimes but sometimes it feels real good and we forget the pain and ignore the rash.
The article is written from the perspective of a magic-lover
rather than a hardened, cynical defender of all things destructive and
nihilistic. So from that perspective
it’s good.
Good stuff, this magic act. The enigmatic art
casually mocks our senses and teases our logic. Some are so taken in they think
it?s the devil?s handiwork. Reading
minds, making famous structures disappear before your eyes, levitating ? these
are things the mind just can?t rationalise.
?It?s more difficult to create an illusion for a child than
an adult,? he adds, noting that kids have less assumptions and preconditioning.
?Among others there?s a lot of psychology involved in magic.?
Mr. Roy "vaguely explains" the method of David
Blaine’s levitation. The reporter notes
the secret can be found on the internet but concludes "it?s better not to
know, so I didn?t ask him too many ‘how’ questions."
How refreshing. There
are some in the media for whom magic is neither art nor theater but a puzzle to
be solved. Magic is a challenge to their
intellect.
From our perspective, the truly mature and more intellectual
approach to magic is to accept it as a wonderful suspension of disbelief.
Our audiences may need to suspend their disbelief further
than the audience of other magicians but that’s just we have no essential
talent or skill.
So we feel strongly about this issue of magic as puzzle or
art. We don’t offer much of a puzzle in
our 45 minute billiard ball routine so art is about all we offer. In fact, for most magicians the routine would
take five minutes but that’s because they know the sleights and can execute without
thinking about the move itself. Heck,
even our final load takes a good seven minutes to properly place between our
fingers and it’s a gimmicked load.
Mr. Roy distinguishes white from black magic. He performs the former and loathes the
latter.
?We are entertainers who use magic as a medium of
entertainment, to bring back that child-like wonder we had when we were growing
up ? the wonders of ?Wow!?, ?Gee!? and ?Look at that! It?s like going to the
movies!?, but it?s presented live,? he says.
?Sometimes if people can?t explain the performance or trick,
they say it?s black magic.?
We agree with Mr. Roy’s conclusion that "[b]eing a
magician is not something a person gets into half-heartedly. One must have a
burning passion to be an entertainer and magician."
We had a burning sensation for a while but it was almost
completely unrelated to our performance of magic.
What does Mr. Roy think of David Blaine’s contribution to
the noble art?
He believes the t-shirted man of mystery and will-power "made magic
more accessible and affordable, as all you need is a deck of cards. "
Is that a good thing?
"It?s created a breed of magicians who are more
technicians than entertainers," Mr. Roy says. "Basically, it?s a case of merely
?showing a trick."
See, we told you so.
Patter, as we all knew it, is gone in the Post-Blaine
era.
On occasions Criss Angel may slip into the Blaine-esque script
of "Hey, c’mon. Look here. Want to see something? Okay, watch this.
Okay, watch!"
But fortunately, Mr. Angel still seems concerned with the
narrative of the magic performance; of offering patter to enhance the illusion
or at least not distract from what should be a very impressive, mysterious
moment.
Mr. Roy sounds like our kind of magician. The reporter for the Malaysian Star seems
like our kind of magic fan. Check out
the article and see if it hits some chords within your soul.
We heard some great news from Quinlan’s Inside Magic favorite Mac King. He sent word Harrah’s has extended "The Mac King Comedy Magic Show"
for five more years.
The show has been popular with all demographics — appealing to families and traditional Vegas visitors — and it makes sense Harrah’s would want to keep the unique draw right where it is — center-Strip.
If you haven’t seen Mr. King’s great show, you have a little more time to do it. If you’ve seen Mr. King’s work, you can now plan to see it again.
Mr. King’s "Comedy Magic Show" combines his unique comedy style with some outstanding magic like no other show we’ve seen. We have no idea how he keeps it so fresh — he’s been entertaining guests at Harrah’s since 2000.
Mr. King told us, "I’m pleased to extend my great run at Harrah?s for five more
years. To be able to continue performing at this
amazing venue and make people laugh every day is a great feeling."
We’re
sure they are paying Mr. King well but in our humble opinion, no matter
what Harrah’s worked out with the magician, they’re getting a deal.
David Hoenemeyer, Assistant General Manager
of Harrah’s Las Vegas, said "Mac has a unique and universally appealing comedy style that resonates
with all audiences. We are so pleased that he will continue to
delight Harrah?s guests for years to come."
When
you buy a steak you get trimmings and when you book Mr. King into your
showroom, you get all the extra national attention he can generate.
He’s been honored by fellow magicians several times and most recently
as Magician of the Year from The Magic Castle’s Academy of Magical
Arts. He is a regular on television specials, he has his own comic
strip, developed a line of magic kits for Barnes & Noble, and even
helped KFC incorporate magic tricks in their "Laptop Meals" for young
customers.
To our knowledge, Mr. King is the only magician to
appear in all five of the annual "World’s Greatest Magic" television
specials on NBC. Las Vegas Weekly named him the "Entertainer
of the Year" in 2004, and he even holds a Guinnes Book of World Records title for "The World?s
Longest Game of Telephone."
You can see Mr. King perform twice daily, Tuesday through Saturday, at Harrah?s Las Vegas Casino & Hotel.
?The Mac King Comedy Magic Show? is performed at 1 and 3 p.m. in the
Clint Holmes Theatre. Tickets are $19.95 plus tax. Tickets may be
purchased by calling 1 (800) 392-9002 ext. 5111 or by visiting www.harrahs.com.
If
you are in Vegas or even thinking of being in the western half of the
United States, make sure you see Mr. King’s show. He does magic and
comedy equally well — that’s a rare distinction in our business.
Congratulations to Harrah’s for signing Mr. King!
Visit Mr. King’s web site at http://www.mackingshow.com for all sorts of great information and to become a member of his fan club. We’re joined the club — in case you had any doubts from our glowing praise of his talents.
Erik Mana's introduction on MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/erikmana) starts
Magic, unlike tap-dancing or classical guitar, either impresses and entertains, or stumps and irritates its audience. 
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