One of the downsides of being a well-respected news organization is the requirement that articles have some hook to current events. Fortunately, Inside Magic has never been confused with a well-respected news organization and, therefore, these rules do not apply. This is not the primary reason we are not well-respected or even considered a news organization, but it is a benefit.
Consequently, if The New York Times desired to publish an article gushing about the outstanding writing skills and style of Charles Dickens, it would need to find some way to associate the effusive tribute to the news of the day. Even then, The Times would feel obliged to find parallels to some event or person familiar to both readers of Dickens and today's newspapers. It could not just be a gush piece 1 or homage to the incredibly relevant author for today's modern society.
But as we noted, we have no reputation to squander and we are not convinced we would worry about squandering even if we did. Irregardless and nonetheless 2 we wanted to talk about Ian Rowland and how much we like his work today. We worried for hours how to work it into the current news from magic or non-magic sources. Yes, there was the big news that Folger's Instant Coffee intends to bring back its "Magic Morning Mud" contest awarding $1,000.00 to the worst cup of coffee available to commuters. That really had little or nothing to do with magic in its proper sense. It just used the word "magic" and that was good enough to trigger a Google News Alert.
Unfortunately, we don't know if Mr. Rowland even drinks coffee and we worried about stretching too far to make a story relevant.
Mr. Rowland is an Inside Magic Favorite from way back. His brain is a fertile medium for the weed-like growth of leafy, green magic. 3
We have purchased his writings with the drive of a man (although with a slightly effeminate laugh) possessed. His Real Work on Cold Reading is one of the most comprehensive and accessible books on this very arcane subject. We have stolen his spoon bending routine without shame to great success before US audiences. Plus, his writing style is gooder than almost anyone we know. He is pithy, funny and substantive. We shoot for any one of the three and often miss or clip one our own essential arteries.
Today, Mr. Rowland is offering two very unique and free items for visitors. The first is an instant download about persuasion entitled Mind Twists. It asks, "How can you persuade anyone to do anything? How can you be happy? And what very strange thing did I do in 1997?" The download is free in the most basic sense of the word. You are not required to give up your email address, join a mailing list, post a badge on your site, or even foreswear some habit others claim could harm you and your offspring. You simply go to the page and download the PDF.
A second freebie does come with a string attached but it is a nice string or at least not a string that one would mind. 4
Mr. Rowland will give you access to a stunning group of effects in exchange for proof that you have helped a charity.
4. Put your full 'normal' name (e.g. John Smith) at the top of the email, whatever else you write.
5. Tell me in a few words about your chosen charity and what they do. Don't cut and paste from official blurb. Don't tell me how much you donated.
Mr. Rowland promises he will not put you on a mailing list or give your details to anyone else. Like all good things, the offer ends soon. You need to get your submission to him by March 31, 2012.
We thought about this for a very long time but cannot figure his angle unless it is just his way of encouraging charity. If it was our offer, you know we'd have some way of making it pay but not so for Mr. Rowland. His interest is sincere and his goals noble.
True, we don't have a timely hook for this story but then again, relevance and professionalism are merely words here at Inside Magic. What Mr. Rowland offers is substance and good tidings – and that has to be sufficient for ample news coverage, right?
Ironically, Gush Piece is also the name of our hard-boiled detective with an eye for the ladies, a finger for the trigger and salivary glands for a spit take. Gush Piece is not related or connected in any manner to the iconic Belgian comic strip of the same name featuring the beloved character Gush Piece (“Le Garçon Avec la Bouche Très Mouillé” – “The Boy with the Very Wet Mouth”). ↩
Please see our law review article, “Useless and Pedantic, a New Lawyer Guide to Language and Artificial Profundity”, Cosmopolitan Styling Academy Quarterly, June 1999. The original article was 25,000 words but the editor slashed it to 250 words before adding an irrelevant, although very helpful, paragraph about the need to avoid “generic acetone” as a nail polish remover. ↩
See, “Up an Analogy without a Clue: Modern Statistical Study of Poor Analogies and the Devastation Wrought Upon Innocent Sentences,” Timothy Quinlan, Car Wash Attendant Journal, Winter 2009. ↩
Speaking of which, look for our premier episode on Mystic Hollow, Michigan Comcast Community Access Channel 81, “The Magic and Deviant Behavior Hour.” Our first show will feature a psychologist from the University of Michigan, a Gaucho (an Argentinian Cowboy), an alpaca and a magician working together as a team to place an effective classified ad to meet the group members’ divergent needs. ↩
Hank Lee's Magic Factory is a great place on the web for magicians and magic lovers. It is, to us, the virtual equivalent of a real magic store. Hank Lee is always friendly, topical, and filled with enthusiasm for our art.
Yes, some of his enthusiasm could be an outgrowth of his desire to sell magic, stay in business, eat and sleep somewhere other than under a bridge. Still, with his writing talent and business skills, he would likely make the same if not more plying his talents selling something other than magic. We suspect he likes this world of magic and magicians and finds a nice synergy of his passion and profession.
Each week, Hank Lee sends out emails to those who subscribe. The Hot List usually contains a short, well-considered essay or reflection he believes may be of interest to customers and subscribers.
This week's Hot List begins with a very interesting take on the "Pre-Order" game played by magic shops and wholesalers. We have pre-ordered many items in the last few years. It can be frustrating to pay in advance for an effect that fails to materialize on the promised date, or even within a month of the promised date.
We have accepted this scenario as a fact of life in the internet magic age. We assumed the pre-order funds helped to fund the production of the effect or provided some cash-flow for those in the supply chain. We realize our pre-ordering is enabling poor money management and perhaps even bringing poor quality magic to the market. No one would pre-order an effect described as ordinary or anything less than spectacular. Most magicians are happy to wait for the newest trick's arrival at their favorite magic outlet.
But the pre-order scenario works because the effect is described as something so wonderful, unique, novel, and new that the demand is likely to outstrip supply. Magicians cannot wait to purchase the effect on the day it debuts on store shelves – it may not be there.
We have a policy of not criticizing magicians or magic tricks. There are plenty of places on the web for snark and haters (or "snaters" or "harks"). Post a message to any one of the major magic forums asking for help or offering an opinion. Within seconds, a fire-fight of nastiness and sarcasm (complete with bad spelling and not good grammar) will appear in the post position immediately below your earnest comment.
We resist the urge to join the poorly thought out screeds because it is ultimately exhausting. We have a very limited ability to hate or question another magician's integrity or intelligence. Soon, we are disgusted with our own words and intemperate actions and need a shower or at least a good wet wiping (if that is the proper verb form for use of the moist towelettes we have collected from Kentucky Fried Chicken locations across this great land).
So, we won't name the names of those fortunate magicians and magic stores who have taken our pre-order money months in advance of the closest thing to real magic only to deliver a poorly edited PDF document teaching either something we already knew or something we would never use.
The fault, dear Caesar, lies not in the stars but in ourselves. We continue to fall for the promises of nearly miraculous results through use of a hitherto undiscovered magic principle as used by the inventor for the last thirty years, in thousands of shows.
Logic is lost when we are caught up in the moment. How could it be a tried and true effect honed by decades of real-world performances and yet be "hitherto unknown?" Perhaps the inventor lacks publicity skills and no one attended the shows held over the last quarter century? Maybe the inventor or distributor is puffing? Maybe we should think before we drop good cash on a promise of something we know does not exist?
Hank Lee's thoughts on the pre-order issue are refreshing. He provides a take from the perspective of a magic dealer.
I have been in this business of magic for 36 years. I remember when dinosaur magicians roamed the earth. Back in the olden days, we somehow managed without pre-orders. We sold items that had actually come into stock before they were advertised; or, within a few days of being advertised. It seems intrinsically sound business practice.
So why do magic dealers buck the sound business practice to offer promises in exchange for real money combined with a high likelihood of customer frustration and disappointment?
Rick Carruth’sThe Magic Roadshow is must reading for anyone interested in magic. Collectors, performers, groupies, hangers-on and recent converts will all find satisfaction in the virtual pages of this well-edited magic journal.
You will understand our panic, therefore, when we did not receive the latest issue when we expected.
The latest edition arrived on Tuesday and we were embarrassed to read that Mr. Carruth had a very good reason for the delayed distribution.
He suffered a heart attack and while The Magic Roadshow is important, it is less important than personal health and safety. We are prepared to give Mr. Carruth a pass on this interruption in our ridiculously anal-retentive routine.
Mr. Carruth writes:
I spent all of last week in the hospital. Seems I had a heart attack and some totally clogged arteries. Bummer. I’ll get over it and back on track. My public service message of the month is this… If you have a little heartburn, and even if Tums helps, go to the hospital if there are any other occurrences outside the ordinary. My heartburn lasted about 30 minutes, but I had a rapid heart rate for two more days. Doc says he wished I had come earlier… (I told him I was convinced it was the Baha salad, pico de gallo, spicy jalapeno dressing, and cup of chili I had before going to bed the night before…)
The latest edition is chocked-full of great effects and links to download some of the classics of magic. You will find a great math magic trick that will surely please even those snobs or cowards who normally fear math magic, amazing self-working effects, and links to videos teaching important sleight of hand moves. Continue reading Magic Roadshow Back on Track
Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Mike Weatherford suggests only the the discriminating magic show consumer can decide whether the town really needs a half-dozen big-box illusion shows. He asks, “So many magicians, but who has the real magic?”
Magician Jan Rouven is the sixth “big-box” illusionist on the town this summer. Steve Wyrick boosted the big-boxers total to an even seven with his new Ultra Magicianshow at the Las Vegas Hilton.
Mr. Weatherford points out that there may be six or seven shows but there is some overlap. ”Each show pretends to ignore the others, which is one reason you see a lot of the material duplicated. Another is that none of the contenders has been humble enough to propose some type of Justice League of magic team-up; they all hope the others will go away.”
The review is good for the new name on the scene.
“He’s a young, likable German with charisma and only minimally goofy stage attire (sparkly yes, but no epaulets or animal prints),” says Mr. Weatherford.
Rouven presents one of the oldest of the “big-box” effects, Metamorphosis with a dangerous update. The magician and beautiful, but stealthy assistant Johanna Grajales perform the classic in “lighting fast” fashion. The speedy exchange is even more incredible considering Rouven begins the transposition securely locked in tank of water.
As a rule, we never get excited about anything, ever.
As regular or irregular readers of Inside Magic are aware, we are still paying the price for unrestrained enthusiasm but this post is not to dwell on our marriage to an allegedly “good” disembodied spirit we met whilst running an illegal Ouija Board ring just outside of Tijuana, Mexico.
Suffice to say our excitement blinded us to the obvious barriers of language and physical existence ending in more than six years of monthly payments to our former spouse via one of the few attorneys in the greater Tijuana metro who handles the annulment from fantasma novia.
We did become excited, however, twice at the recent IBM Convention in Dallas, Texas. Given our Irish Catholic heritage, we were reluctant to drive to the hotel in our open-aired limousine so we took what some have called a taxi from the DFW airport. It was less like a taxi and more like an extended, frustrating robbery. It turns out the DFW is pretty far from the D.
The first moment of excitement came when we stopped by the Ellusionist Booth in the Dealers’ area. It was nice to put faces with names and to touch people’s faces as we repeated their names over and over to ensure an accurate memory. Continue reading Ellusionist’s Shift – Self-Bending Fork is Exciting!
One of the downsides of being a well-respected news organization is the requirement that articles have some hook to current events. Fortunately, Inside Magic has never been confused with a well-respected news organization and, therefore, these rules do not apply. This is not the primary reason we are not well-respected or even considered a news organization, but it is a benefit.
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