Canadian Magician Anthony Lindan and his friends, Shaun Fergus, Alex Kazam and Bill Abbott perform next Monday to benefit Autism Ontario’s efforts on behalf of Autism’s victims.
Niagra This Week features Mr. Lindan’s story and personal involvement in the cause.
Mr. Lindan and fellow magicians intend to entertain guests of Ridgeway’s restaurant from 6 to 9 p.m. with close-up effects.
He told reporters the style will be like The Magic Castle.
The magicians will accept no tips and they are not being paid for the work. They will encourage their table-side audience to contribute to Autism Ontario.
“They gave us donation boxes,” Lindan said. “We’re what is called a third-party fundraiser. We do all they work and the autism people get all the money.”
There’s two things that are close to magician Anthony Lindan’s heart – magic and the fight to find a cure for Autism Spectrum Disorder ASD.Lindan, along with three of his magician friends will be at Ridgeway’s Restaurant in Ridgeway next Monday to help raise money research to help unlock the mysterious condition, a complex neurobiological disorder that impacts normal brain development.
The magician’s 12-year-old son, Harvey, was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome as well as Tourette syndrome, both part of the autism spectrum.“So yes, we went through the flapping, kicking stages,” Lindan said. “He’s at the very high functioning end of the spectrum.”
Teller of Penn & Teller fame, is more than an incredible magician, writer, historian and inventor. He has a life outside the Penn & Teller Theater (that’s “Theatre” in metric).
He graduated from prestigious Amherst College in 1969 under the nom d’études (metric for “student name”) of Raymond Joseph Teller.
To ensure that our posting on the topic will be the most derivative of all on the topic, we cite Tom Shay from MassLive.com who in turn credits New York Magazine for the bird’s eye lowdown on Teller’s favorite movies about Magicians.
“The Great Buck Howard: The most accurate depiction of what it’s like to be in magic anywhere, because it’s so sad!
“A-Haunting We Will Go: One of the movies that made me fall in love with stage magic. Laurel and Harding encounter the actual magician Dante, and there’s a whole bunch of slapstick mix-ups.
“The Man from Beyond: It’s melodramatic crap, but it’s got Houdini, for crying out loud! You’re actually seeing Houdini on the screen!
“Nightmare Alley: Tyrone Power starts off as a sideshow magician, then does a mind-reading act, and he’s gradually tempted into being an evil crook. A hideously black downward spiral; and
“The Lady Vanishes: One of the most perfect movies ever made. And the fact that the evilest bad guy takes cover as a magician – that makes me laugh.”
You can read Tom Shay’s version of this list at MassLive.com here. We checked and checked but could not find a New York Magazine article on Teller or his favorite movies. We don’t doubt Tom Shay’s word, we just wanted to give credit where it was due.
In our discussion of Penn & Teller’s new UK television series Fool Us!earlier this week, we mentioned that Inside Magic favorite Shawn Farquhar thoroughly stumped the duo. We offered the incident to show how gracious and excited Penn & Teller were to be fooled.
We provided a YouTube link to Mr. Farquhar’s segment to prove the alleged “Bad Boys of Magic” are no different from any of us. They love magic and love to be fooled.
There were three contestants in this year’s International Brotherhood of Magicians Stage Competition who fooled us badly. It was a wonderful feeling. Our peanut size and shaped brain instantly switched from “figure it out” mode to “enjoy it” mode. Once we gave into the reality that the unreal was happening, we felt the same exhilaration experienced at the start of our 43 years in magic.
Back then it was a red plastic ball that appeared and disappeared from an interesting-looking royal blue plastic vase. We had no clue how it could be done and, as we say at the special meetings we are required to attend, “it’s okay.”
The sesame seed sized portion of our peanut-esque brain responsible for accepting or rejecting visual images based on their conformity some established measure of reality was delighted to take a break and let the impossible flow unhindered into our active consciousness. The effect is similar to shoving a peanut butter sandwich into a DVD player.
In our experience, most magicians want to be fooled.
They also want to learn secrets or hypothesize methods but that process comes later. Similar to falling in love at first sight, the experience of being mystified is precious, unique and always unanticipated. Love may fade immediately after the first sight and the baffled magician may wonder how he or she could have been fooled once the trick’s secret is known.
We certainly do not disagree but wondered if the statement should be considered “news.” After all, it is well known that all intellectual property attorneys are by tradition always either suave or debonair; and a select few of us are both.
We read further into the expertly written essay and understood. The theater critic was using what us professional writers call, “an introduction” or, as we say around the professional writers’ clubhouse, “an intro.”
But we are quick to protest — probably because we were conceived during some beatnik protest in the late 1950s — that Guy Holingworth needs no introduction. Magicians and magic fans know him well from his writing and performing neat effects with ordinary cards.
Then we read further into the review and realized the introduction was primarily for those unfamiliar with Guy Holingworth. We calmed down, popped a Chocks and continued sounding out the words as quietly as possible lest we wake those around us in the Mystic Hollow Public Library.
Inept magician Tony Spain’s attempt to “cash in” on the Anthony Weiner scandal backfired.
Tony Spain is by all accounts one of the worst people in magic. He proved deserving of the title last week attempting to make commercial hay out of the Anthony Wiener scandal by “sending a Twitter of his wand.”
Mr. Spain sent a grainy image of a beat-up magic wand as an attachment to his unsolicited direct messages to hundreds important debutantes in 23 different locations in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Many of the young ladies — having been chastened by the news surrounding Anthony Weiner’s scandal — refused to open the image attachment. As a result, Twitter determined Tony Spain’s messages were “uninvited, obscene material” and violated the Twitter terms of service. The folks at Twitter closed Tony Spain’s account without opening the attached image. Tony yelped and pleaded but Twitter refused to entertain the insolent magi’s petitions.
Tony Spain, being Tony Spain, started an impotent public attack on Twitter. He claimed the nascent Internet social media company was infringing on his “Fifth Amendment rights.”
Disregard for a second that the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution has nothing to do with free speech or speech conducted via social media, by making this allegation Mr. Spain’s shared ample proof of his ignorance worldwide.
We assume Mr. Spain wanted to argue that he had certain First Amendment rights guaranteeing him the “Right to Free Speech.” As noted above, this right only protects against actions by the government. (With the passage of the 14th Amendment, the Bill of Rights apply to protect against the actions of state and local governments). As readers of Inside Magic know, the Fifth Amendment protects against being forced to incriminate oneself.
We have received perhaps hundreds of copies of Mr. Spain’s Twitter messages from the original recipients and others. The text of the message accompanying the image attachment reads, “Here is a picture of my wand. Look at it. Isn’t it magnificent? It is so magical.”
Canadian Magician Anthony Lindan and his friends, Shaun Fergus, Alex Kazam and Bill Abbott perform next Monday to benefit Autism Ontario’s efforts on behalf of Autism’s victims.
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