Ellusionist.com knows we are vulnerable and yet taunts with offers of up to 30 percent off magic we want (need) if we buy in the next three days.
Yes, we freely admit we have a problem with Magic.
The deficiency is found not in the craft but in our soul. Our double-wide (practically, just shy of a true "double wide" as defined by the ISO) is about to burst at its aluminum strip covered seams with magic purchased and never used.
Our stage routine has not changed significantly since 1972 and our close-up presentation is identical to that which earned us the 1974 Florida State Magicians' Convention First-Place trophy. So, counting each deck of cards utilized as a separate trick and not counting the Atomic Light as magic but more as a novelty, we use a total of seven "tricks" in both shows combined. If we learned to do a false shuffle, we'd be down to five tricks total.
Our insurance inventory sheet, however, details 421 separate pieces of magic equipment and 1,901 magic books in hard or soft cover. If the Magic Trailer ever went up in a blaze, we could replace both of our shows for just over $35.00; not including a table. We could collect about six hundred times that figure for the loss of our "magic collection."
Perhaps your collection is our size our larger. Maybe you are just starting your collection of unused tricks in a spare dresser drawer or trunk. Each time you attend a convention, watch a lecture or visit a magic shop you likely add to the stockpile of regrets and forgotten promises.
We're not psychopathic or even amnesiac, but when we are given an opportunity to buy a magic trick (in our very low price range) we usually take full advantage. We then return home to inventory the new effect, perhaps open it from its wrapping, maybe even read the instructions, and, possibly, try it once or twice. We don't intentionally put it into the collection and when we purchase it we never think it will be anything but the primary effect of our new act.
If we performed the new act for which we have purchased so many effects over the years, we would be on stage for more than two weeks. This assumes we did not overly milk the sucker effects like "Fraidy Cat Rabbit," "Run Rabbit Run," "Run Wolf Run," "Run Monster Run," "Hippity Hop Rabbits," "Sucker Sliding Die Box," "Shamrock Sucker Sliding Die Box," "Classic Sucker Sliding Die Box," "Nu-View Sucker Sliding Die Box," and "The McCombical Deck."
Philadelphia Eagles long snapper, Jon Dorenbos had all the excuses necessary to fail but chose the tougher route and is a success. We learn from The Press of Atlantic City that magic has been a big part of his very difficult life.
After 20 years of marriage, his father brutally murdered his mother and was sentenced to more than a decade in prison. He was released in 2005 but has not been a part of Mr. Dorenbos’ life since their last, heated exchange in 1993.
"I haven't seen or spoken to him since 1993," Jon Dorenbos said. "The last time I saw him was when I was 13 years old. I visited him in prison in Walla Walla, Wash., and his last words to me were (profanity). Those were also my last words to him."
Mr. Dorenbos was a talented athlete and invested time and practice in several sports. In fact, it was during an all-star team series in Woodinville, Washington that he fell in love with magic. While staying with a coach and his son, one of the neighbors performed a single trick that got him hooked.
"He gave me a sponge ball to hold and he held the other one," Dorenbos said. "When I opened my hand, I was holding both of them. I still have the VHS tape from that day. The next day, we went to a magic store and I bought my first magic book, 'Modern Coin Magic,' by J.B. Bobo."
He moved to California to adoptive parents and found a new father figure in magician Ken Sands, owner of Magic Galore in Westminster, California.
Mr. Sands taught him tricks and how to entertain with magic. How to go from performing a series of tricks to presenting a magic act. "He taught me how to connect with an audience. If you just do a series of magic tricks, people will get bored. But they dig you as a person, you can make their experience go through the roof."
Robin Leach describes Siegfried & Roy recently leaked news as "beyond magic — it's a Christmas miracle." The duo announced they will soon be celebrating "a very big step in Roy's extraordinary rehabilitation this holiday season."
The magical pair was on hand to support the local charity, Opportunity Village and host their annual party for friends and colleagues from their record-breaking magic show at the Mirage Casino and Resort and conservation project co-workers.
Mr. Leach reports the assembled cast, crew and staff greeted Siegfried & Roy with a standing ovation upon their arrival at the event. According to Mr. Leach, "Roy, who suffered severe blood loss, was said to have died three times on the operating table at the University Medical Center trauma unit here in his fight for life. He suffered partial paralysis and, at one point to relieve the pressure on his swollen brain, part of his skull was removed and protected in his stomach pouch. It was later reattached during his long-term recovery and rehabilitation at UCLA Medical Center."
Roy's recovery has been long and difficult but has apparently progressed to the point where he can ride a horse once again. Roy surprised Siegfried with the gift of two horses and his promise "that they'll be able to ride together at their Little Bavaria farm."
Siegfried told Mr. Leach he managed him to ride for 35 minutes this week – his first such activity since his injury. "In fact, we had to beg him to stop and get off so he wouldn't be sore," said one of the riding instructors helping with Roy's recovery workout program.
The development not only marks encouraging progress in Roy's physical therapy and rehabilitation, it also gives him the freedom to traverse the couple's ranch independent of his wheelchair or walking cane.
Hitfix.com describes young magician Rob Zabrecky as "wraith thin as an Edward Gorey drawing with a piercing stare and an unnerving wide selection of bow-ties, Zabrecky's creepy, witty Odd Man character might best be described as 'a mix of Vincent Price and David Byrne.'"
Flattering, no? We think he looks more like Chess Immortal Bobby Fischer.
Mr. Zabrecky is a multi-talented package with a résumé as the lead singer of Possum Dixon, a 1990's band who recorded three records with Interscope Records (former label of Mystic Hollow resident Eminem).
'I did a show at Brookledge (the site of invitation-only performances for magic aficionados) and he came up to me afterwards and paid me a nice compliment,' recalls Zabrecky. 'And I thought he was a magician, because he said "I really like what you do and it's really inspiring." And all I'm thinking is stay away from my act, buddy. No, you can't do my diminishing cards act and dance.'
Magic Man Zabrecky finally got hip to the identity of his new fan, and agreed to perform magic and tap dancing along with Mr. Gosling's music. The mainstream star helped the "Odd Man" with his appearance for French television and offered Zabrecky advice from the perspective of an actor or director.
"Ryan really looked at my character through an actor's eyes, which was something that hadn't really been done before," says Mr. Zabrecky. "I've gotten a lot of great input from magicians who know some things about theater, with my friend John Lovick (Handsome Jack) being the only guy who could look at my act and tell me theatrically what was wrong with it or what was good about it. But Ryan has no magic background, so for him it was all character."
Mr. Gosling's questions are appropriate for all magicians. "What is this guy doing? Why is he coming out here? Does he just reach for that? What if he reached for it here?"
The "Odd Man" was inspired by a walk in streets of Baltimore made famous by Film Director John Waters He happened upon Kenzo's Yogi Magic Mart in Baltimore whilst touring with Possum Dixon. "The air conditioner was shaking from the outside, so I said, that's where I'm going to cool off."
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. 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”). ] 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. 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.] 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. 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.]
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. 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.]
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?
Ellusionist.com knows we are vulnerable and yet taunts with offers of up to 30 percent off magic we want (need) if we buy in the next three days. 
Robin Leach describes 
Recent Comments