Magic News

SCAM Update – Saturday’s Going Strong

Fukai Lecturing

Great credit goes to the people who have put this convention together. Allen Young, Bobby Jonte, and Dave Tanner as Chairman, Close-Up Contest Coordinator and Stage Contest Coordinator, respectively, have been working without a break but they appear to enjoy it. I?ll feature more of those responsible in later editions.

Fukai did a great job with his lecture on misdirection this morning. How good was it?

I have seen the lecture now three times, and I know exactly what he will do, and yet every time he does it, I’m fooled. He showed how to use a silk to rose to create a subtle diversion to allow for a load of a champagne flute.

Then he did it again and I was still fooled. Incredible. I know he’ll be heading to other conventions in the states this year and if you have a chance, you must see him. His show, his lecture and even hanging out at his dealer’s booth is incredible.

Trixie Bond has also taken the place by storm. Today at Noon, Trixie was performing her birthday party act. This was the birthday act that is a mainstay of her business in Houston. It is apparent why she is the top children?s entertainer in her town. I tried to get into the room to get pictures but it was so crowded — beyond standing room only — that I had to shoot the pictures blindly while holding the camera above my head.

Trixie Bond Performing Her Birthday Routine

Her act is outstanding. She does a great job of involving the children and an even better job of keeping their energy channeled. I am not one to steal material, but I love her line at the end of every trick:

“You know what?”

The kids answer “What?”

Trixie responds with a slightly somber tone, “That’s the…

Fukai Lecturing

Great credit goes to the people who have put this convention together. Allen Young, Bobby Jonte, and Dave Tanner as Chairman, Close-Up Contest Coordinator and Stage Contest Coordinator, respectively, have been working without a break but they appear to enjoy it. I?ll feature more of those responsible in later editions.

Fukai did a great job with his lecture on misdirection this morning. How good was it?

I have seen the lecture now three times, and I know exactly what he will do, and yet every time he does it, I’m fooled. He showed how to use a silk to rose to create a subtle diversion to allow for a load of a champagne flute.

Then he did it again and I was still fooled. Incredible. I know he’ll be heading to other conventions in the states this year and if you have a chance, you must see him. His show, his lecture and even hanging out at his dealer’s booth is incredible.

Trixie Bond has also taken the place by storm. Today at Noon, Trixie was performing her birthday party act. This was the birthday act that is a mainstay of her business in Houston. It is apparent why she is the top children?s entertainer in her town. I tried to get into the room to get pictures but it was so crowded — beyond standing room only — that I had to shoot the pictures blindly while holding the camera above my head.

Trixie Bond Performing Her Birthday Routine

Her act is outstanding. She does a great job of involving the children and an even better job of keeping their energy channeled. I am not one to steal material, but I love her line at the end of every trick:

“You know what?”

The kids answer “What?”

Trixie responds with a slightly somber tone, “That’s the end of that trick.”

The kids respond with an “awwwww.”

Trixie responds with a cheerful tone, “But you know what?”

The kids respond with ?What??

“I’ve got another trick to show you!”

It lets the kids be vocal and participate in the pacing of the show and isvery, very nice.

Last night, Tom Craven gave his lecture and I mentioned on the news email service (for those of you who have signed up) that, I was very impressed by his solution to pretty amazing effects.

He had me fooled on his book test and his Groby (sp?) prediction. This latter effect seems impossible and as far as I know, Tom is the only one making and selling it.

He displayed five glasses, each with a different colored silk. He then selected a young woman at random and asked her astrological sign. She then selected a color and after a bit of very good by-play, he demonstrated that her astrological sign was found in the very glass she had selected and that there were no signs in any of the other glasses. Incredible stuff.

The South Carolina Ring Cabaret Show was dynamite. They had the Regional IBM Vice President MC and he was relaxed and ready to keep things rolling.I tried toget his name and when I do, I’ll re-edit this to reflect it.

One of myfavorite acts from the Ring Cabaret show was Glen Strange. I know that he, like Harry Allen, must have a mind like a small computer. His ad libs were quick, funny and fit perfectly. Hismanner on stage was unique to say the least. I have not before witnessed someone with his command of the stage and instant appreciation from the audience.

The dealer show was a lot of fun. Harry Allen always does a great job as MC and this was no exception. He kept the acts short but with great new material. His mind has got to be one of the sharpest I’ve witnessed. He had ad libs for anything that could happen. Many dealer shows turn into commercials for the same old tricks. This one was an exception.

I was lucky enough to hook up with Paul Emmick — a great guy and On-Camera Meteorologist at the Weather Channel.

I usually see Paul when he attends the Abbott’s Get-Together up in Colon, Michigan. Paul used tobroadcast in Lansing, Michigan. He too was impressed by the quality of the acts and the great scheduling of the convention.

The final event for me — I had to get up early for the 8:00 am Stage Contest — was to watch Scott Francis’ lecture. I don’t know what it says about me but I was in hysterics.

He has a twisted, wierd kind of humor that I just love.I was pretty tired by the end of theevening andworried about the contests the next morning but he was still able to get me almost crying with laughter.

One finalcoup!

Wild Magic’s Incredible Zig-Zag Deck

I am now the proud owner of the finalZig-ZagDeck in the Wild Magic inventory. I met up with Tom Jones and Rachel Wild in the sports barbetween shows last night. They were busy writing on napkins to design their newest effect. We started talking about their Zig-Zag Deck andI learned this was the last one they had with them since they had sold out in Vegas last weekend and were keeping this last piece as a demo to take orders.

They were very kind to allow me to buy it and Rachel demonstrated it today. If you haven’t seen it before, check out the image on their website. You can actually ribbon spread the deck of cards and allow the spectator to examine theZig-Zag Box.

The woodwork is outstanding. Ironically, they still charge $45.00 for the item — this is the same price they had 11years ago.

Coming up will be a close-up show, then Joe Mogar’s Lecture, followed by Steve Beam and Joe Lefler’s lectures. I’ll give you an update as we progress towards the Gala Show.

If you have a chance, you must make SCAM a convention stop next year. I’ve been to many and not one comes close to this as far as organization and thefriendly atmosphere.

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