Smaller V, Harsh Criticism and Dual LivesInside MagicMagic News Updated Daily for the Professional Magician

Today?s Magic News moves from Las Vegas, to Los Angeles, to Texas and back to the home state of Inside Magic, Michigan. We hear about Siegfried & Roy?s efforts to get Father of the Pride on television, a magic collector/accountant, a magician/musician and the downsizing of V.

If you have news, notes, thoughts, press releases or really great rumors, pass them along to Inside Magic.

Read On . . .

Accountant/Magician Wilson ?Red? Hall?s Magic Collection Secures Press. Mr. Hall is the principal of Wilson W. Hall and Associates in Bay City, Michigan, and a certified Magic Enthusiast. He performs magic for clients and prospective clients and his office is adorned with 24 restraints; one of which belonged to Houdini. Over the past 20 years, Mr. Hall has collected over 1,000 photographs in addition to props and memorabilia.

One of his fond memories involved the late-Harry Blacksone, Jr. Mr. Hall met Blackstone at an International Brotherhood of Magicians convention in Las Vegas one year. Hall told Blackstone he was from Michigan, and the two struck up a conversation. Harry Blackstone Sr. is from Colon. ?We started talking, and he gave me his business card,? Hall said. ?I had collected an old brochure from his father, and I mailed it to him. He was really grateful.? The brochure ended up in the Blackstone Museum, and Hall received an autographed picture of Blackstone Sr., whom Hall…

If you have news, notes, thoughts, press releases or really great rumors, pass them along to Inside Magic.

Read On . . .

Read the full article here.

Siegfried & Roy?s ?Father of the Pride? Makes the Rounds. New York?s Newsday reports on the cool to lukewarm response critics have provided the CGI-animated “Father of the Pride,” built around the Siegfried and Roy animal act dormant since Roy Horn was attacked by a tiger last summer. Critics shown an unfinished episode on a big-screen were decidedly unimpressed. Some felt the 9 p.m. show’s sex-obsessed adult humor, seldom spiced with genuine wit, was inappropriate for kids likely to be lured by its vivid animation of a talking animal family.

Read the full article here.

Texan John Kline Featured for Love of M&M?s. The Dallas Morning News profiled magician/musician (?M&M?) John Kline who is dedicated to the two performance arts. He’s director of fine arts for the Mesquite Independent School District by day, and he was recently chosen Magician of the Year by the Dallas Magic Club. He believes his twin loves are complimentary but they can be demanding of his time ? not that he minds. He is looking forward to the Big D?s chance to host the prestigious Texas Association of Magicians (?TAOM?) in 2006.

Read the very entertaining article about this remarkable artist here.

V Moves to Smaller Venue and to Great Reviews. David Saxe?s spectacular variety showcase, V, left the Venetian Hotel and Casino to a decidedly smaller room in the Desert Passage ? a shopping area adjacent to the Aladdin Hotel just down the strip. Mr. Saxe is certainly a friend of the working magician with productions including the outstanding Show Girls of Magic, V, and his sister?s show, Melinda: First Lady of Magic. The Las Vegas Review-Journal congratulates the producers and director on a flawless move.

?Sure, you sort of miss the Chinese pole climbers and flying men who opened the show two years ago. But producer David Saxe has honed his concept — originally a revolving door of specialty acts from around the world — to a stock company of applause-tested favorites. Lo and behold, the crowd-pleasers are the ones offering more laughs than acrobatic thrills. With cocktail seating replacing rows of theater seats in what’s now called the V Theatre, “V,” along with “La Femme,” proves cabaret is alive and well on the Strip, even if nobody on the Strip is exactly sure what cabaret is.?

Read the full article here.