Mac King Premier of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceInside MagicMagic News Updated Daily for the Professional Magician

Mac King Says Howdy to Harry Fans

We received a press release from Mac King’s people announcing his participation in the inevitable media-frenzy tomorrow night. Mr. King put together a show to coincide with the release of J.K. Rowling’s latest novel about the young wizard.

Mr. King will begin the show promptly at 11:00 pm at the Barnes and Noble in Las Vegas. He’ll need to be done within 59 minutes, however. At precisely 11:59, the long-awaited tome will be on sale.

The Washington Post had an interesting article today about the Harry Potter parties set to take place tomorrow night in advance of the 11:59 release. “While bookstores are largely relying on huge late-night launch parties complete with sorting hat competitions offering iPods and signed books as prizes ahead of the midnight release, supermarkets and online retailers are trying to cast their own spell.”

Amazon reports it has over half a million pre-orders from the UK alone.

The US publisher, Scholastic Books, will print approximately 10 million copies.

We’d love to see Mr. King’s performance tomorrow night. Unfortunately, it is well-past our bedtime and we’re in Michigan. If a loyal reader has a chance to swing by the bookstore, we’d welcome the chance to publish a review here.

There are two ironic aspects to the story. First, the publishers and booksellers are spending so much to promote a book likely to sell over 12 million copies in its first printing. Second, that the star of the afternoon shows in Vegas, will be working a midnight show for kids.

Call us brilliant but we were thinking maybe magicians could take advantage of this whole Harry Potter thing. Imagine doing a show that some how incorporated the young wizard theme or performed tricks similar to the ones the young wizards learn in their special school.

You’d have to be careful not to infringe on the copyright or trademarks of Ms. Rowling, but it might just work. We are working on a routine where we play the dunce of the wizard school. We have a dunce cap instead of the Wizard’s hat; we use a squeegee instead of a magic wand; and make everything turn into toothpaste and McDonald’s Ketchup packets.

Regardless, you must check out Mr. King’s new and improved website. He has it updated and beautifully adorned with great illustrations by his cousin Bill King. The links all work and you can even join his fan club — we did. Great work, Mr. King.

Mac King Says Howdy to Harry Fans

Mr. King will begin the show promptly at 11:00 pm at the Barnes and Noble in Las Vegas. He’ll need to be done within 59 minutes, however. At precisely 11:59, the long-awaited tome will be on sale.

Amazon reports it has over half a million pre-orders from the UK alone.

The US publisher, Scholastic Books, will print approximately 10 million copies.