Category: Magician Feature

Cannon’s Great Escapist Fuel

Nosey Neighbor Close-UpThere are very few in our society who receive and devour magazines and catalogs featuring the very latest in leather tethers, handcuffs, stocks, chains, and leg irons without making it on some government list.

Magicians and legitimate law enforcement are about the only folks who have an excuse for this interest.

We don’t pass judgment on the others who receive such reading material on a monthly basis; but are also careful to avoid passing their house at night or upsetting them in any way.

Canon’s Great Escapes is our favorite place to enjoy our harmless passion.

We haven’t performed an escape (other than a handcuff in-and-out in our current show) in years.

We never owned a Chinese Water Torture Tank, Underwater Packing Box or Barrel Escape, a Milk Can Escape, or even a Substitution Trunk. We have fantasized about each of those devices, however.

Does that make us bad or abnormal? Thank goodness magicians can get away with such daydreams.

Continue reading “Cannon’s Great Escapist Fuel”

The Girl with Magic Fingers

Aarthi MangalaShe is just 17-years-old but has powers to bring life to inanimate objects.

In an article titled “The Girl with Magic Fingers,” Aarthi Mangala JM is profiled on The New Indian Express today.

“A small figurine of a boy, legs and arms stick-thin and spread out, rest in peace in magician Aarthi Mangala JM’s humid hands.  She gently whooshes twice over them and the figure, as if life is induced into it, rises slowly.”

Like most magicians in India, the young magician is quick to point out her work is based on science and not black magic.

“Science is definitely the basis for all magic,” she told the paper.  Her power is not maayajalam, an integral part of religion, but applied science.

We cannot disagree with her belief that “‘magic is not about tricking people. It’s about entertaining them with the wonders of science. ‘And it’s not just that also. Everything needs a purpose. My tricks are worth the time spent on it only if there is a theme or message that they convey.'”

And take it from us — or don’t — she is good!

If you don’t trust our judgment — and that is usually a smart move — you can see for yourself by checking out the YouTube video of a recent show. It really is very good.

Aarthi is proud of her involvement with magic so far. But how did she get hooked?  At five, she needed to present something, anything, for a school cultural event and was frustrated.  Her father hooked her up with a magician friend, she learned a few effects, performed them, received applause and adulation, and voila.

“The applause I got was infectious. That still drives me to learn more, and I have worked under over a dozen magicians across the country,”  she said. It is clear from the videos that she loves the audience and the feeling is apparently mutual. We are sure she’ll be a big name in magic very soon.

She has been a darling of the media for a while.  If we are not mistaken, there was a very nice article in The Hindu from her younger days — back in 2005.

In fact, way back in the heyday of Inside Magic, we noted that the then very young Aarthi Mangala received The National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement for 2003 in the field of magic.

Eventually, Aarthi would like to use her magic skills to help healing in a very real sense.

Continue reading “The Girl with Magic Fingers”

Curtis Lovell and Tony Curtis Live

Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh in HoudiniWe must have seen the movie more than any other,  save The Wizard of Oz.

Tony Curtis’ portrayal of Harry Houdini in the classic 1953 story of the great magician’s life and death was more than inspiring — it was perspiring.

After seeing the film for the first time, we tried every escape an eight-year-old can create.  In any other household, cries of “C’mon, Mom.  Tie me up good this time!”” would likely bring an intervention or rescue.

It was a bit disheartening to learn Houdini did not die as portrayed in the film.  But that’s Hollywood.

We met Tony Curtis in Las Vegas a few years back.  He was still in great shape and looked ready to make another dozen films.  Let’s not kid ourselves, he was and remains one heck of a good-looking man.

Check out the live showing of Houdini at the Million Dollar Theater in Los Angeles on June 13th.  The film is part of the Jules Verne Adventures Festival.

Inside Magic Favorite Curtis Lovell III will be performing an incredible escape in celebration and in the spirit of Houdini.

Continue reading “Curtis Lovell and Tony Curtis Live”

Is Curtis Lovell Crazy?

Curtis Lovell III and Beautiful AssistantInternational escape artist Curtis Lovell II invites you to witness him strapped into a straitjacket and lifted 170 feet into the air — as the rope is set on fire.  When Lovell frees himself, he immediately will be lowered, handcuffed and sealed into a box of water — secured with Master locks.

Through wind, fire and water in his performance of “Hang-Man,” Lovell must face his fear of heights and his fear of drowning.  Neither Lovell nor any other escape artist — including the great Houdini — has ever combined these elements for a stunt of this magnitude.

The City of Grand Terrace, California, will host Lovell’s death-defying stunt as part of its Halloween Haunt in Pico Park, slated for 8 p.m. on Oct. 30, 09.  Last year’s theme element was Earth, during which Lovell faced the universal fear of being buried alive.  The stunt attracted more than 1,500 visitors and national media.

“It was spine-tingling last year with Lovell being buried alive,” said Steve Berry, Acting Manager of Grand Terrace, “We are looking forward to Hang-Man, his next death-defying feat.”

Lovell conceived the idea of Hang-Man as he studied the works of his childhood hero Harry Houdini.

“I always wanted to perform an aerial, upside-down straitjacket escape, but I wanted a twist,” Lovell said.  In addition to the danger of this stunt, Lovell truly fears heights and drowning. “I believe this will help me overcome both of these fears and bring me closer to nature and life,” he said, confidently.

Continue reading “Is Curtis Lovell Crazy?”

Joshua Jay Gets Q and A Today

The Cleveland Plain Dealer gives tremendous space to favorite son, Joshua Jay.

The interview is a great read and gives an insight into Mr. Jay’s creative background and passion for magic.

He credits his study abroad whilst at Ohio State for helping him to see, think and develop magic to be seen and thought about in a different way.

I also spent a year at the Sorbonne studying medieval art and architecture. Twice a week we met at the Louvre and every weekend visited chateaux and churches. It gets you thinking in a different way.
You realize that architects and artists had magic on their minds and they wanted to inspire people and amaze them and give them a sense of awe.
In some indirect, subconscious way, it has inspired the direction my magic has taken.

Mr. Jay describes how he was incurably infected by the magic bug early in life.

Continue reading “Joshua Jay Gets Q and A Today”

Barry Gibbs Recalls Mike Ellis

Mike Ellis 1917-2008

Contributing Editor Barry Gibbs kindly granted Inside Magic permission to publish his memorial for Mike Ellis, who passed away on October 2, 2008.  Mr. Ellis was certainly an influence on our love for Magic and perhaps yours.  He will truly be missed.

I was saddened today to discover that Mike had passed away, yet happy to remember that I was his “magic teacher” that started him on his way to another adventure in his life.

Yes, it was my “Adult Education” class that Mike first attended in Boynton Beach, Florida. I sponsored Mike into IBM Ring #117, of which I am a past President. Today IBM Ring 117 is the Mike Ellis Ring.

Mike was a wonderful, very modest man. I knew him for almost a year, before I became aware of his theatrical background, not that he told me, but I discovered it when he booked me to perform at a private party in his home.

I will never forget walking into his home and seeing all the autographed photographs to Mike, from any star you could think of. It was only after that occasion Mike explained his background to me. How modest could you be?
Continue reading “Barry Gibbs Recalls Mike Ellis”

Jeff McBride to End Run with Bang

Jeff McBride’s wildly successful show at the Palace Station Casino in Las Vegas will come to an end this month.

If you have not already made plans to see Mr. McBride, you have until November 22nd.

The award-winning performer will be working corporate and international gigs immediately after the Palace Station engagement.  He is currently mulling several offers on the Vegas Strip and Inside Magic will be sure to announce when his selection is made.

Continue reading “Jeff McBride to End Run with Bang”

Dean Gunnarson Cleans Up in New Escape

World-Famous Escape Artist, Dean Gunnarson is not normal.

Rather, he is nuts.

He performs an escape attempt each Halloween as a tribute to Houdini.  The escapes are never easy and rarely safe, but always the subject of great media attention.

Performing escape attempts that combine high risk and great difficulty is sure bet for unexpected and tragic results.  Perhaps that is why the press follows each attempt so closely.

Quoth Houdini: No one wants to see someone die, but they want to be there if it happens.

A quarter century ago, Mr. Gunnarson came with in a breath or two of losing his life in an underwater escape dedicated to Houdini.

As more than 10,000 watched, Mr. Gunnarson was shackled inside a coffin and lowered into the frigid, rushing Red River in Winnipeg, Canada. Continue reading “Dean Gunnarson Cleans Up in New Escape”

David Copperfield Works It Hard

David Copperfield brings the tour to west Canadian fans with a scheduled stop in Edmonton to perform three shows over two days.

If there is one thing Mr. Copperfield does well — and he does many things well but he does this one thing more well than any of the other things — it is advance work for his show.

Tickets for the Edmonton show are $56.00 CDN to $86.00 CDN for seats in the beautiful Rexall Place.

Mr. Copperfield knows he can please fans in those seats but he needs to get them into the theatre first.

That is where the advance work makes the difference between his show and so many other truck and bus tours.  According to The Edmonton Journal article, Mr. Copperfield’s hard work has paid him as much as $57 million in one year.

To put that number in proper perspective, assuming there was no sales tax or shipping costs, $57 million would buy (at retail) 1,900,000 D’Lite pairs; or pay rent on the Inside Magic office for 4,750 years.

That is some serious coin.  He could walk into any magic shop, in any town, and ask to see the most expensive trick — maybe The Bengal Net (U.F. Grant’s) or Passe Passe Bottles (the nice glass ones) or one of those Black Art Tables with the cool top — and he would not worry one second about dropping said trick. Continue reading “David Copperfield Works It Hard”

Sad News: Ted Lesley Passes

Ted Lesley was an innovator in so many aspects of our magicial arts.  He was an inventor and visionary.  His obituary will be written and re-written on other sites and each will no doubt give a different perspective on this great mind and incredible performer.

Several message boards carried posts notifying the magic public of Mr. Lesley’s passing yesterday around noon in an extended care home in Berlin, Germany.

Mr.  Lesley was born in Dueren, Germany August 1, 1937.

He fell in love with (or at least was smitten by) magic when a school teacher showed the young man an effect.  He considered magic as a profession but his parents suggested he look a “real profession.”

Accounting was apparently real enough for his parents.   He used his incredible mind to assist clients in their financial affairs and later as a tax accountant. Continue reading “Sad News: Ted Lesley Passes”