Category: Magic News

News from the World of Magic

Houdini’s Magic Scrapbook – Now Available Online

Inside Magic Image of Wonderful Poster Promoting Harry Houdini's Incredible Milk Can Escape - Failure Means a Drowning DeathThe Harry Houdini Scrapbook Collection is now available for perusing through the Harry Ransom Center Digital Collections at the University of Texas. The institution received the scrapbooks indirectly from Bess Houdini who sold them to a New York lawyer in 1926, the year of the great magician’s passing.

The Ransom Center did painstaking digitalization work on the ten books to let researchers see what Houdini collected over his globe-trotting career.  The collection includes scrapbooks purchased from others and offer a great insight into the real-world of magic at the turn of the century.

Included in the collection are scrapbooks from performers such as mentalist and hypnotist S.S. Baldwin, who performed as “The White Mahatma,”  and on divergent subjects related to Houdini’s passionate study of frauds, spiritualism, magic history and other ephemera.

An amazing resource for fans of Houdini, magic, theatrical history and the best practices of scrapbook digitization can be found online at the Harry Ransom Center.

Teller Wins Copied Magic Trick Lawsuit

You might know Teller as an excellent magician part of the Penn and Teller couple. But more recently you might have heard news on his lawsuit against a Belgian entertainer who used YouTube to post a copycat illusion belonging to Teller. James Mahan, the Nevada District Judge who ruled the case decided that Teller had every right to sue the copycat entertainer. As you might already know by now, magic tricks are not technically allowed to have copyrights. Pantomimes, however, can be protected with the help of copyrights, and Teller used this information to his best advantages. He used the idea according to which magicians convey their emotions and feelings using gestures, just like pantomimes, while performing their magic acts.

Shadows – Tellers Four-Decade Magic Trick

The magic trick that has been under trial has been created and performed by Teller for more than four decades. The act itself requires the use of a spotlight that is casted on a bud vase which encompasses a rose. The light falls so that the real rose’ shadow can be projected onto a white screen placed at a distance behind. The magician uses a large knife to cut off the leaves and petals of the rose’s shadow on the screen, while the genuine corresponding leaves of the flower start to fall.

Penn, Teller’s partner said that the secret of the act has never been revealed and no one knows how it is done. However, a Belgian entertainer named Gerard Dogge tried to replicate the exact same act in a YouTube video called “The Rose and Her Shadow”. Plus, he stated he will reveal the secret for $3,050. The lawsuit soon followed and Teller finally came out with flying colors.

Was Murray SawChuck Ripped Off?

Inside Magic Image of Magician Murray SawChuckLas Vegas Magician Murray SawChuck is justifiably peeved to learn his spectacular Steam Train effect has been appropriated by The Illusionists.

You recall the Steam Train Illusion, right?  Mr. SawChuck performed it on national television a few years back.  It was pretty cool and perhaps that is why it is featured in The Illusionists’ act.

Mr. SawChuck told Vegas News, “You will also notice the train is an exact copy of MY steam train illusion I designed and invented in 2010 for America’s Got Talent Semi-Finals being seen by more than 22 million viewers.”

We have no information that would cause us to doubt Mr. SawChuck.  But to be fair, we have not heard The Illusionists’ side of the story.

Mr. SawChuck said, “Most of the The Illusionist cast is from Las Vegas and they are well aware that the Steam Train Illusion is my idea yet I didn’t receive ONE phone call from anyone giving me the heads up or a nod that they wanted his idea of a steam train locomotive on stage.

“It’s a fact there has never been an illusion with a steam train locomotive inside a theater before I created mine for America’s Got Talent in 2010.  In this business you can’t patent an idea so it’s very easy to have your brand or idea ripped off without any credit!”

Actually, one can never patent an idea but we get his point.  A patent protects only new, nonobvious and useful item.  A great idea is a great idea but unworthy of a patent until it is utilized in an invention.

That being said, Mr. SawChuck could have applied for a patent for the trick and if we were wearing only our Intellectual Property Attorney hat (it is a nice bowler-style with a dark blue feather stuck in the band) we would have said he could pursue it.

But if we wear our magician hat (a collapsible fez – sort of a cross between Cardini and Tommy Cooper), we would tell him to not apply for a patent.

A patent allows its owner to exclude others from selling or using the invention.  That’s great but to receive this time-limited protection, the application needs to specify the method and construction of the device in excruciating detail.

Good news: no one else can use the device.  Bad news: everyone knows how to build the device.  As we say around the office, you can take a secret to your grave, but not to the Patent Office.

Mr. SawChuck really had no way – short of depending on the good intentions of his colleagues in our wondrous art – to keep others from performing the exact same effect.

A wise judge once told us, “the thinnest piece of bacon has two sides.”  We thought he was talking about the rather miserly portions available to prosecutors in the courthouse café, but it turns out he was advising us to always get both sides of any story before making up our mind.  We have not heard from The Illusionists yet but when we do, we will update this story.

Mr. SawChuck will be headlining his own show at The Tropicana in Las Vegas this spring.  You can check out his home page here.

A Whole Bunch of Magic For Sale

Rich Bloch /  Collector's Workshop Perfect Time IIIWe are winnowing down our extensive magic stores.  Over on eBay, we have two lots up for sale as we type and a third is going up this evening.

How do we know we are selling a lot?  We ran out of room to post the pictures of the items in our first lot.

We had questions from buyers asking for images of the Collector’s Workshop / Rich Bloch Perfect Time III.  It is used, has very slight scratches on the back and needs a new battery.  Fortunately, it is a real watch so your neighborhood jeweler has the battery and can even replace it for almost nothing.  It cost us $7.00 for the battery and the installation.  We also had to explain to the jeweler to why the watch looked different on the inside than others she had seen in her 22 years of jewelry work.  But we didn’t give up the trick, we explained it was an invention we were working on to allow for easier use of the watch by people who are lazy.

We don’t know if she believed us but she still replaced the battery and watched us leave without comment.

Here are images of the watch for those who have visited eBay and wondered.

As we type this, there is a mere 10 hours remaining in the sale.  If you are interested it the watch or any of the other stage effects, you should get over there quickly.

Magician and Priest Fr. Jim Blantz Takes on Magic Castle

Inside Magic Image of Magician Father Jim BlantzMagic has a proud history of Catholic religious personages in its midst.

Father Cyprian Murray, a past national president of The Society of American Magicians and the late Brother John Charles Hamman S.M. to name just a couple.

Well, we heard of a third for the list.  Fr. Jim Blantz,  a member of the Order of the Holy Cross, served mass at the  Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills and then went to The Magic Castle to start his week-long lecture series for Magicians only.

The 81-year-old priest and performer will soon celebrate 60 years in the clergy and more than 40 years as a magician.

Fr. Blantz’ first show was a one-trick command performance for a family friend.  Their 12-year-old girl asked, “Do you know any magic?”  The priest said he knew one trick.  he performed for her.  “I knew one trick. So I did it, and she was thrilled.”

He performed for kids during a subsequent mission trip to Uganda for a large audience of kids who didn’t speak English.

Fr. Blantz is a cardworker with a relatively stable and successful routine.

“I’ve done the same act for 41 years,” Fr.  Blantz said. “I think I’ve got it down.” Continue reading “Magician and Priest Fr. Jim Blantz Takes on Magic Castle”

UPDATED: How to Close a Show in 10 Days

Inside Magic Image of Writer and Performer Maren Wade

Maren Wade is a gifted performer, singer, dancer, skilled author and a really nice person.

We went over-the-top in our review of her essay on Robin Leach’s Vegas DeLuxe site.  Ms. Wade wanted to make sure readers understood she was not criticizing any particular producer or show.  She wrote:

“My intention on writing How To Close A Show In Ten Days was to poke fun at experiences that many performers have encountered in the entertainment industry and to praise those producers who have had successful shows.   I don’t, nor have I ever claimed my outrageous stories to be true much less to be true based on my own experiences.

“Much of what I wrote was apocryphal, over the top exaggerations of “war” stories swapped by various entertainers over drinks.  It was never intended as a criticism of any producer in particular or any producer with whom I have ever had the honor or privilege to work.

I have to make clear that I did not write the editor’s note and I did not mention anything about my credits.  The fact is over time shows can close regardless of how long they were running no matter how successful they may have been.

“Where there is a beginning, there is an end.  I acknowledge there are many factors at play and that producing is a challenging business with lots of hurdles to overcome.  It has been an honor to have performed in every show for which I have been credited.

“I have developed deep and meaningful relationships with many people from the production teams, cast and crews that I have worked with and feel inspired every day to be surrounded with so many talented people who have such enormous ambition, drive and success.”

She is not only a great writer, she is classy and kind.

Personally, we would never put up with our hijinx and wise acre ways.

In fact, we would have been a lot less diplomatic and probably gone over the top again by attacking our own writing for being unprofessional  and taking great liberties with the original story.  Fortunately, we are so lazy we likely would not have even bothered to write us.

Ms. Wade  shared what she learned from her friends in the business in a satirical piece on Vegas DeLuxe.  She served as a guest essayist whilst Robin Leach is on his annual summer vacation.

While her helpful instruction is not directly related to magic productions, her instruction can help any show avoid a short run and embarrassing close.

For instance:

What is the No. 1 rule of business? Keep costs down. Here are some effective ways to do this: Advertising is completely overrated. Why should you spend money to make money? Your show should be Vegas’ best kept secret, so secret that no one knows about it.

Read her full post here.

We hereby extend an offer to Ms. Wade.  Please join Inside Magic’s writing team.  We love snark and especially well-written and insightful snark.

You’ve got what it takes to make it in the magic writing biz, Ms. Wade.  Give us a call.

[ Edited 4:23 pm]

Carney Magic Announces Summer Matinees

John Carney Magic PosterInside Magic Favorite John Carney is no ordinary magician and, therefore, his show is no ordinary magic show.
Carney Magic is a melange of mind-blowing sleight of hand, good taste, quick wit and his award-winning presentation skills for pure entertainment.
We have it on very good authority Mr. Carney will perform Sunday matinees this summer and into the fall at the beautiful Two Roads Theater in Studio City, California.
Mr. Carney’s family-friendly show begins at 3 pm, July 14th and will run through September 8, 2013.
Mr. Carney has appeared on David Letterman’s Late Show, he is the most awarded performer at the Magic Castle, has authored books, columns and provided sold-out seminars attended by the best in our art.
In fact, those in the know say two of his books Carneycopia and The Book of Secrets, are essential reading for all magicians.
Another Inside Magic Favorite, the late Tommy Wonder said of Mr. Carney, “John is truly a man who understands magic.”
If you are in the Studio City area or plan to be there before September 8th, be sure to attend a real magic show by a real magician who really gets it.
You can read more about Mr. Carney at his cleverly named website, CarneyMagic.com
 Tickets are $15 for all ages and can be ordered from BrownPaperTickets.com
The Two Roads Theater is located at 4348 Tujunga Avenue in the always sparkling Studio City, California.
As a point of reference, the theater is practically across the street from the now infamous but still excellent Vitello’s Italian Restaurant.

David Kwong’s Misdirectors Guild Makes Movie Magic

Inside Magic Image of Now You See Me Movie PosterMagician and movie consultant David Kwong founded The Misdirectors’ Guild as “an elite group of magicians who specialize in illusion and deception for film and television.”  He and his colleagues have been busy of late with Hollywood films like The Incredible Burt WonderstoneNow You See Me and Red Lights starring Robert De Niro as a mind-reader and mentalist. (It apparently had a limited release in the United States but we heard the first thirty minutes featured the debunking of spiritualism tricks).

The Misdirectors Guild site lists several other Mr. Kwong and his group helped.  It is a pretty impressive list.

“Magic is all storytelling,” says Mr. Kwong told FastCoCreate.com. “It has an arc that’s introduced, then played out for the big reveal. There’s a foreshadowing along the way. I like the idea of putting clues out there is plain sight–introducing the simplest of magic tricks, then making their concept play out in a big way.”

He would know.  Mr. Kwong is not only a real-life magician, but he has also worked with some of the true big names in our business; like Ricky Jay and David Copperfield.  For Now You See Me, Mr. Kwong worked with the director and screenwriters to “make the illusions in the film as plausible as possible, while furthering the plot.”  That is a tough job.  There has to be a temptation to save the time and money necessary to teach actors sleight of hand with a few well-placed computer-generated imagery (“CGI”).

Mr. Kwong was on the Now You See Me set for about eight months teaching card sleights to the cast.  He claims the film tried to keep the magic real.  “All the illusions in the film are based on real practical effects,” Mr. Kwong told FastCoCreate.com. “Even a 3-D projection done on the side of a building is now used as a marketing tool. The actors employed a fair amount of real sleight of hand.” Continue reading “David Kwong’s Misdirectors Guild Makes Movie Magic”

Blindfold + Heavy Winds = No Sky Walk for Criss Angel

criss-angel-believeWe don’t blame Criss Angel for postponing his blindfold walk on two beams more than six-stories up.

Las Vegas winds are as unpredictable as Las Vegas wins.  It is hard enough to walk along beams sixty feet above the pavement with a blindfold — but when you add “strong winds” to the mix, you are making it really risky.

We checked the OSHA standards and it appears it would be a violation for any employee (contract or full-time) to walk along a beam twenty meters over any surface (save marshmallows (see OSHA Reg. 223-0(a) re “Spongy Food Stuff Surfaces and Worker Safety”) and even then the regs require the marshmallows to be “fresh” and at least six feet in depth).

via Weather takes the wind out of Criss Angel stunt – CBS 12 Action News.

Houdini Mystery House Still Not Found

Inside Magic Image of Location of Houdini's Stamford Home?Houdini has been gone (some say) for a long time.

We have had two comings of Halley’s Comet since he shuffled from this mortal coil.  (See what we did there, “shuffled”?)  Yet stories about the magician continue to grab the attention of readers and, apparently, assignment editors.  Some of the stories clearly strain to make Houdini relevant but that is okay with us.  We just like reading about Houdini no matter how tangential to current events.

Today’s article in Connecticut’s The Southington Patch gives a nice biographical essay combined with two local ties.  According to the story, Houdini owned a retreat in the Nutmeg State — a seven-room home in Stamford.  (Interestingly, “the Nutmeg State” is also the third level of consciousness in a therapeutic hypnosis session properly administered).

The Patch says “despite all of Houdini’s notoriety, there is no known photo of his Connecticut home; furthermore, no one seems to be able to locate the actual address of his home there.”

Strange, no?  One wonders how one knows Houdini actually owned such a home if there is no known address other than “Webbs Hill Road.”

We did a check of Webbs Hill Road in Stamford and searched for seven bedroom homes.  We found none.  But, we did find two six bedroom versions and both were pricey (close to a million dollars) and neither were for sale.

Perhaps the person or persons who purchased Houdini’s retreat converted one of the bedrooms into a library, a den, a knick-knack room, an extra kitchen, a billiard parlor, a theater or theatre, an indoor pool with either an in-ground pool or an above ground pool stuffed into a former bedroom, a yoga and/or Pilates center, a very small ice rink, a home planetarium (to chart the comings and goings of a certain comet), a not-so-free-range poultry farm, a sublet apartment complex for down-on-their-luck magicians (it could easily accommodate seven in one room if properly constructed and fire codes were ignored), a holy shrine to a saint or a deity or several deities, a handball or squash court (assuming European rules dictated the size and not the unwieldy Asian dimensions), a séance room, or even a laundry.

We did a quick check of the construction permits pulled for each home on Webbs Hill Road in Stamford from 1926 forward to identify renovation or construction on any of the residences that would explain the apparent loss of at least one bedroom. Continue reading “Houdini Mystery House Still Not Found”