The first email is from a young magician in Shelby, Tennessee:

Tom:

How do you know the news so quickly? How do you find out about some magician doing some walk around restaurant gig in a Denny’s in Taipei on alternate Sundays? Do people send you the news or do you comb the web or what?

Signed,

"If this buggy’s rocking, call 911. I’m alone in here."

Dear Lonesome Buggy Boy:

First of all, the name is Tim. Second
of all, just because some magician hasn’t made it to Vegas yet, and is
still doing what we do at the Ordinary Magician Stratum, doesn’t mean
you can make fun of him/her/us/me. I read a poll
the other day in MagicData that said, 97.2 percent of all magicians who
actually make a living from their work, "are working in restaurants,
bars or doing parties." I thought that was a high statistic so I called Irwin Sines at MagicData and he told me it was a real stat. Apparently
there is a big drop off in the figures when you go from magicians
working for a living by doing magic and magicians doing magic for pay
(every once in a while) but not living on the wages.

I
learn about the magicians covered here by either combing the Internet
or receiving press releases or notes from magicians around the world. The
magician you referred to in your email, was actually not doing
table-hopping at Denny’s in Taipei but was doing Hippity Hop Rabbits
that he bought from Denny and Lee’s Magic Shop with a toupee. I think you need a new web browser or something. Maybe that’s why you got my name wrong.

The second letter is from someone in an unidentified location:

Hi:

Are
you embarrassed by what women think of you? Do you wish you could
please them even more than they’ve ever dreamed? Have you given up on
being a real man . . .

Dear Unidentified Emailer:

I assume you are either my first or second wife. I
doubt you are my common law wife from the former Dutch Republic of
Southern Vimgav ? as she does not read and write in English.

Continue reading “Letters to Inside Magic” →

Last night, we read the story of two men with a group called
Pirates With Attitude ("PWA").

The Feds (as opposed to the "Well-Fed," which
describes us) claimed that the PWA folks were hacking software to take of the
copy protection and thus allowed anyone on the Internet to download the
software for free.

This was premium software. PWA thought that because they did
not charge for the downloads, they shouldn't be prosecuted of theft.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed.

They stole, they got caught and now they go to jail.

It got us thinking — it could happen — of a novel method
to protect magic inventors intellectual property.

We don't know why this idea hasn't been suggested before –
perhaps because it is either too obvious or unworkable.

We, as magic-consumers, and we, as magic
dealers/manufacturers, could be honest about what we are buying.

We live on the east side of Mystic Hollow, Michigan and those familiar with the
neighborhood, know it has its seedy side.

The least offensive or dangerous character wandering our
realm is the guy in the tan, non-descript Chevrolet Astro Van.

We think the Van Man's selling skills must be week. He cannot afford to upgrade his wheels to
something made in this century. Or maybe
his customers recognize him by the van.
Either way, the Van Man won't get out of his home on wheels unless you
give him the nod.

He hasn't changed his van, his sales methods, or toothbrush
in the 15 years we've seen him work for customers.

As residents stroll along the tree-lined boulevards of
Mystic Hollow, the Van Man slowly pulls astride from a safe distance in the
roadway. Once he has your attention, the
Van Man politely inquires whether you might be interested in stereo equipment
or, and this is a recent addition, video games and consoles.

Mr. Van Man offered us a system he claimed cost in excess of
$2,500.00 in the stores. (We've since
checked the actual retail price for the products offered: it priced out at just
under $2,000.00 — close enough).

His price for the system? A mere $200.00 — cash.

Is it better to avoid temptation or to withstand its
attraction? We didn't have $20.00 much
less $200.00.

We're not noble, just poor.

Still, we'd like to think that if we had the cash, we would
righteously reject the offer.

Of course, we can also be convinced we would maintain our
vow (involuntary) of celibacy if Lindsay Lohan started stalking.

We think it was that dad character in Hamlet who said to his
son, ". . . [a]nd this above all, to thine own self be true." Of course he got stabbed through the curtain
and the two guys his son was leaving to find were dead. True Dat.

Let's return to the theme of this article: temptation, noble
causes, and temptation causing us to be less than noble.

We asked Mr. Van Man his source for the deeply discounted
product.

"Where'd you get
it?"

"Why?" he asked quickly but without an irritated
tone.

Mr. Van Man probably didn't make us for a law-enforcement
officer but looked us over quickly; perhaps out of habit.

"Just wondering," we said.

"I have a friend who had a store that went out of
business and they didn't get a last pay check — they were allowed to take some
of the stock. He needed money, not
stereo equipment, so he sold it to me."
So far the story sounded possible.
Michigan
is in the midst of a pretty bad economic downturn.

Mr. Van Man continued, "I was just driving home and
then I remembered my wife's gonna kill me if she hears I helped my friend out
or that I spent all that money on this stuff."

If we ignored the fact that Mr. Van Man is an institution on
the East Side of Mystic Hollow, this was a plausible story.

Sure, that could be the case.

It is possible Mr. Van Man's recently fired buddy needed
help; Mr. Van Man helped him out but now had buyer's remorse.

It was as our feeble brain considered the situation that we
became enlightened.

Mr. Van Man's plausible story was likely not the truth; but
it was plausible.

We would never knowingly
buy stolen goods. But perhaps we are
evil enough to buy stolen goods if we have a convenient or plausible
explanation for the incredible opportunity.

There is a saying amongst the farmers south of Mystic
Hollow, "Let's get down to the Lick-Log." The Lick-Log is a salt or sugar encrusted
piece of wood tossed into the pens of some animals to keep them happy. Eventually, the sugar or salt is gone and
you're left with a log.

At its most basic level, Mr. Van Man was hoping to make us a
fence for the stolen goods and to sweeten the deal, he would throw in the soul
assuaging, plausible explanation.

Michigan
codified the statute years before our encounter with Mr. Van Man. A "fence" or possessor of stolen
goods of more than $500.00 in value is guilty of a felony and subject to more
than a year in prison.

So, where is the Magic Lick-Log? Was Mr. Van Man selling magic tricks as well
as stereo equipment? What is the relevance of this story? Is it possible people searching Google for
"Lick" and "Log" will find this story and wonder why they
were directed to a magic news site?

The application to our current crisis in Magic isn't that
difficult — but that doesn't mean we can't write about it a very confusing and
convoluted manner.

Let's divide magicians and manufacturers into a few
categories:

First: brand-new
magicians without any experience or knowledge of the craft's history;

Second: magicians
with some knowledge of both the market place and the recent magic history;

Third:
manufacturers or dealers just starting out in the business (such as a mom and
pop shop); and,

Fourth: experienced
manufacturers or dealers.

We want to encourage young people to get into our wonderful
art form.

The new magician is unlikely to purchase a counterfeit
version of David Copperfield's latest illusion.

The rookie magi will probably find satisfaction practicing
Cups-and-Balls, Chinese Sticks, or Cut-and-Restored Rope.

For the most part, novice magicians will purchase effects in
magic's version of the public domain.

The amateur or semi-professional or professional magician
should not receive the same benefit of the doubt extended to beginners.

A magician at this level knows or should know certain tricks
are not in the public domain. They may
not know the true inventor but they can discern those tricks we've had in our
craft for decades versus a more recent entry into the commercial magic market.

A "real" magic shop always has the hand-written
sign, "No Refunds. The Secret Is Told When the Trick Is Sold." It is de rigueur in the magic shop cohab.

We'll venture out onto a sturdy limb to suggest all
magicians know this maxim.

When we bought Jerry Andrus' Linking Pins we didn't really expect the cost of the five (?)
safety pins made up most of the $25.00 price.
We were buying the secret. We
were paying for Mr. Andrus' innovative routine and secret.

Are you still with us?
Let's review. If you're a new
magician, you probably don't know any better.
If you're a professional or semi-professional you do know or should know
whether a trick is in the public domain or the property of a magic
inventor.

Karl Marx said if one was going to object to his economic
philosophy, they would have to object to his most basic premises. Once you accept the premises, he said, the
philosophy and structure is logical and invulnerable to attack.

So if you accept our premise that we have responsibility for
acting in an ethical manner, you are ready for our logical exploration.

The experienced magician knows or should know that the price
tag reflects not the raw materials but the innovation of the trick's inventor.

We are not audiophiles but we generally know when something
is too good to be true.

(We're definitely not any kind of audiophile but we almost
were, we think. Eight years ago, we sort
of made out with a person at a family reunion who we kind of thought was our
cousin but it turned out we were wrong.
So, we didn't really do anything wrong after all. Our true cousin was really angry when we told
her the story though. She couldn't see
any similarity between her and the 82 year-old man rummaging through the trash
cans).

If we bought the stereo equipment, Mr. Van Man would get a
windfall and we'd get a stereo system at a crazy price. The true owner of the equipment would get
zip.

So didn't we have a duty to the victim of Mr. Van Man's
theft?

Sure. And not just
because we didn't want to break the law.
It was more than illegal, it was wrong.

We sleep with a loaded .38 under our pillow and our arm
wrapped around our 22 year-old Sony Betamax Video Player. We'd hate to lose the machine. Sure, we don't really sleep that well —
we're worried we'll fire the gun while dreaming about being fitted for a new
bowling ball — but the Betamax has value to us. It may not command much on the street but it
means something special to us.

(By the way, have you noticed there are less and less tapes
available for the Beta format? We
haven't seen a new release since The
Daring Dobermans Go To France).

You protest.

Hey Mr. Moral, who are you to judge whether a seller is
legitimate?

What if they have a plausible case for claiming the right to
sell a particular trick, isn't that good enough?

How is a simple magician to know the true owner or inventor
of every trick I want to purchase. I don't
live at the Magic
Castle or breathe the
rarified air of the elite historians. I
am just trying to make it month to month and have to shop solely on price.

We can't judge you or your motives. We can tell you, however, purchasing magic
based on price alone will often reward the thief and punish the inventor.

Let's head back to the Lick-Log for a second.

In your heart of hearts, your deepest self, you know you can
discern knock-offs from authentic magic effects.

Whether shopping at a brick and mortar magic shop or on the
internet, you know if there are two very similar versions of the same trick but
with disparate price points, one of the two is the knock-off.

The salesperson or web site will probably not tell you the
difference in price is because knock-offs cost him much less than the authentic
version of the trick.

But you don't need that explanation. First because we're telling you here and now;
and second, because if you possess the skills to use the internet or get to a
magic shop, you have the innate intelligence required to discern something that
is too good to be true.

Sure, it's possible the more expensive effect is a knock-off
or even just a better quality version of the authentic version authorized by
the inventor. We play the odds everyday
in our real job and we're willing to bet great price disparity evidences a
knock-off.

Test our theory.
Pause before pushing the purchase button long enough to post an inquiry
on Magic Café, the Genii Forum, SAM Talk, or the IBM Listserv. You will receive feedback almost instantly.

You can turn a blind eye to the issue but we all know not
seeking the truth is ethically no better than doing what we know is wrong.

The manufacturer and dealers are held to a much higher level
in our ethical model.

Whether a "mom and pop" magic store or a
sophisticated magic dealer or manufacturer, the dealer/manufacturer knows or
should know the history of the effect they are buying and selling to the magic public.

This is a radical concept.
It is tough to measure, impossible to enforce, and there is no official body
to sanction buyers or sellers who buy knock-offs. We have integrity and when the integrity fails
to keep us honest, we should be able on the peer pressure and support of our
magic brothers and sisters.

The costs are potentially very high if we ignore our ethical
responsibility to inventors. Eventually,
we will force the quality and innovation out of our art.

Continue reading “Mr. Van Man Learns Us Good: Just Say ‘No’ to Knock-Offs!” →

Continue reading “Thoughts of Criss Angel on a Perfect Day with a Perfect Idiot” →

When required by court order or threat of litigation,
Quinlan's Inside Magic publishes letters to the editor and issues corrections,
retractions, or admissions of total fabrication. 

If you have a beef with something written, said, not said,
or not pictured, on Quinlan's Inside Magic, please feel free to send an email
to editor@insidemagic.com.  We always answer the letters either in this
type of feature or directly by email. 

To the Editor:

 
You made numerous mistakes in your article, "Harlan
Tarbell – Turban Wearing Liar from Gary Indiana." 

First of all, Dr. Tarbell is no longer
living.  You said he was retired in the
"south of France with
his third wife, a mail-order bride from Belarus."  Second, you claim he was from Gary, Indiana but the
reality is he was from Chicago,
Illinois.

Here are two big
blunders in just the article's title and first line.  I could name the rest of the errors but that
would be longer than your already ponderous article.

Here's a couple, though. 

You claim Dr. Tarbell was originally half of a Siamese-twin
pair and that under his turban "[he] hid the remnants of the operation
that freed him from his sister Anita Tarbell who also wore decorative hats to
hide her most direct connection to her magician brother."   

This is not only disgusting but it is untrue.  There was no Anita Tarbell and no evidence
that Dr. Tarbell had anything on his head other than hair.  He didn't even wear the turban all that
much.  In fact, he rarely wore it at all.

You next suggest that while Dr. Tarbell became famous for
his Tarbell Course on  Magic, he was
better known as a burlesque dancer performing as "Doctor Tee." 

While I can't prove that is not true, you can't prove that
it is.  There is nothing in any biography
to suggest Dr. Tarbell even knew how to dance, much less "dance the hootchie-cootchie
to entertain our fighting boys overseas."

Then you said he was an inventor and was the first patent
owner for the process behind "Scratch-n-Sniff" technology.  I checked the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office and they have no such record.  I also
checked with the Kraft Foods Company in Chicago
and they have nothing to support your bizarre suggestion that Dr. Tarbell
developed the first "Scratch-n-Sniff applications to aid blind shoppers
find their favorite brands."  While
I would agree Dr. Tarbell was a caring and giving man, I do not know of any
responsible historian who would suggest this nugget.

I also must take great exception to your persistent and very
irritating style of writing.  You use the
royal or papal "WE" throughout your articles and you end almost every
paragraph with a series of exclamation marks. 
It is the type of writing I would expect if the Pope was a 16
year-old-girl and I was reading his/her diary. 

Finally, while I don't know how Dr. Tarbell obtained his
title "Doctor," I can virtually guarantee it was not, as you wrote,
"because he trained for seven years as a freelance colorectal
therapist."

You should be ashamed of yourself.  Get your facts straight before you defame
someone so important as Dr. Harlan Tarbell.

To the Editor:

I read Inside Magic all of the time.  You used to have a newsletter that came out
very often but not now anymore.  Why and
do you think you will have it come out again?

To the Editor:

In one of your articles, you featured a magician who did a
trick with a ball the floated or something like that.  Do you know who that was and how I can get
that trick?

To the Editor:

Are the Mandrake the Magician cartoons original or are they
re-prints from the old series?  That is
the first page I look for each day. 
Thank you for running them.

To the Editor:

Are you tired of paying good money for bad drugs?  Is your spouse tired of putting up with your
excuses?  Are you too embarrassed to solve
personal problems because you don't want to ask your own doctor for the
prescriptions YOU REALLY NEED? 

To the Editor:

I did that trick you had in your "Learn a Trick
Column" but it didn't come out right. 
You said they will always pick the Six of Spades but I've done it 19
times and not once did they say they picked the Six of Spades.  Are you wrong or did I read your trick wrong?

To the Editor:

I am a Pediatrician and member of a fairly large practice
here the Des Moines
area.  I also enjoy magic and was excited
to read your article about using tricks with kids to encourage healthy
habits.  I shared your column with my
colleagues and we were all impressed and have made or bought the tricks as you
taught.  I did have concern about one
trick, though; that is why I am writing to you. 
The Rising Card trick is a classic and I love your innovative method of
making the card appear to float up and away from the pack but there must be
another substance as sticky and pliable as mucous that can be used to attach
the card to the performer's forehead.  While
there probably is not much risk of infection from one using one's own mucous to
stick a card to one's forehead, you suggest the performer "secretly secure
mucous from either his nose or a friend's nose."  The spread of germs through the nasal
passages is well-documented as one of the most efficient methods.  In fact, next to exposure to serum or blood,
the mucosal lining of the nose or other areas stands ready to actually incubate
infection-causing genes upon contact. 
Can you make a correction to your article or bring this to the attention
of your readers?  Keep up the great work!

To the Editor:

My story is sad but true. 
I am the former mistress of Deputy Prime Minister Kastan Trijolie of Nigeria.  The now famous military coup forced us from
the royal palace with little more than the clothes on our backs and one
suitcase of luggage each.  Fortunately,
we were able to carry with us – on our persons at great risk and danger if
caught – the keys to our very large Switzerland banks account boxes
that have millions of Euros in gold stored inside of them.  Because we are in exile, we cannot get to the
boxes directly but and so we need your help as a honest man, Mr. To the Editor,
to get the gold out.  We would be willing
to give you 60 percentages of the gold if you can help us.  We can live many lifetimes on just 40
percentages of the gold so we don't need more than that.  You can help us by sending your credit
information to my attentions here on the email. 
I will send you a test checque to see if you can deposit it into your
account to show that we can have the rest of the millions of golds sent to your
account by a wire transfer.  Please times
of the essence, Mr. To the Editor.  Send
your informations to me now and I will send the test check right aways.  You are the only one we can trust to help us
and we have not tolded anyone else about this. 
Only you.

To the Editor:

I asked the magic store owner if he had ever heard of a nest
of boxes made out of bubbles.  He said I
was "KRAZY!!!"  He said he saw
the same lecture you saw and Losander did not teach anyone how to do a nest of
boxes with bubbles where you pop ever-smaller bubbles until you reach the last
one where the audience can see the marked coin floating inside the bubble.   He said he thought you were making this
up.  Were you because if you weren't it
sounds like a great trick.

To the Editor:

You should be better in your description of this
website.  I wasted alot of time on it
because I thought it was about Magic the Gathering but its' not at
all.  It's about MAGIC THE BORING.  Say it upfront in your
google listing that
this isnt' a website for people who want to play the greatest game ever
but for
people who like to "do" magic like spazzes.

To the Editor:

You seem to have a thing for Lindsay Lohan and Natalie
Wood.  I can see the Natalie Wood
obsession, she was a talented actress who matured into beautiful movie star
with solid acting credentials.  Lindsay
Lohan seems to be a self-absorbed teen-idol. 
Surely you must have more depth than a tabloid-reader.

To the Editor:

What ever happened to your challenge to David Blaine and
Criss Angel to go head-to-head  in a
magic contest.  As I recall, you or the
ezine were going to pay some award to the winner and it was going to be
judged
by impartial non-magic judges.  Did that
already happen and I just missed it or haven't they accepted it
yet?  Just wondering.  Personally, I think Criss Angel would
win but
I am biased because I met him when he was filming the first season of
MINDFREAK
in Las Vegas
and he was so nice and asked me about what kind of magic I do and what
I wanted
to do when I got out of school.  He is a
star but he is still a magic fan like us.

To the Editor:

Is there a way you could make your web site less
interesting?  Perhaps you could take
stories in the regular news and then add a hole bunch of nonsense to them and
post them with pictures of pretty girls who have nothing to do with the story
at all.  Oh Wait, YOU ALREADY DO
THAT!  Okay, maybe you could write stupid
"fiction" about a stupid "family" of magicians who drink
too much and don't have real homes or real booking schedules and who probably
don't even exist and then post them with a picture of a pretty girl who has
nothing to do with the story.  OH NO! YoU
ALREADY DO THAT TO.  Hmm. Let me
think.  Maybe you could write reviews of
your obviously favorite magicians or youre favorite magicians tricks and books
and DVDs and have pictures of pretty girls with the stories but who have
nothing to do with the stories or reviews. 
NO.  That wnot work.  YOU DO THAT ALREADY TO!  Well, I guess youv'e tried all of the idea's
I would suggested to you so you're doing all that you can to make it boring
already.  I will just have to take what I
can got.

To the Editor:

Why don't you have more pieces about Li'l Tom Hardy and
family.  I look forward to those stories
and even send the links on to my friends when I see a new one.  Thanx.

To the Editor:

I met you in Las
Vegas at the second Magic Live.  You said you were going to write an article
about me and an interview but I never heard from you again.  Do you still have time and do you want me to
resend my clippings and pictures?  It's
no problem if you need them re-sent. 
Thank you again!

Our responses (in
no particular order):

We don't care what you think, we feel royal enough; and
besides, a Pope can't be a girl.

We were just joking.

Yes, send them again.

We're glad you like the stories, it's nice to hear that.

We like pictures of pretty girls so sue us.  By the way, every photo we show has something
to do with the stories or reviews.  You
need to look more closely.
 

What about the Deputy Prime Minister's Wife?  Won't she notice 60 percent of the gold is
gone?  Or doesn't she know about you and
the Deputy Prime Minister?  Why would I
trust someone who would cheat on a government official thrown into exile by his
own country men and women?

We have never been embarrassed asking our trained
physician's assistant for drugs.  Our
partner is disappointed and we're embarrassed but not about the same thing.
 

Not Losander.  We think there was a miscommunication.  We said we saw "Losander's evil twin"
teach the trick at a lecture recently.  As
your neighborhood magic shop owner for Blowsander's
Nested Bubbles.

We heard back informally (we think) from Criss Angel – any
time, any where.  No word from Mr.
Blaine's people. 

We're glad he is a nice guy on and off television.

You're probably right. Nothing can compare with a game where
you sit amongst your same gender, popping the same type of whiteheads, eating
the same kind high fructose foodstuffs, while living a life of fantasy where
you're not sitting at a table with the same guys, with zits, eating Twinkies.
 

We will have the newsletter again soon.  We just need to figure out the programming so
we don't send spam out unintentionally. 
(That doesn't mean we want to send out spam intentionally either.  You
know what we mean). 

We were just joking about the Siamese Twin – the rest of it
is true, though.  Look it up.

We were using the Six of Spades as an example.  Read the sentence fragment right before the sentence
you reference.  "for example, the
Six of Spades."   They can take any
card and it would work as long as you handle the deck as we described.  On the other hand, we can just about
guarantee that if you handle the deck correctly but they did not take the Six
of Spades, the Six of Spades will not be the card you show at the end of the
trick.  Start at the end and read
backwards. You don't just yell, "Six of Spades" while handling the
cards. You actually produce the card they selected and then lost in the
deck.  Does that make sense?  If not, write us again and we'll go through
the handling step-by-step.  We probably
didn't explain it right.

Why would we want to review products that are no good or
promote magicians we don't like?  If the
trick, book, video, or DVD is bad, we won't cover it.  So assume if you don't read about a given
item in our pages, it is because it is either terrible or we haven't finished
our comprehensive review of all tricks and magicians in the history of
mankind. 

We were just making a joke based on that old saying, Vous pouvez sélectionner votre nez.  Vous
pouvez sélectionner vos amis.   Mais vous ne pouvez pas sélectionner le nez
de votre ami  ("you can pick
your nose, you can pick your friends, but you can't pick your friend's
nose.")  We were trying to be
witty.  We were also just joking about
re-using the tongue depressors for the paddle trick, and the used cotton balls
as a sponge-ball substitute.  But you
probably already knew that – we hope.

 
We cannot claim to have any depth of character or
integrity.  You would likely break your
neck diving into our soul – even in the deep-end.
 

Based entirely on Princess Narda's rather contemporary hair
style (she used to wear a "flip") we think this is a new series.  The artist does give credit, however, to the originator
of the strip in each panel.

The effect is called The Zombie or The Zombie Ball.  You can buy it on the internet or better yet
your neighborhood brick and mortar magic store. 
We didn't provide the secret because it is not our trick and it is
commercially available. 
If you can't find
a brick and mortar store in your neighborhood, travel to a neighborhood where
they have a real magic store.  You'll
find a wealth of knowledge there.  Chances
are the reason you might have difficulty finding a brick and mortar store in
your neighborhood is because the internet stores' cut-rate prices make it
impossible to pay the rent.  You will
learn so much just hanging around the counter of a real-live magic store.  We promise.

Continue reading “Letters to the Editor – Magic in Writing (and Answering)” →

We
are so honored Robin Dawes granted Quinlan's Inside Magic permission to
publish his complete review of this years F.F.F.F. An edited version of
this report was published in the most recent edition of The Linking
Ring.

NEWS FROM THE FRONT: In April, Brigadier General "Ogre" Obie O'Brien
launched a major offensive in the War on Magical Mediocrity.  Like
the canny campaigner that he is, he invited the best and the bravest
from around the world to muster in Batavia NY for an all-out attack on
the boring banalities of bland box-tricks.

(For the record: we're talking about the 2006 Fechter's Finger Flicking
Frolic, April 26 – 30, the Original Close-up Magic Convention, by
invitation only.)

The battle began on Wednesday night with a surprise bombardment: Dutch master Flip Hallema
presented a lecture of clever, creative magic that rattled the dust out
of old assumptions.  His range included light bulbs, coins,
origami owls, wine glasses, ropes, flutes, and wallets.  One of
Flip's messages: with competent choreography and attention management,
objects can often be convincingly vanished by the simple expedient of
dropping them in your pocket. 

After this first assault, a reconnaissance if you will, had tested the
enemy's defences, the battleground was quiet.  But behind the
scenes, throughout the seemingly somnolent hotel, Obie's army was busy
polishing its weapons … err, routines … preparing for the onslaught
that the new day would bring.

By morning, there was keen anticipation in the air.  Word had
circulated around the fox-holes that Obie was bringing in a famous
warrior whose absence from recent FFFF conventions had been sorely
lamented.  Sure enough, at 11 AM the curtain went up on J. C. Wagner's
lecture.  J. C. got the troops fully motivated for battle with a
solid lecture on his own versions of some of the classics of card
magic.  This lecture struck another hard blow against the forces
of dull magic, by reminding recruits and veterans alike that there is
no need to abandon tried and true effects, so long as they are polished
and practiced to perfection.

J. C.'s lecture was followed by a training session with "Raging" Roger Klause,
leading an elite troop of instructors in armed and unarmed magical
combat.  Roger himself taught us new insights into the "card to
impossible location" plot, one of the most powerful effects for the lay
audience.  The other teachers were Professor Rem, teaching reverse mentalism, Thomas Fraps, alerting us to "Pips Disease", and Jörg Alexander
with a very clever bill-counting routine.  Thomas and Jörg are
members of the internationally renowned squad "The Flicking Fingers",
famous for their many attacks on magical mediocrity.

By now it was clear that the battle was off to a good start. 
Early territorial gains had been made, and the broad outlines of Obie's
battle plan were becoming clear.  The assault on weak magic would
proceed on two fronts: innovation and discovery on the one hand, and a
solid understanding of the classics on the other.

Now that the beach-heads had been secured by Flip and J.C., and
Roger's Raiders had staked out some forward positions, it was time to
bring up the troops.

Under the guidance of MC "Monster" Mike Hilburger, the first wave hit the ground running.  Joan Caesar,
president of the Canadian Association of Magicians, located both a
borrowed ring and a chosen card (as many people were heard to say
during their own performances "simultaneously and at the same
time").  Next up, the witty and urbane Mark Leveridge showed some odd pencils that seemed to grow and shrink on command.  Terry Lunceford left his viper at home, and performed a very impressive levitating deck.  Roland Meister,
my good friend from Switzerland, breathed new life into the classic
Slydini Silks and Knots, and ended with a graceful performance of the
Linking Rings.  The crowd responded very positively to this poetic
magic.

Roger Miller, IBM president, was next, presenting a miracle with two coins.  Roger was followed by Bill Nagler, who described the history of the Berglas Effect and then proceeded to perform it.  My Canadian compatriot Patrick Drake
followed with a well-connected series of effects that concluded with
the startling production of a ring which we had all believed to be
securely tied to a rope sitting on the other side of the stage. 
Closing out this advance squad was the sublime Swami Salami, aka Jim Cielinski.  The Swami performed some unbelievable mentalism.

As the first squad rested after their mad dash up the beach, the second company advanced under the leadership of MC "Madman" Meir Yedid.  Taking the point position was Tony Gerard with a very unusual routine called "Braille Lip Reading".  Tony credited the great Karrel Fox with this idea.  Dave Weidemer rode shotgun with a two coin transposition routine.  Harold Cataquet followed up with a button matrix routine that ended with the buttons sewn in place!  John Born kept up the energy level by discovering a chosen card at a chosen position in the deck.  Veteran Phil Messina did a very interesting prediction routine using a deck of cards and some glass beads.

Next in line, Satoshi Onosaka, son of Ton Onosaka, showed us the latest idea in restaurant ordering: sushi mind-reading.  Jean-Luc Dupont performed a rope routine with very funny patter ("knots" sounds different with a French-Canadian accent).  George Olson presented a mystery with coins and a brass box.  Josh Rand was able to identify selected cards by riffling the edge of the deck.  Michael Tallon performed an unusual effect in which he was able to discern the value on a die rolled inside a coffee cup.

Bill Abbott, a FFFF freshman but experienced Canadian
commando, introduced us to his secret weapon, "Chico the Mind
Reader".  Chico was an hilarious monkey puppet with more character
than many live performers.  The serene Shigeo Futagawa performed a sequence of elegant magical effects with coins.  Rounding out the troop was Drew DiConstanzo, with a strong multiple card selection routine.

After mess-call, Obie launched a flanking attack on the enemy.  The convention's Guest of Honour, Aldo Colombini,
came out of left-field and gave us a lecture that dealt a swift series
of body-blows to the domain of dull magic.  Aldo used mentalism,
card magic, rope magic, sticker magic, hole-punch magic, and his
inimitable comedy to leave the troops invigorated and ready for the
next day.

When reveille sounded on Friday, the battalion mustered to witness
a virtuoso display of magical teaching by an all-volunteer squad, led
by that wily veteran of a thousand battles, "Punisher" Pat Page. 
The only rule of engagement for this workshop session was that all the
magic must use every-day items.  Pat fearlessly led his troops
into the fray with the production of a large, full bottle from the
sleeve of his jacket, and another from the sleeve of an audience
member's jacket.

Gene Gordon was next, doing transposition effects with pink and blue sugar packets.  Gene was followed by Keith Randall, who taught us how to produce a full pop bottle from a flat, empty bag or envelope.  The one and only Ali Bongo taught us a very strong mental routine in which a borrowed bill's serial number is divined.  Mike Powers introduced us to a totally impromptu demonstration of telekinesis using a plastic straw.  David Neighbours, the ninja of coin magic, taught us a transposition effect using two borrowed finger-rings.

Pat Page returned to rally the troops, and taught us how to produce a large dinner plate from our knees.  Roger Bernheim
gave a very clean presentation and explanation of the "paper dots on a
knife" routine – it is easy to forget how magical this looks, until you
see it performed.  Flip followed, with a thorough explanation of his clever method for vanishing a large glass under a silk.

Ali Bongo came to the front again, this time teaching two
fascinating effects using an impromptu coin tunnel made from a folded
post card.  George Silverman taught us a very deceptive penetration using two folded drinking straws.  Tony Wieland taught us how to balance a coin on the edge of a borrowed bill – very useful for winning bets down at the canteen.  Pat Page
proved that he could open and close any show, by doing just that. 
Having led the charge, he provided his workshop company's closing note
by teaching us a very elegant Miser's Dream routine.

After a short break to reload, an elite team of mission specialists took the field: the Flicking Fingers
from Germany.  Was it a lecture?  Was it a show? 
Sometimes one, sometimes the other, and sometimes both.  No doubt
any infiltrators from the forces of pathetic prestidigitation would
have been notably nonplussed.  First, Ben Profane set the pace by juggling a bowling ball, a large knife, and an apple.  Then the smiling Nikolai Friedrich
performed some extremely strong mentalism, including an effect in which
he correctly identified which of a dozen volunteers was holding behind
his back an envelope containing a photograph of Roger Klause's
wife. 

Pit Hartling performed a card effect for a pair of slightly inebriated bar-patrons (played by Helge Thun and Thomas Fraps) who insisted on explaining the trick loudly to each other.  Manuel Muerte performed a very funny act as a slightly manic magician with a penchant for shooting his livestock.  Stephan Kirschbaum followed with a routine involving a silk and a purse and a rose.  Jörg Alexander performed a very clean "follow the leader" type card trick.  Helge Thun delivered a sex education lesson illustrated with the cups and balls.  Finally Manuel, assisted by the somewhat confused Ghisbert, performed the silk-to-egg routine, complete with slow-motion replay.

By this point, the troops were getting excited.  The assault on
humdrum hocus-pocus was stronger than anyone had expected.  Could
this momentum be maintained?  Could we muster enough powerful
prestidigitation to push back the Borings for good?

Answering the call, MC "Dashing" Dan Garrett led his company of brawlers into the fray.  Nicholas Anthony
commenced the action with coin manipulations and a strong card routine
that he credited to Guy Hollingsworth (Ambidextrous Interchange). 
Joe Farina asked Howie Schwarzman to name his favourite
four of a kind … Howie's answer cannot be given here … then Joe
proceeded to amaze us with the acrobatic abilities of the cards in his
deck.

The extraordinary Spanish magician Willy Monroe took the stage by storm with his yoyo and balloons.  Speaking only Squeekish, Willie had the crowd enthralled.  Cody Fisher induced the audience to name the one card that was secretly reversed in a shuffled deck of cards.  Kainoa Harbottle did a fine presentation of the linking rings, and a strong coin routine.  Adam Spigel performed the classic Hotel Mystery with cards.  Luis Otero of Venezuela transformed a card to a bill, then did a card matching routine.  Then Michiaki Kishimoto took off in a completely different direction with an animated drawing routine that clearly had Gene Anderson's Cardiographic among its inspirations, but added several new ideas.

Brian Geer performed a fine egg bag routine, ending with a glass of water from the bag.  Then Henry Holava performed a cups and balls routine with three different-coloured sponge cubes.  Next up was Bill Houston with a strong act that included a version of the Hanging Coins.  Todd Nelson followed with a coin-in-bottle routine using a small cosmetics bottle.  Closing out the battle-line was France's Julian Fombaron,
easily the most noticeable person at the convention.  Julian
presented a well connected set of effects with coins, cell phones,
cigarettes, and cards.  His illusion of embedding a cigarette
lengthways in a playing card was very impressive.

Friday evening brought the Generalissimo himself back to the stage, as Obie O'Brien took over the mike.  First on deck was Vic Trabucco, the Zen master of coins.  In his hands, magic just unfolds as the natural way of the universe.  Patrick Pryzsiecki regaled the multitude with the tale of Rindercella.  Andrew Murray
presented an astonishing routine in which he named some cards and
audience members were asked to choose locations in the deck.  The
cards were found at exactly the chosen locations.

One of the Flicking Fingers, Helge Thun sang extremely
funny original songs about magic and magicians while performing an
inverse die box routine – instead of making a die disappear, his box
kept producing more and more large dice.  Being funny in your
mother tongue is hard enough – to be hilarious in a second language is
a great talent.  Helge received a standing ovation.

Garrett Thomas, whose "Ring Thing" is deservedly popular, did a fine set that included producing a solid billiard ball from his wallet.  Reed McClintock,
looking fit and trim, demonstrated why he was selected as the 2005
MVP.  His act included strong audience participation and ended
with a very magical Miser's Dream.

As a side note, I later had the pleasure of spending a few hours discussing the role of magic and magicians as artists with Reed McClintock, Marc DeSouza, Willy Monroe, Paul Critelli, Jörg Alexander,
and several others.  This informal debate was one of the
highlights of the whole convention for me.  Reed made a
interesting distinction between "doing magic" and "being a magician"
which was very thought-provoking.

Getting back to the performance, Reed was followed by Nicholas Einhorn,
with an excellent set that ended with a Star Wars prediction, using the
names of magicians … yes, the prediction was "Obie-Juan-Ken-Obie".

David Regal did a killer prediction: a deck was shuffled,
cut, dealt into piles, all by volunteers, and finally reduced to a
single card … which matched a long banner that David unrolled. 
David promised to explain this in his lecture the next day.  Steve Dela performed a very graceful card manipulation routine, and did the cups and balls to music.  Flip followed Steve, with a varied act in which my favourite effects involved a long rope and a short rope ring.

Next up was the inimitable Ali Bongo.  Mr. Bongo presented an extraordinary "psychic sausage-chopping" routine.  Ali was followed in the battle-roster by Mark Mason,
who Obie correctly describes as one of the all-time great magic
demonstrators.  Mark's table in the Dealer's Room is where a lot
of the cool people hang out – he always has something new to teach,
above and beyond the great stuff he sells.  Mark performed a
version of 3 Fly, and then did an unique Ambitious Card routine that
culminated in dozens of cards magically appearing on the back of his
jacket.

Completing Obie's squadron was Gaston, another of the
Flicking Fingers.  Gaston told us of his magic addiction, from his
first exposure in the school-yard, through the dark days of tearing and
restoring paper napkins, to his final redemption.  The magic was
strong and the presentation was very funny.

With only one day to go, you could feel the tension in the
air.  So far, Obie's army had suffered no setbacks – the forces of
mediocre magic were in full retreat.  Could the trend possibly
continue?

It could.  It did.  Saturday saw the build-up to the last big push.  Setting the pace was the 11 AM lecture from Helge Thun. 
This turned into a three-effect lecture, because each of the three
items taught had so much meat and generated so much discussion. 
First, Helge taught us a routine in which a borrowed $10 bill is found
in a deck of cards, wrapped tight around a previously selected and
signed card.  The second routine was the cups and balls, which
Helge had performed earlier. 
This was filled with creative ideas, such as using the popular Vernon
Wand Spin as part of a production sequence rather than as a vanish, as
is usually done.  His discussion of choreographing the final loads
was excellent.  Helge's final routine involved the four Kings
being signed, then jumping to his pockets and into a matchbox, with the
exception of the last one which jumped to the centre of a deck that had
been held by an audience member throughout.

David Regal's lecture was next.  David taught an
astounding number of effects: three cards chosen from a red deck
exactly matched the cards missing from a blue deck, he produced a deck
of cards from a flattened case, he helped a volunteer cut to the four
Aces, he performed "The Puppy Trick" (Ambitious Card), coins through
table, a version of Peter Kane's Jazz Aces, he crumpled up his deck of
cards, and he made a borrowed wedding ring translocate from one wine
glass to another (this effect completely fooled me last year). 
Then, with barely a moment's pause to slap a fresh magazine into his
M1, he was off again.  He taught us (and fully explained) some of
his marketed effects: Déjà Vu, in which the volunteer's named card
appears in an otherwise blank deck, Self Evident, in which the
volunteer chooses the only odd-backed card in the deck, Prophecy Pack,
which he had performed the previous evening, Pasteboard Massacre, in
which the cards really get cut, Special Delivery, in which a
selected card is seen inside an envelope, and Heading North, a very
clever rising card trick.  This was the final lecture of the
convention, and it left the audience with their heads buzzing.

There was no stopping Obie's army now.  The hunt was up, the
game was afoot.  The Saturday afternoon show was masterminded by
"Fighting" Phil Willmarth, the terror of the Linking Ring.  Matthew Episcopo
made his rookie appearance with a jigsaw puzzle of Field Marshall Obie
O'Brien, with one piece missing.  A volunteer was able to find the
one missing piece out a large clear bag of spare pieces.  Up next
was fellow first-timer Dan Trommater, demonstrating his "Matter
Transference Portal" which he used to pass coins through the table and
through a volunteer's hands.  Dan's presentation style was very
popular with the audience.  Following Dan was Britain's Martin Cox, who did a very impressive routine involving naming three free selections that had been honestly shuffled back into the deck.

Scott Miller performed a perplexing piece of
prestidigitation in which almost every word of patter began with a
plosive "p".  His effect involved a drawn figure jumping from one
card to another, inspired by a David Acer routine.  French
magician David Jade followed, with Steve Duperre
translating.  David performed extremely visual card magic,
including the gradual transformation of one card into another. 
After David came Paul Mims, with a romantic presentation of the Gypsy Thread.  Karl was followed by Randy Ryan, performing Cards Across with the assistance of Aldo Colombini and Rachel Wild. 

My good friend Joe Turner took the stage with a humourous
card routine in which he seemed always to have too many cards.  In
frustration Joe forced a silk scarf through the middle of a jumbo-sized
playing card … leaving it unharmed in the process.  The final
attack of the afternoon was executed by the great J. C. Wagner, who concluded the show with his outstanding bowl and balls routine.

The end of the battle was in sight.  It had been a long hard
struggle, with its share of triumphs and nightmares, but as we gathered
for the grand finale show, every man and woman (both of them!) there
knew that it all came down to this – the final push-through, the last
run-up.  Would our card-men's forces be strong?  Would they
maintain control?  Would the coin-workers run out of shells?

Before the last attack, Obie called everyone to attention.  It was time to formally recognize Aldo Colombini,
our Guest of Honour.  Aldo was presented with a wide range of
commemorative gifts, some of which left him utterly amazed.  Aldo
gave a brief speech of thanks, after which he received a standing
ovation, then without further ado, the balloon went up and the show was
on.  The cry went up and down the trenches "Over the top" … and
like this review, over the top we went.

Aldo led off with a strong multiple selection routine,
finding the last selection with his trademark double waterfall
revelation.  He was followed into the fray by Robert Jagerhorn of Finland, with a strong set of card magic.  Next up was Heinz (played by Pit Hartling),
who can only be described as an Uber-Nerd.  Heinz illustrated the
story of Creation, and performed a fortune telling card
divination.  Heinz has utter confidence in his own abilities –
confidence which is only sometimes deserved.

After we recovered from Heinz, we were treated to a performance by Bob Sheets, with the funniest rendition of the three shell game I have seen.  Following Bob was David Stone,
who started with the miraculous production of a coin from a bedsheet,
and continued with rapid-fire productions of cards, drinks, straws,
more drinks, and his shoes.

After David came Rocco.  Rocco's act is always
poetic, magical, and unlike anyone else's.  He made magic with
smoke, eggs, ice, popcorn, cards, lime juice, pearls, and bottles, to
name just a few of the things that appeared, transformed and
disappeared in his hands.

After a short break to regroup and clear the stage, the advance resumed.  Martin Eisele did an
incredible
matrix and reverse matrix with dice, at the conclusion of which the
dice visibly materialized under the cards.  The crowd responded
with a standing ovation.  Next up was Canadian Michael Robinson
with an hilarious ventriloquist routine.  Mike's little friend
kept threatening to kick Obie's *ss.  The audience loved them both
and gave them a standing ovation.

Oscar Munoz, suave as always, performed magic with
balloons.  Oscar also spoke movingly about how uplifting it was to
see magicians from all around the world coming together in troubled
times.  Rick Merrill, renowned graduate of home-school (top in his class!), performed an excellent multiple selection routine.  Johnny Hirose performed an intriguing set of magic that included money and card effects.

The show closers, the selected marksmen to fire the final shots in the assault on ho-hum hocus-pocus, were the Flicking Fingers,
en masse.  They presented a "multi-medium" show: mind-reading in
parallel by the entire squad, armed with paint-cans to create their
impressions of the volunteer's thoughts.  When Rachel Wild
drew a sketch from "The Works of Edgar Allan Poe", the Flicking Fingers
reproduced it in 9 separate parts, which had to be assembled by Ghisbert (in his moment of glory) to show the proper drawing.   And with that, the show, and the convention, were over.

After the smoke had cleared, it was determined by popular vote that the Lou Gallo MVP award should go to the Flicking Fingers (Reed McClintock was also presented with his award from last year).  Obie announced that next year's Guest of Honour will be Ton Onosaka of Japan.  The theme for Pat Page's workshop next year will be "Dinner Table Magic".

The grand battle ended in a total victory for the forces of creativity
and quality.  Throughout the convention, the twin themes of
innovation and renewal were explored and applied.  The buzz was
universal – this was one of the best FFFF conventions in recent
memory.  The demons of unimaginative, uninspired cookie-cutter
magic were chased from the field – at least until next year.

Continue reading “F.F.F.F. 2006 Review from Robin Dawes” →

What the heck is going on with magic?

This isn't a status on the current state of tricks or how high prices
are getting. It's just a fair and honest question. What the heck is
going on with magic? Where are the youngsters looking to learn? It used
to be in dusty old shops with cards on the ceiling and faded posters on
the walls.

When I was a young man, I learned at the hands of the Champlaine
Magic Shop. There were no special counters with adult items, no fast
moving crap tricks, no nothing except magic and magicians.To be honest,
I have no idea how they stayed in business. I'd be sitting on a bar
stool — no different than I am now, I guess — all day watching the
magicians that visited town and came in to check out the local color.

I learned how to second deal from a magician based on Florida but on
a short tour that brought him through the Midwest. Ace (I'm leaving out
his last name) was one hell of a manipulator. I couldn't do anything he
could do but he did one hell of a great second deal.

He could do it
'one-handed' or with a mechanic's grip or even how Dai Vernon did it
with the slop push. He took time to show me the mechanics and I
practiced the rest of the day as I listened to him and Mr. Champlaine
talk about their favorite magicians and favorite tricks. At the end of
the day, I was no closer to mastering the seconds.

Ace told me something I'll never forget. "Pete," he said — that's
my Christian name — "don't give up but practice for a half hour before
you fall asleep. Then when you wake up in the morning, don't get out of
bed, just start dealing seconds. Use a brand new deck every other
day."I nodded. "Then one morning you'll get the concept. It will kick
in and you'll never forget it."I did exactly as Ace told me. I never
saw him again.

Champlaine's Magic Shop

He headed to Florida and I went out west to do something that would get
my name in the papers. One morning in a piece of garbage hotel in
Rumatilta, California, I pulled out a new deck — it was an even
numbered day and new decks were used on even numbered days — and I had
it.

I figured it out. I could do it. The sad part, though, was I was
alone. Sitting in a piece of garbage motel, with cards all over my
stained and cig burned covers.

I wanted to show someone so I rushed
down to the Sambos — they don't have those anymore but they were like
"Dennys." I ordered a cup a coffee and asked the waitress if she wanted
to see a trick. I did my seconds for her and she nodded. She wasn't
impressed. I realized I hadn't done a trick, I'd just shown her how I
could deal seconds.

It wasn't the technique that should have amazed her, it was what I
could have done with the technique. I knew then, I'd have to find a
magic shop; some where I could talk to other magicians and get their
feedback and ideas. I found one outside of Sacramento and it was as I
had remembered.

Dirty, dusty, but with a back table where magicians of
all stripes were in doing their stuff and learning. I did my seconds
and got some nice compliments. "Where'd you learn that, Pete?" asked a
young man of perhaps 14 years.

I told him about Ace and how he had taught me and the practice
method he insisted I employ. The boy smiled as if I had told him the
secret to free money. I contrast that experience with the kiosks we see
in the malls and the open-air markets. They've got a margin that will
kill them if you sat around all day doing tricks and talking. You need
to see what you want and move on.

I have no idea how a young man or woman would learn from a kiosk.
Who knows, maybe the Internet is like the back room of a magic shop.

If
that's the case, we need to be a hell of a lot more tolerant of the
"newbies" that come on to ask questions that us smarter/wiser magicians
haven't thought about in decades. We need to be like Ace to the kids
(even if their in their 40's) and help them find the community that we
had growing up in this art.

Continue reading “Paw Lawton Asks “What the Heck is Going on with Magic?”” →