We told you last week about Cameron
Fisk – the rising star and recent winner of the Pacific Coast Association of
Magicians ("PCAM") Gold Medal
Children's Magic competition.  We
were astounded to learn he was a mere lad of 19 and yet was able to not only
hold his own but win against professionals from around the Pacific
Rim. 

We asked if he was man enough for
the grueling Quinlan's Inside Magic Celebrity Interview.  We warned him that we wouldn't let up on him
just because of his young age or well-deserved celebrity.  Our awkward, pointed, and insinuation-laden questions
would open a Hot Pocket of microwave-prepared steaming intimidation on him. 

Youth, it is said, will be
served.  We have no idea what it means
but when we got to talking about Hot Pockets, we got hungry.  Perhaps he is foolhardy or brave, but he took
up our tossed gauntlet and submitted to The Process. 

The transcript of the session
follows. 

We've made only one change: Mr.
Fisk improperly identified the breakfast cereal "Kellogg's Frosted Flakes"
as "Frosted Flakes."  We are
loyal to both trademark law and all who manufacture products within the great
state of Michigan.  We had no choice but to change the raw text.  

(See, Kellogg Company v. Exxon
Corporation, 2000 FED App. 0123P (6th Cir. 2000) Kellogg has a valid
and trademark registration for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes for "cereal-derived
food product to be used as a breakfast food, snack food or ingredient for
making food"). 

Make sure you check out his great web site here.

 

How long have you been performing Magic?

I started, like most magicians, when I was very young,
around six years old.  A simple very
unimpressive little cut and restored rope trick got me interested.  It finally gave me a reason to cut up my
shoelaces!

 

How did you come-up with the Mac
Backwards character?

Mac Backwards came out of a play on my name.  Being a computer nerd for a few hours a day I
found myself on MSN Messenger a lot and eventually got tired of calling myself Cam all the time when everyone else had different
names.  Mac Backwards just sounded cool
at the time!  When I started thinking
about how I should distinguish my kid's shows from the rest of my magic I knew
I needed to have a character.  Mac
Backwards just stuck!

 

What is he like?

Mac's pretty much just me, but more.  You hear other magicians talk about how to
build a character and etc. but why bother with that when you're already a
character!  Mac is just Cam,
but with a little more energy.

 

Why is he popular with kids and adults?

I believe that a huge draw is the fact that both Mac and
myself are fairly young still.  All of
the magicians I know around here that perform not only at children's events but
at other ones are over 25 or 30 at least. When people find out I'm only 19 it's
not so much of a negative thing as it is a positive because I'm closer to the
kid's age and I know how to get to their level.

 

Who were and are your influences?

I never really was influenced by any specific people.  Growing up in magic by myself, until I found
the different organizations, was interesting because it forced me to pick up
and learn a little bit from every external encounter with magic I got.  Thus, there have been many who have helped me
so far!

 

How is performing in a contest different
than performing for lay audiences?

In a contest you have criteria that you need to meet.  Every point counts so you need to develop a
routine that covers all the bases of the judging sheet.  You'll end up doing Nickles to Dimes with an
Ammar Coin Clip, an obscure Angle Palm, and a dove split just to get those
Technical Skill points.  It's a lot of
fun though, it pushes you to think a little harder about what you do.

 

Do you have a favorite type of magic to
perform, to watch?  Are they the same?

I love watching all good magic.  I've found over the years that bad magic's
pretty lame.  That said, deep down I have
a bias towards close-up magic.  That's
what I started with and I enjoy being able to connect with a few people up
close over a cup of magic.

 

What's next for you?

I'm hungry so I'll probably grab some (Kellogg's) Frosted
Flakes.  Magic-wise I never know for
sure, I'm still a young punk so I try not to look too far ahead.  Right now it's about performing as much as I
can and doing a killer job!

Continue reading “Quinlan’s Inside Magic Celebrity Interview: Cameron Fisk” →

In our haste to move to our new server, we found several important reviews and articles were stranded.  The following review from March 25, 2003 should have been on our new site and now is. 

I knew of Aaron Fisher from two sources — both intimidating — his cover story recently in Genii and from very favorable mentions by Lee Asher during his lecture in Las Vegas. You have to figure you don't make the cover of Genii or receive high praise from Lee Asher by doing automatic or simple card tricks.

I got a great seat in the back room of the Garden City Magic Shop and nervously practiced second deals with my Bicycle deck.

John Luka introduced Mr. Fisher and he took the stage with a sense of confidence and polish that

I haven't seen in a lecture since I watched Tim Ellis and Sue Anne Webster's presentation.

Mr. Fisher comes across as a nice guy, someone with extraordinary skills but without a desire to embarrass his lay or magician audiences. It is clear that he cares about what he teaches and, like Lee Asher, takes the time to make sure that all of his attendees learn the sleights he is teaching. He is not as pretty as Sue Anne, though.

Mr. Fisher began his lecture with a discussion of his background in magic. He trained under some of the best and learned the art of theater to help make the tricks he performed more akin to true magic.

The acting lessons we have all heard are important to our success offer nothing if we don't know how to import the lessons into our acts. We need, said Mr. Fisher, to use the lessons of acting in the actual effect and not just the choice of the effect. In other words, we need to use the skills of directing our audience's observation in exactly the way we choose — it should not be left to chance.

If we want the audience to watch the right hand holding the selected card while we reverse the remainder of the deck in our left hand, we need to provide a "reason" for the audience to do that.

The first half of Mr. Fisher's lecture provided great effects that even I could do. They weren't all self-working but they were close enough that I felt confident I could practice the moves necessary to perform the same miracles Mr. Fisher performed. He demonstrated an incredible sandwich effect where the volunteer essentially performs all of the cuts and passes necessary to accomplish the result. It was pure genius.

I told you a while back that Lee Asher blew my mind with his Pulp Friction. I told you that I have never seen a technique so novel and so useful. Tonight, however, I saw three or four techniques that were both novel and useful. That's saying quite a lot.

We took a break and I saw that one of my other heros in the world of magic, Nate Kranzo in the back of the house. He was watching Mr. Fisher's lecture. That also says quite a lot. I reviewed, in the prior iteration of Inside Magic, Mr. Kranzo's Out of the Box DVD. I told you that I haven't seen such a great lecture in years and that "you should waste no time in thinking and that you should buy his DVD immediately if you are interested in commercial, amazing magic." So to see him in attendance at Mr. Fisher's lecture, only increased the lecture's credibility.

We took a break for a few minutes and that gave all of us a chance to see the items Mr. Fisher had for sale. He had great deals but I had no money. I selfishly decided to buy a Filet-O-Fish from Mickey Dee's as well as a Super Sized Diet Coke and so I was short by one dollar the amount necessary to buy The Paper Engine. I was going to walk across the street to the bank but the program was starting. I was frustrated. I wanted so much to get a copy of The Paper Engine signed by someone who I was now coming to respect as one of the finest card workers since Vernon.

The irony of that last statement is that Mr. Fisher will no doubt deny the comparison to Dai Vernon. He is a man respectful of those who have preceded him but, either intentionally or unintentionally, recalls the greatness of The Professor and Ed Marlo.

The second portion of the show was a great experience for me. Mr. Fisher performed miracles and then took the time to show how the half pass was responsible for all that he had shown. I have to tell you that I have avoided the half pass (as well as the "Bluff Pass" demonstrated in the first half of the lecture) but am now encouraged — thanks to Mr. Fisher's intimate instruction methods — to try to use it.

I am a simple man. When I was young, very young, I won the Florida State Magicians' Association convention for best close-up act (all ages). Now I am older and smarter. I would never do one-handed second deals in front of judges and certainly would never try to snap change three cards (one at a time) in front of anyone. I am old now. I've lived through failure and through being caught by my audience. It is a horrible experience.

Mr. Fisher encouraged me to try that which I feared. He demonstrated how to perform the Bluff Pass. He correctly gauged the audience. He guessed we learned (and now feared) the Bluff Pass from Harry Lorayne's texts. I once thought I could get away with it. I was wrong. Each time I tried, I was found out. Mr. Fisher demonstrated his method for the Bluff Pass and by-golly, it works. It is genius. If you need only one reason to book or see his lecture, Mr. Fisher's explanation of how to perform the Bluff Pass is sufficient.

I cannot overstate how important his instruction on the Bluff Pass was to me. I have literally rejected the move as not practical and so all the effects that could been accomplished by using the move, were lost. If you are familiar with the Bluff Pass, you realize there is almost no replacement for the sleight. You either use it or you don't do the trick. When I was young, I used the glide instead of the second deal. But then I learned the second deal and no longer needed the glide. But with the Bluff Pass, there is no alternative. Thanks to Mr. Fisher, I can now do it. That was worth the price of admission.

But don't focus so much on the Bluff Pass that you miss Mr. Fisher's unique handling of the Half Pass. I have tried the Half Pass for longer than I've worked with the Bluff Pass. I think I am doing it wonderfully but the mirror and my audiences demonstrate that I have done it terribly. Mr. Fisher will teach you how to perform the Half Pass to accomplish amazing effects. If you are not a magician — I must wonder why you are still reading this. But if you are a magician, you have no doubt heard of the Half Pass but have never tried it. You've likely tried the regular pass with the obligatory straightening and assembling of the deck. (Again, if you're not a magician, this will make no sense). Mr. Fisher teaches you a method that works without the need to straighten or consolidate the deck of cards.

There is no way I could overstate how Mr. Fisher's lecture affected me. He is, as I said, polished, professional, and able. He really cares about those who attend his lectures and he really cares about our favorite art, magic.

At the outset of this review, I asked whether Mr. Fisher was the "John Lennon" of magic. The question came from a story I heard about my favorite Beatle. John and the boys were traveling between Germany and England. They stopped at the U.S. equivalent of a truck stop. John found a harmonica for sale and purchased it along with a pack of cigarettes. Before they reached their home in Liverpool, John had mastered the harmonica and was able to use it in "Love Me Do."

Mr. Fisher, like John Lennon, cares about his art. He wants to do the best he can do, teach in the most effective manner, and encourage always. He is able to take on a new method or effect and figure out how to use it. That, to me, is a true artist whether it is Mr. Fisher or John Lennon.

If you see only one lecture this year, make it Mr. Fisher's. You will not be disappointed but greatly encouraged and enlightened."

 

Continue reading “Aaron Fisher — Magic’s John Lennon?” →

Tim Ellis and Sue-Anne Webster attended the FISM; each with
a different role.  Mr. Ellis served as a
judge and Ms. Webster provided an outstanding review of virtually every act in
the competition. 
We've included a few of her reviews here but the full list
can be found at their outstanding web site here .
Ms. Webster is more than a great writer, she is a very
honest reporter. 
Her article candidly
reviews the great, the average, and the very poor performances offered by
competitors.
We've included Ms. Webster's reviews of some of our
favorite performers. 
You must read her
entire review here .   
 
 

Arthur Trace
Manipulation
U.S.A.
Sponsor – Dale Hindman (Academy of
Magical Arts)

"Post Modern Art"

An original and very creative
routine.

A cloth covered a framed piece of
artwork on an easel. Arthur entered, pulled off the cloth revealing a piece of
modern art in white, black and grey tones.

His movements were seamlessly
choreographed with his cool jazz music. Arthur plucked a circle from the
painting to do ball manipulation with amazing speed and dexterity. The white
balls changed to green and he picked another ball from the painting that became
orange.

Another white ball was added to
the mix, all the while manipulating the balls with great speed. A blue silk
appeared and turned the white ball blue. Another white ball to red and he put
all of the balls back into the painting to colour it up. He wiped the green
ball with his hand and smeared green paint on the picture.

Arthur dipped a brush into a paint
tin and painted a short white line on his black suit which he peeled off. It
became a card for manipulation with pure white cards, which then turned to red
and blue.

He painted a long white line on
his jacket, peeled it off and made cards out of the strip for a card fan that
turned into a coloured fan of cards. Arthur looked confident and smooth and his
moves were clean.

A card fountain appeared in front
of the painting, and as the cards flew into the air a few of them became a part
of the painting. He moved a couple of lines on the painting, took off his
"prescription" glasses and threw them on to the painting turning it
into a self-portrait.

An excellent routine, very
engaging. One of my favourites.

 

Rick Merrill
Card Magic
U.S.A.
Sponsor – Dale Hindman (Academy of
Magical Arts)

Rick Merrill walked out carrying a
pencil and began getting laughs before he even spoke. He plays a nerdish
character who was "home schooled" and as he delivers a brilliantly
scripted comedy routine he performs the most visual sleight of hand you've ever
seen.

He started by producing three
coins, changing them into Chinese coins, then repeating the whole thing with
jumbo coins. The coins seemed to appear and vanish at his fingertips
effortlessly.

He then went through a series of
manipulations with a coin and a Sharpie that really has to be seen to be
disbelieved.

Finally, Rick whipped the audience
into a frenzy with his "Sharpie impressions" (Penn, Teller, Uri
Geller, Jeff McBride, Doug Henning and Shimada) and received a partial standing
ovation.

 

Pilou
Manipulation
France
Sponsor – Guy Lamelot (Federation
Francaise Des Artistes Prestidigitateurs)

A "youth" in a beret and
street clothes reminiscent of Oliver Twist did what can be described as a
celebratory dance of magic.

Pilou was so easy, so natural, so
exciting and so happy as he displayed his incredible talents in dexterity and
performance.

He produced card fans to an apple,
which turned into a red silk that produced an apple again, which he pockets.
From the silk he produced a candle, as he lit it, there was a flash and it
turned into an apple again which he pockets. After producing three apples, he
juggled them in character.

He produced a flash that produced
a newspaper and confetti. He produced another apple from his hat, produced more
cards for a card manipulation routine, then single card productions.

He pulled out his shoe from his
beret, another apple and more and more cards, card scaling, card fan
productions, card juggling, catching a card in his mouth and hands to produce a
card fan that changed into a newspaper and confetti again. He took an apple
from his beret, then tipped up his beret causing many apples to fall out.

He sat sprawled easily over a
barrel, casually producing more and more cards and an apple, a red silk
revealed a large card fan that he split into two. He got up and scaled more
cards, produced his two shoes from his beret, then continued into large card
productions, then a newspaper and confetti again, more large cards, huge cards
from his beret, a card fan that he doubled into two card fans and confetti
burst everywhere.

An excellent act!!!

 

Shawn Farquhar
Parlour Magic
Canada
Sponsor – Joan Caesar (Association
Canadienne De Magiciens)

An extremely well rehearsed card
trick using a heart shaped projection screen to allow the audience to see the
clever card manipulation filmed live on camera.

A sealed regular deck of cards was
used, unwrapped for a spectator to select a card.
Before selecting a card, one Joker
and two advertising cards were thrown away. 53 cards remained.

A card was selected and signed by
the volunteer and returned to the deck. The card manipulation was performed
like ballet in the hands to the music 'shape Of  My Heart' by Sting.

A story was told in the song and
echoed in the card moves. The spectator's card was featured throughout the
routine as was a King which became half-faded. After the song had finished,
Shawn threw the Joker away and the spectator's card was instantly back in the
sealed deck which was then opened in front of the spectator.

There were 52 cards in order
including the faded King and the spectator's signed card, all of which were
given to the spectator as a souvenir.

A fabulous act.

(Shawn previously received a
second place with this act in Parlour Magic FISM 2003).

 

Rocco
Parlour Magic
U.S.A.
Sponsor – Dale Hindman (Academy of
Magical Arts)

Rocco, in his unique style, did a
version of his food production act and feasted on the results.

He produced and munched on bread
sticks, crumbling them in his hands and letting it all fall to the floor, He
produced salt and salted the food for flavour, he transformed the bread sticks
into pretzels, and bigger pretzels, and a bigger one still.

He changed tack and took a silk
tie to produce a rose from which he took the bud and put it on his jacket.

He produced a white ball and
turned it into a cane. Streamers were torn and rolled up into a ball that
turned into a candle. He lit the candle and squashed it into a cigarette. Now
he approached the microphone and spoke, but wandered away from it still talking
as he explained how he can control water.

He took a vase of water and poured
the water into a bowl and drank from it while still chewing on something. He
drank again, christened himself and then blessed the audience.

A flower drooped and he placed the
vase on his table, but missed at it dropped to the floor. (A trusty crew member
rushed on stage to put it back on the table).

Now he had two bowls of water and
continued to drink from them. The bowls kept filling and he
drank and drank and
drank and drank.

There was a fire in the bowl which
turned to red and white confetti. He finished by transforming the bowl into
confetti and streamers.
(This was the first time Rocco has
competed at FISM since winning 3^rd Place in Micro Magic in 1994).

 

Yamagami Brothers
Stage Illusions
Japan
Sponsor – Junichiro Sejima
(Society of Japanese Magicians)

These two young ten year old
brothers graced the FISM stage again with their ever so cute smiles and dynamism.
(We saw them in 2003 aged seven and they absolutely stole the show with their
illusions).

One dressed in a blue costume, the
other in red and together they performed a levitation over a stylized chair on
a small podium which they seemed to have some difficulty with. The "red"
brother uneasily floated to the ground from the podium then both performed an
upbeat, synchronized dance sequence with cartwheels.

Finally, they performed a sword
box/sub trunk illusion in the shape of a small pyramid. The "blue"
brother locked the "red" brother inside the pyramid, pushed five
swords through the box, pulled them out, stood on the pyramid, held up a silver
cloth and did an exchange with his brother.

Unfortunately, the secret was
exposed and the brothers did their best to cover it, then they marched off the
stage together.

The Yamagami Brothers have
fabulous presentational skills.

Gregory Wilson

Card Magic
U.S.A.
Sponsor – Dale Hindman (Academy of
Magical Arts)

Gregory has presented this routine
at FISM 2000 (where he won equal 3^rd place in Cards) and FISM 2003
(where he won equal 2^nd place) and it is always entertaining.

The close-up table is set as his
office and, on a small table to one side, is a time-clock. Gregory entered to a
great reaction and began with a joke as he poured a long stream of glitter from
his hand and said "Sorry about all the glitter, I shook Rocco's hand
before I came on."

He explained that card tricks are
his job and began by pouring a cup of coffee from a card case before taking a
deck of cards out of it. Gregory picked up a spike from his "desk" on
which was impaled a folded card, the audience called out a card at random and
he let them take the card off the spike, unfold it and it was the same card.

He almost got away with this
effect but the angles were bad from where I was sitting. He had Obie O'Brien
choose and sign a card which reappeared in a sealed deck in its original
position (this was a new addition to the act) and then he finished the act by
finding all of the cards from one suit in order.

His finale, find the 10 through
king from a card fountain from the time clock, messed up and he failed to find
the cards but the audience responded very well regardless.

Jon Armstrong

Card Magic
U.S.A.
Sponsor – Dale Hindman (Academy of
Magical Arts)

Jon began by having Rich Bloch and
his wife both choose the same card as he riffled through the deck. Next he had
Rich wrap a rubber band around the deck and Jon asked them both to choose a
card as he riffled and looked away. He stuck a card to his forehead (2S) but it
wasn't either of the chosen cards (AS & 7D).

In what appeared to be a very fast
thinking "out," Jon took his wallet from his jacket and inside were
the two chosen cards. Quickly running out of time Jon had the deck shuffled and
asked a lady for her phone number and then dealt it out, producing one card for
each number, onto the table.

Unfortunately Jon ran out of time
and was disqualified.

Continue reading “Sue-Anne Webster’s Magic News from FISM” →

Big congratulations to security in the UK for foiling the plot to blow up eleven UK to USA flights next week. It?s impossible to imagine what goes on in the minds of terrorists who wake up each morning thinking of new and different ways to kill people just to send their political messages, but we really need to make a stand against these mass murderers.

Here in the UK hand luggage on planes has been temporarily banned until things get back to normal, but we just heard that Australia has decided to ban all hand luggage permanently! Is that a security decision or, as they would have to employ more staff to thoroughly check all hand luggage for liquids, simply a cost-cutting exercise. Only a few days ago I was joking about traveling to the USA next year wearing only a hospital gown and paper slippers? but if Qantas had it?s way maybe that will be the reality in the very near future.

Continue reading “Travel Traumas” →

Continue reading “Mac King Extends Run in Vegas” →

Continue reading “Magic is to Be Enjoyed not Solved – Anslem Roy Speaks” →

Check out OPUS Magazine’s blog and read about some of the acts.

Also THE CARDMAN has one post about FISM but promises more.

Sue-Anne is up to act 75 in the Stage Comp so here report on all the competitor’s should be ready in a few days (and up as soon as we get internet access again!).

Continue reading “More FISM Blogs” →

FISM is listed in the Wikipedia. Are they up to date? A good part of the definition of FISM concerns the closing ceremony a few days ago! I wonder what non-magicians must think of us…

Continue reading “WikiFISM” →

Here we are in the Arlanda Airport getting ready to fly out of Stockholm. Having spoken to a lot of different people during the week, and having read the reports on various forums and blogs, I thought I might sum up some feelings from this weekof magic. (Feel free to add your own comments if you were there simply by clicking on the word ‘comments’ at the end of this post).

PRE-PRODUCTION

Superb. The publicity, build up, advertising for this FISM were the best ever. The forum and the website were a great idea! (Hi Jazzman! You helped so many people with great advice!) Logos and signage everywhere when you arrived and, though it was a little tricky to get from the airport to the city by train, then from the city to the convention centre, it was all possible. (At the Dresden Convention they had a FISM information stand at the airport itself which was a huge helpto us foreigners. Maybe China might consider this idea?)

Registration at the centre was great and stress-free, the volunteers did an excellent job. We were able to register the day before FISM, but only between 1-5pm. It would have been great to extend that time to about 8pm for late arrivals as it’s great to be able to read your schedule before the convention starts.

Here’s a challenge for China: When I ran the last Melbourne Convention, people received their registration kits when they checked into their hotels! Maybe that could be an option people could choose on their registration form? To do this, I simply cross referenced the registration list with the accommodation list and took each kit to the hotel receptions and instructed the staff to give them to the guests when they checked in. Pretty bold I know, and probably too hard to do for 2,500 people, but it work well for 250.

As for the goody bag, it was very nice, but we are used to being spoiled from past FISMs and I think people were expecting a little more… maybe even a few discount coupons for local restaurants or shops, a little snack or gift or treat or something in addition the the standard cards and the promotional wallet (which was so well wrapped in the magic kit advert I think most people still haven’t discovered it!) Maybe dealers could be encouraged to take advantage of the goody bag and give away a few samples.

Another qualm was the program. I know that Anders Moden designed it as a compact (and well produced) booklet that people could carry with them, but it was still too big for a pocket (though it did fit nicely in the shoulder bag… which was a more practical size than some we’ve received at past FISMs). But people pointed out they wanted a small, pocket size programme they could carry in their name badge. We’ve had those before and I think people are used to them.

The FISM Daily news was excellent. Each day we couldn’t wait to read about the previous days activities, changes to schedules, news etc. Well done!

VENUE

Very nice venue as far as a convention centre goes, but the Victoria Hall lacked atmosphere and was a terrible venue in which to view magic. A theatre with balconies is much more appropriate if you want everyone to get a good view and not have to watch the screens. (I wonder how China will go with their HUGE theatre?)

The lighting was terrible as well, it was universally too dark and, as a consequence, sometimes the images on the screen were almost impossible to see. (On the other hand, the lighting on the final awards shows was too animated. Not only was it distracting and made it very hard to see what the artists were doing, but the position of the lights on stage meant that entire sections of the audience were blinded by lights shining directly into their eyes).

The video operators looked like they had no idea what they were doing. Shots were chosen that were too tight so they revealed some effects, or too wide and we missed them. Sometimes the screens cut out completely and we just watched the FISM logo. We used Orsino Images here in Melbourne for our convention and, with only two cameras, they showed everything that happen on stage and close up in glorious clarity. It’s the difference in spending the extra dollars and getting professionals. (But then, even on the final awards gala with the TLA camera crew, the camera work was still pretty shocking.

The Close Up Room was good in theory, but simply did not work. I have some suggestions for a revamp of competition conditions I’ll be forwarding on to FISM but with regards to what we saw we, as judges, had to watch the screen as sometimes we couldn’t see the surface of the table. And the screen images had a two second delay which meant we were watching action out of sync with what was happening live. The smaller audience of 280 or so really had to watch the screens as well, so it could have been staged in a larger room if need be.

My theory is that the close up should be restricted to one table with volunteers chosen by the organisers to sit around the table (for choosing cards etc). You can bring a box of props or a small case to sit behind the table with you, or you can just stand behind the table and not use it at all. But you cannot bring your own tables, stands, or karaoke machines… if you can’t perform your act under those conditions, enter Parlour (which should be staged in a second room which is more like the close up room was in Stockholm). Anyway, directly behind the row of volunteers, on slightly higher seats, sit the judges, behind them on a higher row are more registrants and using this style of seating (as they do at La Double Fond in Paris) you can seat about 40-60 in "true" close-up conditions. You can then get away with one camera that, if framed correctly, does not need to cut away, and then have several smaller rooms with video feeds in them (or ideally, in order to create the best possible atmosphere) have this close up set up in a large room with screens in each corner with seating facing each screen. That way the performer can hear the reaction of everyone else in the room too.

This same set up can be used for the Close Up gala too. However, the seats need to be ticketed. Maybe each registrant gets a good ticket in the room for one session (the earlier you register the better the seats). They can swap (or sell!) their tickets during the convention.

If nothing else, it reduces the time that is absolutely WASTED by lining up for tickets to the close up comp (some lined up for 2 hours each day when they COULD have been watching lectures, the stage comp, or even just socialising!)

Second – what is it with pushing in???? Are magicians really that ill-mannered, selfish and disrespectful? This happened each morning at the stage comp (people lined up for an hour in advance then, when the doors opened, others who had milled around the door not in the line at all just barged in and it became a free for all stampede. I heard that some registrants abused, gave the finger to, and even spat on ticket collectors at the door when they were told they had the wrong tickets! I can only imagine how these people treat their audiences when performing!

Then, despite being told NOT to sit on the stairs or in the aisles people continued to do so. Does FISM need to hire ushers to physically move people who are so self-centred that all they care about is that they can see? Several times performers making "surprise appearances" in the audience almost tripped over people who weren’t supposed to be on the stairs as they ran on to the stage.

The close up comp at least became a little more civilised during the week when barriers were put up to corral the crowd. (Some didn’t like it and "mooed" as a protest, but the behaviour of a minority made this necessary. Then at the banquet we saw more terrible behaviour… two big looooong lines, then as other people arrived instead of going to the end of the lines they went in the centre and filled in the gaps then barged in making those who had been waiting wait even longer.

The only successful seating situation were the allocated seats in the gala shows. People walked into the theatre like human beings, found their seats and sat down. Unfortunately, one incident in the close up gala we saw sprang from a FISM volunteer telling people it was "free seating" when it wasn’t. When ticketed people came to get into their seat they found others sitting in them who refused to move. The way this was handled by the FISM hosts was not professional either. It needs to be dealt with honestly, and in a fun way, to cause minimum embarrassment to people and to resolve the situation effectively. Instead it looked like a quarrel on stage with different organisers having different opinions as to what to do. Not only that, but because of camera equipment on the stage for the close up gala, many people not only couldn’t see the performer, they couldn’t see the screen either. They left… as you would.

The various venues had good names like Dante and Vernon, and they seemed to be at a pleasant temperature, and the seats were comfortable.

I’ll tell you what would have worked a treat… have some people strolling through the venues between sessions selling drinks, ice-creams and snacks!

Finally, having the magic bar in a different venue was a TERRIBLE idea. Do not do that again. Den Haag got it right. People could mingle in the centre after the day’s events or go downstairs to the vast (and cool) magic bar and party on to the wee hours. Instead you had to either leave the centre by train, go to the magic bar in the city, then catch a VERY expensive taxi back to the hotel – or if you stayed in a hotel at or near the magic bar you had to take a train trip in the the convention centre and back every single day.

The Magic Bar was, however, a highlight for many people. They raved about the performances of Tamariz and Green (though they had to line up for over an hour sweating in the heat before they got to see them! Again.. maybe we get tickets in our rego kits for these events we can swap with other registrants? Why pay so much money to attend FISM and spend most of our time in lines? It’s not Disneyland!)

COMPETITIONS

First of all, big kudos goes to the backstage staff who, I’m told were incredibly helpful to the competitors.

This FISM featured some appalling acts that really brought the whole standard of the event down. The only people to blame here are the FISM Presidents who told FISM that these acts were good enough to compete. They were not! FISM may well have the right to penalise these Presidents by not allowing them to sponsor acts again (or maybe for the next two FISMs perhaps?) However, two Presidents who sponsored really bad acts were the Presidents of the SAM and IBM. Both are no longer Presidents so what can FISM do? Ban the SAM and IBM from submitting acts?

I still think the idea that sponsors must pay a very large competition entry fee which they only get back if the performer achieves FISM level in it’s score (at least 60 in my personal opinion). As a judge it can be difficult to red light acts that are simply bad (especially when the audience is laughing and enjoying their awfulness) and it would be much better if we weren’t put in the position of needing a red light in the first place! I heard one act, who was truly awful and got a sarcastic standing ovation, telling professional magicians how well he’d done and bragging about getting a standing O. He simply had no idea that the audience were laughing AT him and would have simply not understood at all if we red lighted him.

FISM Presidents be warned. Do NOT submit acts that are not ready for FISM. You KNOW the standard. I really hope FISM comes up with an effective answer to this problem.

Other policing matters – VIDEOS and CAMERAS. Flash photography and videos were banned in the main hall, yet people kept using them. They were warned that their camera equipment would be confiscated, but did FISM follow through with the threat? If not, no wonder! If magicians simply cannot be trusted to respect their fellow performers then I would be in full favour of bag searches at the entrance to all FISM shows and anyone with a video camera would have to leave it in a cloakroom or a locker or they would not be admitted. This is done in theatre shows, musicals and concerts. If FISM has to start doing this then don’t be angry at FISM, be angry at the minority who cannot obey rules.

I even saw one guy standing with a video camera in the dealers room, pointed at the screen of a DVD player on a dealers booth which was playing a DVD he was selling. This JERK was making a bootleg of a video right in front of the guy who was selling it. The dealer could have stopped him and maybe it would have caused a scene… but can’t there be some dealer room staff patrolling looking to throw people out who do this sort of thing? Also, there were two dealers who were caught selling rip-offs. Andy’s Magic had a number of Menny Lindfield’s items made in China, and Caesaral Magic had Angelo Carbone’s ‘Out Of Order’. Both were brought to the attention of the dealers. According to FISM rules they should have been told to packup and leave. Instead they were both told to stop selling the specific rip-off items in the dealers room. They broke the rules but the punishment was not dealt out. How does this look for 2009 when we go to the home of intellectual property theft China? The Chinese FISM committee have made a promise to stop rip-offs. We will be watching very closely to see if they live up to that promise.

(Ironically, how many FISM registrants who hate rip-offs in magic will go to China in 2009 and buy fake Gucci, copy Rolex watches, and pirated Hollywood DVD movies?)

LECTURES

Apparently the lectures were all very good. The lecture theatres may have been a little small however, and the scheduling could have been better. There were many times when there were too many choices in the morning, and virtually nothing to do in the afternoon! Maybe some late night lectures would have been a good idea.

Also no FISM should EVER again overlap the Stage and Close Up Competitions. This was totally uneccessary. A lot of people want to watch as many acts as they can. Let them have that opportunity!

OPENING CEREMONY

Having this AFTER the stage and close up comps and lectures had begun was silly in my opinion. It hardly felt like an opening as we were already well into the swing of FISM. It was an innovative idea asking 2800 people to stand in a dark, fog filled "aircraft hangar" for a hour and try to watch a small underlit stage on large underlit screens. The lasers and the ballerina-bubble were certainly different, but they didn?t work. And all of the balloons that were dropped that (I think) had some lotto tickets in some of them? (I’m not sure, I could hear the FISM President speaking) resulted in everyone bursting balloons in a frenzy of stamping… it seemed to create a more angry than fun atmosphere.

The opening video where Dag Lofalk stepped through the water screen was effective though!

GALA SHOWS

What can you say… the stage gala was sensational (everyone has their favourite acts and their worst acts…) but the Nordic Gala was particularly weak, both in content and presentation. The close up gala was appalling. Mainly because of the terrible AV support with bad sound, lighting, staging and camera work, but many of the acts should not have been on the bill… or if so, should have done shorter sets.

The worst thing was that, at past FISMS, we’ve had gala shows every night to look forward too. Not this time… I think that was a mistake China can’t afford to make.

BANQUET

FISM 2006 sort of nearly got it right. 2800 people for a seated dinner is really an ambitious call. Kudos for doing it, however people felt the venue really needed a little atmosphere. The acts were fine, a dance floor would have been nice. The thing that really let the night down was the sound system, people up the back couldn’t hear well at all and started talking. People up the front were being deafened at times (which lead to an old man physically attacking Frank Wilson while he was playing! How do people like like this even become magicians?)

CITY HALL RECEPTION

This was an excellent idea. Once again it’s a pity it wsn’t closer to the convention centre but I admired all of the volunteers along the route holding ‘Follow Me’ signs. I was concerned for the disabled and elderly — was there alternative transport for them? The reception and the venue were excellent though, total class (unlike a small but noisy section of the crowd who were so rude they talked loudly throughout the presentation given by one of the city hall hosts What happened to common courtesy? I mean, how would they feel if their audience talked all throughout their shows?)

STEVIE STARR

This was a good innovation. Introducing an "allied arts" performer in their own show. I think one or two man shows are very good ideas and they introduce magicians to other forms of entertainment they may not have encountered before. So now we’ve had Stevie, what next for China… Puppetry of the Penis?

AWARDS SHOW AND CLOSING CEREMONY

Terrible. An unmitigated disaster. I’m sure FISM are currently brainstorming solutions to this as I type. I think the idea of filming FISM is a great idea (NHK TV have been doing it unobtrusively for years!) But there must be a better way so that we can leave FISM with good, positive memories and want to come back!

By the way, I must give extra points to FISM2006 for using a superb photographer. The images of FISM he captured here are absolutely brilliant!

OTHER THOUGHTS

What do I want at a FISM?

• Free Internet access in the centre.
• Inexpensive food in the centre (several times the kiosk ran out of sandwiches before lunchtime was over… our dinner on the last day was a coke and a candybar!)
• The photo and poster displays were great. More please!
• Some workshops about lighting, staging, make up, pyros, balloonology (maybe even good manners) would be a good idea for FISM.
• Maybe a specific show for "alternative" magic acts like Tatu.
• A crazy, ever-changing late night stage show as an alternative to bar magic featuring us, The Flicking Fingers, Die Zauderer, MagicSports and special guests that has fun with the days events.
• Should there be a new category in the competition for Children’s Entertainers?
• Should the gala shows be repeated with the first session for the Public and the second for the magicians (and TV) so as to iron out the technical hitches? Or maybe each session has a mix of public and magicians? Or do we keep it "in house" so we can do all our "in jokes"?

What do you want?

Continue reading “FISM – Wrap up” →

Final day of FISM and what an incredibly empty schedule!

10.00am – Gaetan Bloom lecture. Noon – Banachek lecture. 1.00pm – Pavel lecture. All lectures in a rooms that seat from 250 to 500 people… so what do the other 2000+ people do? Hang out in the dealers room from 9.00am to 3.00pm when the finale of the Close Up Contest begins.

I know a lot of people on the Swedish FISM organising team, and they have spent a lot of time and put in a lot of effort into the planning of this FISM, but there have been some basic mistakes and the registrants are calling this the worst organised FISM ever. (I’m sure there have been worse, but I hope Beijing learns a lot from this experience).

If you attended FISM 2006 and have your own thoughts and suggestions, they have a direct line of feedback where you can post your comments directly to the organisers here.

Anyway, we caught up with quite a few people during our free morning in the dealers room.

Ali Bongo and his niece Alison.

Our good friend and fellow MUGS member Nelson.

Topas and his wife and fellow magician Roxanne.

Actually, most of our "free time" at FISM was spent catching up with our magic friends and colleagues from all over the world. That’s the absolute best aspect of FISM, but it’s also it’s downside. There are so many people to catch up with you don’t have time to spend more than a brief conversation or maybe share a meal with them before you have to say hi to someone else or move in to a lecture or a show.

Speaking of lectures… David Jones and Nelson both told us that the Armando Lucero lecture was sensational! In fact we heard that most of the lectures were very good. The only problem is that you can’t see lectures and the competition, you need to make a choice. (And as was pointed out on another forum, there were plenty of lectures for the 500 people who were free when 2000 people were watching the Stage Competition, but comparatively nothing for the 1800 people who couldn’t get in to the 700 seats in the Close Up Competition rooms.

There were also some problems here at the Rica Talk Hotel. (Totally out of the control of FISM, of course). You heard about our overheating room… apparently onre group of people got trapped in a hotel lift for 45 minutes the other day. A day later one of that same group was again trapped in the same lift! Someone also told us that the soap dispenser on the wall of their shower fell off and they were told just to "put it back up". Well, it’s a brand new hotel so I guess we should expect teething troubles.

Regardless… we all headed in to the Victoria Hall for the Close Up Competition Finale. As I was a jury member I sat in the front row (as opposed to on the stage, which was the original plan, because it would have looked bad for the TV crew who were filming the event) and we watched the contest on 10inch TV monitors under the stage! Luckily we were close enough to watch the acts live because the camera work was shocking! They kept cutting to wide shots when you needed close ups and audience reactions when the magic was happening… they hadn’t seen the acts before so what can you expect I guess. (And despite what compere Max Maven said, the reaction of the audience did not play a part in our voting!)

Max Maven came out as the host for the afternoon’s show and introduced the proceedings as well as David Stone as the first competitor. He performed his act better than he had in the close up room but the camera work meant the audience missed quite a lot of his effects (and how do you misdirect a camera when you are stealing a bottle from a table in full view???) David received a partial standing ovation).

Helder Guimaraes was next with his card act and, though it has a very slow start, it builds up to a climax that is so impossible it leaves people gasping that it must have been a stooge! (No, it wasn’t, she was just as amazed as we were). Helder received a partial standing ovation.

Martin Eisele followed with his hilarious matrix act, but he didn’t seem to be as in as good form as he was in the close up room. The fact that someone’s mic was on and we could hear muttering all throughout the first half of his act only made things worse for him. Martin recived a standing ovation.

Rick Merrill followed – just like he did it the Close Up Comp. These two have very similar on stage characters so why they couldn’t separate them by one other performer I have no idea. (I’m sure they chose the running order out of a hot to be fair, but by not separating them they put Rick Merrill at a a slight disadvantage. However, Rick Merrill delivered a killer set far better than in the close up room. (BIG standing ovation!)

Shawn Farquhar was last on the list and, though many found his patter way too fast to follow, he appeared to be very confident until he had a mishap with his featured card effect.

After that we had to leave for the jury room and deliver our verdict based only on what we saw in those performances.

While we were out Kevin James did his amazing Sawing In Half routine (people said it was great until the restoration of the body which became very obvious) and SOS and Victoria who did a quick change act.

When we returned it was time to present the awards. Because of the fact they were taping the event for TV they had to announce the Grand Prix Winner before they announced the winners of the Close Up and Cards categories. Why? They figured that if the announced the winners of the other awards first, it would be obvious who had won the Grand Prix and the tension and reaction to the announcement wouldn’t be as strong.

This was a bad idea.

The five finalists came on stage, then it was stop – start – stop – start for the filming as a TV host took over from Max Maven and called Eric Eswin on to announce the Grand Prix winner.

The audience went along with it all at first, and went crazy when Rick Merrill was announced as the winner. But then they started to go crazy in a bad way when someone took Rick’s trophy from him and the host explained they were going to retake the presentation scene. After more faffing around people started booing, hissing and many walked out. Patience and tolerance, I think, are virtues that seemed to have run out with a lot of people by the end of the week.

Eric Eswin returned to announce the winners of the various categories and, as you may have heard or read on other reports, this was a shambles. Names were read out too quickly or while the audience was applauding so you couldn’t hear who got what. Shawn Farquhar went up to accept his award and Dag Lofalk said "Who are you?" Shawn explained he was the 2nd place winner and Dag said "Are you sure?" There was only one trophy for one invention winner and nothing for the other, Eric explained they could collect it tomorrow. Rocco wasn’t even in the building to collect his award when it was announced.

This was not the professional standard that magicians have come to expect from FISM Award Ceremonies. Many said it looked more like a local magic club prize night than the world championships of magic. They even had an Olympic style "I, 2, 3" podium for the winners to stand on. A nice touch as they got up, but then they had to get back off immediately as Eric started to announce the next winners. Maybe they could get up on it, have an official photo taken, dim the stage lights to a spot on Eric as the winners are led off the podium in the darkness and repositioned on the stage before the lights come up again.

The winners in the Close Up category were:

Grand Prix Close-Up … Rick Merrill, USA

Micro Magic

1 – Martin Eisele, Germany
2 – Shawn Farquhar, Canada
3 – David Stone, France

Close-up Card

1 – Helder Guimaraes, Portugal
2 – Lodewijk de Widt, Netherlands
3 – Kiko, Spain

Inventions

Mathieu Bich, France
Pierric, Switzerland

Comedy

Rick Merrill, USA
Stonkel, Germany

Most Original Act

Rocco, USA

SWEDISH MAGIC CIRCLE AWARD
Rick Merrill

The crowd was very pleased with the results, but not with the way the show was run and the mood in the foyer as we waited the 90 minutes between the Close-Up and Stage Awards show was palpable.

During the break, Sue-Anne did an interview with John Fisher for the TV production (I did one earlier in the week). This will be a one hour special which will air in September all over the world. We also got a chance to chat with Derren Brown during the break and go backstage to celebrate with David Stone (below).

Next came the Stage Awards show. It opened with Eric Eswin who was first cheered, then booed and hissed. He handled this appalling display with dignity simply by saying "Thankyou", which resulted in a big cheer and applause. He apologised for the earlier fiasco and promised there would be no retakes.

Rich Bloch was MC and he was superb. He kept the audience under control and had some very funny bits (I loved the fly on his nose that revealed a thought of card).

Sittah was first with her illusions, which looked great with the flash TV lighting, followed by Pilou who suffered badly as the flashy lights made it very hard to see his manipulation work. Same situation with David Sousa and Dai Binchun. Even Gaston had technical difficulties to overcome. His mic was playing up when he came on and he had to restart his act, then a baby started crying… he handled it like a true professional and got a huge standing ovation. Lee Eun-Gyeol was the only act other than Sittah that shone under the staging conditions (and no, the live bird that was sitting awkwardly in one of the cages he produced was not dead as some people were saying).

The judges retired to deliberate, we had a long intermission, then returned not for the announcements… but for a show starring Norbert Ferre and Rafael. Very good performances by both of them but the night was getting on… During Norbert’s act, there was a very nasty incident where a groupfrom he other room, who were watching on the big screen, actually tried to breakin to the main hall and created a mini riot (which was apparently quelled by Derren Brown). Vice President of the Swedish Magic Circle describes it:

The incident during Norbert Ferr??s act was that he (Ferr?) never uses a microphone on stage and turned down a lapel mike and naturally nobody could hear him in the other room.
But to try to barge in screaming like that only disturbed Norbert?s great act.

Finally the results were announced. The finalists from the close up were also gathered on stage but… David Stone was missing! (He was in the other room as he didn’t get a seat in the hall!!!! He saw the others on the stage via the screen and raced in and jumped onto the stage during the filming… in his street clothes! I’d love to see how they’re going to edit that it for continuity.)

As before, the TV host came out and did what he had to do then literally ran off the stage handing it over to Eric and the team to announce the other finalists. Yes, this time it was just as amateurish as before. Sadly it looked unrehearsed and badly improvised.

 

Grand Prix Stage … Pilou, France

Manipulation

1 – Dai Binchun, China
2 – David Sousa, Portugal
3 – Arthur Trace, USA

General Magic

1 – Eun Gyeol Lee, Republic of Korea
2 – Die Zauderer, Germany
3 – Dion, Netherlands

Parlour Magic

1 – Gaston, Germany
2 – Shawn Farquhar, Canada
3 – Julia Guilhem, France

Stage Illusions

1 Sittah, Netherlands
2 Hugo Valenzuela, Argentina
3 Marc & Alex, Germany

Mentalism

2 – Timothy Trust & Julie Germany tie with
Juan Ordeix, Argentina

3 – Robert & Emiel Netherlands tie with
Jean Thomas Loewe, Germany

SPECIAL AWARDS

LAS VEGAS CONTRACT
Eun Gyeol Lee

FRANCE/MONACO CONTRACT
Sittah

LONDON CONTRACT
Mikael Szanyiel

SWEDISH MAGIC CIRCLE AWARD
Pilou

MOST ORIGINAL ACT

Hugo Valenzuela, Argentina

COMEDY PRESENTATION

Die Zauderer, Germany
Mikael Szanyiel, France

INVENTIONS

Ross Mickael et Bethy, France
Cesaral Magic, Spain

The results of the judges were not universally accepted with most feeling that Lee Eun-Gyeol (above) should have received the Grand Prix and puzzled as to why Dai DinChun won Manipulation. But what is FISM without controversy?

After the show ended (11.00pm) we all headed off to the magic party at Scanic Sergel Plaza (which is still going as I type! Bob Sheets, Lennart Green and Juan Tamariz are performing and Nick Nickolas is even running an official FISM Poker Game and Danny Archer and Gazzo are winning!

It’s after 4am so I’m signing off… we’re off to Finland tomorrow and Sue-Anne’s contestant report should be online within the week (fingers crossed!)

Gaston and his trophy.

• You can read the official list of FISM 2006 winners here.
• You can take a look at tons of great FISM photos here and here.
• You can read other reports on FISM in the Genii Forum here.
• You can read the Magician UK Blog with FISM reports here.

Continue reading “FISM – Saturday” →