Magic News

Paul Daniels to Star at Press Ball

 

 

Paul Daniels and Lovely Debbie McGee

The Ipswich and Suffolk (UK) Press Ball has announced its entertainment for this year’s annual event, Paul Daniels.

 

Mr. Daniels’ theme will be “An Enchanted Evening” and is promised to bring “magic, mystery and illusion” to the fete considered the highlight of Suffolk’s social season.  The event is scheduled for June 24th.

 

Mr Daniels, 66, is a member of the Grand Order of Water Rats, an organisation known for its charity fund raising.

 

He said: “I was asked to come, it was as simple as that. I am a water rat and we work for charities wherever we can.”

 

Wife Debbie McGee, a choreographer, performer and presenter in her own right, will accompany Mr Daniels if she isn’t already booked.

 

Star editor Nigel Pickover said he was delighted that Paul Daniels would be at the Press Ball.

 

He added: “Paul Daniels is the very face of magic in this country. His presence will add that extra bit of glitter and sparkle to Suffolk’s biggest night of the year.”

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Magic Stories

Inside Magic Corrections

 

 

It is the policy of Inside Magic to correct mistakes brought to our attention in a timely manner.  We will necessarily bring those mistakes that could lead to a death or dismemberment or, worse, a lawsuit before others that just make us look stupid.

 

In January 26th edition of Inside Magic’s List of the Stupidest Routines, we unfairly made fun of VanDeen the Extraordinary.  We wrote, “. . . and of his alleged big trick, the drawing card for the whole show, who cares?  It sounds neither dangerous nor exciting.  What is the worst that can happen to him?  He gets a paper cut on his lip?  So what?!”

 

It turns out Mr. VanDeen was performing a Bullet Catch and not, as we incorrectly read, a Billet Catching trick.  We still believe, however, that this is an inappropriate trick for children’s birthday parties but we petulantly admit our mistake.

 

In the April 2nd edition of Inside Magic’s Baltic Region Magic News, we gave the impression that we really cared about anyone else but us.  We regret the error but don’t really care what anyone thinks anyway.

 

In our special Inside Magic’s Top 75 Mathematical Card Tricks Lasting More than 20 Minutes, we transposed some numbers in trick number 23, “What Pile is Your Card In Now?”  The formula in line 82 should have read “add the value of the top cards from each pile with face cards counting as 12.”  As the trick was written in the original version, the effect could become unintentionally interesting or entertaining and thus defy the rules of the mathematical card trick genre.  We regret even writing about the topic.

 

…
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Magic News

Juliana Chen to Star in Reno – Links to Cartoon Shooter

 

Juliana Chen

Award-winning Chinese magician Juliana Chen will appear at the Peppermill in Reno for two shows, Friday, March 4 and Saturday, March 5, in the Peppermill?s ballrooms. 

 

Ms. Chen is connected not only to great magic but also to the voice talent of one of the best cartoons of the late 1960’s.

 

The Peppermill Hotel and Casino is outside of the downtown Reno environs but provides a nice theater for magic. 

 

Here’ some trivia, it was also the location of the lovely Gwyneth Paltrow’s dark film Hard Eight in which she plays a cocktail waitress by day and a working girl by night. 

 

Ms. Paltrow wrote of her time in Reno:

 

It’s depressing. You’re shooting in a casino at 4 a.m. and you would see these blue-haired people sticking there social security right in the slot. But there was something really fun and dark and seductive about being there.

 

Ms. Paltrow as Clementine in Hard Eight

We mention Ms. Paltrow’s connection to the Peppermill because as in Six-Degrees of Separation, she connects Ms. Chen with virtually anyone. 

 

For instance, Ms. Paltrow is daughter of Blythe Danner, who starred in The Great Santini with Robert Duval, who acted with Martin Sheen, who worked on a Habitat…
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Magic News

Royal Misses The Boat ? Disses Magic Circle with New Stamps

 

 

Presentation Pack of Magic Circle Stamps (Devant on Right)

Stanley Gibbons is a magic fan but more importantly, for the purposes of this article, he is a philatelist.  That is a good thing, not a dirty thing.  He is a stamp collector’s collector.  His Gibbons Stamp Monthly is one of the neat magazines on the web and usually filled with things that have little to do with the world of magic.

 

In his March issue, though, Mr. Gibbons quotes Magic Circle member Brian McCullagh’s displeasure at the Royal Mail’s dissing ? our word ? of The Magic Circle.  As we all know, the venerable London-based organization celebrates its centennial this summer and it is easy to think just because all magicians think this is a big deal, all will feel the same enthusiasm.

 

So while Mr. McCullagh does credit the Royal Mail for remembering the special occasion, he is keen to point out that they “missed the boat” in their method of celebration.

 

Mr. McCullagh writes:  

 

“The stamps have ?The Magic Circle? on them, but nothing else. I do know that I don?t like the stamps. I saw their images (nothing else) and I was tremendously disappointed. I felt Royal Mail had ?missed the boat?. A golden opportunity was presented not only to produce stamps that would reflect well on them, but they could also do much to educate the public as to the full meaning of Magic (Conjuring). One person to whom I showed the stamps said, ?They present Magic as a children?s plaything!?”

 

Indeed. 

 

While the presentation pack for the five commemorative stamps shows images of past and present master magicians, the stamps themselves lack any images familiar to magicians or significant to the public.  A great opportunity has been missed, suggests Mr. McCullagh. 

 

He observes that the general public is unfamiliar with the first president and the country’s greatest magician, David Devant.  The publicity provided by the stamp issue would have educated the public and paid homage to a great man. 

 

The stamps are tricks in themselves, however. …
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Magic Stories

Sorry Dan Harlan: Math Magic Improves on Illusion

 

 

Dr. Erik Demaine

Dr. Erik Demaine is a former magician and from a family of curious magic-lovers.  He currently works as a professor of computer science at MIT and teaches theoretical origami mathematics.  As the title suggests, he teaches the “formal study of what can be done with a folded sheet of paper.”

 

So what?

 

We’ll tell you what.  Dr. Demaine currently proves the existence of shapes long doubted to be possible such as a hyperbolic parabaloid.  This is a shape so unique that even the Microsoft Word spell check function doesn’t know it.  (It suggested the term “hyperbolic pureblood” instead). 

 

Dr. Demaine’s work has been published in peer-review journals for his landmark studies featuring solutions to many “single-cut” problems and “carpenter’s rule” mysteries. 

 

He uses his work in origami to help develop solutions to questions in architecture, robotics and molecular biology.

 

As a young magician, Dr. Demaine and his father discussed one of Houdini’s legendary effects.  Legend has it (hence making it a “legendary” effect) that before Houdini became an escape artist he had a career as a magician and supposedly performed a trick in which he folded a piece of paper, then cut across the creases to “magically” create a five-pointed star.

 

Modern magicians have used the same type of ingenuity to create a star from a single cut. 

 

In 1998, Dr. Demaine and his dad proved to the world that one could effectively make any shape just with folding and a single cut?a star, a swan or a unicorn.  You can even create multiple shapes with a single snip of the scissors?2 stars, 10 stars or 50 stars if you like. One set of shapes that can be produced this way is the letters of the alphabet.

 

One theoretical physicist opined that in theory (hence the reason we are quoting a “theoretical” physicist) you “could produce the complete works of Shakespeare with a single cut.”

 

This story is especially pertinent…
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Magic Stories

Hardy Tales from the Thumb Tip Inn

 

 

Mornings Are Slow at the Bar

I was down at the Thumb Tip Inn having a cold, wet one.  I was alone and but for the bartender,  had the room to myself.  That makes sense at 10:30 in the morning.  It didn't make sense that I would be at the Tip that early but things had stopped making sense 18 hours earlier.

 

"Another one?" Yvonne asked as she set out the menus and condiment racks.

 

I nodded.  I was afraid to speak aloud.  My throat had a lump in it about the size of my half-blind uncle's silk fountain load.  It had been an emotional day and a half since I learned an important lesson: you can't trust anyone.  In fact, don't even trust me when I tell you not to trust anyone. 

 

Yvonne opened the fresh bottle of "Thick Bloody Mary Mix" or as it is commonly called, Ketchup.  She diluted the bright red liquid with equal parts of tomato juice, lime juice, and Hi Karate Rum.  I removed my slurpy straw from the drink I had been nursing and plunged it into the cold, soft refuge only a gelatinous alcoholic beverage could provide at that point. 

 

"You look like a bee, going from flower to flower," Yvonne said as she washed her hands and tossed away my empty glass.

 

"How's that?" I asked. 

 

"You look like a bee.  I mean you didn't even pull the straw out of your mouth, just went from finishing the one glass and moved it to the new one.  Just like a bee, that's all."

 

I nodded.  I had not the slightest clue why she was saying what she was saying.  I could have blamed it on my lack of sleep, or the rum that tasted suspiciously like an aftershave that my mother used to wear – or at least smell like when she'd come home after a late night at the office when pop was out of town. …

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Magic Stories

Some Never Escape Magic?s Hold

 

 

The Utica (New York) Observer Democrat asks the question that we never thought about but now that we have we can?t figure out.  Why is it that some go through the magic stage between ages of seven and twelve and move on to other hobbies or interests; while others stay locked in the phase? 

 

Their poster boy for stunted development is Leon Etienne.  He tells the paper, “There’s a very large percentage of American males who go through the phase of playing with magic,” Etienne said matter-of-factly. “Most of them leave it alone at 13, 14. I’m the result of those who didn’t leave it alone.”

 

Mr. Etienne?s dream is to become a professional magician and is majoring in business to help in his marketing.  The young magician is already performing birthday parties and trade shows. He understands, though, that unless he keeps working, he will literally starve. 

 

Still, Mr. Etienne prefers his dream over the alternatives available.  “I guess you could say I’m in the business of making people happy, and so far, I’ve found nothing wrong with that.”

 

Check out the full story by clicking here.


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Magic News

David Blaine to Testify for Michael Jackson

 

 

Blaine to be Needled

The Associated Press is reporting that Michael Jackson will call several Hollywood stars as part of his defense case.  This news follows on a leak from the prosecution team last week that it subpoenaed former child actor Corey Feldman. 

 

Both sides are required to announce the potential witnesses in advance of their jury selection.  This process allows perspective jurors to tell the court if they have are friends with or know any of the witnesses. 

 

Mr. Jackson?s attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. said that NBA star Kobe Bryant, Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, Elizabeth Taylor and illusionist David Blaine are among the celebrities the defense plans to call in the case.  Additionally, the defense announced it may call “60 Minutes” correspondent Ed Bradley, relatives of late actor Marlon Brando, and former child actors Emmanuel Lewis and Macaulay Culkin.  These names are in addition to: the accuser and his family; Stevie Wonder; Diana Ross; the Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb; comedian Chris Tucker; talk-show hosts Larry King and Maury Povich; and guru Deepak Chopra.

 

It is significant to note that neither side will call Elephant Man star, John Hurt. 
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Magic News

Bryan Berg Builds Card Structure for Tsunami Relief

 

 

Bryan Berg has more cards than our entire basement.  His passion is stacking cards on top of each other to fabricate elaborate buildings and cityscapes.  Mr. Berg?s talent has drawn accolades and awards from major newspapers, the Guinness officials, and his friend David Blaine.

 

Mr. Blaine inspired his pal to build the entire New York City Skyline out of playing cards on television.  The project will take 18 hours a day through February 21st in the New York studios of Good Morning America. 

 

In keeping with the Blaine tradition of literally living with the project, Mr. Berg will take up residence in the studios until the city is built. 

 

We will keep you posted on the building as well as the fund-raising success. 

 

Good luck to Mr. Berg.

 

You can check out the Good Morning America website by clicking here.

Visit Mr. Berg?s website to see more of his creations by clicking here.

 
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Magic News

Meet a Pooka: Debbie O?Carroll Keeps it Coming

 

 

Debbie O’Carroll

An Inside Magic favorite, Debbie O’Carroll will present her incredible Irish Magic Show on March 22 at the historic Fiske Public Library in Wrentham, Mass.  (The Fiske Library has been in continuous operation for 108 years).   

 

Ms. O?Carroll?s program is designed to delight children ages four to twelve years old.  The show will feature the culture, language and history of Ireland. Her mixture of enchanting magic, Irish lore and audience involvement is both educational and entertaining.

 

Using the art of magic, Debbie will introduce the audience to a clan of mysterious Irish folk characters. They will meet a comical ghostly pooka, participate in an Irish language poem about a banshee, and join in a tale of a merry giant or gruagach. They will discover the secrets of the Salmon of Knowledge and an elusive sea serpent called the Ollpheist. They will also encounter a mischievous dullahan, a gift-giving headless horseman, as they share in the humor and charm of magical Ireland.

 

Tickets are required and will be available at the circulation desk Feb. 25. The program is free but canned-good donations will be gratefully accepted for the Wrentham Food Pantry.

 

Read more about the show by clicking here.

Visit Ms. O?Carroll?s website by clicking here.

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